discussion Water effect products

[AlanG]

Been looking at various youtube videos and most 'tutorials' seem to either recommend resins or silicone mastik type materials. Whilst i'd love to go down the Vallejo water effects route, price has a major factor in my choice. I need as cheap as possible and has to be able to be paintable. I will need enough to cover 75cm x 65cm.

So basically what product you guys n gals recommend and where to buy it cheaply?

 

[papa 695]

Clear silicone/sealent

 

[AlanG]

Clear silicone/sealent

Which brand though. Apparently some are not paintable. Been looking on Screwfix but only one was paintable and it was expensive

 

[Ian M]

Why use clear when you want to paint it?
I recall Ron the Master of water scapes paints a base, then gives it glass clear silicon or loads of clear varnish. (Which can be painted).

You can get modg podge that dries clear and shiny. That to can be coloured. I believe that Railway hobby shops are the place to hunt out.

 

[AlanG]

When i say paint it i mean like the tips of waves to make them white etc

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

Lidl do a good clear and a white sealant, not tried painting, but the clear is good.

 

[BigGreg]

i used a clear one and no issues to paint it.... if you want to let it clear you can paint the tip in white or use a specific product for the tips
look at these pictures.... not mine but i did almost the same thing..

 

[AlanG]

Cheers. Problem is that the Vallejo isn't the cheapest around and when you are on minimum wage it's expensive. I might look into getting some clearfix mastik. It's about £7 a tube (there are cheaper ones out there but cannot be painted).

As you all can probably gather with my questions about diorama bases and water effects i am planning a dio (my first ever one).

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alan

As others have mentioned cheap clear and white silicon can work well. Paint the flat base various sea colours. Cover in clear silicon and make wave shapes. Then add wave crests and wake etc with little bits of the white silicon. This is 1/700 scale USS Yorktown.





Jim

 

[AlanG]

I've got some weatherboard/plywood to use as a base. It's the wood we use on the pig huts so it's defo waterproof. Because it's textured would you suggest i prime it first before trying to do the base colour for the water? I'm going to be painting a very dark blue/black

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alan
I don't think I would bother with a primer although if the wood is quite porous you may need extra colour coats.
Jim

 

[Kelly McFadden]

Hi Alan

As others have mentioned cheap clear and white silicon can work well. Paint the flat base various sea colours. Cover in clear silicon and make wave shapes. Then add wave crests and wake etc with little bits of the white silicon. This is 1/700 scale USS Yorktown.

View attachment 329963

View attachment 329964

Jim

Jim.
I really like the color of you water. You don’t happen to have a picture of how you painted the base before you covered it with silicon? I’d like to see how you got that grey blue color.

 

[AlanG]

Jim.
I really like the color of you water. You don’t happen to have a picture of how you painted the base before you covered it with silicon? I’d like to see how you got that grey blue color.

+1 for that :thumb2:

 

[Jim R]

Kelly and Alan
Piece of plywood cut to size and painted with cheap acrylic paints.




Jim

 

[AlanG]

Cheers Jim

 

[Guest]

Al .
Not wanting to disagree with Jim as he no doubt has done this before but a primer coat does as it says , primes the base and allows better adhesion of the paint to the surface. In real terms all your doing is sealing the base to allow the following coats of paint to build up quickly.
John .

 

[Kelly McFadden]

Kelly and Alan
Piece of plywood cut to size and painted with cheap acrylic paints.




Jim

Hi Jim.
Thanks so much for posting you base. I’m going to have to try your method. Did you apply several layers of silicon to make your waves?
I’ve used the Vallejo European ocean water effect. Its thick and easy to sculpt, but comes out a really dark blue.
Glad you had the foresight to take pictures before you added water.
Very cool.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Kelly

John's post about primer is certainly correct. It does seal the surface. I seem to remember that on that plywood base I did prime it with an ordinary, white all purpose primer that DIYers use. I had it left over from decorating.

At that scale, 1/700, a 3mm wave will be over 2m in reality. I mark where the ship will go on the painted base. Working quickly I spread a thin layer of clear silicon all over the base. I just go into the area marked for the ship. I then place the ship, the silicon sticks it in place. Then I texture the silicon. Whatever you use if you use it dry the silicon will stick and you can sort of flick up to make wave points. Work wet if you want a smooth finish. I try to make the wave peaks and troughs look natural. I then squeeze some white silicon onto a scrap of card and then using a suitable tool, a cocktail stick would do, I put the white on the wave crests, the wake and the bow waves. Always try to keep the waves natural in size and direction.

Jim

 

[AlanG]

Someone (who wants to remain anonymous) has very kindly sent me Vallejo water Effects like the one @BigGreg posted in his reply. My question is: can i colour this fluid with Vallejo Model Colour paints?

 

[Guest]

I do a lot of painting on MDF and to get a colour to stand out first coat I just give the board two thin coats of standard white house paint it stops the suction