Drip Drip Drop

“How I love to hear your patter, pretty little pitter patter”
-F. Churchill & L. Morey, Little April Shower–

I remain fortunate to have friends better at this hobby than I am. And I’m truly blessed that those same friends will directly support my attempts with their time, talent, and treasure.

Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend and fellow Iowa Interstate modeler Scott Thornton and his fabulous Milan Branch layout. You’ve heard me say it before, but it remains true. Scott is building a masterpiece.

In chatting with him, I mentioned how I had recently installed a runoff pipe into the Iowa River on The Hills Line and that I had based my setup on a similar arrangement he had on his Rock River scene. Scott instantly offered advice on making flowing water… even sharing some of the materials needed to make it happen.

In short, Scott and I used Stretch Magic elastic cord as the stream’s core, then covered it with Golden Gloss Soft Gel to make it look appropriately wet. I attached a short cord segment from the Grain Belt Models culvert pipe to the river base using thin CA glue.

I then alternated thin layers of the gloss gel with a mix of earth and brown-colored acrylic paint, ensuring each layer had dried between coats. I tried not to overdo the amount of paint so that the EPA wouldn’t need to be notified… but this definitely isn’t purified drinking water.

I added some gel to the river to blend the cord into the existing water and then allowed it to dry. Some additional weeds, brush, and talus were worked around the pipe before calling it complete. And that’s something to be thankful for.

My best to you and yours for a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.