I've only just discovered you a week ago and I've learned so much. Thanks for all your hard work and sharing.

great video, you took the time and money to test a variety of products to help others with water effects, I appreciate it because I'm definitely going to try the silicone , thanks

Thanks for the tips and the comparisons between alternatives. You presented some very attractive alternatives to the more expensive modelling-dedicated products. I'll be hitting up my local home-improvement store for silicone caulk next time I want to create water effects!

I discovered your channel a few days ago and I love em.

Thanks so much for posting this. Answered a lot of questions. Never got around to buying the Woodland Scenics because the cost always seemed to high. Sounds like the gel medium is the solution for what I need!!

Been a fan for a while. I have used the silicone for a while, I have layered it and painted between layers, and finish it up with some floor varnish and it comes beautiful. To help smooth it a little soapy water and latex gloves and use your fingers, then dab with stick to get peaks. Good vid, often wondered if it was worth the hassle of proper water effects, now I know Thanks.

The modpodge would be great for the frothy effects at the bottom of water falls or for really heavy waves.

Thanks Luke! Much appreciated helping us navigate H20 effects products. Cheers!

Dude, I don't even make this stuff you show on your videos, but I still watch them because you're a cool guy. Keep it up!

G'day mate, just want to say... big thumbs up on your vids, every time I watch one my creative juices start a flowing. I've got some ideas I want to try out when im off on spring break from teaching. Oh and also, you got a mention from black magic crafts as well mate, for the £ store water/resin effects.. that just shows now mate that your name is getting out there 👍🏻

Your The man Luke . Knew there would be a low cost alternative . The WS range is marked up so much on all their stock you can easily shop in the Railway Hobby suppliers for equal alternative . Then by the time these hit the shelves in Oz it costs a Kidney

Nice one Luke, it's always good to get the best bang for your buck! Cheers mate and have a great time with your next project, Joe

Brilliant video Luke, as are all your videos!! Thanks....

Thanks for the heads-up. Keep 'em coming.

Very useful tutorial, thanks. I have have had good results with PVA glue but I used the EVO-STIK Weatherproof adhesive. It dried nice and clear but you are right, you do have to keep working it as it dries or it levels-out.

I like the effect of the acrylic medium. Also, the silicone is harder to manipulate, so that already gives the medium a plus for me, since my skill in this is noob level. Thanks for the video!

So gloss gel medium looks the better option for a newbie, great video

Excellent video just what I was looking for. I really like your channel and the many money saving ideas you are offering. Living abroad (in Croatia) it's not always as easy to access/find/afford all the tailor made stuff for my crafts. You cannot beat a cheeky cheap alternative!

Great info! I made a 6 by 4 gamingtable for axis and allies war at Sea and used transparent acrylic silicon ( approx. 3 pound/tube, needed 2). I found out that IT was easier to work with IF you Put/smooth IT out with dishsoap.

I now understand why you said the water effects was crap. Awesome Video dude, keep em coming.

Says it all, great video , thanks Luke .

Nice test thanks! The mod podge and acrylic powder could be used to make the effect of waves breaking. In combination with the 007 or the medium gloss might look awesome.

Nice video. I appreciate your honesty.

I was about to do the same experiment. Thanks for saving me the cash!

This video helped me out so much in deciding what kind of gel to get for a small beach diorama with a float plane. Hopefully I'll be able to do this before years end. (decided to go with the liquitex gloss gel medium. Now I gotta figure out how to make the water look turquoise/blue .

Hello Saw this video this morning. Tried the silicone this afternoon. Awesome. Just a 2x4 inch display for a 1/2400 ship display Worked great

I hit the right video right away! I'll try the silicone first. Thanks!

never used water effects myself, but this is a great resource for when I do :)

Your work is amazing,thank you for all of the helpful information 🤙🏻🇮🇹

Great models and miniatures. Well done.

Awesome test, thanks. I a looking at doing a harbour and beach in N gauge and will try the silicon BUT I like the mod podge look for my waves on the beach part. What a clever mistake! :)

I've thinned the clear caulking with household paint thinner, it worked very well.

