7-year Itch? (Checking on Water)

I cannot believe it's been over 7 years since my water experiment started (First post about water effects). Over 2,640 days.

So it's time to check in and see how they are doing:

Day 1 of experiment

Day 2,640+

By far the worse for wear is the Scenic Water:

Pock marked and discolored slightly

Has dust on top of it too

Scenic Water birdbath is not only pock marked but it is also dusty. And I am unable to clean it because the surface is spongy so there's no wiping off the dust.

Next up we look closely at the Solid Water product:

Cloudy streaks have gotten worse with time

Although it is firm on top allowing me to dust it and keep it clean, the cloudiness streaking that happened on day 1 has continued to get worse over time.

And the Enviro Tex Lite product results:

Both Enviro Tex birdbaths are solid on top (allowing for ease of dusting and cleaning) and look fairly similar to the day they were poured. The painted birdbath fell and broke last year and I reglued the red mushroom ring back in place (see the cracks at 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock?) and you can see it didn't affect the water at all!

All of the products together (Enviro Tex top left, then Scenic Water top right, Solid Water bottom left, and Enviro Tex painted bottom right)

So here it is, over 7 years later, and I'm inspired to add a new water feature to my upcoming project (a fountain with a pond). Glad I know from this experiment which water product I should use!

2 Year Water Anniversary!

Can you believe it's been 2 years since my water experiment? (First blog post on water effects)

So it's time to check in....and I'm happy (bored?) to report: absolutely nothing!  They appear to be exactly the same after 2 years!  I lightly dusted them with a wet rag (had to dab on the Scenic Water one as it is a gel consistency as opposed to the others which have a solid surface).  And inspected them.  And I didn't see any significant change in two products, and only a minor change in the other one.

Here they are (Then and Now photos):

THEN: First few days of the water effects

NOW: Water effects as of today...looks pretty much the same.

THEN: Day 1 of EnviroTex Pour-On in Painted Bowl

NOW: EnviroTex Pour-On in Painted Bowl is the same

THEN: First few days of EnviroTex Pour-On

NOW: EnviroTex Pour-On is basically the same as it was 2 years ago...

THEN: Day 1 of Solid Water, cloudy issues starting at bottom

NOW: Solid Water did seem to react some more with birdbath color/material or it has yellowed a bit.

THEN: First few days of Scenic Water

NOW: Scenic Water still there, bubbles and all...

NOW: Noticed pock marks in the surface but I can't recall if they were there before.

Solid water had a noticeable, yet still minor, change this time.  Two years ago, Solid Water had an immediate reaction (to either the paint or material the birdbath was made out of) and the "water" has either continued to get cloudier or the "water" has begun to yellow.  It is hard to say which/what is happening, but there is definitely a difference with this product.  And Scenic Water has pock marks on the surface; but I suspect they may have been there before and I just didn't notice them as clearly until now.  EnviroTex Pour-On continues to be the front runner with no noticeable changes after 2 years!

In fact, I had made a pond that took 3 different pourings of EnviroTex to get the depth I needed (as you can only pour roughly 1/8" or so at one application).  After 1-1/2 years of sitting, no cracks have formed, no pulling away from the edges, no issues whatsoever!  So even my deep water example is good (except for all the bubbles that were in it as I poured it)!

My little pond, complete with fish and bubbles...

...so many bubbles.  Bubbles!  BUBBLES!  My bubbles. (It's a "Finding Nemo" reference for those of you who aren't crazy like me.)

From a distance and without direct light on it, you don't really see the bubbles though.

So we will continue to wait and monitor the progression of the water effects...check back next year and we'll see where they are at!

And for those of you that have made it this far into the blog post: Yes, it's been several months since my last post.  Things got stressful over the summer and I spent more time at the doctors than I would have liked, but I'm back and fairly healthy, so I'm attacking my miniature projects again!  However, the many summer weeks with more mental energy than physical energy did add two more personal projects to my mental list of projects I want to do and I will be working on them this winter!

Meanwhile, I still have my Mansion to work on!  Mansion is currently flipped upside down so I can paint and install the Ballroom Ceiling (sneak peek pic below).  Need to get the ceiling finished and flip the house right side up again so that I can then finish the exterior of the addition!

I have a lot of these little bits on the Ballroom Ceiling to paint in the next few weeks.

And I have 5 customer houses in right now that I should be working on as well as 3 other small projects I want/need to do by Nov. 8th for a friend's birthday!  Busy month ahead!

Water Update: Year Anniversary!

I was so distracted by other projects, looming holidays, and baby arrival that I missed the year check up on our water effects! Blog post about different water products to use in miniature scenes.

Now I have since used another miniature water effects product (running water to create a fountain was explained in the middle to end of This Blog Entry) but did not cover that in this experiment and review.

