Building Scenes with Streams
Streams on a layout can be pretty strange sometimes. They seem to start nowhere and end nowhere. To my way of thinking, they ought to start somewhere and end somewhere.
For instance, if you have the room, make a waterfall that pours water into a lake that empties into a stream that ends in another lake. It all depends on the size of the layout.
In any case, use plaster and Sculptamold around and under the stream. Do not just build a shoreline and leave the bottom undone. It will probably leak.
Make the stream curve here and there. Give it eye appeal. Streams in real life seldom follow a straight line.
This stream, for instance, reminds me of a smaller version of the rocky streams around Gatlinburg, Tennessee and in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – America’s most visited national park, by the way – just outside Gatlinburg.
Not too long ago my family and I hired a guide in Gatlinburg to take us fly fishing in a stream in the park similar to this. The current was strong and the water was cold, even in July, and we didn’t catch anything but a few nibbles – but what an experience.
Like always, paint the plaster and/or Sculptamold flat black. Keep the bottom of the stream black but sprinkling on some Woodland Scenics Fine Turf (Earth color) to give it that rocky-sandy looking bottom. Remember, in real life, unlike a deeper lake, you often see much of the bottom of a trout stream.
Paint the shoreline and add scenery touches. For a great looking mountain stream I often add small, real rocks. They look like boulders in the water, a common scene in the mountains and hills.
I usually pour in a layer of water and let it fry. Then to give it special touch, add some fast flowing water around the boulders in the water. Use the end of a paint brush to make the water look wild and realistic. Don’t be too neat.
Let it dry and then pour another layer of water. Again, I like Realistic Water by Woodland Scenics.
I sometimes plant the trees streamside before I pour the water. It depends on the scene but I generally finish everything, if possible, before I pour the water. Look it over again and again, add those special scenic touches, including fly fishermen, and then pour the final layer of water.