Creating a Water Jet with Martin Tärnrot
Martin TärnrotDescription
In this video, model railroader Martin Tärnrot will demonstrate how to model water jets. Martin’s water jet is made of microfibre and water effect. The water beam needs a stiff center, so a steel wire of precisely 0.6 millimeters thick is used. Unfortunately, Martin’s wire is not white, but it can easily be painted. The foamy water jet is made from microfibers that are typically found in pillows. The other component of the jet is water effect, which can be bought from Noch or Woodland Scenic. Martin squeezes the water effect on the length of the steel wire and applies the microfiber on top. The first layer has a pipe-cleaner appearance. The wire is then cut to the length he is looking for.
From a beach modeling set, Martin had a shirtless man with his hands over his head. He saw its potential for use in this scene after just a few modifications. A soldering iron is used to heat the plastic and the figure’s legs are bent so he is standing up instead of lying down. With his feet adjusted, Martin adds some glue to his chest and glues on the water beam with some extra on the sides to make sure it is attached well. Water effect is also added to the figure’s legs to resemble the water that is falling down his legs. On the sides of the figure, more microfiber is added for the water that is spraying behind him. A water hydrant is used from another set by Noch with a few modifications, such as removing the lid of the hydrant spout. A few drops of matte red Humbrol enamel with some paint thinner minimizes paint strokes as Martin touches up the hydrant. The hydrant is then glued to the water jet and figure and tested in the scene. To see how Martin finishes the scene, watch the full video. For more scenery tips like making water scenery, visit the Model Railroad Academy video archives.
Hello, welcome to a Model Railroad Academy video tutorial. In this video, we'll model water jets. Yes. Here is the water cascade, made from microfiber and Water Effect. The water beam needs a stiff center core.
I use a steel wire. This one's 0.6 millimeter thick, unfortunately not white, but hey, that is quite easy to achieve by painting it with some white paint. The foamy water jet is made from microfibers. These are typically found in pillows. The other part is Water Effect.
This one's available both from Noch and from Woodland Scenic. I squeeze Water Effect onto the length of the steel wire. After that I put the microfiber onto the steel wire, and it kind of sticks onto and blends with the Water Effect. All right, this is what it looks like after the first layer. I then cut the water beam to the length I'm looking for.
I found these two in a figure set. The theme was people on the beach. This guy will fit perfect into this, just needs some modification. I use a soldering iron to heat the plastic in the figure so he's standing up instead of lying down. With his feet adjusted, I just put some fast-set glue onto his chest and fix the water beam there.
I then add some extra Water Effect on the sides of him and along his legs, thinking that the water probably is pouring down along his body. Then I add some more of that microfiber on the sides, because I'm thinking that the water, like foamy, splashes into him and continues backwards on both sides. Now I'm happy with the amount of Water Effect versus microfiber. The hydrant was found in another set of figures. Unfortunately, these ones had a bit too much of that mold burr, so I'm trimming away the mold burr using a scalpel.
I'm also removing the lid on this hydrant. I take a few drops of this Humbrol 60, which is a red matte, onto my mixing board, adding thinner, enough so I don't get any marks from that paintbrush when I'm painting, repainting the hydrant. With that done, I just glue the water beam in place and try it onto the diorama. The water on the ground will be made using gloss varnish or clear coat high gloss. The clear coat is applied onto the cobble street in the areas where you could anticipate that the water has landed.
Now glue this guy in place, put some audience as well, and we're done. I hope you liked this free video tutorial. If you did, please level up and gain access to the premium videos here on Model Railroad Academy. See you there.
That was fun! Thanks Martin
Hi Martin, listen could you do a tutorial on beading those figures so they'll be doing something else?
Another interesting thing you can do with this technique is to create a fire scene where a building is on fire with multiple streams from firefighters hoses and maybe from an aerial ladder or 2.
This was one of the more informative and useful free videos. As a general comment, most of the video tips I see are HO scale specific. I model N-scale, and unlike most tips, which can be scaled up but not down, this tip should work in N-scale if the wire is small enough.
Wow what an impressive video . The Scene looks so real the way the water is coming out of the fire hydrant and hitting the person and deflecting off the body. I would not have thought to paint the pavement to add the water shadow, makes it look great. This is a something very easy to do now that Mr Tarnot has shown the process. I can't wait to add some of this technique to my layout.
This is truly innovative and looks pretty easy to do. Really cool detail for a layout with summer theme.
Wow!! A really _cool_ tutorial! Perfect for summer days! Hehe. Amazing how you can get it to look so realistic! Want to see more tutorials from you!