# How to model slopping creek?



## davefr (Oct 22, 2020)

I'm building the Woodland's Grand Valley kit. There's a slopping creek bed. Woodlands calls it a dry creek bed but I want to make it a real running creek that ends with a waterfall. What product/technique would you use to model a sloping creek. There's a lot of how to on level rivers/ponds/lakes but this creek is slopping. Would Deep Water Pour or Realtistic Water be better? I don't want all the product to drool down to the bottom. I'd like it to cling on the way down but it doesn't need to be thick. (approx. 1" wide X 36" long X 1/16").

I do plan to add some Talus to the creek prior to the "pour".

Any suggestions on how to model this??? TIA.


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

I would go to a well-appointed craft store and ask for 'gel gloss medium'. It's like white opaque cold cream in the container, but more like clear toothpaste when dry, and can be globbed into place, smoothed a bit, and left to dry. The real challenge is to make it look like water and not shiny hard gloss medium. That would mean a combination of two things: tinting the gloss medium itself, but only slightly (one or two drops of craft acrylic paints...only...in 1/2 cup of the material), but also preparing the river 'bottom' surface by painting it a dark colour, maybe grey/greenish, darker toward the center maybe. I would experiment with a separate item and materials to see if you can pull this off on another surface, similarly prepared, and see if it works for you. When you know you can do this, do it on the layout.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Another option for you.
I used DAP Crystal clear calking. Squeeze out on a piece of wax paper to the desired look/shape/strips, let dry and then take it off the wax paper cut to shape more if you want and apply.
The crystal clear is suppose to stay clear. Mine turned an amber color over time. Maybe because it is in the basement? I don't know?
But it does make for some nice simulated water flowing down the mountain.
The calking


----------



## briangcc (Oct 11, 2012)

Why are you ruling out Envirotex? If it were me, I’d tip the base a bit so it was relatively level where needed and pour some in. Just did a desk top for my kiddos and its clear as glass.

Or....got some of the good polyurethane? Stuff you’d brush onto furniture as a sealer? Use that. If you get the good stuff, not waterbased, it’ll have a yellow hue to it. Used it years ago to model water.

Just because the river bed is tipped doesn’t mean you can’t compensate for your pour.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

here is one video,


----------



## davefr (Oct 22, 2020)

Thanks for all the suggestions. The clear caulk idea seems interesting since I want shallow/narrow and turbulent water coming down a mountain vs. a smooth glossy surface. I going to make some small slopping creeks to experiment with.


----------



## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

I have also used clear silicone caulk to make waterfalls. Wasn’t sure if it would work well for your stream so I didn’t recommend it yesterday. But if you are going for turbulent water, it might be just the ticket. I had one for years on my attic layout and like Ed’s, it took on a yellow hue after several years. It’s not just the basement Ed, it happens in the attic too.
I added this one in 2016 and it still looks OK.


----------



## davefr (Oct 22, 2020)

Right now I'm leaning towards using lots of assorted Talus in the creek bed. It'll look more natural and also allow the fake water to wick in and around it. I don't need to see much surface water. I just want it to look like runoff thru a bed of rocks. Given a choice between Woodlands Realistic Water and Deep Pour epoxy, what would be a better choice? Which one has more viscosity and sets up faster? I think clear caulk would be ideal for the small waterfall.


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Epoxies will run. They take several minutes to several hours to set up, and in that time they'll pool, which might not be unwanted, and they'll also migrate, which might also not be undesired. 

The gel gloss medium stays where you put it, and it will look good as well. Your choice.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Lehigh74 said:


> I have also used clear silicone caulk to make waterfalls. Wasn’t sure if it would work well for your stream so I didn’t recommend it yesterday. But if you are going for turbulent water, it might be just the ticket. I had one for years on my attic layout and like Ed’s, it took on a yellow hue after several years. It’s not just the basement Ed, it happens in the attic too.
> I added this one in 2016 and it still looks OK.
> View attachment 550299


Mine sort of turned to an amber color as you can see in the picture.
There is amber colored water where cedar trees grow. 
Though I did like the results with it being clear.
It is hard to take a picture of the water too, what comes out in the picture does not look like what the naked eye sees.