Very nice. I'm really working up to try some water effects!

Great video. Thanks mate👍

Thanks for the video! Very helpful

It would have been nice to see the fully cured state for these tests. It looked like the WS product had a higher level of detail than the other products and it would have been nice to see how it looked when it was fully cured. The Mod Podge with acrylic powder looked a hell of a lot like frothy water. Things like a base of a waterfall or the crash of a wave. I didn't see ice when I saw that, I saw beaches. It also would have been nice to see the acrylic medium fully cured as that could be a dual purpose product. If it's brushable you can use it as a substitute for both 'ardcoat like products and water effects.

really helpful, thanks for making this!

silicone can be thinned with vinegar - just a bit goes a long way.

Hey Luke, Interesting video. Just a thought, if the silicon is the best finish but a little on the thick side, is there a way of thinning it just a tad?

To cut your drying time down significantly... Get a simple de-humidifier. Moisture and cold temp. are the biggest factors in dry time. So spend the money for a cheap de-humidifier and you'll be glad you did! Cheers.

Bravo....from Macedonia!!! 100% Positive....thanks

Hi Luke, how would you recommend getting a smooth-er effect with the evo-stick? Its great for ripples and waves but if i want to lay it a bit smoother, what should I use? Also if I want to make a waterfall effect, what should I lay the evo-stick on so that I can peel it off easy? It's meant to stick to tile so not sure how easy it would be to get off once dried/set?

Thanks Luke you’re a big help🇨🇦🇨🇦

Thanks for this video bro'!!! This will help me determine how I use these products in the future...

+Lukes Aps can you make a winter board ? i would love to see how to make a good winter board for warhammer fantasy. love your vids

your channel is great, the acrylic powder is great to make snow and frozen effects

Thank you Great video. And very helpful.

as always great stuff. newly subscribed but finding your channel very useful. awesome mate

Great video, Luke!

Thanks, I want to make some low profile ponds and lakes and from watching this video I'm going to do vlear silicone on a heavy mill plastic.

Perfect vid Luke! Use a bit of spit or water on your finger or sculpting tools with the silicone and you'll find it much easier to work with. Keep it up

The modge podge and acrylic powder seem like they would be perfect for doing ocean surf ... did they stay sort of whitish or did they go completely clear over time ?

Helpful video thanks.

Thanks for the info Luke

Very handy, interesting video , thanks

Brilliant video, thank you

Really enjoyed this video. Extremely helpful. It's my understanding that traditional paints won't stick to silicone.

Great stuff Luke. I'm looking at doing a large wave (surfing size) for my guildball team (ever heard of it?) Been thinking on how to go about this and the silicon might be the answer. Thanks

Sorry to hear you’re stopping videos. Good one this.

Amazing stuff

Thanks, I've bought some 007, seems much cheaper than any water alternative I've found.

Luke would you recommend this 007 stuff for using in waterfalls? Otherwise informative Vid and thanks for sharing it with us.

I used GE Silicone I for a project and was able to smooth it out with a popsicle stick dipped in rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. Anytime the stick stuck to the silicone I'd rewet the stick or even use it as dispenser to wet the silicone surface. I'm not familiar with 007, so this method might not work with it, but it may be worth a shot.

A TIP for spreading the transparent sylicone ore polymer sealant. DIP YOUR FINGER IN VEGETABLE OIL TO SMOOTH THE WATER OUT. Great work, very good comprehensive tutorials. Thx for the ideea man...I've just made my first diorama and I nedeed a cheap water effect solution. I wanted the water to simulate a mountain river with smooth areas in places. After a few tries a think a have a TIP :) just dip your finger in vegetable oil (in my country the most common one is sunflower oil, but i think any will do) and smooth it out wher you want it. I got a very good result with a slight glossy finish!

The mud pudge(spelled?) could it be used as an add-on/detail to show the waves breaking? I believe it would look amazing as on a sea-island table!?

Thinking about joining facebook again just to join the group, you've inspired me to give model scenery a shot. Thank you for all this wonderful content!

