deep water lighting

[kar6man]

hey all, I'm about to finish up the base for a canvasback swimming in deep water today and i wasn't sure if i wanted to mix paint with the water. i want it to look real dark. i was thinking about putting one of the dark reflective backgrounds that they use in fish tanks and placing it on the bottom. has anyone tried this or anything like it? or is this just going to be a waste of my time? thanks all -cody

[M.T.]

give me more details and I'll tell you exactly what to do to make it look its best. How big, how deep, how much space between the front or back, all of those details.

[kar6man]

the base is 16" x16" with a 2" baseboard around it. I'm going to be using plexiglas  and that will be 1.5" to 1.75" up from the bottom. i will have a few reeds coming up through the plexiglass as well. thanks.

[M.T.]

in a case like that, all you need to do is paint the inside of the base black.  What to do ideally is this.  Lets say your can is mounted facing the right.  Then, on the left side of the base towards the back is where you want the reeds to protrude out of the water.  Now, paint the bottom of the base brown right there, throw in a little black eventually turning all black as youy get out from the reeds.  Kinda like a dropoff.  The reeds are shallow the duck swimmimg towards or into the deeper water.  You dont have to color the water at all.  Make sure you color the sides of the base on the inside also.  Very easy.

[kar6man]

thanks for all the help MT.

[Laurier]

use a soft light inside , either white or blue ( the lighting colour )