Finally finished my lake for the wood mill on my layout extension , two thick coats of pva over coated with two coats of external clear wood varnish.
I'm pretty pleased with the result, next up is a log drop and logging camp.
Artists call such happenings 'happy accidents'. The key point is that you saw what you had created and left it, and now we can all admire it and wonder if we can reproduce the effect intentionally.