How to make a lake or river in a Nativity scene with epoxy resin

No more aluminium foil to imitate a lake in your Christmas Nativity scene! In this new Feroca tutorial, one of our experts walks you through all our tricks for making a stream, pond, river, well or anything else you have in mind that involves water, in a practical and straightforward way.

And it's not just for Nativity scenes — this step-by-step guide is also perfect for dioramas, scale models, model making, and more.

Basic materials for the Nativity scene pond

Epoxy Putty

Epofer EX610-A + E610-B two-component Epoxy Putty from Feroca. Working time is half an hour and curing time is 6–8 hours at a standard temperature of 20–24 degrees (depending on the volume you use — the more putty, the more heat it generates and the faster it will cure).

Epoxy Top Coat

Ideal for thin layers like this lake. Working time between 25 and 60 minutes and curing time 24 hours (faster in warm weather).

Piñata Inks

Alcohol-based pigments that work really well for colouring epoxy resins.

Ciano Denso Adhesive

A high-density ultra-fast adhesive that will prevent glue from seeping into your piece. Perfect for creating a Nativity scene lake like you've never seen before, as it can bond a wide variety of materials, including: glass, metals, ceramics, leather, wood, rubber and some plastics.

Isopropyl Alcohol

To dilute and blend more easily.

Gloves, a mixing stick, brushes, a mask and other materials to help you create this pond safely.

And don't forget sand or soil, grass, paint and figures to make a stunning lake.

Shaping the pond

• Place a plastic sheet or tablecloth on your work surface to prevent the putty from sticking to it.

• Cut a MDF board to your desired size.

• Mix equal parts of Epoxy Putty until you get a uniform colour.

• Once you have a uniform putty, place it between the wood and the plastic sheet and smooth it out using a diffuser with isopropyl alcohol.

You can use water instead, but we don't recommend it, as the wood will absorb it and may swell, crack, etc.

• After about 6–7 hours, the putty will have dried and will be completely hard.

• Peel it off the plastic sheet.

Making your lake or pond look more realistic

To give it a more realistic look, we're going to add a soil texture. How? Keep reading.

• Dilute PVA glue with a little water to make it easier to spread, apply it all over your pond and sprinkle sand or soil over the entire surface.

• Leave to dry for 4–5 hours and remove any excess by tapping gently or brushing it off.

• To paint our piece, we used blue, brown and orange paint to achieve a more swampy look around the edges and a bluish tone for the bottom of the lake.

You can play with lighter or darker shades to add more depth and luminosity.

• Leave to dry and then pour your Epoxy Top Coat resin at a ratio of 100% part A and 60% part B.

To get it right, we recommend always working with round numbers. For our lake we used 150g of part A and 90g of part B.

If you're working with a larger surface, you'll need to use the Translux D151.

• Mix with a mixing stick until the mixture turns clear (at this point you'll know it's properly mixed)

If your resin is very thick, warm it up slightly in a bain-marie for 15–20 minutes to bring it to temperature.

• Add plenty of colour using tinta piñata in a bluish tone and spread it across the entire surface of your lake.

• Leave to rest for a few minutes so the bubbles can rise to the surface.

To get rid of any remaining bubbles, use a kitchen torch and make quick passes (keeping some distance) to pop them.

• Leave to cure for 24 hours.

• Add vegetation to bring it to life and make it look more realistic by gluing clumps of grass using ciano adhesive — in this case, the dense version.

Personalise your lake as much as you like

Let your imagination run wild and add submerged animals, — all you need to do is place a small drop of ciano adhesive where you want to position the figures to secure them, and then pour the resin on top.

You can even decorate with bridges, a washerwoman, swans — whatever comes to mind.

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