Sea Stand/Diorama

[felelo]

I'm not shure if this is the right place for this question, but if think it is!

 

Hello everyone! I'm working on a Small Model, and I've been think about making a small scene with it when its done, basically its just the ship sailing in some stormy seas!

 

I've came around with this picture of a stand for a Plastic Model, and I loved the water affect, but I couldn't find any techniques that would lead to this level of realism, do any of you guys know how its made?

 

[Tuffarts]

Looks like some sort of resin.

Could be as simple as araldite with pigment added, and the white tops are painted on after it is dry.

 

Or it could be a sculpey type clay that has lots of clear washes over.

 

You can put the 'roll' of the ocean in which is not evident in this model, it shows up as a wavy line along the waterline, this one is mostly strait along the waterline.

 

Study pictures of real ships in similar weather that you want to create, lots of reference around.

[jbelwood]

The book entitled Waterline Dioramas by Justin Camarata covers just this topic.

I believe Seawatch Books may have it.

 

John

[Blue Ensign]

Hi there Felelo, I see you've come across my Seventy-four build.

 

You will find the technique I used for the water base in the build log - here's the link.

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/152-le-superbe-by-blue-ensign-heller-plastic-built-as-le-praetorian-after-boudriot/page-4

 

Hope it helps

 

B.E.

[Spaceman Spiff]

It does appear to be resin. I have had pretty good experience using celluclay. Form it around the ship (may have to add a little extra in case of shrinkage), coat it with thinned white glue, paint, and topped with Future. 

 

I like using celluclay and find it easier to make waves and less messy (for me, that is big) than working with resin. After the celluclay dries to the desired shape (remember that it will most likely shrink some), I coat it with white glue that has been thinned with water. This gives a good base for the paint. I pretty much use enamels and have never had a problem with coverage/reaction. For the initial water color, I use Testor's Model Master Dark Sea Blue (FS15042) and spray the entire water area (using airbrush). Then I lighten the blue and create various shades using white and yellow and dry brush them to highlight and create depth and color. Also, I use plain white drybrushed to similate foam, etc, typically found in wake, whitetops, etc.

 

Once I am satisfied with how it looks, I will coat it all with two or three layers of Future (after the paint has dried for a couple of days, of course) which gives it a wet look. Works for me!

Edited January 13, 2015 by Spaceman Spiff

[CaptainSteve]

Felelo,

This post has a couple of you-tube videos showing how to create this effect. The method is very much like what Spaceman Spiff describes above ...

[felelo]

Thanks guys! I'll keep studying the topic!

 

Wow, very nice to know that this model was built by a member of this forum, Blue Ensign, your model its fantastic, congrats!

[overdale]

Here is another forum discussion on water bases you might find useful. 

 

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/3952-dioramas-water-related-photos-hints-tips-and-videos/

[jonny.amy]

Felelo,

 

I am building the Italeri MTB 74 kit as a waterline model. I had previous built up a base for an Airfix HMS Victory build that I binned off because it was completely terrible (I have no idea how a child/teenager is meant to build that kit, let alone an adult, without serious kit bashing). 

 

Anyway, I built up the base using six main "ingredients", an A2 sized artists field sketching board, 3 or 4 kilos of cheap porridge oats, two large bottles of thin CA glue, an A2 sized picture mounting card, auto-filler, and dry-clear caulking.

 

Firstly, I drew the outline of the subject on to the artist board (10mm thick), and cut out 4 no. off 75mm thick strips of the mounting card to build up a frame. The card was PVA glued and nailed to artist board, making sure it was straight. Make sure you run a seam of PVA along the joint between the board and card. I reinforced the corners with some more of the mounting board. The joins were left under compression (clothes pegs work really well here) for about 6 hours.

After the corners are dry, and most of the PVA beading is dry, wrap the hull of the model in clingfilm (or a plastic bag), when you have done this pour in all of the porridge oats. This will give you an easy wave making medium. Once happy with the "lay" of your waves, working in straight lines up and down the board, start applying the CA glue to the oats and stop about 25mm from the hull. The CA glue will soak through the oats and secure the bottom most layers of oats and stop any slips as you remove the hull. Remove the hull (keeping the clingfilm on the hull). Cover the rest of the base in the CA glue. Leave this overnight to really soak in.

 

Next, you want to get a thin coat of auto-filler or DIY filler on top of your oats to give you a smoother water effect. Use an artists palette knife, it works wonders as you can flick the filler around a bit to make the water texture. Once happy, leave to dry overnight. Once dry, spray paint an "Ocean Blue" colour and once dry highlight with specks of white paint to add wave crests. Again, leave to dry. Cut the mounting board to match the profiles of the waves, and paint black.

 

The last part for base is to add detailed "shimmery" waves with the dry-caulking. Applied in ta similar fashion to the filler with the palette knife, it looks especially good off the wave crests.

 

Now, with my base I had built in accordance to the Victory hull, and seeing as this kit was too much trouble to continue with, I had to modify the base to fit the Motor Torpedo Boat hull. Seeing at the hull was double the size of Victory (Scale 1:180), I had to cut out some of the base. Bearing in mind that this is filler, and super-glued porridge oats, it's not the easiest thing to start butchering, but does come apart fairly cleanly. So now how did I modify this gaping hole to fit a new hull?! I used expanding foam, and a boat load of it. With the hull wrapped in more clingfilm, fill the cavity in the board with the expanding construction foam (do this outside as it is toxic to ingest - don't want pets or children accidentally doing that), making sure you have more at the stern than the bow as you want to have a huge bow wave on this bad boy!!! Simply weight the model down in whatever position it will be in, and leave until the foam has dried. With the hull weighted down, the foam will seep out of gaps between the hull and base, and create "white water" as the boat is going through the waves.

 

These photos are of my display/diorama of MTB 74 en-route to the St. Nazaire Raid 28th March 1942. 

 

 

 

 

The expanding foam dries solid, but is still soft enough inside to be cut with a sharp knife to add more texture to it. It is also safe to paint.

 

I hope this helps, and if you go down this route, feel free to PM me with any questions.

 

Cheers,

Jonny