How to Make Model Railroad Water
Bob BrownDescription
In this video, narrow gauge modeler and creator of the Tuolumne Forks model railroad Bob Brown demonstrates how he creates model railroad water for his layout alongside Allen Keller. Brown uses Environtex for his water, which has a polymer coating and can be found in most arts and crafts stores.
Brown emphasizes the importance of following the directions exactly to mix the 50/50 solution. Buying paper cups that have measurements on them can be very helpful in mixing and pouring. It is also very important to mix the material thoroughly and for the proper amount of time; Brown’s instructions say to mix for two minutes.
To make a pond, the base must first be painted. Brown uses a grimy black paint with a lighter color around the edges to show increasing shallowness towards the rim of the pond. A green base color can be used to make a more scummy pond, but Brown prefers the depth of the black color.
Next, the Environtex is simply poured into the pond in one single pour. To rid the bubbles that rise to the top of the pond, Brown carefully passes a flame torch over the surface of the water to melt these bubbles away.
Need more ideas? Check out these tips for touching up your water scenery.
Okay, this is the Envirotex I use for making water, and it's called a polymer coating, and it's available in arts and crafts stores. It's extremely important that you mix it very accurately. In fact, you can buy little paper cups that are marked, which has been very helpful for getting exact amounts. The other thing that's extremely important is that you mix it thoroughly. The instructions say to mix it for two minutes, and I certainly would do that. Is this a 50-50 mix? It's a 50 50 mix, Al. Yes. And it should be pretty accurate. Yeah, I've just prepared this little demonstration pond. First, you have to paint the base of your pond. In this case, I've used a grimy black with a little lighter color out where the water would be shallower around the edge. You may want to have a green scummy pond but I find the black gives a real nice depth look to your ponds. Then you simply pour the Envirotex in and make sure you make one pour. I find that if you pour one pour and then try and pour another, the second pour will ride up over the first pour and make a ridge. So always pour in one pour and let it I've made enough there. So it's filled up very nicely. And if you can see, there are millions of little bubbles now coming to the surface. Now to get rid of the bubbles, I simply pass the flame of a bernzomatic torch over the surface of the water, not dwelling too long, but you notice the bubbles are disappearing very quickly. They just go right away. And when they're all gone you have a nice, smooth water surface.
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