Blue Realistic Water™

Blue water straight from the bottle

Most compounds for model water are clear and their color has to be given by the base or by a tinting color mixed in. Here the shade is mixed in advance, which saves the step in which mistakes are made most often: overpainting the bottom or unevenly stirred pigment. The content of the bottle is 59.1 ml, so it will do for several smaller areas or for one larger one.

What it is suited to

The blue tone fits still water in open landscape, where the sky is mirrored in the surface. Typically that is a pond, a small lake, a flooded quarry or a watered hollow. For the murky flow of a lowland river or for a swamp a greenish or clouded shade suits better, because water that is too blue in such a scene comes across as a swimming pool.

Working with it

The hollow has to be sealed before pouring, as otherwise the compound runs underneath. It is poured straight, without thinning, and left to settle on a level surface, so that the water finds its own level. A higher layer is done in several goes; every application needs its time before the next is added to it.

The edge of an area deserves attention. In nature water does not end in a sharp line but in a shallow, where the bottom shows through and little stones lie. A band of damp bank is made with a weak glossy application reaching beyond the water surface.

Adding movement

A finished surface can be brought to life. The white crests of waves, a foaming place at an inflow or rings left by rain are finished separately, onto the surface of water that has already set. It is precisely this last step that decides whether a surface comes across as alive, or as a piece of glass set into the terrain.