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I'm attempting to add a water effect to a base using clear resin (EasyCast) and I have some questions for anyone else that has worked with it. Prior to using it on my base, I made a test base and wrapped electrical tape around the rim to form a lip. I poured the resin, let it dry for 24 hours and it hardened fine - nice and clear. When I peeled away the tape, the edge was sticky, like the adhesive in the tape was stuck into the resin.

I cut a section of plastic cup and made sure it fit tight to the base and gave me a nice lip, thinking this would be a better solution. I should have tested it first before using it for my actual base. The resin leaked down the sides - apparently the seal wasn't tight enough. The good news is that the plastic cup peeled off fine and there was no sticky residue. I managed to cut away the resin from the rim with a hobby knife, so it wasn't as bad as I initially feared.

My issue is that the water level was not what I wanted since a lot of the resin leaked out. I'd like to do a second pour, but I'm trying to figure out what to use to create the lip. The tape kept a tight seal, but left a sticky residue. I've read that green stuff can be used, but I would imagine I would wait for that to harden first. It's going to sound funny, but what about silly putty? I can create a nice, tight seal and it should (theoretically) peel off at the end, right?

Any advice or information is always appreciated.

Nope. It'll behave like blue tac and leave you with a gakky edge. You need something that won't soften with heat. My suggestion would be, use the plastic cup method but seal it below the top of the base with blu tac or something similar. Then sand it back/ clean it up, and paint the rim.

Secret weapon makes a nice base that allows you to fill it with your clear resin to get the effect you're looking for. Their bases aren't cheap, however, so this might not be quite what you want:

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=79_80&zenid=ad84b3e797d2d8be49248a01131b74fb

Good luck and let us know what you come up with!

No direct experience to draw from, but electrical tape is generally gummy stuff, especially when it's been exposed to heat. All of the tutorials I've seen that use tape as a barrier use something like packing tape, instead - it's less stretchy and uses a thinner, stronger layer of adhesive, which should make it far more suitable for the task.

If there is any residue left, at the end, a little rubbing alcohol should clean it right off. Hopefully, the underlying surface wouldn't be marred, but a layer of gloss varnish can help hide little irregularities, if any appear.

I did another test base last night, and here's what I tried:

I took a piece of electrical tape and partially folded it over on itself so that about 1/4 of it was the open adhesive side and the rest was just plain tape back. I placed this on the base so that the sticky portion stuck to the rim, but not above it. This meant that the lip above the rim was effectively the non-adhesive back of the tape. I poured about 1/4 inch and let it sit overnight. This morning I peeled it off and the sides were a little tacky, but I think this is mostly due to the fact that it might not be completely dry. I'm going to check it when I get home today and see if it remains tacky. If it is, I think I'm going to try another test base and use packing tape this time.

Thanks to everyone that offered advice