----------



## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I've been watching those marklin of sweden vids. He does water in several different simple ways that appear on vid to look decent.

One way which I'm experimenting with only ok results so far involves building up a 3d layer using toilet paper and glue. Painting it in watery way... And then coating that in several layers of high gloss. On the vid it looks decent enough to me.

I think the 3d effect could be done in a variety of ways but toilet paper and glue is cheap and probably on hand...


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

davefr said:


> I'm building the Woodland's Grand Valley kit. There's a slopping creek bed. Woodlands calls it a dry creek bed but I want to make it a real running creek that ends with a waterfall. What product/technique would you use to model a sloping creek. There's a lot of how to on level rivers/ponds/lakes but this creek is slopping. Would Deep Water Pour or Realtistic Water be better? I don't want all the product to drool down to the bottom. I'd like it to cling on the way down but it doesn't need to be thick. (approx. 1" wide X 36" long X 1/16").
> 
> I do plan to add some Talus to the creek prior to the "pour".
> 
> ...


davefr;

I use paint and mod podge to make water. Mod podge is a craft product sold at Walmart. It comes in gloss and flat finishes, and for water you'll want gloss. The sloping creek isn't really all that different to model from modeling still water or waves, as far as materials or techniques, at least for me. I made the waves, ripples, and boat wakes, with wood filler, but plaster would work just as well. For the wild rapids I used string embedded in the mod podge. First prepare the bottom of your stream, including rocks, weeds, etc. Then paint it your favorite water color. I use a mixture of medium blue and green. For "deeper" water use black, and feather it to tan near the "shallows" along the edges. White water ripples & wave crests, are simply white paint dry brushed over the raised areas.

Good Luck & have fun;

Traction Fan 🙂


----------



## QueenoftheGN (Dec 10, 2019)

I would follow this guy’s method 



 I used it to make a Edmund Fitzgerald diorama at one point, it works really well, and basically all you need is a spoon to shape it as you please.


----------



## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Severn said:


> I've been watching those marklin of sweden vids. He does water in several different simple ways that appear on vid to look decent.
> 
> One way which I'm experimenting with only ok results so far involves building up a 3d layer using toilet paper and glue. Painting it in watery way... And then coating that in several layers of high gloss. On the vid it looks decent enough to me.
> 
> I think the 3d effect could be done in a variety of ways but toilet paper and glue is cheap and probably on hand...


That's what I did and I'm very satisfied with it. I soaked the TP in a 50-50 mix of white glue and water then used a small paint brush to create ripples. I let it dry for a couple of days, painted it then added layers of gloss ModPodge allowing each layer to dry.


----------



## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I tried a test board, the ripples came out ok -- meaning I think it is is a way for that part of it... but my paint choice wasn't that great and I put some kind of gloss on it from a craft store.... And it didn't' dry clear enough.

So I'm going to try again. I do have modge podge. 

I also have another bottle of something labelled as "high gloss varnish"...

And I thought about looking at hardwood floor varnishes


----------



## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

I did it a few years ago and the ModPodge is still clear.


----------



## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I think the big problem is my painting technique for water is not so good... practice!


----------



## Stumpy (Mar 19, 2013)

__





AW10032


Artificial Water Quart Kit - create realistic splash scenes and ice effects.



www.mckenziesp.com





The amount of catalyst you add dictates how fast it sets up, much like Bondo and it's hardener.

You'd have to experiment a bit to get the right rate of run/flow on the slope.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Severn said:


> I tried a test board, the ripples came out ok -- meaning I think it is is a way for that part of it... but my paint choice wasn't that great and I put some kind of gloss on it from a craft store.... And it didn't' dry clear enough.
> 
> So I'm going to try again. I do have modge podge.
> 
> ...


 Try the mod podge before going out and buying expensive hardwood floor varnish. Mod podge goes on milky white, but dries crystal clear, and stays that way. All the water in my photos was made with mod podge.

Traction Fan


----------

