Adding a water feature

When I finished the river scene on the Hot Springs Junction module last summer, I left a waterfall that did not seem to have a source.  I had run out of time before a show and just put down some quick scenery.  What I had imagined was to have a stream enter the module feeding into a pond which then fed the waterfall.

This photo I took in Kyoto this last March shows a type of concrete stream channel that I had seen in many places in Japan and wanted to include as part of the added water feature on the module.

To model a channel like this I cut out a channel in the existing scenery parallel to the road and between the road and the Sake shop.  Then a concrete painted styrene channel was glued in and scenery built around it.  The bottom was painted with Floquil Gunmetal and then with acrylic gloss medium.

I dug out a little depression in the existing scenery and covered it with plaster cloth.  That was painted a blend of blue and green acrylic. For the water I gave the Envirotex product another try and it came out great.

The stream bed was done in a similar way with the plaster cloth and acrylic paints.  Several coats of acrylic gloss medium was applied.  After the gloss medium dried, Woodland Scenics Water effects was applied with a brush to get some flowing texture, then a final coat of gloss medium.

Here is an overall view showing the area around the Sake shop.  The concrete channel enters from the upper left, passes the building and empties into the pond.  Then the natural stream leaves the pond to become the waterfall.