Epoxy resin river

[The Great Escape]

Hi all,

 

I’ve had my first try using two-part epoxy resin to create water. It was interesting to use and I’ve learned a few things…

I picked this up from hobby craft only as it was half price - I don’t think I’d bother if it was full price as it’s very expensive for what it is. This was 150ml. Really, I could have done with twice as much to really get the river high but I just went with the starter kit to ‘test the water’ (great word play there). You’ll see in the photos that I needed lots more!

 

Question - at a later date, could I add more resin to what’s already there?

The base of the diorama is wall insulation board, which I carved and then painted with PVA to seal.

 

My side barrier did leak a little which was annoying as I thought that I had created a tight stopper at the end.

 

The epoxy resin mixed easily. Luckily I did it outside: the small leak for one, but also because the reaction was very hot and I was surprised by how volatile it went when curing. It smoked (maybe the dry moss?), hissed and bubbled. In fact, there are some bubbles that firmed on the surface from the exothermal reaction. And the actual base grew surprisingly hot.

 

The scene is from Ardennes. Still working on it but not far off now.

 

 

 

A lovely shine!

 

 

 

Figures are 90% done.

 

 

A light dust of snow…

 

 

[Model Mate]

very nice looking diorama!

 

I've had a play with a couple of "water" techniques - I've tried two-part resin as you have and it worked well, but I've recently switched to using gorrilla clear glue. It's just as clear, but there's no heat and it's cheap. The puddles in this....

...were done with it. They look cloudy, but that was deliberate; it can give a nice clear and shiny result.

[The Great Escape]

@Model Mate

Does Gorilla Glue work out cheaper?

I haven’t found a tube for less than £6 and wasn’t sure how much is in the tubes.

[Badder]

Hi Model Mate,

Your assertion that you could have done with more resin water had me wonder just how much you lost due to leakage? 150ml should have been plenty enough. The lesson learned: ensure your groundwork, and diorama base and frame are all perfectly sealed before adding resin! I use neat PVA to seal the diorama board and the framework before even adding the groundwork. Once the groundwork is done, I seal the area to be 'watered' with dilute PVA adding a little apron of extra PVA up the 'banks' and framework if the water reaches the side of the frame. If I was really being fussy, I'd then add water to the area, check for leaks and plug any that occur.  Usually though, I'm fairly confident there won't be any leaks, but just in case, I pour thin layers of resin at a time, checking for leaks with each pour. If there is a leak, I seal the leak on the outside with putty/plasticine and let the resin cure. That will fully plug the leak.

I know what you mean about the heat, but Cyano glues will almost set fire to things as well! I've had wood, various fibres, and even my skin 'smoke' due to CA glues! lol. 

With regards to the moss I take it you soaked it in Glycerin (Glycol) for 2 weeks beforehand? I used moss many years ago for a dio and despite attempts to preserve it with PVA and varnishes it dried out, crumbled and fell to pieces within a year. I now soak it in Glycerin and I have some attached to the walls of a model building and it's almost as fresh as the day it was glued on, nearly 2years ago. (it may even be 3 years ago, my memory of the past year or two is fuzzy. lol)

 

Whatever, your groundwork is superb and the dio itself looks great. My only criticism would be the road signs. They are warped and peeling and look to be made of paper stuck to cardboard. If they were more realistic that would lift the diorama to a new level.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Model Mate]

2 hours ago, The Great Escape said:

@Model Mate

Does Gorilla Glue work out cheaper?

I haven’t found a tube for less than £6 and wasn’t sure how much is in the tubes.

good point - I had some to hand, so I gave it a go and it worked; not so sure what I paid for it, but online it's £6 for 50ml. "solid water" resin kits are around £15 for 90ml so a little pricier, but there doesn't seem to be too much in it after all.

The gorrilla glue doesn't have the heat problem though and doesn't seem to shrink or crack. It's very good for headlights and so on, so has replaced Krystal Klear in my kitbag for these jobs as well. The only downsides I've found are that it isn't very sticky - strange as it's a glue - but it isn't tacky when wet. Once dry it's got a good bond though.

[The Great Escape]

Do you add some acetone too?

 

I did visit Poundland to see if they had the two part glue but no luck. If I find that, then I’ll stock up!

[The Great Escape]

3 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Model Mate,

Your assertion that you could have done with more resin water had me wonder just how much you lost due to leakage? 150ml should have been plenty enough. The lesson learned: ensure your groundwork, and diorama base and frame are all perfectly sealed before adding resin! I use neat PVA to seal the diorama board and the framework before even adding the groundwork. Once the groundwork is done, I seal the area to be 'watered' with dilute PVA adding a little apron of extra PVA up the 'banks' and framework if the water reaches the side of the frame. If I was really being fussy, I'd then add water to the area, check for leaks and plug any that occur.  Usually though, I'm fairly confident there won't be any leaks, but just in case, I pour thin layers of resin at a time, checking for leaks with each pour. If there is a leak, I seal the leak on the outside with putty/plasticine and let the resin cure. That will fully plug the leak.

I know what you mean about the heat, but Cyano glues will almost set fire to things as well! I've had wood, various fibres, and even my skin 'smoke' due to CA glues! lol. 

With regards to the moss I take it you soaked it in Glycerin (Glycol) for 2 weeks beforehand? I used moss many years ago for a dio and despite attempts to preserve it with PVA and varnishes it dried out, crumbled and fell to pieces within a year. I now soak it in Glycerin and I have some attached to the walls of a model building and it's almost as fresh as the day it was glued on, nearly 2years ago. (it may even be 3 years ago, my memory of the past year or two is fuzzy. lol)

 

Whatever, your groundwork is superb and the dio itself looks great. My only criticism would be the road signs. They are warped and peeling and look to be made of paper stuck to cardboard. If they were more realistic that would lift the diorama to a new level.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Thanks Badder @Badder

 

I thought that I was sealed but I think I lost some so obviously it wasn’t. I actually test poured 150ml of sand so I knew roughly how much it should fill and knew beforehand it wasn’t going to be enough. But I wasn’t going to spend £20!!!

 

I did notice that the diorama underneath felt quite wet though… I had used loads of PVA in the river bed base and it hadn’t quite gone off so maybe the resin soaked deeper than I anticipated.

 

In terms of moss - my first dioramas are just  18 months old and aren’t showing signs of falling apart just yet. In fact, in some of my dioramas, it’s actually started growing! Time will tell and obviously I respect your experience! Fingers crossed. To be honest, I like to swap and change things anyway so these things rarely last years on display!
 

what is your opinion of pouring new resin on top to top-it up. Will this work?

 

Thanks

[Badder]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:45 PM, The Great Escape said:

what is your opinion of pouring new resin on top to top-it up. Will this work?

Hi, yes, pouring resin water in layers is the thing to do for anything over 3mm deep. I could have provided a model-makers diorama type vid, but the info on this one is good and view is quite nice too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDtosWhm5lw

 

BTW, if you were to want to fill your entire 'ditch' with water, dam each end of the ditch with plasticine, with plasticine/putty/clay stuck to the sides of the base. Once the resin is dry you can pull the plastince off and sand the ends of the resin.

 

Hope that helps,

Badder

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Badder

[thommo]

I'm going to try Vallejo Water for my creek.  No need to mix anything.

 

Did a little test square about 1cm size, seems to work well.  Does not dry as hard as resin, can be dented with fingernail if you push a bit, but it's hard enough.  Biggest issue will be damming the edge and having that edge remain clear when the 'dam wall' is removed.  For this test I just used masking tape sealed with a little diluted wood glue.