Realistic Water vs. Magic Water Question


OCN Guy

OCN Guy

Member
What do you guys think, Realistic Water or Magic Water? I've used Realistic Water on a diorama I made, and was less than happy with it. It looks like...someone painted dark paint on plaster cloth and then poured gloss medium on it in 1/8" layers.

Real water has color that deepens with depth. (Yes, I know, it's not really color, it's refraction. Well, the sun really doesn't set either. But I'm still going to say sunset!)
I want something that I can add a dye to, increasing in depth. the "clear layer over painted bottom" look only looks good to me when viewing directly overhead... and how often do you guys hang suspended over your layouts looking down on them?

I'm thinking of buying the Realistic water and seeing if I can mix dye with it or not. They say you can't...but have they tried it?

The Magic Water sounds like what I'm looking for... but the toxic fume part of it I'm not crazy about.

I've already made a cat sick from the fumes made by EZ-Water, and i'm nervous about trying anything that (again) releases fumes.
and dragging a 3X6 layout downstairs and outside doesn't sound feasible.

Opinions, thoughts?
 
Magic Water for sure. I first used Realistic Water, and it shrunk considerably. I switched to the Magic Water, and it doesn't shrink at all. An in my opinion, has a glossier shine to it.

Not sure about being toxic? I didn't even notice. Of course I just had a small river/creeek.

How much water are you planning to use? How big is your water feature?

Just setup some fans for the area for ventilation.
 
I'm doing Maine in my layout, and I've got several water features (basically, the Androscoggin river... see below)

picture.php


so, I've got the falls at Lisbon Falls to do...
 
Why not just use real water? To reduce mold and crap, just make it salt water, and add in a fish tank filter, and a pump to recirculate the water around. Now that would be cool.
 
Nucular said:
Why not just use real water? To reduce mold and crap, just make it salt water, and add in a fish tank filter, and a pump to recirculate the water around. Now that would be cool.
Click to expand...

Why not plant real trees on your layout too!

Real water is a crazy idea. Sorry.
 
Motley said:
Why not plant real trees on your layout too!

Real water is a crazy idea. Sorry.
Click to expand...

I just mentioned it, because I have seen layouts with it. As for real trees, I see that a lot in the bigger scales with the use of Bonzai on layouts as well. HO scale and bigger, I have seen people use Bonzai. Makes your layout more alive if you have the time for taking care of it.
 
While I don't recall where I saw it, I too have seen layouts using real water, fish tank filters etc and it looks great. The only downside is ensuring that the pond, river, stream where the water is going is 110% sealed and sitting on a base of fibre glass resin.

Cheers,

wombat457
 
I have only a little "water" on my layout, in the form of a very abbreviated "river" that crosses under tracks on a 15" wide shelf (the river is coming at you from the wall). I used plaster cloth, then painted it with acrylic paints to make it look like the color of water I've seen. I used more white where the river flows along side the piers and in the shallows along the river bed. Once this was dry and to my satisfaction, I placed fishermen along the banks, and then poured a thin (1/8") layer of Gloss Medium. I allowed it to dry, and viola! A river. (If I can figure out how to post photos I will do so someday. The Gloss Medium tended to wrinkle a big around the piers, etc., which gave it a real look of rippling water. Gloss Medium? No stink, no fumes, no fuss, no muss!
 
Modge Podge is great stuff. I remember working with it as a kid covering photos on wood plaques made in my father's wood shop. It was so cool to see the finished results. Dave Frary has a video on Youtube using Modge Podge also. His water looks very very good. As does Jim's.
 
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