Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Soyokaze Harbor: Water Painting 02


Woodland Scenics Water Effects being added


I took a pass at the Woodland Scenics Water Effects for the harbor module and the same thing happened that happened with the pond. The water effects went on well and looked great wet and white, but when it dried clear, it was under-wealming.  The cool, white look that was there was gone and it lost it's cool factor.


I spoke to my wife about the issue and she asked if I could mix white into the Water Effects to get the look that I wanted. Brilliant idea and it worked like a charm, however it was a bit too white and it was rather striking against the green that I had set up for the water color. 




Mint green foam mix
In an effort to calm it down, I tried a few things. I re-applied the Water Effects to see if that would tame the white, but it had no effect. I was thinking through the issue and it really was just a matter of taming the stark white that was there, so I mixed up a mint green looking batch of paint, mixed that into the Water Effects, then went over the top of the white layer with this new, moss green Water Effects mixture. It really toned down the white and gave the "foam" a nice, sea spray look that I really like. 

Engines churning as the crews speak together - boat to boat


This was a great process lesson for several reasons. If I had done some tests first like I did with the pond project, I would have seen that the white was "too white" and could have avoided having to work out the taming of it. If I had taken more time in general, the results would have been better, I think. The rush comes from the time (or lack there of) that I have for the hobby. I see a chance and run in to take hold of it before it's gone. As it stands, I'll try to get a little more balance between seeing a chance and moving too fast.

So, it looks like the Woodland Scenics Water Effects is a good product when tweaked a bit. I'm growing to like it more and more.

Now...to paint the base layer of ground on the module! :)




3 comments:

  1. This looks great !

    I've tried WS water effects before and like you, was not too impressed with the results. It looks like you were using acrylic paints for the tint ?

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    1. Thanks for looking! I'm 50/50 on this brand right now. It seems to work when you work at it, but it's not easy. Not as easy as the make it look on their website, that's for sure! :)

      And, yes, I've been using acrylics for all the painting and tinting. They seem to work well and really help with the realism. These things need all the help they can get. hehehe

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