Selection of Water Surface Expression Materials

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Selection of Water Surface Expression Materials
Hello, Kapinozuka here.

I went to the "Seibu Train Fiesta", an event held by Seibu Railways, and got to see the series 351, the series 5000, and the old series 101 etc. very closely.
There were the type E851 and type E31 electric locomotive etc. as well as electric locomotives from overseas displayed, making me think that they should’ve just build a museum for them. Phew, what a day!

The closet station, Yokoze Station is on the "Seibu Chichibu Line".
The official name of the line is Seibu Railways Seibu Chichibu Line, I just love the way "Seibu" is put in the line name as well.
The Seibu Chichibu Line goes through the mountain ranges, so there are many slopes too.
It runs along the Route 299 and Komagawa River, occasionally crossing it etc.
It also goes through the Shomaru, one of Japan’s longest tunnels.

It might be sunny in Hanno and Chichibu, yet Yokoze could very well be cloudy, and as you have to keep advancing the long winding rail and road to reach the place, it felt as if Yokozu was a castle in the sky, protected by a nest of dragons or something.


Now, looking out the window, you can see the Komagawa.
It is very bendy, and there are parts that are gently curved, as well as areas with rapid flow, hidden away in the same river.

As I was looking at the Komagawa, the process of creating lakes, rivers, and sea in diorama crossed my mind, so I thought I’ll discuss the expression of water today.
(Wow, all that just as an introduction... long enough!?)


★ Method of using transparent sheet to imitate water

An item recommended for people that aren’t able to reproduce the water flow effect or the wave effect very well, are the transparent sheets that has the waves already reproduced. The following items are those we deal with, here at Hobby Search, and you just use scissors or whatever is appropriate to cut them to size and set it to position. Just be careful to prepare a water color below, before you paste the sheet.

KP-46 Wave Board Sheet by Kawai Company
KP-46 Wave Board Sheet by Kawai Company

OP-750 Namiitakun (2 pieces) by Okubo (Okamoto Kikaku)
OP-750 Namiitakun (2 pieces)


791 Water Surface Sheet by Faller
791 Water Surface Sheet


★ Combination of Transparent Board and PVA Glue

This method had been around for a long time, that doesn’t require the transparent sheet introduced earlier.

You make an under layer of the place with water and color it, then place a normal transparent acrylic board or plastic board. The surface is flat, so it’s good for placing a scale model of waterline type ships and boats.

If you are making places that has no water flow (like a pond), you could leave it as is, but if you want to produce an effect of movement in the water, you will then layer the PVA-Glue on the board to create waves and ripples.


★ Method of Using Paint

For those of you that thinks you "might as well draw the sea or the river", this method is for you, as this is exactly just that. You just place the drawing on the diorama, a method used when the layout is on flat surface and unable to create deep terrains etc.

Basically, you just use either normal drawing paint or acrylic paint, and draw. You mainly use blues and greens, but could use some white paint to reproduce splashes and bubbles etc. You can easily get a hold of these materials, and you might even have some paint left from art lessons at school etc.

★ Method of directly pouring Material

There is a method in which you just pour Gloss medium. Gloss is normally used in combination with acrylic paint to create luster and a sense of translucency, and could most likely to be found at an art supply stores.

You could also use the Realistic Water from Woodland Scenics, an American scenic material company. You just pour this out of the bottle and pour directly onto where the water area is going to be positioned, quite a handy material. It doesn’t require heating, so it will be fine even if the base is polystyrene.

Same with the Realistic Water, but the Water Effect from Woodland Scenics is used to create the ripples, water flow, or waterfall effects etc. for the diorama. It’s probably good to use the Realistic Water and Water Effect together. So these might do your diorama wonders if you could get your hands on them.


★ Method of Heating, Melt, and Pouring Material (Part 1)

Another item from the Woodland Scenics is the EZ Water, a water expression material.
There are transparent pallets of resin that can be melted with low temperatures. So you heat it in a pot or whatever seems appropriate, and pour the solution once it turns to liquid, onto the place you are to create the river or sea while it’s still hot. Be careful though, as it does get hot. Also, you have to make sure that the part you pour this into isn’t something like polystyrene or anything similar that could be weak to heat.

The product is yellow when you buy them, but once it liquefy and solidifies again, it will be transparent and colorless.

★ Method of Heating, Melt, and Pouring Material (Part 2)

Tsugawa also has products called Water Element that is similar as well. It made with Paraffin, and you heat it in hot water to turn it into liquid, then pour it into the area you want the river/sea to be. The melting point of this is rather low, at 65degrees, so you could make small adjustments using a hairdryer or something of the sort.

M-1 Water Element (River Green) By TGW (Tsugawa)
Water Element (River Green)

M-2 Water Element (Marine Blue) by TGW(Tsugawa)
Water Element (Marine Blue)

M-3Water Element (Natural) by TGW(Tsugawa)
Water Element (Natural)


Now, about the state of this product. It’s hard when you touch it, as the Paraffin wax is often used for things like candles and wax sculptures etc.

★ Method of Heating, Melt, and Pouring Material (Part 3)

Also from Tsugawa, a different version of the water elements are available, the Water Element Pro. It’s made with better material, designed for those that pursues greater sense of transparency and wet look. The ingredient used this time is Vinyl chloride instead of Paraffin, and the melting point is higher as well. Even after it has set and solidifies, you can still make wave effects with soldering iron as well.

MP-1 Water Element Pro (Rever Green) by TGW(Tsugawa)
Water Element Pro (Rever Green)

MP-2 Water Element Pro (Marine Blue) by TGW(Tsugawa)
Water Element Pro (Marine Blue)

MP-3 Water Element Pro (Clear) TGW(Tsugawa)
Water Element Pro (Clear)


About the state of the product, it’s slightly squishy with some elasticity. MP-1 and MP-2 are both pre-colored, but for those that wants to make it darker, there is coloring material included so you can just use that to adjust the deepness of the color to your liking.


★Caution★
For the products that require pouring, you have to be careful not to let in bubbles. Also, you must protect it from dust and other unwanted things by covering it until it fully hardens. There are also some that shrinks or lessens when hardened, so it might be best to test them first before you get onto the main work.
They may also emit odor while you work with them, so it would be wise to check ventilation of the room too.


Right, that was quite long, but as you can see, there are various ways of expressing water, so you have quite a variety of options to choose from, so pick something that matches your environment, experience, cost, and of course, your taste. There may also be other ways other than that described here, so it may do you some good to research other methods yourself as well.

Now, these working process is to be done at your own responsibility, as the manufacturers and product dealers will not be able to take responsible for damages or injuries etc. that may occur.


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