"Floral Water Effects Problems" Topic

Hi all.
I was working with simulated water for some marshy terrain, and I'm having a problem. It's been 4 days since I applied it, and it looks great, but it's still very tacky and hasn't cured. I've followed the instructions to the letter but it's still not ready to put miniatures on it unless I want them to get goop all over their bases.
Does anyone know why it hasn't cured or can someone tell me a way to help it along?

If it helps, I followed WargamerDad's tutorial on Youtube here.

YouTube link

My terrain looks great (like his) but won't dry. is there any hope?

I watched the video (thanks for sharing that), and while I have not used the floral water effect mentioned… In the video, he clearly states that "old" resin will start to thicken and not harden as well.

Other will likely weigh in and have better insight, but based on what I heard, it sounds like you just got unlucky and bought an old resin kit.

I do not think I have any great fix here, but.

In the video he says he is using QuickWater for Silks. As seen here: link
The texts says it is a Urethane and not an acrylic. In the video he mistakenly says something about epoxy, (Not an epoxy).
I checked the MSDS, but little info there: PDF link

You can read up on the polymerization of urethane Here:
link
link

Now the older style water mixes were a different base material and exposing it to UV light could sometimes speed/spread the reaction. But my understanding of polyurethane is that UV will break it down. So, let us avoid that. You are not going to be able in introduce any more catalyst at this point even if you could get your hands on some. That leave only one basic trick I know of. Heat!
Chemical reaction go faster when heated. This will need to be a gentle heat, say in an oven at 160-200 F.

The chance of this working is low. But you have very little to loose.

It could fail for multiple reasons: Old resin, old catalyst, a catalytic poison, too cold to start with….

If it does complete the reaction the water effect may not be good (cracks or crazing).

That is exactly the stuff I'm using. Got it at Michael's for $12. USD

Based on the reviews it seems like this is a product problem. Bummer!

I tried applying a heat gun on low setting, but halfway through I wondered if it would help cure the "water" or just melt it. So I stopped. I guess I'll try again.

It's a little better today than yesterday, but not much. Maybe in a week it will cure, but if not I'd hate to lose all the work I put in. I love the look of the terrain and besides, I have a game planned!

Most likely, the ambient humidity of your area ruined the cure. Sadly there is no real fix. You might put it aside till summer, but then the cure may become cloudy. The "fix", is to do it again but use many thin layers that will cure evenly.

If all else fails you might try sealing it with a thin coat of clear Elmer's glue. I use this for all my water by adding small amounts of color to the glue for tint. I haven't tried it but am guessing you could add gloss medium to make it shinier.

Thanks to all. It's finally dry enough to put miniatures on it without sticking.

More pics here. Check them out if so inclined.

angrypiper.com/gaming/?p=1027