Real Water

[invercloy]

I take your point Tom which is why I think putting the water to the back of the layout where it is likely to be obscured by the height of the dockside wall is worth considering.

If you're doing that then I'd be even less inclined to use real water as it'll be less visible.  How about a sheet of acrylic painted on the underside which has the faller road system fitted to the boats to guide them around a pre-defined route.

The idea of modelling part of ships moving behind a wall is definitely an interesting concept to pursue though.

For boats moving in real water this is as good as it gets for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqkgortfczg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5xNdoYBf34

[Hobby]

Very impressive! My only issue is that the water is too clear, perhaps they could do with using some sort of dye?

[Tigger]

"...The idea of modelling part of ships moving behind a wall is definitely an interesting concept to pursue though..."

We had thoughts of doing something similar on Happisburgh once, using a wire on an endless loop between two pulleys with trolley poles soldered to it to simulate trams.  The pulleys were to be hidden behind two buildings and the poles would be seen passing the gap between the buildings!  OK, that's enough drift - let's get back to the water.  A Faller road system under a sheet of acrylic sounds very plausible so long as the drive for the boats can be geared down a bit!

And yes, a bit of dye in the water would work nicely!  I seem to recall the water just north of Harecastle Tunnel in Staffordshire is orange due to the iron.  Perversely, the water on some parts of the Dudley Canal in the heart of the Black Country is crystal clear!  Presumably because it's on a high level and has been filtered through the rock.

[invercloy]

Very impressive! My only issue is that the water is too clear, perhaps they could do with using some sort of dye?

Absolutely, but then it gets tricky, as technically only the deeper sections would need the dye, so you'd have to look at the specific gravity of the different fluids to do it 100% properly.

I'll stick with plaster, but I'll be interested to see what Rhobat does.

[rhobat bryn]

Thanks for all those comments.  I think I've decided that, whether I use real water or some other method, the layout will be better off with the harbour to the rear of the layout rather than the front.  The other advantage is that it is much easier to camouflage the entrance and exit of ships at the rear of the layout, using landscape features for example, than it would be at the front.  In the meantime, the first step is to re-draw the trackplan of the layout to reflect this new aim.