MOST OF THE WATER I have seen modelled on layouts has been streams, waterfalls and shallow lakes. I needed to represent deeper water on my Whitby layout, in the harbour area. Not having any experience of scale water, I looked around for ideas and bought some rippled transparent plastic sheets sold especially for this purpose. They came in A4 sized sheets and I could see as soon as I examined them that if you needed to join two together for a larger area the joint would be very visible and frankly look awful. I rejected this idea and looked for an alternative amongst the ‘melt it and pour’ products.

A friend and fellow modeller was also going to make a harbour wall and had purchased some Woodlands Scenics C1206 E-Z Water and was about to try it just before he passed. In time I had the job of clearing his railway stuff and inherited a fair quantity of the E-Z Water from his stock. As I wanted to cast the water to a reasonable thickness (about 6 or 7mm) I carefully planned the job.

I needed a good-sized aluminium pan to melt down the granules and, not daring to use a household item, I looked around charity shops for a suitable receptacle, a stout alloy pan with a strong handle which I found at very little cost.

Fearing it could be a messy process and not wanting to use domestic cooking facilities I dug out our gas barbecue which I set up in our garage, where I intended to do the casting. The layout board was also brought into the garage and prepared.

There was an open baseboard edge that the water was to be taken right up to, so I created a simple wooden dam across the open edge, first covering it with clingfilm to prevent the water resin from adhering to it. I checked for any places where the liquid resin might leak through the baseboard and used wood filler in a couple of likely spots.

The flat plywood floor of the harbour needed painting so I went out to our nearest paint shop and bought some of those sample pots which are available in a wide range of colours at low cost.

I was well prepared, with work gloves to prevent possible burns from the resin and as the loaded pan was heavy, I clamped a mole grip to the handle to give better control over the pouring. The pan was then heated on the barbie until the resin was like hot treacle and was stirred to clear any air bubbles.

The pouring was done quickly but without panicking and I started in a corner working to another corner moving forward all the time towards the dam trying to regulate the pour to give an even thickness of resin. The resin would flow and find a general level, which was good as it needed to flow under a boardwalk jetty on piles which it did well.

Eventually all the resin was poured but I was short of resin material in one area so I quickly melted down another bag of granules and poured it in without any visible join.

Before everything had cooled, I wafted over the surface with a hot air gun to better blend in the surface. The hot draught can be used to push molten resin from high areas into any low areas. This created a slight swell on the water surface which is very realistic. Great care needs to be used with the hot air gun as it gets very hot. I managed to set fire to the harbour wall timbers which glowed until I doused them with a wet finger. However, this was beneficial as it gave the impression of rotted timbers which I liked.

When the resin was fully cooled the wooden dam was easily unscrewed and the resin edge cleaned up with files and the exposed edge was painted with layout fascia colour.

In total I used about six or seven 473ml bags of E-Z Water which if I was to have bought them would have worked out at NZ$224, which is approximately £114. Quite an outlay for my friend and I still have another three bags left over. This gave the water a thickness of about 6-8 mm. The total area of water laid is approximately 600 square inches. The surface I am very pleased with, the reflections are very satisfying and the result is as good as anything I have ever seen. It scratches easily but can be wafted over with the heat gun to remove small scratches and this restores a shiny reflective surface. I make sure the surface is spotless before you reheat, as any dirt or contamination is absorbed into the surface.