Water effects - need some advice.

[Sardoo]

I'm currently working on Colonel Bill's 17th century ducking stool vignette. I intend on creating a small pond for the (alleged) witch to be dunked into. I've looked at the range of products to pour but I don't know how to seal the area I want to pour into. If I use plastic or cardboard I'm worried about the liquid sticking to it. Is this likely to happen or is there a handy hint about how to avoid this?

This is my first go at a water effect so any advice would be much appreciated.

[snitcythedog]

I've looked at the range of products to pour but I don't know how to seal the area I want to pour into. If I use plastic or cardboard I'm worried about the liquid sticking to it. Is this likely to happen or is there a handy hint about how to avoid this?
This is my first go at a water effect so any advice would be much appreciated.

For the terrain side portion you can seal using pva (read white glue in the states).  If the pond is going to be on the table edge you might want to try this technique.  http://www.hirstarts.com/tips17/tips17.html#plan 
The author is using envirotex lite but the technique is sound and should be adaptable to other manufactures of realistic water.  Hope that helps. 
Snitchy sends.

[Elk101]

I've used DAS modelling clay to form edges to contain the 'water' and then applied a mix of PVA glue and sand to the base (river bed, pond bottom, etc). I initially applied a watered-down coat of PVA over this to help seal it but I don't always now. Then I've undercoated with a black spraypaint and then painted. The final stage was to pour the resin water effect product in (usually a few layers are required for anything with depth otherwise it takes a long time to cure). For things like connecting river sections where the water is on the edge of the terrain I've used masking tape to contain the resin though this sometimes creates a little wave effect where the resin curves up towards the top of the tape. It's never been fixed to the resin once that has dried though. So far I've never had any problems with the resin leaking through the layers of paint, PVA and clay.

Apologies if I've totally missed the point of the question and rambled on! 

[Hammers]

Cardboard is not the material of choice for a base plate. Try MDF, plywood or some kind of rigid sheet metal.

[Elk101]

Cardboard is not the material of choice for a base plate. Try MDF, plywood or some kind of rigid sheet metal.

Definitely,  I normally use mdf bases or even thick plasticard for small features.

[Sardoo]

Thanks for all the advice, folks! Very helpful!

[Malebolgia]

1. Stay away from Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. It's gunk.
2. My favorite is Envirotex Lite...a resin based water type.
3. Make sure you mix it well at the right ratio.
4. You can tint it with ink, but make sure you don't overdo it.
5. If you want to add grass/weeds/reeds, add them when the resin is almost set. Otherwise it will creep up the foliage and it looks silly.
6. You can sprinkle leaves and turf on top. If you do it when the resin is wet, it will sink to the bottom (which is cool). If you do this when the resin has almost set, it will stay on top.
7. Make sure the terrain piece is on a flat surface so you won't get a skewed water level.
8. Try to pour if the air is not too moist...otherwise the resin may get a strange film on top.
9. Try to pour in thin layers. If you want a deep area, build up the layers...one per two days.

[gweirda]

8. Try to pour if the air is not too moist...otherwise the resin may get a strange film on top.

Related to this: The curing resin heats up and will draw water from its surroundings, producing a fog/film. Avoid any source of moisture in your materials - don't mix the resin in a paper cup, or use a wooden stick to stir it. 

[Malebolgia]

Here are some examples of scenery pieces done with Envirotex Lite:

http://paintoholic.nl/onewebstatic/b6628abb90-images-froggies.jpg
Here I learned that adding reeds before pouring water is not a good idea as the stuff sucks up the resin.

http://paintoholic.nl/onewebstatic/9f93fb135e-images-kraken_frothers2.jpg
http://paintoholic.nl/onewebstatic/3dd9e3e662-images-kraken_frothers1.jpg
I used a 120 mm base and cut out the inner plastic. I then glued it to a CD, painted the CD and added pieces of molten plastic cup. Then I built up the water with several layers of Envirotex Lite. The waves were done by adding Water Effects to the pieces of molten plastic.

http://paintoholic.nl/images/scenery/pond.jpg
I used a piece of Foamed PVC for this one. I built up the muddy bank with sand, adding the pier and then airbrushed the water. I then poured a thin layer of Envirotex Lite (not too much or it will go over the muddy bank!) and finally sprinkled some leaves and turf on top.
I placed the moss on the piece before pouring (to get a wet moss) and the reeds when the stuff was almost set.

http://paintoholic.nl/images/tooquiet/house_front.jpg
http://paintoholic.nl/images/tooquiet/house_back.jpg
I dremeled some "trenches" in the plinth and after finishing painting I taped the sides of the plinth with Tamiya Masking tape. I made sure I added lots of tape to prevent leaks and to make sure it gave a solid straight edge. I then poured in a single layer of thick tinted resin (with Vallejo Fluo Green). In hindsight too much tinting as the water is almost opaque, but it did give the bright nuclear waste I wanted.
I then pulled off the tape and sanded the edges with 1000 grit sand paper (Tamiya). Once this was nice and smooth, I removed the resin dust and gave the resin a brushed on coat of Envirotex Lite to make it shine and pop again.

[Sardoo]

Superb work and very helpful too!