Whether you’re making a fairy garden, a cute miniature garden or adding detail to a terrarium or diorama, fake water can add a realistic or fun twist to your design.
There are lots of different materials you can use to create water for miniatures but some of the most common are:
- epoxy resin
- clear nail varnish
- PVA glue or PVA glue mixed with water mixed with water
- realistic water products from specialist model making suppliers
- candle gel wax
- blue and green decorative stones and crystals
Below, I walk you through the materials you can use to create water features for miniature gardens and fairy gardens. But to begin with, here’s a handy table of the pros and cons for each product.
| Product | Ease of use | Pros | Cons |
| Epoxy resin | Difficult | Very realistic Can be coloured Extremely durable Suitable for deep water | Slow curing Can be tricky to mix components correctly Can’t be used in moulds |
| Clear nail varnish | Easy | None! | Smelly Slow curing |
| PVA glue | Easy | Cheap Easy to find | Slow curing Can cure milky Tricky to colour Not suitable for deep water Not suitable for water effects |
| Candle gel wax | Medium | Easy to add surface textures Thick texture so can be poured on flat surface | Need to melt gel before using Not very realistic Not very durable |
| Decorative stones | Easy | Beautiful shine Ideal for fairy gardens Lots of colours and styles available Can be glued together and onto surfaces | Not realistic Some glass pieces can be sharp |
| Specialist water products | Easy | Very realistic Complementary products make it easy to get desired results Very durable Suitable for deep water | Slow curing Can be expensive |
Using Epoxy Resin For Fake Water
Epoxy resin is used prolifically in miniature modelling – it dries hard, clear and shiny so is used to make everything from sauces and drinks in miniature food modelling, to making fake water in dioramas. It’s also a staple material in model railway scenery.
But what is it? And how easy is it to use?
Epoxy resin is an adhesive derived from petroleum. It comes as a two part mixture – the resin and hardener are in different bottles, when they are mixed together, they heat up and harden, transforming the material from a liquid to a solid state.
Can You Colour Epoxy Resin?
Once it’s hard, the resin will be clear, but it can be coloured with dyes that are compatible with resin. You can try colouring the resin with a range of liquids including watercolour paint, food colouring and alcohol based inks. It’s best to try out a few experiments to see what colourant works best for the project you’re working on.
How Do You Use Epoxy Resin For Fake Water?
The most important thing to know about epoxy resin is it has to be poured in thin layers. If you want a deep lake or pool, you’ll need to build the resin up in layers, waiting for each half centimetre layer to fully cure before adding another one.
If you want to include details such as fish in your design, you’ll need to add these in between layers, so you’ll need a plan this carefully before you start.
The reason why epoxy resin should only be poured in thin layers is that the reaction between the two different components can create considerable heat that could actually damager your model. Adding layers before the previous layer has cured can also cause tension cracks between the layers.
Once the resin is first poured, it will be gel-like, then it will slowly firm up until it’s fully set and will feel hard to the touch. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a full day, depending on two main things:
- the type of resin you used
- how much resin you used
So you need a lot of patience to build up deeper water if you choose to use epoxy resin in your miniature garden! If you’re having issues with your resin curing, then it’s most likely down to whether it was mixed properly and whether it was poured in the right ratios.
Make sure the area you are pouring the epoxy resin into is completely dry and watertight. You’ll also need to protect the surrounding areas of your model with masking tape to prevent the resin from seeping into them.
Unlike some fake water mediums such as specialist water effect solutions, you can’t use resin with moulds as it’s very difficult to release from the moulds once it’s cured.
Epoxy resin is extremely durable once it’s hardened so it’s a great choice for dollhouse gardens or for fairy gardens that children will play with. In fact, it’s so hard, it’s even used for flooring in offices and shops!
TOP TIPS: Once you’ve mixed the epoxy resin components, leave the resin to rest to allow time for any air to escape which will reduce the risk of bubbles.
Using Clear Nail Varnish For Fake Water
I’ve tried this myself and would not recommend it! Clear nail varnish can be used to make small pools of fake water, however there are many drawbacks:
- it smells horrendously
- it’s very expensive – I used nearly a full bottle and it just filled a tiny miniature milk top pond
- it can evaporate over time leaving you with a very shallow water feature
- it can react with other materials – I found it turned the brown paint I used on the milk top lid red. It also leeched the colour out of (and totally destroyed) some reindeer moss I put at the edges of the pond
- It can take a very, very long time to dry hard, it took about two days for this tiny pond to fully cure
As you can see below, it stared off looking quite good, but once it had cured and reacted to the paint and other materials, it looked a bit like a gross muddy puddle!
You can always give this a try yourself, but with so many better products available, I wouldn’t try nail varnish for fake water again!
