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I just noticed that GW makes this water effect stuff, which seems fairly cool, if it's good stuff. Has anyone used it? Do you know if it produces a good effect?

One of my mates who is an ork collector and a much more experienced player than i am used it and gave quite a good review so I'm intrigued to try it!

GW don't make the water effects stuff.
It is a rebadged product made by another company (more than likely to be Ziterdes/Noch - who also make the 'Woodland Scenics' range).

It is good stuff, though. Once you get the principles right.

Any advice on doing so?

I have tried it, and I find it really expensive and not impressive at all... v_v

In the White Dwarf Articles it seemed "woaaaahhh", but when you are using it, it's more like some kind of friendly varnish... Friendly and uberexpensive varnish, lol.

My advice:

Practice, practice and more practice. Sorry if this sounds condescending, but it really is something you have to learn how to use. Not everyone has the patience for it.

The key is multiple layers, and allowing it to dry AND CURE properly between coats. It's not somethat that can, OR SHOULD be rushed. I've used this stuff on an old modular terrain board, and it gave very nice results.
I'm sure there are online tutorials showing how to use it though. Many of the finer nuances will only come with practice and experience.

No, I can't show pictures of it. It was over 10 years ago, and it was left with (my then) fellow clubmembers as I had nowhere to put it after I was forced to move house.

Look into acrylic gel media.

http://www.liquitex.com/Products/gelmediums.cfm

Several companies make this kind of stuff.

Here is a review I did and posted over on the Eastern Fringe Forums:
http://easternfringe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=33066&highlight=#33066

From your review it looks like the GW product is one of the standard artists' gel media repackaged and marked up in price.

None of the gel media are intended for making a very thick layer of water and you would have the same problems of drying time with any of them, but they would be cheaper than the GW product.

If you want to make deep water you need a clear encapsulating resin like this

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=75

Notice the price compared to the GW product. However this is a poisonous chemical and not suitable for children's use.

months to dry? wouldnt a can of clear lacquer dry faster then that lol is there a better CHEAPER way to get that done?

There is no real cheap and convincing or satisfying way to do bodies of water, IMO, that is also fast.

A good effect takes ages to do right.
A shoddy effect can be done in a matter of minutes.

Expense doesn't necessarily equate to good, though. I've seen miracles performed with ordinary household junk and industrial recycling (some of the set dressing in Farscape and Dark City), and some quite gak work done with buckets of money.

Problems with clear lacquer is that each layer has to be properly cured and dry before the next layer, or you will get misting or fogging (or even whiting) in layers.

We used to use a product called "liquid glass" for water effects. It was usually used on furniture to give a high gloss, very durable coating for timber (we're talking a 5mm thick polycarbonate layer) table-tops. Used to take around 48 hours to cure properly, and was then hard as nails for years.

I use clear crystal laquer for water effects, I swear by it. http://www.joggles.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?language=en&products_id=13812

Thanks, you've given me plenty to consider. If I make some water terrain, I'll post some pictures.