Base coat color for river bottom

[ChessieFan]

 I am in process of creating a river on My n scale layout. This I my first river scene on My railroad.
The proposed river has bottom made of pink ridge insulation board.  I Will be using Woodland Scenics Realist water with Turquoise water tint. 
I would like to paint the river bottom to cover the pink color of the pink ridge insulation board. Would white or black be appropriate colors?  I am open to any suggestions.

Thank You,
Chessie Fan

[Maletrain]

Unless you want to simulate water that is so deep that we cannot see the bottom, I would paint the bottom the color of whatever you think the bottom of the real river would look like.

The turquoise tint sounds a bit unrealistic looking unless you are modeling a Caribbean island with a white sand bottom in shallow water.

Maybe if you describe your river in more detail, you could get more helpful replies.  How deep?  Is this a flowing river with a natural clean bottom, or a deep harbor with a bottom that is basically black muck?  What part of the country?

[Scottl]

Most rivers have a blue or green tint to them, depending on the water quality and time of year.  Many rivers also have a brown tone to them from dissolved organic material. Kind of like tea.  Winter water tends to be bluer and summer greener, based on sun angle and algae content.   

Regardless of the color you choose. Blending in some bed material colour along the edges helps give some depth.  I mixed in a bit of brown along my rivers, and then also tinted the top gloss brown along the edges.  It needs to be subtle to be convincing but it is easy to do.  Picking a colour for the water can be challenging but hopefully you have an idea of what you want.

[DirtyD79]

For a river I would consider using a very dark green or for muddy looking slow moving water a muddy tan color. The dark green hints of algae and vegetation below the surface while the muddy tan suggests mud and sediment.

[Chris333]

What I did:

[Chris333]

Also the Styrofoam will off gas and you'll get bubbles sooner or later. It has happened to me. Now I only use wood as a base for water.

[Dwight in Toronto]

Also the Styrofoam will off gas and you'll get bubbles sooner or later. It has happened to me. Now I only use wood as a base for water.

I hereby offer up further endorsement of Chris’s warning. 

I once had several golf-ball-sized bubbles ruin a water feature that had taken me many dozens of hours of careful creation and detailing.  This, despite several healthy coats of paint on the lake bottom, which I had applied as an anti-outgassing preventive sealant.

The bubbles slowly emerged several months after the Woodland Scenics water product was poured.  I cut out the entire section, recreated everything a second time, and then used an epoxy product for the water pour, which delivered superior results. 

I would steer folks away from the WS offering.

[Maletrain]

Dwight, what "epoxy product" did you use for your water the second time?

[Scottl]

Just to be clear, offgassing and bubbles occur with epoxy top coats?  I've never seen it with paint-gloss directly on EPS (blue-pink foam board).

[Lemosteam]

Here is what I did on my Long Island channels.

The base coat is just a mish mash of dark murky greens, dark brown and black to darken it further.  Not a river bed by any means, but even the shallow running rivers I have seen here in Michigan are murky, greenish brown affairs.  Never a hint of blueish anything, unless a glass smooth lake reflection of a bright clear sky.

I am with everyone else- look on google maps for the river you are modeling and try to duplicate that effect.



Here is a pic of the channels on long Island, more blackish gray in the deeper parts (then again it is a google map image):

[Scottl]

Seasonality has a lot to do with it.  Your aerial example has some blue tones in it IMO.  I find blue tones are more cool season when sun is lower and the green biological effect is more muted.

The specifics of the local are important in determining the right tones but subtle mixing with bed colors like brown helps give a realistic look.

[Dwight in Toronto]

Dwight, what "epoxy product" did you use for your water the second time?

Oh man, I just KNEW someone was going to ask that, and I’m afraid that I no longer remember. 
It was a competitive, 2-part product offered by my LHS.  Worked flawlessly, applied over painted styrofoam, with no outgassing bubbles over the last 15 years.

[peteski]

Oh man, I just KNEW someone was going to ask that, and I’m afraid that I no longer remember. 
It was a competitive, 2-part product offered by my LHS.  Worked flawlessly, applied over painted styrofoam, with no outgassing bubbles over the last 15 years.

Most common in hobby and craft stores is Envirotex.



But there are many other similar 2-part epoxy products out there.  They all should work well.

[John]

I use the “resin” from JTC here.  A base of sand and dirt, with diluted glue, after that dries, some mod podge and acrylic earth color, add sticks and other scenery materials, then I poured.  [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Tad_T]

 Very nice work, sir!