by David Griffith » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:47 am
Dear Rod,
This is what I would do.
Take a piece of heavyweight and rough finish watercolour paper. It doesn't have to be the very expensive handmade stuff, but it does have to have the rough surface. Stick it to your base. Paint it greyish or blueish or greenish or brownish or what ever colour the water is in Pearl Harbor.
Fix the model to the base by whatever method you use.
Spread a layer of acrylic gel medium over the base using something like an artist's palette knife. Aim for an average thickness of about 1mm to 1.5mm. Apply it a few square inches at a time, as it starts to set very quickly. Work it up carefully to the side of the ship. If you get a smear on the hull, take it off with a brush dipped in water.
Before the gel has a chance to go off, take a paintbrush, not too big, perhaps about a size 3, and work over the gel surface to make ripples. Try to hold the brush in the same orientation all the time. This will make the ripples look as though they are all going in the same direction due to the breeze. But also try to keep them from getting in straight lines.
Keep the brush washed out frequently in water.
When you have gone over the whole base and the coat is solid, you can do a bit more work at the ends of the ship to build up a bow and stern wake, but keep these subtle if it is under tow.
If necessary, add some toches of foam with white paint and a coat of gloss varnish if you think it will look better.
Regarding the oil leaks from Arizona, I have a thought that may or may not work. When I was at Telford last weekend, I was shown a technique for representing anodised metal, by spraying a very thin dilute coat of Tamiya clear blue over Alclad II metallic finish. What about trying spraying a very thin misty coat of Alclad burnt metal or jet exhaust colour over the area you want to have the leak and then spraying Tamiya smoke over the top of that? If you keep everything sufficiently thin and misty that the basic colour that you've used for the water shows through, it might just work. I emphasise that this a thought that I have just had off the top of my head, and not tried. Please experiment first, not try it out straightaway on a finished model!!!!!!
Alternatively, maybe you'd just spray some streaks of dark brown over the appropriate areas of the base over the top of the basic colour and before applying the gel.
Kind regards,
David Griffith
Dear Rod,
This is what I would do.
Take a piece of heavyweight and rough finish watercolour paper. It doesn't have to be the very expensive handmade stuff, but it does have to have the rough surface. Stick it to your base. Paint it greyish or blueish or greenish or brownish or what ever colour the water is in Pearl Harbor.
Fix the model to the base by whatever method you use.
Spread a layer of acrylic gel medium over the base using something like an artist's palette knife. Aim for an average thickness of about 1mm to 1.5mm. Apply it a few square inches at a time, as it starts to set very quickly. Work it up carefully to the side of the ship. If you get a smear on the hull, take it off with a brush dipped in water.
Before the gel has a chance to go off, take a paintbrush, not too big, perhaps about a size 3, and work over the gel surface to make ripples. Try to hold the brush in the same orientation all the time. This will make the ripples look as though they are all going in the same direction due to the breeze. But also try to keep them from getting in straight lines.
Keep the brush washed out frequently in water.
When you have gone over the whole base and the coat is solid, you can do a bit more work at the ends of the ship to build up a bow and stern wake, but keep these subtle if it is under tow.
If necessary, add some toches of foam with white paint and a coat of gloss varnish if you think it will look better.
Regarding the oil leaks from Arizona, I have a thought that may or may not work. When I was at Telford last weekend, I was shown a technique for representing anodised metal, by spraying a very thin dilute coat of Tamiya clear blue over Alclad II metallic finish. What about trying spraying a very thin misty coat of Alclad burnt metal or jet exhaust colour over the area you want to have the leak and then spraying Tamiya smoke over the top of that? If you keep everything sufficiently thin and misty that the basic colour that you've used for the water shows through, it might just work. I emphasise that this a thought that I have just had off the top of my head, and not tried. Please experiment first, not try it out straightaway on a finished model!!!!!!
Alternatively, maybe you'd just spray some streaks of dark brown over the appropriate areas of the base over the top of the basic colour and before applying the gel.
Kind regards,
David Griffith