Using A Realistic Water Effects Product For Fake Water
There are a few products available that have been specifically developed for creating realistic water effects in miniature scenes. Woodland Scenics Realistic Water is probably the most widely used and well known – you can view and buy the product here.
This material is used to model ponds, rivers and lakes and can be poured directly from the bottle onto the prepared surface. It can take 24 hours or more to dry, but once it’s cured, it’ll create a transparent water effect.
When cured, it creates a very similar effect to epoxy resin, but it’s much easier to use.
All you do is:
- Prepare the area you want to pour the water effects. You can add a bead of glue around the edges of the area where you’ll pour the product. This will create a barrier to prevent the water effects from bleeding out into the surrounding surfaces.
- Like epoxy resin, Woodland Scenics Realistic Waterneeds to be added in layers. The product should be poured in layers no more than 3mm deep.
- Once poured, you can spread the product out to the edges of your model using a small brush or toothpick. It’ll take at least 24 hours to cure. If you want to make your water feature deeper, you can add another 3mm layer of the product once the first layer has cured.
TOP TIP: From my experience and research, you can’t add a top layer of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water and create water texture with it. As the product is very viscous and it self levels, there’s no way to create texture. You also can’t use PVA glue to create texture as it reacts with the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water.
The best bet is to buy the official Water Effects product from Woodland Scenics, or create separate ripples and add these onto the water surface once they’ve set. You can find out more about this in the video in the next section.
How Do I Add Colour To Realistic Water Effects Products?
If you’ve prepared and painted the area you’ll be pouring your water effect on to, then you won’t need to add colour to it. As the product dries clear, the effect you’ve painted underneath will give the illusion that the water is coloured.
The darker you paint the area, the deeper it will look. Using colours that gradually fade out is a great way to mimic the look and depth of different types of water.
In the video below from Woodland Scenics, you can find out more about the product and how changing the colour of the surface you pour on can create different water effects.
This video is a little old, as now you can buy water tints from Woodland Scenics, as well as surface undercoats to get the desired shade for the surface you’ll pour your water on.
There are loads of handy videos and tips for using these products on the Woodland Scenics website.
Can I Use Water Effect Products With A Mould?
Yes, water effects can be poured into a mould and then transferred into position in your miniature garden. You can even add details such as sand, rocks or fake plants to your miniature water feature as the water effects will stick to these. This means when you pop the hardened water effect out of the mould, the details you added will remain part of your water feature.
In the review below, the crafter recommends using Blue Tac to create a mould to pour the water effects in as the product won’t stick to the mould. Once it’s cured, you can pop the hardened water out of the mould and into your miniature garden.
How I Made A Miniature Pond And Stream With A Water Effects Product
I used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to create a pond for a fairy garden and a river for a diorama. I’d never made either before and never used the product before, but I think they turned out pretty well!
Making A Miniature Pond With Realistic Water
I made the pond out of polymer clay and attached small stones to make the pond walls before baking the clay. When the clay had cured, I sealed the edges of the pond with Mod Podge to ensure no water product bled through. I didn’t bother sealing the clay at the bottom of the pond as polymer clay is already watertight and waterproof.
I added a few stones to the bottom of the pond and pinched some sand from my son’s sandpit and added a polymer koi carp. This pond obviously looks very shallow, if you wanted to make it look deeper, you could use a darker clay or even paint the clay once it’s cured.
When everything was ready, I poured the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water into the pond and left it 24 hours to set. When the first layer had set, I poured another layer and waited another 24 hours.
Here’s the result, a basic but cute miniature pond for a fairy garden.
TOP TIP: In the picture above, you can see a white blob by the stones in the left side of the pond. This was some of the Mod Podge I used to seal the stones. I added the water effects before the glue had fully dried and, three days later, the glue still hadn’t set and dried clear!
Making A Miniature Stream With Realistic Water
I remember first seeing fake water when I went to a model railway exhibition with my Dad when I was about eight. There’s something so magical about a water feature in a model that I decided to have a go and make one myself!
I was new to this so I made it up as I went along, with lots of help from Google!
What I used:
- diorama base made out of a brownie box
- acrylic paint to paint the river bed, on top of the river and on the river stones
- gravel, sand and small stones
- moss and twigs
- Mod Podge glue
- Woodland Scenics Realistic Water
How I made it:
- I created the base for the diorama out of a brownie box by cutting the lid off and putting it back in upside down. I then took the flap off the box and made this into the river bed by cutting it down to size and bending it so it made a curved shape.
- I then sealed the cardboard with a layer of Mod Podge. Not sure if you have to do this but figured the water effects product might seep through the cardboard. Since making this, I’ve read that if Woodland Scenics Realistic Water comes into contact with PVA glue it can make the water look cloudy. This isn’t something I’ve found on this particular project but worth bearing in mind.
