I spotted this product in a local hardware store and thought it would make great water effects on my layout, so I brought it and set up an experiment to see how it looked. I glued some extruded foam to a scrap piece MDF, painted the "river" area a dark green, glued some pebbles in place, then poured in the resin mix. The moment I opened the can I was concerned, it looked too runny and fluid for what I want to use it for. But this was a test so I went ahead and made a "mix" to which I added some dark green paint. It was a nice day so I had set every thing up outside because I knew it would stink the whole house out otherwise. It took an age for the resin to set. I may have miss-judged the amount of hardener to add. Then I noticed little holes on the top of the foam where the resin mix had dripped, ouh oh? later most of the resin escaped through this hole. The resin is definitely reactive with the foam. Conclusion: It pays to set up small experiments with products you are unfamilar with, to have this happen on the layout would have been a total bummer. This product would work well for still water but not for flowing water effects. This is not a good product to use indoors as the fumes are very strong. It is reactive with extruded foam but not with styrene or other plastics, like the bowl I mixed it in. Other experiments will follow with other products till I find one that I can use to model a fast flowing river with rapids. Happy modelling.
Keep in mind... resin gets quite hot while it cures (150F+). Probable cause of the foam deterioration(not sure what the temperature threshold is for the foam???).
Ken mate!! How many drops of catalyst did you use to 30mls of resin? There's a chart on the back of the Norski can that gives measurements for slow, medium and fast curing. And yeah you can't bring that stuff inside, you'll have to leave the test bed out in the garage or shed for a couple of weeks cause it'll still pong. I'd use WS E-Z water or maybe realistic waterand water effects to do the fast water bits. (Ironhorse Hobbies will probably have what you want) Don't try Norski's casting resin either it stinks as bad and doesn't work well without the powder and takes over night to cure. If you want to have another crack at the Norski, try the fast setting option. You can also get more of the catalyst at Mitre 10 stores or Mega Mitre 10. - actually I think they also sell Klear Kast too. Hope your experiments turn up trumps mate :tb-biggrin: Alister (Wellington, NZ)
I have NO experience with the NORSKI stuff, but I'll bet it WAS NOT the heat generated, that was the problem. Was this KLEER-KAST a PETROLEUM based solution? Two simple tests 1) Water/soap wash up? 2) Was the stuff FLAMMABLE? What you are looking for is a LATEX based solution. If it can be thinned with water or you use soap& water for clean up it's most likely OKAY for foamboard. If the KLEER-KAST has ANY warning of being FLAMMABLE on the label, I would NOT use it around or on foamboard. You only want to use LATEX based paint, casting medium or anything like that on foamboard. The petroleum base in the product will just react and eat up foamboard. Take a SMALL piece of foamboard out back (outside away from the house) and dribble a VERY small amount of gasoline on it. Watch what happens! You might try this with your KLEER-KAST also. You should be able to see if the KLEER-KAST reacts with the foamboard. I found out the HARD way about NOT using anything petroleum based around foamboard. Was gluing foamboard together using Liguid Nails, but I didn't use the NON-FLAMMABLE, LATEX based Liquid Nails! Used the Flammable, Petroleum based product. WHAT A MESS!! WHAT A SMELL!! Wife still rides me about it!
Good info. There might be some way to use the Norski Kleer-Cast, but there are other products that will do just as well. If you can seal the waterway in a manner that will keep the Norski away from the foam, you might try again. It would be interesting to see the results. Norski makes a lot of different products.
I agree with Boxcab E50 and Alister. It must have been a mixing problem. And as far as the leak goes, they can be unpredictable. I made a little mountain lake or more like a pond although I call it a lake. I was using the white foam packing material that came in a TV box for my mountain. It seemed dense enough and I sealed it with paint and calking. I poured about a cup or more of mixed resin and it disappeared before my eyes. It wasn’t on the floor or in the river below, so I can only conclude that it was absorbed into the foam. I let it dry for a couple of days and had another go at it. It didn’t leak the second time. I am just glad that you are trying something new, I am so sick of hearing about Woodland Scenics Realistic Water or Envirotex. I refuse to use the stuff because of the price. I bought some regular clear resin with hardener at the hardware store for half the price and it worked fine. :thumbs_up:
Marks post got me thinking a bit, Ken are you able to get this stuff down in Christchurch? EasyCast Clear from topmark? Water Clear Urethanes This sounds like it might be a better product. Topmark resins usually don't stink and they setup fast. You will still have the heat problem but you could line the U with plaster which would stop the foam from melting. (the setup temperature from the chemical reaction is quite high - hot enough to burn ya)
Thanks for all the good info guys. I realise that the foam thing was a mistake. There is no foam where I will be modelling water effects on my layout so that shouldn't be an issue. The river bed is plaster and the only worry I have is holes or leaks. Alister: thanks for posting the link, I will have a look around for "Easy Cast Clear" Mark: great info, latex huh... some thing else to look for. I don't think I will use the Norski product as my layout is in a spare bedroom and it will stink the house out.
