Ron's...."It 'aint all bad here in 'nam, Ma"

[spanner570]

First off, sorry fellas for the late reply to your posts, just ain't been near a computer for days.....

Colin, don't you just luuuurve a woman with taste?lol

Ole, thanks for your post too. Same goes for you Tom.

Dave, you'll have to stay 'puddled' a while longer!

No progress until today.....I've added a bit more 'life' to the waterfall and added a second, smaller one too.

I have made a start on the greenery, so into 'our' lane I go tomorrow to find some foliage.

Here's the only up to date picture. I hope you approve.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Ron

[ATTACH]48593.IPB[/ATTACH]

[papa 695]

Just caught up on this one Ron the waterfall is just outstanding please please please spill the beans on how you did it

[Guest]

lovely improvement on what is spectacular in the first place

mobear

[Guest]

Hi Ron, looking forward to your dio... are you planning on using real water... or just being static. Was just a thought really... ) Good luck, looks great from here (artistically non-talented at present!).

Cheers

[Guest]

Colin, don't you just luuuurve a woman with taste?lol

If you saw my face for radio you'd wonder if she had any taste at all

please please please spill the beans

Don't think begging will speed up Ron spilling them beans ... think we'll have to wait till the finished dio .... tactics an' all you know

[papa 695]

If begging doesn't work will bribery, doesn't Ron have a likeing for Eccles cake wink wink

[Guest]

if bribery doesn't then we'll use brute force

[spanner570]

Just come in from the currant bun and read your posts............!

Thanks all for your encouraging comments on this build.....

David, if anyone on here resorted to using real water, we would be lined up against a wall and shot or a least drummed out of the Brownies!!

O.K. fellas, you got me!

I was trying my darndest to leave the waterfall 'till the end, but now Eccles Cakes, begging, bribery and physical abuse has been discussed amongst my learned colleagues, I feel it is best to come clean and reveal all..............

I did it with clear silicone sealant. The stuff you seal around baths ect. with. I chanced on the idea when I removed some clingfilm from the nozzel of a tube of silicone and peeled the 'snot' off......Eurika!!!!

Here are the stages:-

1) Get some clingfilm and lay it on a flat surface. Put some weights on each corner to keep it reasonably smooth and prevent it lifting. Depending on the lenght of the waterfall, squeeze a straight bead of silicone onto the clingfilm....Butt the next bead up to the first and so on until the right width of waterfall is reached. You should end up with something that looks like see-through corrugated card board.

2) This is the tricky bit.....Wait until the stuff is going off (Tacky) Then using a sharp something, dip it in water and gently stroke down the silicone to break the beads up a bit.

3) Leave a couple of hours or overnight then carefully peel your beautiful waterfall from the clingfilm...........Job done. Now wasn't that easy??

Just make sure you all turn up at Cosford next year, armed with loads of Eccles Cakes!

After this build is complete, would the mods be kind enough to move this post to the 'How to'? Thanks.

Cheers all,

Ron

Here are the picture stages:-

[ATTACH]48614.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]48615.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]48616.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

I was expecting you to say it was the woodlands scenic stuff..

The silicone looks just as good and im sure it was alot cheaper..

shane

[Guest]

well I'll be buggered. I've used silicon sealant for water before loads of times.... never looked like that though..... all in the technique then eh Ron!

[spanner570]

Thanks boys....

Shane, apart from this stuff, I never buy anything for dios. ( Haven't enough spare dosh anyway)..... Nature provides all I want for free!.... And nothing imitation comes close to the real thing.lol

No special technique Colin, get in the shed and have a play.......It really is easy.

Cheers,

Ron

[Ian M]

Nice one Ron. I would never have guessed that clear silicon would of dried so clear and bright! Top tip.

With regard to moving the post to the how to section. Easier said than done AND keep you as the author.

If you can, just copy the relevant info and past it in to a new post in the section. Failing that just start the post and I will copy it over for you... ;-)

Ian M

[spanner570]

Thanks Ian, glad you like the water tip and I hope someone finds use for it in the future......

Re. the moving of the post, I will sort something out in a few day's time, and thanks for the offer of help.

Ron

[Guest]

Does the latest sealant stuff still thin down with celulose thinnners Ron?

the old type stuff did ... thats how i used to do puddles, streams and ponds on railway dioramas for a few mates and then went on to use it in D&D role play as magic fountains etc.

If it still mixes and sets (i haven't got any tinners here to try) then you could add this on to your "how-to" if you want.

[spanner570]

Sorry for the late reply Colin.....

To be honest I've never used thinners.....Didn't even know you could!lol

The stuff I use is just ordinary silicone sealer. I just wonder if adding thinners would make the silicone too runny and prevent forming of the stuff into the desired shape?

To be honest, I'm quite happy with the straight from the tube consistancy, but I'll still have a test dabble with some thinners, mind!

Good tip and one that definitely should go into the 'How to'...... Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Ron