- Once the glue had dried, I painted the river bed dark brown with a lighter shade at the edges so it looked more realistic.
- I then added some sand and small stones to the river bed, before pouring over the realistic water product.
- Two days and two more layers of water effect later, the river was finally set. I added some light brushes of white and green paint to the surface of the water to create the illusion of movement. I also added some green paint to the rocks in the river to make them look like they were covered in moss.
- Finally, I added sand, stones, gravel, moss and flock to landscape the diorama and finished it off with a grounded van that my father-in-law gave me.
What went wrong: My first attempt at pouring the water effects ended in disaster as I hadn’t sealed the ends of the river bed well enough so the liquid just rolled off. Note the puddle of liquid in the top right of the picture below!
I tried again and this time sealed each end of the river bed with masking tape which worked much better!
I think the end result looks pretty good, considering it’s the first time I’ve attempted these techniques! If I did it again, I’d create a clearer definition between the river and the banks as the river does get a little lost against the sand and rocks at the sides.
TOP TIP: If you’re making your water feature in a separate element to your base (e.g. using a piece of plastic, metal or cardboard as a pond or river that you’ll add to your main base), then I recommend not putting your water feature in your base until it’s finished! I tried to fill my river when it was in the base and the surface wasn’t straight, so this added to the problem of the water effects running out of the river bed!
Using PVA Glue For Fake Water
Creating fake water out of PVA is an affordable and easy solution, but the results can vary, depending on what type of PVA you use. Cheap craft PVA won’t provide the best results as it can shrink at the edges and turn yellow over time. It’s also tricky to colour craft PVA glue.
You’ll need to use a thicker PVA glue which also works as a sealer, something like this would be perfect. These tend to be more expensive but will be worth the investment. Bear in mind though, some PVA glues can look ‘milky’ once they’ve dried. If you’re not sure, do a test run first to see how clear your PVA glue will dry.
As it’s difficult to colour PVA glue, it’s best to colour the surface the glue will be covering. It’s fine to use acrylic paint for this.
Once the surface is painted, you can add the layers of glue, making sure each layer is dry before adding the next. It’s tricky to get deep layers of water with PVA glue, but for things like shallow pools, puddles and seashores it will be fine.
How Do You Create Water Effects On PVA Glue?
PVA glue is water based, so it dries level, so it can be difficult to create ripple and wave effects on the surface. To get these effects, wait until the last layer of glue is dry, then use a tacky glue to ‘draw’ on the wave and ripple effects. PVA naturally dries with a sheen to it which can help make the water look more realistic.
The video below features an excellent guide to how to use PVA glue to make water over a large area, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use the same techniques for smaller projects as well.
Another bonus of using PVA glue is that it’s obviously an adhesive too, so you can use it for other crafting projects.
My PVA Glue Water Effect Disaster
I did try using PVA glue myself but the results weren’t great. I followed guidance online that recommended watering down PVA glue to mix three parts glue with one part water (it didn’t say why this should be done!). I then poured that into my miniature pond – I’d already put some blue stones in the pond, so I was hoping that the PVA glue would create a glistening surface above these stones.
I don’t know whether it was the wrong glue, my mixing technique or if my pond wasn’t deep enough, but all that happened was the PVA glue poured over the stones and disappeared as it dried. The stones were glued together (after about 48 hours of drying time) but there was zero water effect. In the end, I just filled the pond with more blue stones and used that as the water effect.
Next time I do this, I’ll definitely try the thicker PVA bond glue, rather than craft glue and use fewer stones!
Using Gel Candle Wax For Water Effects
Candle gel wax (also known as clear wax gel or craft wax) is the candle wax that cures clear and is usually used to make transparent decorative candles. The material is see-through and has a jelly-like feel. It’s made of a mixture of mineral oils and polymer resin.
You can buy clear wax gel from craft shops or from online retailers such as Amazon.
Making water effects with clear wax gel is a little bit faffy, but it’s a fun experiment to try. All you need to do is:
- Prepare the area where you want the water to be. If this is in a miniature garden, you might use a small, shallow plastic pot as the pond, or you can pour it directly onto your base, provided it’s waterproof and the gel won’t seep through. You can section off the area you want the water to be with masking tape, to prevent it flooding to other areas of the garden. Candle wax gel is very thick though so flooding shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
- Melt a small chunk of the gel wax slowly in a pan. It can take a while to melt, so to speed the process up, cut the gel into small pieces before heating it.
- If you have a thermometer, you’ll know the gel is ready to pour when it reaches above 94°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, then wait until every piece of gel has completely melted into the liquid.
- Once the gel has fully melted, leave it to cool for a few moments to help any bubbles escape. You can add a drop of acrylic paint to colour it, or leave it clear. Some people swear by acrylic paint and others say don’t use it as it doesn’t mix well. I say, experiment until you get the effect you want!
