Are you a wargamer who wants great streams, but you don't have enough money for the high-quality streams? Well, model railroaders use a product that is cheap and looks great on a gaming table. This article tells you how to make quality streams out of E-Z Water. Please read the entire thing before you start the process. Caution:This is a safe and effective process, but it goes against the directions on the package. The directions on the package are for model railroaders, and wargamers have different needs for their streams than model railroaders do. Step 1: Get Materials E-Z Water Heatable Container (I use a pie tin) Oven or Microwave Aluminum Foil Optional: Pam (or any cooking spray) Step 2: Make Your Mold Get a large piece of aluminum foil. The size depends on how big you want to make your piece of river. Then, fold up the edges of the aluminum foil to make something that looks like a small bathtub. You will pour the E-Z Water into this. The dimensions of the base of the mold should be 3 inches-12 inches by 1 inch-2 inches. Step 3: Melt the E-Z Water You need to preheat the oven at 300 degrees on preheat while you make the mold. Then, pour about 30 pellets of E-Z Water into the heatable container. After that, put the container into the oven. The oven should be at 300 degrees on the preheat setting whenever you are using it in this process. If you are using a microwave you must experiment because I've never tried to use it before in this process. If you do use the microwave, please e-mail me your results. Step 4: Pour the E-Z Water And Let Dry Wait until every pellet is melted, this should only take about 1-3 minutes. Check periodically. When its done, quickly pour the E-Z Water into the mold 1/8-1/16 of an inch deep. Then, wait 2-3 minutes. The E-Z Water should be dry by now. Check to see if its dry by attempting to stab it with a toothpick. You will easily be able to tell if its done because if its not done the toothpick will go straight through the E-Z Water, and if it is done the toothpick will not go into the E-Z Water. If you damage the E-Z Water, then put the foil in the oven with the E-Z Water still in it and redo the melting of the E-Z Water this time with the E-Z Water in the mold. The E-Z Water should reset. After it resets go thorough the process of checking to see if its done by poking it with a toothpick. Step 5: Taking the E-Z Water out of the Mold and Painting After the E-Z Water dries you are almost done. Rip away the foil mold. You will destroy the mold. Molds are only good once. If parts of the mold cling to the E-Z Water you will need to use a knife to scrape the foil off. Pieces of the foil mold will probably never come off, but most of the mold will. After you take off the mold paint the part of the E-Z Water that was on top while in the mold a light blue, I prefer Dutch Blue. This is the same color I use for Union pants, but you can use any color that pleases you. Now let the paint dry. When it is dry you are ready to wargame with it. When using E-Z Water in a wargame put the part that is painted down. The non-painted should be sticking up. This will create a ripple effect that looks very good. You can buy E-Z Water at a local railroading store or through Musket Miniatures or Woodland Scenics. It typically costs $8.98. Other suggestions are as follows. You could spray Pam onto the foil to make it easier to tear away the foil mold after the E-Z Water is dry, but this may discolor the finished product. Also, put a paper towel or wax paper under the mold in case of spilling. You can also reuse the dried surplus of E-Z Water in the bottom of the heatable container. Just add more pellets into the heatable container, reheat, and your ready to pour into another mold. Back to Table of Contents -- ACW Newsletter # 2 Back to ACW Newsletter List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Marc Shefelton. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com