Bridge at Mason Park

[doctorwayne]

DocWayne, the ripples in your river definitely give the feeling of moving water, and I could certainly be happy with something like that. On the other hand, I'm going to try for the "wind ripple" look ofthe prototype, maybe even do it as in this photo, where the water near the banks or smooth, but the middle has the ripples. Do y'all think it would look strange if I did it like this? I mean, would a visitor be wondering why the ripples are only on part ofthe water?

Well, a copy of the photo taped to the layout fascia would silence any critics, provided you do a credible job on the ripples, and there's no reason to doubt that you could pull it off.
The application of gloss medium can look very effective, although I've never tried it. Based on its properties, though, you should be able to get a similar ripple effect by painting on a generous coat, then, starting at the farthest away point where you want the ripples to begin, use a 1/2" brush, with its handle almost parallel to the surface, to dab at the wet medium. Work your way across the water course, then return the brush to the same side where you started and repeat the process, each successive pass being closer and closer to the viewer. You could, I suppose, work back and forth, but I think that by keeping the direction constant, any slightly missed or overlapped areas will look more like a variation in the wind than if you were to alternate the directions. I'd do a test to see what you get. You could also try using a much wider brush - this may make it easier or may make it appear too uniform or too heavily rippled. Depending on the "body" of the medium, you may have to keep repeating the dabbing action as it dries, or simply wait for it to thicken, then hope that you've a long enough window of "working time" to complete the job. Gloss (or matte) medium goes on milky white, then clears as it dries. I'd keep the water's surface painted, and apply the medium un-tinted - that may give it an extra dimension of "depth".

But here is a photo from a different day, with the ripples across the entire bayou. Could try to do this too.

Sititng here brainstorming, I wonder if I should glue a piece of sheet styrene on top ofthe foam and work with that as the base for the water instead of using the foam. Thoughts?

Well, ya gotta ask yourself one question here. Do you get some gloss medium and make a few tests, maybe one on EasySand 20, one on painted styrene and anything else that springs to mind? Or do you just go ahead and do that bayou with a product you've never used before? So, are ya feelin' lucky, pal?

Personally, based on your performance as demonstrated repeatedly in these pages, I'd say go for it, but there's no shame in trying a few trial runs, either. My "water" effects were all first time attempts and, while not perfect, look pretty-much how I hoped they would. It never occurred to me to try the method on a smaller scale - I was prepared to scrape everything out if it started going south.

Another option, if you can find it with proper-looking ripples, is to use rippled glass. Paint the water surface as usual, then overlay it with the glass, ripple-side-up. This would require, I think, a re-working of the banks, though.

Wayne