Hi, about the gloss medium gel, I've used Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel to create my waves. Since it's not thick as I though it would be, I had to add to many thin layers on top of each other. I didn't have the patience to let each layer to fully dry (3 or 4 days at least) so I added a new layer every two days. But now it's been more than 10 days and the lower layers are still white. I am starting to think I made a mistake. Is it gonna become clear in weeks or months to come or is it gonna stay like that white and cloudy? Should I use a needle or a hobby drill to make tiny hole through the lower layers to allow them to "breath" and dry? I also try some of Woodland Scenics water effect solutions and I only encounter problems. So never again I will buy Woodland Scenics products. Thank you!

Hi again, for the next phase of my project, to create waves, I would like to try clear silicone instead of gloss medium gel. But is it compatible with EnviroTex Lite? Because that's what I used to create my water feature (after getting so much issues with Woodland Scenics Realistic Water). Thank you!

I found something for the "this takes way too long to dry" problem: In this video watch?v=63W29bmwfBk at timestamp 4:40 he begins to talk about how acrylic mixed with silicone is basically an instant-dry paste because of how silicone sets and how acrylic is made up. Actually, the entire first half of his video is moderately interesting for answering the questions from yours, so go watch that I guess.

I just used some liquitex gloss gel medium for my river, but it seems a bit of the raised bits won't dry clear. Is that normal? How long should I wait for it to cure?

Luke do you prep. The foam board before applying the silicon ..????thank you😊

I can get gloss medium at my local art store for a few bucks. I will give that a shot for my Troglodon water base. Thanks!

You can make silicone less sticky when modeling by spraying water with dish washing fluid on it. That's how it's done in construction.

Doing a jungle river. Should I paint the base first befor adding silicone. And will silicone hold an acrillack paint. Thank you.

Can you out like a brown or any type of food coloring to change the clear?

Thank you like great vid seems a lot of modellers are using silicone. Going to try. Thanks guys. For the info.

great vid as always - I can second the idea to add some white spirit. It makes it stink even worse and it takes longer to dry but can help with the workability a lot and white spirit is dead cheap too :D

Might it help with the PVA glue to hit it with a hair dryer so as to skin it over a bit and help keep the shape?

Have you tried dry-brushing the silicon? I've heard silicon caulks don't take paint well.

it's a mesmerizing way to save money and create beatiful wave and ripple.plz answer the silicon should be mix by alcohol or not???

[thank you for you're video]👍

Congrats matey.

Would there be a way to thin the latex caulk out a little. Maybe a little isopropyl alcohol or something.

I'm in desperate need for a frozen lake and stream. I think your idea of mod podge and an additive was good. But how about a whole tape on it? Thanx!

From using it at work I know a bit about the silicone Calking. First using it hot is yuor friend. Bowl soem water, take it off the heat and put the tube in. Let it sit in it for about 15 minutes and the result will surprise. It will flow out at a near water consistency. Also it has a interesting property. Dish soap won't stick to it. Mix up a small bowl of water and dish soap, dip any clay molding tools you might want to use in it and the you can tool it without it sticking to the tools you're using.

hi luke. why not try mixing white spirit or acetone to clear silicone to thin it down

I wonder how tinting some Pledge would work for this, since it's basically an acrylic clear.

for a display that needs to have about 6inches of water will any of these work for that?

Wow nice❤👍

thanks for this really helpfull!! i well be geting some 007 asap :-)

Luke, have you tried a product called liquidtex? It is a artist product that comes in different viscosity's

Nice Video👍🏻

I use the vallejo water effects. it's pretty good. I'll have to let you have go of it

Have you ever thought about using a large bottle of elmers clear glue? I'm building an n scale layout and I had dry glue sticking on the edges and it was dry and it looked like clear water. Ima try that :D

hi luke how do you stop the evo stick from going hard when not in use

I want to add small fish to my water scene. What is the best (fake water and material should the fish be made of ) ?

Nice one, I'll try the James bond first then

silicon can be thinned with mineral spirits it slows the curing time a little bit but if you wanted to self level or fill in little gaps it's the way to go

could you warm the silicon to make it flow a bit better?

Did you find that the silicone remained slightly tacky? Even when dried?