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Looking at using some water effects style things, and need some advice.
What product should I use, and where can I get it?
If I want to do a puddle of oil instead of water, can I just mix it with some black ink?

My only experience is with the GW water effects.

You can color it, but make sure you do color it with a transparent color (like not Mechrite Red).
A little color goes a long way. I used a mix of black and burnt umber (1:3 ratio) from Daler Rowney / FW to make puddles of "dirty water" on a recent RoB board.

Add some color and try it out on a scrap piece of cardboard or something first.

Remember to stir carefully and thoroughly, you don't want any air bubbles. Pour in thin layers and let it dry 48hrs instead of the recommended 24.

Woodland Scenics' 'Realistic Water' is far better value for money than GW's water.

Mixing with both opaque and translucent acrylic paints, inks etc is fine.
Stuff liquid will still harden. Just play about with combinations until you get an effect that you like.

Three tips from me.....
Make sure that what you are working on is on a level surface! Sounds dumb, i know, but larger bodies of water start to look mighty strange when the water isn't level!

Get hold of some syringes/pippettes for application of the water. It's far more accurate and controllable this way.

Be careful using Realistic water around static grass. Always use the water before adding grass to a base/piece of terrain. Static grass will 'wick up' the water and give some very odd results.

Hope this helps.

When using the other GF9 water product (can't remember what it is called off the top of my head but it is the one which is made up of little plastic pellets that you melt and then pour into place to form large bodies of water) - make sure you have heated it well past melting point.

I melted it so that it was runny and liquidy and then went to pour it out - it did not retain enough heat to remain pourable for more than a few seconds and by the time it had touched the surface I was pouring onto it had started to harden again. I had to sit for ages with a hairdryer (kinda worked but was not very good) and a lighter (better, but it is a naked flame - not a good thing) to get it to flow into place.

If you are using this stuff a heat gun might be a good investment.

Edit: Oh, and make sure if you are having to reheat the water on the base, direct any sources of heat you use away from any plastic models on the base as they will get melted

Thanks for the help! I'll give it a try.