Day 1

Half Year Anniversary

And today (13 months later) there is not much change!  No cracks or shrinkage that I see.  Issues that were there before (bubbles, cloudiness, etc.) are still there:

Year Anniversary Group Picture

Not seeing much difference in the sun photos either:

Early Days in sun



Year Anniversary in sun

For individual photos:

EnviroTex in Painted birdbath

EnviroTex Unpainted birdbath

Scenic Water

Solid Water

So I don't see any major changes but we will continue to check up on them -- hopefully I'll remember in October next year for our second anniversary! LOL

Updates: Water, Dollhouses, and Projects

So, it's been roughly 6 months since my water experiment (Playing with water effects) and it's time to check in on our water displays:

Our four samples

The lower left one seems cloudy - which became more noticeable in the direct sunlight:

So, the lower left (Envirotex Pour On) definitely clouded up, probably from the massive amounts of small bubbles that formed when I had poured it into the birdbath, I'm sure.  But the surface is still glossy and easy to wipe clean from a small layer of dust (display sits on the counter near my work space so there is dust).  The painted birdbath was the other EnviroTex Pour On sample and it likewise is still hard, glossy slick, and the small bubbles that had formed when I poured are still there but not as cloudy or noticeable as in the unpainted sample.  But I think that is the painted bottom that is helping disguise the cloudy issue.

EnviroTex Pour On at an angle to catch the direct sunlight on the surface to capture the cloudiness of the water.

The Solid Water example (lower right in group photo) had reacted with the finish on the birdbath within moments of when I had poured it.  The marbleized swirls on the bottom of the birdbath still remain and, like the EnviroTex product, the surface is glossy smooth and easy to wipe clean.

Solid Water at an angle to catch the direct sunlight across the surface of the water.

Which leaves us with Scenic Water (upper left in group photo): all bubbles that had formed when pouring are still there.  The surface is tacky, sponge-like, and soft making dusting impossible.  I am fearful to even touch it too much as I don't want to pop the bubbles clumped together on the side of the basin and I fear leaving fingerprints on the gelatinous surface.

Scenic Water at an angle in direct sunlight to highlight the bubbles.

I will check in on them again at the year anniversary mark....

So, besides the water update, I have dollhouse updates...this customer's house had wiring checked over, lights added, flooring installed, and was picked up yesterday:

The wood floors look so crisp and pretty!

Lights all working, including the new chandelier in the center room and the lamps in the top attic floor (not in photo).

Coach lights were added since old ones had been ripped off years ago

And the Newport that was supposed to be picked up 3 weeks ago was left with us for painting. (Blog Entry about Newport.) Customer thought she would paint it until they came to pick it up.  Her husband took one look at it assembled and said, "No, have them paint it; you'll never get it done!" Gotta love those type of spouses! Lol  We finished painting it on Thursday and it will be picked up today:

Pretty in Pink

Priming started on 2 other customer houses we'll be working on this month.  The first is a little gray cottage, a bungalow dollhouse by Alessio, that the customer would like us to wire the interior for electricity:

Love this house by Alessio - customer still has front door at home to paint it.

Loved how she used Alessio trims to finish off the flat rooftop over the dormer windows!

We had previously cut out the bathroom partition walls for her weeks ago

Placing furniture to figure out where she wants electricity

Other customer house that needs work is a Glenwood.  It will get finishing, inside and out!

Interior will be finished off completely, but first step is to prime it!

Exterior porch needs to be painted and roofs (both on main house and on porch) will be shingled.

So Dad (that's him in the photo) is helping out with my work load by priming the interior of this Glenwood while I was finishing up the Newport and starting the wiring on the little gray cottage.
I still have the water damaged house to be working on...I'm waiting for some Spring days so the table saw can be rolled outside and wood pieces cut to replace the porch roof I had cut off (Water Damaged Porch House).

Needs a coat of paint to blend the primed replacement siding with the housebody

Plus I'm making progress on my Asian Butterfly Garden scene.  First, I had found these little statues a friend had given me, but they are a neon green that (in my opinion) make them seem toy-like, disjointed, and disruptive compared to the rest of the scene:

One of the statues, not a subdued green like the other statues in the scene

Painted the statues a deeper green to help blend them in with the greenery and other statues in the garden

It seemed like a stroke of fate that I found these in a local craft shop:

Bamboo!!!!

They will be in the Asian Garden scene too...I'm almost ready to mix my "dirt" with glue and start sticking my landscaping in place!  I tried to laser cut my Shoji doors a few days ago, but someone had modified the setting on the laser printer so I have to wait until Monday so that I can reset the machine to the proper settings (which I didn't have time to do the day I went in to print my Shoji doors).  But I believe my Butterfly Garden scene will be finished by the end of the month!

And I'm making a little thank you gift for a friend so I bedazzled this chair this week too.  I'll post pictures of this little scene as it gets closer to completion...

Broke out the glitter

Lots of updates on projects, but I'm still buried neck deep in work so time to get back at it!  I'm off to wallpaper a customer's townhouse (and I didn't even show you photos of that dollhouse -- there's just so much going on here!).  Have a great weekend everyone!