Rapids and white water are

Rapids and white water are very hard to pull off effectively.  Which is going to be a problem for me as I model the New River Subdivision which has some world famous rapids that thousands raft every year.  And the front of most of my layout is the river itself.  Ultimately I will have 200 to 300 feet of river with a LOT of rapids.  So I look forward to seeing what you come up with.  Right now I am looking into the water effects sold by Vallejo to see if they are of use, but I will watch what your doing.  Your sample around the rocks looks interesting.  Have you studied photos of rapids?

-Doug Meyer

Rapids and white water are

Doug,

     Yes I have many photos of white water rapids. One of the issues I have is most of the time the water is clear as it comes up to the rocks and turns white as it passes but it. and that not the tough part it that you are working with waves less then 1/8 inch. So modeling something that detail and small is the challenge. Also a note as I am sure you know Spring rapids and not the same as the other seasons. I like 2nd river the best as at lease the foam has texture and the painted one looks to white to me.

Mike

Photo 2 looks the best to me.

Photo 2 looks the best to me.  I have spent a lot of time looking at rapids from various directions including from a raft in the middle of them.  And I think in part the problem is that a big rapid is very foamy and has,a lot of spray and mist and you can see a reasonable way into it.  And while white foam is not to hard to create but the airy spray is and it is this spray that in the real world gives the rapid its transparency.  Add in the constant movement that makes the rapid seam to be alive and it is hard to create

-Doug Meyer

Looks very Trout Stream to me

Which i think is good given your chosen modeling locale.

Matte Rocks

The rocks do not appear to be wet (glossy).

Same Challenge Different Modeler

Its hard to model water... period. I have tried myself getting the correct amount of chop, with whitecaps and wave variation and after 8 different tries with 6 materials, I ended up using gels like you did. While the finished product looks better than most, I have a long way to go for mastery.

I can sorta tell that you did the pond and ocean in a single pass, maybe two layers of gel. I would recommend that you do water in 4 passes. Talking specifically to the rapids, paint the base color of your choosing. I do recommend that base paints are 4 colors in the same family (Light medium and dark shades with white or black added) and sponge blended to add variation. This is a detail but the varied paint makes a difference in the light of our layout. I can show it to people who look close but to a passerby, its just visual noise that enhances the effect.

The first layer of gel gets mixed with one contrast color. For the rapids is most likely white and your base color to get the under bubbles under the water surface. With more stable water bodies apply one of the colors used to paint the base. Do not mix the paint and the gel so the paint is consistently through the gel. It should be splotchy white and color on the brush, then applied that way to the water. Apply thickly to get the waviest texture required. Don't worry about too many or too large waves, we will fill in later with more gel.

The second layer is the first back fill payer this should also have color in it but add a drop of white, black, or your primary base color for more color variation. This should be a thin layer and applied in a controlled fashion to craft the water in both color and texture toward your final vision. This is an art more than it is a science. Once this dries, this should look, colorwise, like your final product the last two layers are only for depth and texture.

The third layer is a thin clear skim coat of only gel that is applied to fill in low spots and add fine texture. Use the brush and take long strokes in the general direction of wind or current and make long passes so that the gel dries unevenly. To clarify if your water runs from left to right, brush from upper right to lower left.  Stippling is ok as well but this is water condition dependent. You should almost look like a finished product.

The fourth layer is another skim coat. This time you run the brush at a 60 to 90 degree angle of the last pass. This is to hide the long brush strokes of the last pass and fill in more low spots if necessary.

Then take white paint and apply whitecaps an needed... SPARINGLY.

Let me know how that goes.

Here's my one and only try at

Here's my one and only try at water. I wanted to try to show rudhing water.

I used Woodland Scenics "water" after airbrushing the river bed with a darker blue in the center to a lighter blue towards the edges.

As the "water" was setting up, using an old paint brush, I lightly slapped the surface with the side of the brush. It does give the look of rushing water.