a link to that subject thread

Some photos of of great modeling of pier scene:

http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40790&whichpage=4
http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40790&whichpage=16

http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40790&whichpage=73

there are many more images.....

...a fair number of viewers,

...a fair number of viewers, but no other replies,...nor selection of particular photos??

Alternate Forum Site

Just happened upon this site with much of the same photos....perhaps some have had trouble viewing the other site?
 

https://bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=8221

Reflective Water

I'm trying to find the page(s) within his forum discussion that outline his method and material to get that 'reflective images' in his water,...

I remember it was quite a job, and costly materials he utilized. I'm wondering if the 'base coat' could have been made using reflective mylar??

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018VI76JA/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2

Assembly of the Building

For the past few days i have been looking at the assembly of my building. I came up with some questions, and I have now gone to that original site to ask a few questions.

Has anyone else put one of these together??

Epoxy

Two  part Envirotex epoxy produces still, reflective water but large pours can become expensive and problematic. I'm mulling that over for my lake harbor module project right now. It's usually my go to method but it would be the largest pour I've ever done.

Reflective Mylar, epoxy, or some other way to depict water

I've been planning to eventually incorporate a car ferry and seaside harborside scene, and have looked at a number of approaches used historically.  All seemed to effectively portray water in photos.

In actual usage, I'm wondering if just using reflective mylar would work better if the ceiling above it was to be painted green or blue-green. My concern is that if were truly mirror-like, the reflection I'd see standing next to it would include everything above it.

A lot of videos and some modules I've seen at shows tend to use a method that produces either an opaque surface or allows only a very limited amount of translucence.  This mimics what I've seen as the oceanside.  It might be possible to recreate this with a tinted mylar underneath a thin layer of typical water modeling products, but I've never seen one done this way in person.   Some mountain streams and a couple lakes I've been to are quite a bit more translucent, showing everything including their bottom. Lakes tend to be more reflective when viewed from a shallow angle (nearly parallel to their surface) rather than when I'm looking down into them from a bridge or the shoreline.

I'm quite a way off from needing to choose a method, so I continue to look at the various discussions with interest, although right now I'm leaning towards a painted surface with a shallow top layer of gloss medium and then stippling waves on the dried surface afterwards.  I only need a little translucency near any beaches, and even slightly wind-driven water tends not to be to reflective of the objects on or next to it.

Janet N.

  "I'm wondering if the

You'd have to see an in progress shot of the scene. Many times these type of diorama photos are not permanent layout scenes but are just set up to get the dramatic photo. It might just be as simple as using a piece of glass for the base. The night time setting can hide a lot of faults and the lights can pin point the desired details....DaveB

I use Acrylic gloss medium,

I use Acrylic gloss medium, in a very thin pour - about 1/8" or so. It's self leveling. Than I add waves with acrylic gell medium, worked into ripples with a fan brush.

This stream is only about 1/4" deep, made of three pours with drying time between them, and gel medium waves added after the last pour.

I find the reflective quality

I find the reflective quality of epoxy over black colored water hard to beat but you do have to keep the dust off it...

Model Water

Sure seems to be a whole lot of different methods to model water.

I'm not going to have that much water surrounding my terminal bld/carfloat area,....but I might wish to eventually redo the water on my estate purchased marvelous waterfront scene.

Building the Structure

Interesting his use of mirrors inside the structure.

Wonder if the ink/alcohol method will be usable after the structure is partially assembled,...(mine is) ??

(PS: Sorry for posting a duplicate of his answer, but I could not find a way to reference a specific posting)

Impressive structure

Notice he’s got a speaker tucked in there to!  He seems quite helpful and will likely share his water technique which looks great.

water technique, mirrors, and india ink

His water technique is covered quite extensively within his subject thread,....but I forget what pages of that rather long thread.

Yes he put sounds and lights in there, but I had not seen the mirror mentioned, so i hadn't looked for it previously. it was only lately that I noticed it. Going to be interesting to hear his reasoning.
 

I've never utilized the ink/alcohol techique, so now I am wondering if I can use it on the various surfaces if I hold the structure up in various manners to make the surfaces flat to my application,....or should I just tackle it in a different manner??

Ink/Alcohol

Other then for rock crevices when material running down the cracks is a good thing, I have always applied it on the flat and let it dry.

Ink/Alcohol

I assume the alcohol is just the 'transport mechanism' that will evaporate eventually and leave the ink to dry out. I wonder if there are preferred ratios of mixing that might effect its flow rate and quickness in drying? (perhaps not so important on mountain scenery, but maybe in structures?)

Now that building is already glued together I'm wondering how the ink/alcohol might streak down a surface incorrectly?

My Building

I found that adding this single crosswise strip of hardwood was enough to maintain stiffness to accept the rectangular shape of the roof panels sitting properly on the very small sill provided by the model. I may add a few more eventually, if I decide to add lots of lights, etc.
 

I wanted to be able to remove the structure from the layout in the future (to add additional detailing, etc), but I didn't want the track coming out with it. So I fashioned the bottom flooring in 2 layers that straddled that central track,....the floor layer that came with the model, and the addition of a polystyrene layer under it. In order to get it to fit correctly over the track I had to file/sand down the plastic ties on that atlas track.

Mirrors and Lights

The gentleman who built the Magoun Pier has been very helpful with details of his build,....

That original subject thread of his is here,...with lots of good photos
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40790&whichpage=1

I'm not so sure that I will utilize the mirror idea, and I have not decided on whether to light my many buildings (or if I will have time to do so).

Yet another method to do water

Hi,

recently I acquired a bottle of "gloss acrylic pouring medium" at a local food-store-chain. Basically it is thinned-down acrylic medium. It was cheap(-ish). I've been doing a bit of experiments with it... I found it cracks if I try to do thicker layers, so I have to pour very thin layers and leave it to dry between coats. About five coats gives a very nice "water effect", however I do recommend a micro-test-scene before committing to it.

I guess this is just a variation on "gloss medium"

Have fun and stay healthy

"gloss acrylic pouring

Just wondering why such a product would be found in a food store?

Food stores

Hi,

well, local food store chains keep a varying inventory of weekly changing non-food items. They try to get you to their store rather than the store just next door... Usually you should be careful with things that contain more than three or four moving parts in one package I think "Aldi" started the trend but now every food chain is copying it.

That said, the stuff I have is probably sub-standard (it has to be cheap). It works for me, though, and in absence of an easy way to get gloss medium (neither of the "art" stores near me carry it)...

Have fun and stay healthy

Walmart will have gloss

Walmart will have gloss medium and 2 part resin for pouring as well.

Original Forum Off Line, but alternative for some GREAT photos

Very regrettably the original forum that hosted the long discussion and photos of the Magoun Pier project is currently off line (with questionable return).

Fortunately  a lot of the photos can be found here,    https://bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=8221

The railroad-line forums has come back on line with different software, but when I did a search on their new forum I could NOT find this subject thread?

I had also made a referenced links to the many photos on their original forums (web links) over to the beginning of this subject thread. Those photos do now NOT show up on this thread?

Is that same sort of thing going to happen to previous photo postings on the older MRH forum that likely had their own particular (unique) web addresses??