Ztrains: Making Waves With Envirotex

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Controlled Water Tests
I'm in the final stages of finishing a small layout and have found that I just couldn't leave well enough alone. On this current layout I've created a small cove and river. I poured a 1/8" coat of Envirotex Lite over the water areas to give them a high gloss and perception of depth. The Envirotex went on beautifully, all mixing and pouring steps were followed to the letter, including the proper method to de-gas all bubbles and I was very pleased with the results. During the course of some train related web surfing, I came across a few sites where people had created waves and swells in their Envirotex water... that spelled the end of my calm surfaced cove, I needed waves!

One site in particular caught my attention, a site that belongs to Art Fahie of Bar Mills Models. I wrote to Art and asked him about his water technique and he told me he used the Envirotex only method. He said that if you wait several hours for the Envirotex to set, you can use a cheap acid brush to create waves by gently pushing the Envirotex around a bit. It sounded reasonable so I poured a second coat of 1/8" thick Envirotex and waited. After about two hours, I got out the cheap acid brush and began. The Envirotex had not set up quite enough to hold the shape of a wave, as a matter of fact, it was still in that sticky epoxy phase. After realizing this, I tried pulled the brush out but the Envirotex was sticking to it quite a bit. The Envirotex actually ended up folding over on itself and in the process trapped many, many huge air bubbles. A few bubbles wouldn't have been too bad, but these were ridiculous. They really detracted from the look of the water scene.

I decided to paint over the Envirotex and begin the whole process again, this of course meant redoing the paint job that simulates the bottom of the cove and river. As long as I was repainting the cove, I'd make it appear a little deeper this time, using darker green shades to better simulate deeper water.

Trying Another Method
I repainted the cove and river and was about to pour the new Envirotex when I decided to try another approach to creating waves. If I poured a flat coat of Envirotex, let it dry smooth I could then create waves with Mod Podge, a waterbase sealer, glue and finish. This seems to be a popular technique and has been cited many times by modellers as their choice for wave making. I poured the Envirotex, let it dry and set to work with the Mod Podge. I found that to create good looking waves in terms of size and definition, I had to apply several coats of the Mod Podge, building up the height of the wave. Although to a degree this did work, Mod Podge doesn't leave as high a gloss as Envirotex. To my eye, it just didn't have the visual "pop" that Envirotex has. Also I think this technique is better at creating gentle swells, not well defined waves. You can see where this is going...

As I wasn't overly thrilled with the Mod Podge results, I once again covered it over with a new coat of paint and began at the beginning, painting the bottom of my cove and river. I also went with tube acrylics this time for the paint, as they allow for greater working time. Fortunately I had created quite a depression for my cove and river, so adding 3/8" or so in these initial water tests isn't really a problem at all.

I have my new paint down in the cove and river but this time before I begin pouring Envirotex, I've decided to make some test pours... something I should have done in the first place! The picture at the top of this page shows my test box. It's a scrap piece of MDF with strip wood creating the test areas. It's not pretty, but it should be sufficient for testing. I'll pour the Envirotex in several of these squares and make a note of how long the Envirotex has to cure before I can begin on my wave making.

Monday, March 8, 2010
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