Diorama FX Water Texture Brown Water

Brown river water with sediment

Brown Water aims at watercourses that carry clay and leaves: lowland rivers, mill races, inlets by a harbor jetty or a pond at the edge of a village. Against the murky variant the tint is clearer, so the bottom beneath it stays guessed at and the depth can be built up with the color of the terrain itself. The darker the base you prepare, the deeper the water created, without your having to pour a thicker layer.

Building the surface step by step

First the bottom is finished and painted, because once it is flooded you can no longer adjust it. The banks are bounded with tape or a strip and the gaps are filled. A series of thin pours follows; only the last of them is shaped. Ripples arise from a stroke of a soft brush over the tacky surface; the flow lines around a pier or the hull of a boat are suggested with the tip of a toothpick drawn in the direction of the current. The foam at a weir is added with a white paste gel at the very end.

Practical notes

The compound is water-thinnable and odorless, so it can be worked with even in a living room. While setting, it holds a slightly higher meniscus at the edges, which looks natural at banks; at the straight edge of an aquarium-style cutaway, though, it is better to wipe the excess off with a damp cloth while the compound is fresh.

Storage and preparing a dose

Before work, roll the container gently between your palms instead of shaking it hard, so that bubbles do not get into the compound; they would then stay trapped under the surface. Pour only as much into a cup as you can work through, and close the rest. Dried remains on the neck prevent the lid from closing and the material in the bottle thickens in time.