Nice!

Charlie,nice work!Your article came in the nick of time!

I am having to do a rapids/river on a layout I am building for a customer.I made the river too deep(me bad) and gloss medium won't cut it. Therefore I am getting some EnviroTex to fill-in the depth.

Thanks,Dr Dirt

Building a creek or river

This article is very helpful as I plan my first attempt at a creek on my layout. The base of my layout is blue foam. What do I need to put down as a base for the riverbed? Will using plaster work? I am assuming that I can't use Envirotex directly on painted foam? Thanks for the article, I can't wait for the next installment.

Tim Fahey

If I may,...

Hi Tim,

Not speaking for Charlie here .Yes,plaster is fine for a base and then seal with matte medium,let both fully cure. The reason is that Envirotex will find any pin hole in which to flow through. Another good tip is to 'paint' the edges where you want the Envirotex to stop,this will halt the resin from creeping where you don't want it to go.

​Dr D

I've found that plaster

I've found that plaster doesn't stick well to blue (or pink) foam. So I slap a coat of flat latex house paint on the foam. When that's dry add the plaster, the paint has some tooth for the plaster to adhere to.

I think that if you are careful to get complete coverage -- ie no pinholes in the paint you should be able to put Envirotex on the foam. I'd suggest two or three coats for good measure.

I'm really hazy on this because it was 8 or more years ago, my daughter was making a 3d map of some landmass and she wanted to use envirotex for the water. The base of her 3d map was pink foam. I don't recall there being a melting problem with the foam. But I don't recall whether or how the foam was "sealed" perhaps mixing a small batch of Envirotex and testing it with the foam would yield educational results?

Inquiring minds want to know?

Charlie

Perfect Timing

Thanks, working on my first layout and working on a creek. Your article adds some good ideas that I did not think about. 

John