Home Page > General Tips

Life-like water

2011-06-13 Khaiell
Share the link

Modelling realistic water is easy if you have the right glue...

Swampy pond

This guide is about creating water itself. Make sure to check other guides on this website that use this technique for complete projects: river and sludge, puddle/mire/lake

  1. Even the water surface by pouring a thick layer of polymer/nitrocellulose glue easily available from DIY stores. You may theoretically just use a PVA glue but then the base of your model may warp ruining the effect
  2. Paint the water with a grey paint with a hint of green and blue. Darker in the middle with brighter shallow areas. I use Games Workshop's Shadow Grey
  1. Cover the water with a glossy varnish
  2. Use drybrush to paint some yellowish-green duckweed at the edges

I don't use ready-made modelling water as it is expensive and actually worse then a glue covered with varnish.

Share the link

See the pictures as separate pages: Swampy pond * River * Sci-fi bridge with a sewer pouring dangerous chemicals

You may also find these interesting:
Industrial terrain
Some inspiration for building and painting industrial terrain for Shadow War Armageddon or the Industrial Sector of the 40k Adeptus Mechanicus »
Real-world inspiration 12-05-2017 Khaiell
Are card cut-out buildings from 1993 still cool?
2nd edition Warhammer 40k box set came with a large set of "2-D" ruined buildings that resembled theatrical decoration more than model dioramas. I pulled some out of the basement for a photoshoot to see if they are viable on the tabletop almost a quarter of a century later... »
Reviews 17-06-2016 Khaiell