Waterfront Project

Here is my n-scale waterfront. Not exactly happy with it, but what's done is done. Used Realistic Water and Golden gel medium. Have a look....
(comments if you have em)
Images and video follow:
[video=youtube_share;go3b6ODdc0k]http://youtu.be/go3b6ODdc0k[/video]
Regards, Aj

 

I think that your scene came out great myself. Keep it rolling!

 

Ah , fishing for compliments and the water pool is just the place to do it :teeth:. I think it looks great , except the swimmers forgot their fishing poles .... also don't forget the bird dropings on the high spot rocks and bridges and the high water marks for the lake and especally the pond...

 

Thanks... yes some poop LOL! I think the scene does need a little help. I looked a n-scale birds, found about six birds for ten dollars. Tried to make birds myself but at n-scale size I just don't have the skill. Have some fishing figures that I will add. What else? Case of creator's block. Help :question:.

 

Somebody makes N scale Seagulls or did once and I've seen them on a N trak module where they were held aloft by very fine wire to simulate flight. And Beavers can be made from HO scale Rats. Take a hammer and beat the tails out flat and trim where needed then paint the body brown and the tail black. Size wise if there are HO scale mice they would make Muskrats or Otters. The only other thing to my old eyes is that the water seems a tad too blue. Maybe a little greener hue in the deeper areas. And then there are sticks and branches that make their way downstream and wash on shore. Otherwise I like it.

 

Water color and modeling

Thanks John for your post. My eyes are old too... I think maybe a younger set of eyes would have helped me.

But let us talk water color artistically. I sort of argued with myself about the color of water. That's the pit fall of a split personality. When I look at images of water, (from afar- not up close) I always see the reflection of the sky. i.e. light blue sky- light blue reflection, dark blue sky- dark blue reflection, grey sky- grey water, etc... most of the time but not always. Now I have a blue-blue background so I told myself to make the water blue-blue. But is this correct when modeling water? Maybe it is and I poured the incorrect shade of blue. Or maybe I'm just wrong altogether. I see some modelers that use clear water and just let the basin color tint the water such as a shallow creek. Or modeling the deep ocean would be deep blue, etc... I want to leave some images for thought.

Replies/comments welcomed......

Images from Google search (used for education purpose only, no copyright infringement intended)

 

Modeling bodies of water will always be one of the great challenges because the color and transparency varies from locale to locale and even within the same body of water. I use the Yellowstone River which I grew up along and fished from one end to the other as an example. The headwaters of the river are almost crystal clear while the waters at the eastern border of Montana are a muddy brown from irrigation runoff and erosion. I've seen some pond water that is almost reddish brown in the fall from the tannic acid released from the falling leaves. The same pond in late summer can have a greenish hue from all the aquatic growth. So probably the angle that the water is viewed from is the determining factor. Close up and straight down the bottom plant growth and sediment in the water determines the color you see. Back off at an angle and the surface of the water tends to reflect the dominant background color or sky color. Water itself is transparent and has no color. The colors it shows are the result of disolved minerals and sediment and surface reflection. The only thing I have used tint for has been waterfalls and there lightly letting the underlying colors come through from the rock. For a logging pond my colors are applied to the base of the pond and then some tint to the first pour. The last pour gets the bark and other debris in it. So probably the color is determined from the viewing perspective of the modelers position when viewing the water on the layout. So your color may be right when standing by the layout viewing the water and also for your modeling locale.

 

Thanks John. Not much to add from here. I would like to to master water a bit better. Particularly water surface effects. I practice several times trying to get a uniform surface chop and some small wave effects but it eludes me still. I've seen some beautiful works but the artists never demonstrates how it's done (except for the few vendors' videos like Woodland Scenics that demonstrates the basics) . If someone could show some advance water techniques in video format it would be a big hit IMO. Regards, Aj

 

What I have found with using the Water Effects is to let it set a bit when a coat is put on then start to shape with stiff bristle paint brushes. One may have to do this several times over the space of a few hours. It takes 24 hours or more to fully cure and I've had it take several days to become transparent depending on humidity levels. To create the effect of curling waves one has to let it set enough that the paint brush can be used to pull some up and then pull the paint brush away to allow the wave to curl over. Getting it to the right point in curing to do this is sort of a trial and error process again depending on humidity and temperature. Another thing I have been doing is to layer my waterfalls by pouring several sheets of Water Effects and again using a stiff paint brush get my ridges of water. I give a little tint to the innermost layer. The succeeding layers on top are attached with a little dab of the Water Effects. With steep falls the water tends to sheet over the edge and often not touch the rock behind and sometimes the water will be separated into sheets with several inches to feet separating the falling sheets of water.

The nice thing about the material is that you can take a loaded paint brush and dab on some more to adjust or touch up something you don't like long after the original is set.

 

How about 121 pigeons from shapeways?
http://www.shapeways.com/model/499052/n-scale-1-160-pigeons-set-of-121.html?li=productBox-search

Charlie

 

Think of a water surface as a mirror. It ois a mostly transparent liguid and reflects the color of its surroundings and depending on the angle which one views it could reflect the blue of the sky the green of a forest or a city skyline. Most streams and other bodies of water contain suspended particles which lessen its transparency. The best models of streams/rivers and lakes/ponds that I have seen have a dark color such as black or a greenblack painted on the streambed to represent deep water. This is then feathered close to shore with a color that matches the soil on shore. The idea is to lighten the color gradually as one gets closer to the shore. This gives a dramatic impression of depth to the stream even though the actual water maybe only 1/16" thick. Once the water has thoroughly dried you will notice that itwill have 'wicked' up on abutments, the shorline or anything else that maybe protruding out of the water. Some touchup paint to cover the area where the wicking took place will add greatly to the scene. You can see examples of this 'wicking' alomng the boats in your photos. Then once all is thoroughly dry [that is very important] then cover the water with Future floor wax. This stuff is absolutely amazing. It will add a clear gloss shine to the water and enhance the mirror effect. It is self leveling. After the Future dries then you can add whatever water effects you want.