- Finally, pour the gel into your pond mould or your prepared surface. Do this very slowly to avoid creating bubbles!
TOP TIP: Don’t stir the candle gel wax while heating it, this can introduce air bubbles into the gel!
There is a way of creating fake water from candle gel wax that doesn’t require a mould. The gel is very thick so it won’t spill and level out as quickly as materials like PVA glue can. In the tutorial below, you can find out more about this method and how it can be used for larger areas of fake water in dioramas.
Decorative Stones, Glass And Crystals For Fake Water
There are lots of different types of decorative stones that can be used to mimic the effect of water. None of these will be realistic of course, but if you’re working on a fairy garden or want to add a creative, dream-like element to a miniature garden, terrarium or diorama, then decorative stones are one of the easiest ways to do this.
Below is a list of the crystals, glass and stones that you might want to try for making water in a miniature garden:
- Glass pebbles – smooth round pebbles of glass readily available from garden centres or hardware shops.
- Fire glass – small pieces of toughened glass usually used in fire pits.
- Sea glass – pieces of glass that have been smoothed by the sea.
- Crystals – often associated with alternative medicine, crystals are beautiful but can be very expensive. If you just want them for decoration, avoid healing crystals and instead buy some cheaper, but just as sparkly crafting crystals instead. These are often used for jewellery making but blue and green tones will make excellent fake water as well.
- Gemstones – these are super shiny, semi-precious stones, and jade and turquoise are great choices for mimicking water, however gemstones can be much more expensive than the other options.
- Beads, glitter and other craft supplies – you can buy shiny beads and glitter of all shapes and sizes from jewellery and craft suppliers. I bought a big bag of slime supplies from our local discount store, which included blue beads, plastic gems and glitter. Avoid using plastic glitter, beads and gems in outdoor fairy gardens as they can be harmful to wildlife.
Decorative water effects, clockwise from top left – glass pebbles, sea glass, gemstones, fire glass and beads.
I made my own fairy garden pool out of beads and little decorative plastic gems. As this was a fairy garden, it didn’t matter that the waterfall and pond were made of pastel coloured beads and blue gems – anything goes! I stuck the waterfall beads in place with Mod Podge.
You can either stick the decorative pieces in place with glue or leave them as they are – a great idea if you know you’ll want to change your fairy garden layout in future!
How To Make Fake Water Look More Realistic
The below obviously doesn’t apply to water made from stones and crystals, but if you want to make more realistic looking water – read on!
There are two main ways to make fake rivers and streams look more realistic:
- by adding ‘depth’ to the rivers and streams by painting the base
- by adding texture to the surface of the water
The first element is the more straightforward one and a general rule of thumb is the darker you paint the bottom of the river, the deeper it will look. So to achieve the most realistic result, work your way from the ‘deepest’ to ‘shallowest’ parts of the river by slowly lightening the colour towards the edges. At the edge you can use yellow to represent sand and silt.
You might need to add lots of layers of green, yellow, brown and blue paint to get the illusion of depth and movement. It’s a good idea to paint in long strokes long the river bed to make it look like the water is flowing.
Here are some things to bear in mind when you’re planning your river or stream for your fairy garden:
- how deep do you want it to look?
- will it all be the same depth?
- how fast flowing will the river be?
- how rough or calm will the water be?
- how many and what kind of rocks or obstacles will be in the water?
Take a look at the images below, all four of them are of rivers and streams but they all look very different.
Fast flowing rivers and streams tend to have fewer plants and algae in them, so tend to have a greener hue. In all kinds of rivers and streams, you’ll find more visible rocks, silt and greenery nearer the banks.
Adding Surface Texture To Fake Water
If you’re using PVA glue or epoxy resin to make your fake water, then once your layers have fully cured, you’ll need to add a top layer and create the effects on this layer before it dries.
As soon as you’ve poured the top layer you can then use a brush, lollipop stick or anything else you like to move the liquid around to create ripples and waves.
If you’ve made the water with PVA glue then you could try using a thicker ‘tackier’ glue to create the surface texture as PVA glue tends to be very watery and self-levels quickly.
If you’ve used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to create your water, then the easiest way to add detail to this is to use their water system products. These are expensive but look very easy to use and offer fantastic looking results. From my experience, you can’t add realistic looking waves to the Realistic Water product as it’s too runny and self levels too quickly.
TOP TIP: If you have visible rocks or objects in your river or stream, add texture around these to give the illusion of the water breaking over them. You can add ‘bigger waves’ by painting the top of the waves white.
Water can bring life to any miniature project, so experiment as much as you can to create the perfect water feature for your miniature model garden, fairy garden or diorama.
