Had that happen

Peter,

I have had the same problem with that product.  In one instance the problem was I had high humidity in the area were the product was drying.  It eventually became clear (it took a week).

In another instance the product never became clear even after weeks and I suspected that the product was old so I bought another bottle.  I didn't have the problem with the newer bottle.  Hope that this helps.

Rick

Same and more

I too have had problems with WS water.  I had an old bottle which never turned clear, and a newer one which took a week or more to harden.  Now, several months later, I go back and look and all the water on my layout is cracking.

I am thoroughly disappointed and will not use the product again.  It's expensive, inconvenient, and not terribly good at representing water.

Thanks guys

Rick and Ken

Thanks for your responses.  It has been a very wet last few weeks here so I am picking the ambient moisture levels are pretty high.  The product is gradually turning clear so hopefully we will get there eventually.  I did wonder if the stuff had passed its use by date but I purchased the bottle from my LMS only two weeks ago.  If and when it does clear I will post some pictures of the end results.  I think I will also email WS and see what they have to say.

Ken - Have you found a suitable alternative?

Thanks again guys.

Peter Randerson

Not yet

Not yet.  I've had no motivation for anything model related for a couple months now, but when I do get going again I will probably start by ripping out the WS "water."  I am thinking of going with something known to work - either envirotex or resin.

Since my water never turned clear, I ended up painting the surface and giving it a good coat of Future gloss clear.  That actually worked remarkably well, although it has no real depth.

WS water

I have used both WS water products. The water was less than satisfactory. It never hardened. I poured a layer of Magic Water over it, and it turned out great. The water effects also turned out great. I used Magic Water and WS water effects for the remainder of my streams. DJ.

Amazing scene DJ

Hey DJ I am gobsmacked. That picture is unbelievable, not just the water, every other element as well. I am now way to embarrassed to post any pics of my feeble efforts. 

I didn't use WS Water either.  I used epoxy resin and used the Water Effects on top.  That part worked out ok.  Where I had problems was using Water effects for a waterfall.

My water effects have now just about dried.  Kudos to WS tho I had a response to my email within 24hrs that basically said high ambient moisture levels will slow the drying process.  Just a shame they don't state this on any of their promotional literature.

Cheers

Peter

Waterfall

Thanks, Peter. I used clear silicone sealant for my waterfall. I used my finger to place thin rows of silicone on a piece of waxed paper. After it dried, I peeled the silicone off and cut it to fit. Then I used the WS water effects over the silicone. DJ.

Hi all,          It's

Hi all,

It's called "Water Effects" for a reason,........ho-hum,...

Dr D

Pictures of the end result

Despite the likelihood of severe embarrassment here are a couple of pictures of the end result. The trestle started life as a kit designed for a straight run, so apart from the legs, I had to scratch build the remainder out of plasticard to make it fit the desired curve. The river/stream is two part epoxy resin.  Peter

djherr cheats

Please be advised by the management of this post that, except for the wildlife, djherr has submitted photos of actual, in situ, prototype railroads.  He's passed them off as models just to make the rest of us feel bad. 

As for djherr, To you sir I can only doff my hat.  Translated from the Latin, "bene".

Envirotex Light

My "water effects"

I prefer to use Minwax Polyacrylic clear gloss for modeling water. It cleans up easily with water and is much cheaper than hobby shop water. I can pour it, brush it, or drip it on with an eye-dropper. It can also be easily tinted (aqua, green, blue) with acrylic paint. Available at most hardware stores.

A new water effect I just tried with success is for waterfalls. I streched pillow stuffing (Poly fiber) down the side of a mountain, with a clump of fiber at the bottom. I then dribbled some Minwax onto the fiber, shaped it a little as it was hardening, and voila, a waterfall with spray at the bottom. 

My 'water effects" 2

I forgot to mention, Minwax also will turn milky and slow to dry if it is too old. A can on my shelf was over a year old, and gave very poor results.

Polyacrylic

I know a couple people who have had trouble with the Minwax Polyacrylic product for modeling water, even new stock.  It can have problems drying, peeling and so on.  I'm not sure what the variables are, and am not discounting gbcutter's success, but thought I'd throw this out there.

Minwax

There was an MRH thread a long time back about using Polyacrylic. The secret to success is keeping the overall thickness to a minimum and letting previous layers cure well before applying more. Think furniture application.

Gloss Medium

Have you tried using Gloss Medium Gel?  There are different thicknesses, but if you get the type that's called "Heavy", you'll be able to pile it up and form it to about any shape you need for waterfalls and rapids--just like with WS Water Effects.  It's consistency is close to cake frosting or mayonnaise.  The stuff I used is by Liquitex: "Gloss Heavy Gel".  Golden makes "High Solid Gel" and they've got an even stiffer version that I believe they call Gloss Modeling Paste (haven't used that one, however).

The heavy Gloss Gel takes a good 24 hours to dry--probably more depending on the humidity and how thick you apply it.