Bath water

[Sardoo]

I'm planning a diorama using the excellent Hasslfree Scooby Gang. One part of it will, hopefully, have Shaggy standing with his back to a doll's house bath with a skeleton or zombie coming up out of the water as though about to grab him.

The problem is that the amount of water in the bath - and dripping off the rising villian - is so small as to make buying any of the commercially available stuff such as "Real Water" seem a bit extravagant.

So, I wondered if anyone could suggest an alternative to use as the water for this scene?

Many thanks in advance for any ideas.

[tin shed gamer]

A bubble bath,
A quick method(takes a bit of practice)super glue small clumps of basing grit together, such as the GW stuff,and coat with Pva,to soften the edges.Or the self clumping foliage for model trees would,repainted also work.
Is pritty much the way I cover the odd raised lip you get on water effect resin.But you could cover a whole surface and leave little flat areas to hint at water.
Or may be stagnent water with the odd slime hanging from the figure would work just as well as the odd bubble patch on the figure.
Hope this helps.
Mark.

[Sardoo]

Cheers, Mark! Will give this a go.

[Connectamabob]

There's also gloss heavy acrylic media, which you can get at art stores and some craft stores. Golden and Liquitex are the brands IIRC. It's what people use to sculpt waves and spray on the surface of resin water. Comes in a little tub, looks and feels like cooking shortening when it's wet, but dries clear.

Can't remember how much it costs (maybe 8-10 bucks a tub?). I'll admit I usually don't worry about whether a material is extravagant for one figure (as long as it's affordable), 'cause the amount purchased usually means I'll then have a bunch on hand for later figure's/projects. It's more of a general workbench investment than a splurge for one figure, and the actual per-figure cost is pennies.

[FramFramson]

The problem I've found with acrylic gel mediums is that if they're poured in any significant thickness, they crack horrendously. It's still possible to use the stuff, but you would have to do many many coats.

One alternative for very small areas is to just use two-part clear epoxy. Though the problem there is you get bubbles from the mixing process, so that might not be the greatest idea either (incidentally, does anyone know of a way to mix two-part epoxy in a way that doesn't form bubbles?).

[roadskare63]

You can also experiment with monofilament super glued to the figures and the tub ...then "painting" on DAP alex plus in layersover the monofilament to get the desired effect of water splashing off the figure...I have used this stuff for rivers and ponds...it is quite forgiving if only a little tricky to work with...the effects are nice...it is whit and dries crystal clear and stays flexible for years...
Just another thought.

[Melnibonean]

Clear silicone sealer (calking).

[Michi]

So, I wondered if anyone could suggest an alternative to use as the water for this scene?

Many thanks in advance for any ideas.

I painted it and varnished it glossy:

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

I painted it and varnished it glossy:

That is genius, Michi! 

[Connectamabob]

The problem I've found with acrylic gel mediums is that if they're poured in any significant thickness, they crack horrendously. It's still possible to use the stuff, but you would have to do many many coats.

I'm talking about the "heavy" weight artist's stuff, which has a consistency like shortening or warm butter. You don't and physically can't pour it: you apply it with a brush or spread it with a popsicle stick/putty knife. It dries elastic, so doesn't crack. It does shrink, so if you were trying to use it as fill water on a large application it'd probably pull away from the edges, but it's not something that's used for fill water anyway: like I said, it's used to sculpt waves and such on top of a fill water material.

On a really small application, you probably could go 1cm deep with it, and it wouldn't pull away from the sides, though it would probably bow in the center. Regardless, in the OP's specific application were only talking a few MM at most, basically exactly the same sort of range as adding waves & chop to a 1/35 lake surface.

[Daeothar]

How about bog standard hobby glue? You know; the cheap clear stuff, usually in clear plastic bottles, used in elementary- and highschools everywhere.

It dries clear and glossy, and when shaken first, will even contain small air bubbles. And because of it's viscousness, most of those bubbles will be caught in the drying glue, adding to the idea of it being bath water.

I've used the stuff both for water effects (small areas only), hanging icicles, stalagmites and -tites, and making spider webs by using the still tacky threads you can pull from it.

A highly underrated material if you ask me...

[snitcythedog]

incidentally, does anyone know of a way to mix two-part epoxy in a way that doesn't form bubbles?

Short answer mix slow and steady to avoid air being trapped in the mix.  It does not work great since two part epoxy resin is not intended to be used as water.  My usual solution is either to add very thin layers that I can pop or remove the bubbles from or to not use it for water in the first place.  I prefer envirotex lite since the bubbles will in most cases move to the surface on their own and it pours better.  It is a pig to use when you only need a little bit. 
Snitchy sends.

[zizi666]

How about bog standard hobby glue? You know; the cheap clear stuff, usually in clear plastic bottles, used in elementary- and highschools everywhere.

It dries clear and glossy, and when shaken first, will even contain small air bubbles. And because of it's viscousness, most of those bubbles will be caught in the drying glue, adding to the idea of it being bath water.

I've used the stuff both for water effects (small areas only), hanging icicles, stalagmites and -tites, and making spider webs by using the still tacky threads you can pull from it.

A highly underrated material if you ask me...

I've used it once to create a small pond in 6mm. I found it had a lot of shrinkage when drying.

[Sardoo]

Great ideas here! Many thanks folks!

[FramFramson]

Short answer mix slow and steady to avoid air being trapped in the mix.  It does not work great since two part epoxy resin is not intended to be used as water.  My usual solution is either to add very thin layers that I can pop or remove the bubbles from or to not use it for water in the first place.  I prefer envirotex lite since the bubbles will in most cases move to the surface on their own and it pours better.  It is a pig to use when you only need a little bit. 
Snitchy sends.

I wouldn't typically use epoxy for standing water of any sort, but it IS great to use for stuff like streams formed with monofilament.