Shimakaze by Landlubber Mike - FINISHED - Hasegawa - 1:350 - PLASTIC - Japanese WWII Destroyer

[Landlubber Mike]

Ron, your sea is really incredible.  The mixing of the colors with green in it is fantastic.  I can get away with a lot more at 1/350 than you can at the scale you were working in.  The trailing edges of your waves are a real work of art - looks just like the real thing!  And interesting pictures of the cat hair smoke!

 

@king derelict, your cat looks too comfortable to have someone plucking hairs.  Is that a Maine Coon?  My parents had them.

 

[Landlubber Mike]

5 hours ago, HardeeHarHar said:

People like you set the bar so high.  Your work is incredible, and the diorama is so realistic.  Epic job.

Hey Brian, thanks for the kind words.  Honestly, if you spend some time on youtube you can get a lot of ideas on how to go about doing the sea.  There are many brilliant modelers out there that freely share their techniques and demystify how dioramas are done.  There are lots of ways - the crinkled foil technique, using artist paper, carving seas in wood or foam board, sculpting it in clay, and even pouring it in resin.  Depending on scale, choppiness of the sea, etc., some methods are better than others I would think.  For this one, I just used the crinkled foil technique which is fairly simple.  I used that same technique on my Hatsuzakura at 1/700.  I have some 1/700 ships I'm working on now that will be in calm water situations - there, I might try using a different method.

 

The trickier thing for me at least is how to get the shading of the water to look realistic.  You really don't want to paint a single color, but layer on different shades and colors, which is fairly easy using an airbrush.  I actually only used 3-4 different colors on mine via airbrush, then went back in by hand to add some of the waves and foam.  

 

You should give it a try.  Personally, I think ships look better in their element - in the water, with sails, etc.  

[king derelict]

17 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

@king derelict, your cat looks too comfortable to have someone plucking hairs.  Is that a Maine Coon?  My parents had them.

ike

Well, a Maine Coon cross really. I got her and her sister as kittens from the local rescue place four years go. They are turning out to be great little companions.

Alan

[FriedClams]

A tremendous finish on this model Mike, congratulations.  Excellent seas simulation as well - a beautiful model all around!

 

Gary 

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much Gary, really appreciate the kind words!