Rivers & Ponds

Painting rivers and streams by David Lawson

Ah yes, rivers and streams ... I have many modular sections of both stream and river and usually paint them the reverse to your method as shown in the pond. In other words I blend from the colors of the banks into dark blue (almost black) in the middle. I then coat with artists gloss medium or varnish (depends on how much foam there is in the neighborhood.) It's an old model railway technique that's very effective. Someone on the model railway newsgroup was having problems with getting a subtle enough blend and suggested painting the bank color across the watercourse and then spray painting the dark blue. The overspray accomplishes the grading.

Simulating water with PVA glue by DAT289@aol.com

I have a great idea on how to make the appearance of water: (it has only been tested with ponds)

First make a normal pond piece of terrain. Then instead of using hard to work work with varnish use Elmers Gel school glue...yes, the name you grew up eating in kinder garden. It dries with bubbles in it already and it dries clear. The only thing you have to do is paint the bottom of your pond the desired colors, and squeeze it in. This may require 2 coats of glue. When it dries it will shrink in depth. Then finish your banks off with sand or tiny cat litter, drybrush and your set. It is easier than dealing with hard to cleanup varnishes

EEZE Foamcore rivers by Chris Keil

Well, I love your site, and I was playing with my foamcutter... And I made some very nice looking river (one section anyway) with my sheet of foam insulation and my cutter, and here's how it works:

Take the cutter and get your river 'block' (mine was 7" x10") and slice off the edges so you have a river shaped block (I made some lazy "S" cuts along the sides.
Slice off the edges along the line of the river's edge with your cutter, about an inch or so in. this will give you two strips of foam, which will form your banks (they fit perfectly to the river section, by default!)
Here's the crafty bit. Take the "river piece" and slice it down the middle, through the CENTER of the foam, the long way, so you make a horizontal cut which goes clean though. This will give you a flat section, which will be lower than your banks and have a wavy quality which is intrinsic of the cutter. Nice for a still stream.
Take your cutter and bevel the banks, slicing off the corners so it's more rounded. Stick them to the banks with glue & toothpicks.
This looks pretty good so far, and I imagine after I paint and flock it, It'll look pretty good. The only disadvantage is that you can't make a river which is wider than your foamcutters wire... Lemme know whatcha think! I was thinking of puttying in rocks and such, and maybe basing it on card.

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