In Search of Water Effects Advice

I recently finished the base of my first board, but am having a bit of trouble deciding how to model my stream. I plan to glue sections of 2" blue foam down onto plywood, creating a 3" wide canal through my version of Mordheim. What's the best way to model the water? I'd considered a 50/50 solution of white glue and water, but my experiments in that vein have been a bit runny. Should I just paint the plywood riverbed? Should I use resin? Thoughts?

I picked up quite a large bottle of Vallejo still water from a model railway supplier for not a lot of money. I've only use it to make a small puddle on some bases so far but you get a lot for your cash.

Thanks Squattingmouse. It does sound cheap and easy. I even found a forum that says it will set properly when mixed with a bit of paint.

Only one question: does it heat up as it dries? I worry about a thermal reaction (or a chemical one for that matter) when I'm pouring it next to foam.

If your foam is painted, you shouldn't have any problem with a chemical reaction. Most of the water effect products generate a modicum of heat in the drying process, but not enough to damage the foam.
Woodland Scenics makes a couple of different water effect thingies:
Their Realistic Water is a 1 part pourable, probably similar to Vallejo's...I haven't tried Vallejo's water effect, so I can't say for certain.
Their Water Effect is more of a gel; it's useful for doing things like making waterfalls, fountains, wave effects, stuff like that.
They also have a water effect that looks like plastic beads; you melt the "beads" in a sauce pan & pour...this has the advantage of drying quickly, but it also has a tendency to form bubbles: the melted beads are not hot enough to damage foam unless overheated.
One other thing that Woodland Scenics has that I've found useful is a booklet on how to use all their products. I think they have a DVD of the beasty available also.

Addendum:I've gotten a reasonably nice tinting effect by adding a couple of drops of water color or regular acrylic paint to the mix prior to pouring. Too much paint will, however, cause the water effect to go opaque.

If you have easy access to clear fast-setting resin, use that.

In fact, if it's still water you want, you can use just about any thick, clear varnish. Something that's usually used for floors or wooden furniture should work perfectly and be super-sturdy as well. The main drawback with such products would be drying time.

The problem with PVA glue isn't that it's runny, it's that it shrinks so much when it dries, and it turns yellow with time.

Best of luck with your project!

Polyurathane Floor covering ,as FKSN said, gives a nice effect. Here's an example:





The wave-like texture is achieved by screwing up one or more layers of the Poly.

Follow up question then. If I decide to go with a Polyurathane Floor covering (varnish), how do you color it? I'm going for a dirty Mordheim canal, a nice greenish brown, with this sort of look in mind,:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2443165/2/istockphoto_2443165-canal-in-disrepair.jpg

Can you mix paint with varnish, or should I just ink wash after it's set?

I was going to suggest the Woodland Scenics stuff (it's readily available at local craft stores like Michaels) but Deaf beat me to it.

Also, that Polyurethane floor covering is a pretty cool effect! I'd never seen that used before...

To replicate the dirty canal of your stock photo, I wouldn't add any coloration to the water effects. I'd paint the riverbed with greys, browns and some greens. To get the rotting seaweed, I'd glue patches of fine flock on top.

Another tip when you're considering colors for watery terrain pieces: Abolish all blues. Unless you're making a terrain board of the pacific sea or something, all the blues you see in pictures of water is a reflection of the sky. Bluish water will just look cartoony and wrong. Unless that's the look you're going for of course

Thanks for all the advice guys. I think I'll go with a one-step pour solution, painting the "riverbed" as FKSN suggests. Whether that's Vallejo or Woodland Scenics, it looks pretty tough to screw up.

I'll post pics of the board in a new thread when it's done.