Using real water..

Post by **aferguson** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:17 am

I purchased some Schleich Wild West figures a couple days ago and one of them is a brave paddling a canoe. I put it in an old shallow plant holder filled with water and it looks quite nice.....very tranquil.

Anyway, i was thinking that it would be nice to have it as a permanent display but there are two problems i forsee. One is over time mold, lime etc may build up and the second is evaporation of the water will mean constant refilling, especially in the dry winter months, and that will no doubt become a real nuisance pretty quickly.

So i was thinking it would be nice if i could use some clear odourless liquid that wouldn't have bacteria growing in it over time and didn't evaporate or evaporates very slowly, so replenishing it would be need infrequently.

Is there any such liquid?......any ideas?

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:31 am

There are different liquid gels that can be used, and also some urethane like materials that are can be used to to create liquid effects but actually dry solid.
Check out http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com

Another issue with water and most liquids is that even many plastics will absorb moisture over time, which will cause distortion, softening, etc. And the paint is even more susceptible to it... I used to work for a company that builds conveyor and industrial robotics for manufacturing/assembly lines, and one of our big challenges was finding materials that would resist moisture absorption and deterioration.[/url]

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:31 pm

Aferg, I just helped my daughter build a 1/72nd scale indian village complete with a river and 2 canoes. I used Elmers clear glue that comes in the blue bottle. It dries very slow and make sure to put it in a watertight container or you will have a mess. I dries after a few days and by painting and adding rocks to the base you can add underwater detail. You can also add wave detail while it's tacky.

Mark

Post by **aferguson** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:52 pm

I thought of white glue but it shrinks when it dries....that would make it hard to put a boat in it as it would pull away from the hull i think.