Painting water

[Guido SambucettiParticipant @guidosambucetti90794]

[Guido SambucettiParticipant @guidosambucetti90794]

Hello there,

I´m building a static model of SS Earl Sigurd, a small Orkney steam ferry, to be displayed moored to a pier.

This is my first attempt at modelling water, so I tried to look in as many places as I could to find out about different techniques for sculpting the surface and, mainly, for painting it.

I chose the method of painting with acrylics, alternating coats of diluted blues and greens with acrylic varnish. However, I´m not satisfied with the "shine". I thought about replacing the acrylic varnish with Humbrol Gloss Cote, but I´m not sure if can again paint with acrylics on top of it. Are they compatible or they shouldn´t be used in the same scheme?

Thank you all!

[ChrisBParticipant @chrisb29081]

Hi Guido,

Once you have the colour you are happy with – why not spray with varnish of choice ( Matt, satin or gloss) to get the desired effect?

Not tried myself, but just a thought.

Chris

[mark69Participant @mark69]

Hi Chris modelsforsale.com do a range of Vallego transparent water in various colours ,

Maybe that's what your after ?? ………..mark

[Guido SambucettiParticipant @guidosambucetti90794]

Chris, Mark,

Thanks for your responses.

The reason why I´m alternating coats of paint and varnish is that several articles I read say that this technique adds "depth" to the final effect. Just yesterday I found another articel that used just one shade of paint, like painting a model, and then polyurethane varnish on top. The photos looked good enough, so maybe I´ll give that method a try next time.

The Vallejo range I have never used before. I´ll see if I can find a stockist, Royal Mail shipping restrictions and my onw country´s import restrictions make it almost impossible to buy overseas.

Thanks again!

Guido.

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Guido,

I would say that the best way of finding out whether or not aparticular combination of paints and varnishes work together is to try them out on a test piece before using them for real. OK, unless you are prepared to wait for a very long time this won't catch any long term issues, but you will at least find out if one product dissolves another, won't give a good key for subseqent layers, peels off, starts to crack or produces some other fairly immediate compatibility problem.

Vallejo is a much-used brand in plastic modelling circles, and consequently has very good distribution, so their paints and varnishes should be reasonably easy to find no matter where you are. Try looking in shops/webshops that cater for the plastic kit air and armour crowds rather than the model boat specialist vendors. Also take note of the difference between Vallejo Model Color, which is intended for brush application, and Vallejo Model Air, which has been formulated to suit airbrush painting. They can both be used the other way around, but are not all that well suited for such cross-over techniques, so pick the one that'll fit your preferred method of painting the best.

Vallejo also do a series called RC Premium, which is primarily intended for painting r/c car bodies; however, the PU gloss varnish from this series is a really nice product that works equally well with brush and airbrush, hs excellent self-levelling qualities and produces a very nice and glossy finish.

As you may have gathered from the above, I am a great fan of Vallejo when it comes to acrylic paints. However, I have no personal experience of the acrylic water, i.e. their range of water effects (see **LINK**). As far as I understand, these are not really paints but rather imitation water, i.e. intended to be laid with a certain depth over a painted surface to create the illusion of water. There are, to my knowledge, several types of such fake waters available, and I think you might be able to find more information on websites and fora dedicated to model railways and dioramas, both of which are into the recreation of landscape features such as water.

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 16/02/2015 14:34:35

[Guido SambucettiParticipant @guidosambucetti90794]

Hello Mattias,

Wow, that´s a lot of information on Vallejo! I´ve followed the link you sent and it´s quite interesting, I hope to find some retailer here, although there aren´t many in all.

I´ve made some sample painting and hadn´t any mayor problems, probably the key is to leave the coats to dry for a day before covering with a different paint. I´m in no hurry so I can perfectly afford that. I was more concerned with long-term issues, as you say. Initially I thought about using tinted polyester resin, which when dry assumes a nice softly waved pattern, with a gloss finish. But I checked an old sample (about three years old) and found that it was now yellowish. Ok, the sample was about 1" deep, and what I would use now would hardly be deeper than a couple of millimiters so that effect might not be noticeable.

As you mentioned also I have searched several model railroad sites and found there are several products available, but those are very difficult to import (by individuals). Books and magazines are no problem so I bought several and they form the basis of my research. I may be lucky with the Vallejo range, though. The importer is not far from my home and once Carnival holidays are over I´ll pay them a visit and see what I can find.

Cheers, and thanks for the info!

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