Still water diorama

simon b · Post by **simon b** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:50 am

I need to prepare my base for a 1/350 2 ship diorama. I normally use tetrion filler to make the sea base but as these two ships will be at anchor with smaller 'ships boats' milling around i want a very calm sea. I will also like to show some of the smaller ships boats in motion (wakes etc)

Any tips/ideas/divine messages ?

TIA

johndon · Post by **johndon** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:18 pm

I was just about to ask the same question for my IJN dockside diorama.

I know the model railway guys use resin to create still water but I've never tried it myself.

John

simon b · Post by **simon b** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 1:36 pm

I've just been trying out some Vallejo still water but its too perfect.
I've currently got some watercolour paper on the go but i'm not sure how it will look in 350th scale. I will paint this before glossing.

roy allen · Post by **roy allen** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:47 am

Hi guy's
what you need is a really good quality art shop, take one or two of the ships boats with you when you go. They should have what you want.
paint the entire surface silver then over coat in heavily thinned down dark green. over coat this with your final colour but go lightly, what you want is for a small amount of light to penetrate the paint and reflect of the silver. Finish with varnish of your choise.
Hope this helps

Roy

PetrOs · Post by **PetrOs** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:52 am

I usually take model railroad water gel from a german company "Noch". I prepaint a base board in blue tone, with the tracks where the boats will be moving, then apply the Noch gel and as I add it, I roll it with a small (8-10 mm diameter, 5-6 cm long) wooden stick, exactly like your lady would roll the pastry ;o) You get a calm water surface, very slightly touched by the wind, looks quite nice in both 1/700 and 1/350 scale. I posted the photos of my 1/700 dio a while ago, I used this technique there:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mwphpBB2/vie ... hp?t=17407

David Griffith · Post by **David Griffith** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:37 am

Dear Simon,

I would glue a sheet of rough watercolour paper to the baseboard. Also glue a sheet to the UNDERSIDE of the base as well, as the paper will cause the base to warp if it is only glued to the top. This probably won't happen with a 1/700 model, but is a very real danger in 1/350. Beleive me, I know!!

Paint the paper in your choice of greenish/blueish/greyish/brownish/muckyish coloured paint, depending on the effect you are looking for in the water.

Fix the ships to the base by whatever method you use.

Take some acrylic gel medium, which has been mentioned here many times in the past. This is a paste that can be bought from an art shop. It is opalescent when applied but dries clear and glossy. Working a few square inches at a time, apply a layer to the base with a palette knife or something similar, approx 1-2mm thick. Then take a medium size paintbrush and work over the gel with a random flicking motion to lift the gel into the appearance of ripples. Wash the brush frequently in water, and remove smudges or smears onto the ship's side quickly before it sets. It will start setting in just a few minutes, so don't apply it to too large an area at a time.

For an "at anchor" scene, this may be all that is necessary, apart from a coat of gloss varnish, perhaps. For a ship in motion, you can apply further coats of gel to build up bow waves and wakes and add touches of white or slightly bue tinged paint to represent the foam.

Kind regards,

David Griffith

Francisco P. de Nanclares · Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:02 pm

There is an acrylic sheet with a water-like pattern on it
Go to page 3 here:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

Cheers.
Pachi.

johndon · Post by **johndon** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:05 pm

Francisco P. de Nanclares wrote:There is an acrylic sheet with a water-like pattern on it
Go to page 3 here:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

Cheers.
Pachi.

Looks like that would do the job just fine with a small application of acrylic gel to hide the waterline of the ship - where do you get it from?

John

Gordon Bjorklund · Post by **Gordon Bjorklund** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 11:10 pm

John,

My local HS has this in stock. It would be suitable for 1/700 or small 1/350 scale ships. I think is about 14" by 14".

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.p ... t-id=89673

HTH

Gordon

Francisco P. de Nanclares · Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:37 am

johndon wrote:Looks like that would do the job just fine with a small application of acrylic gel to hide the waterline of the ship - where do you get it from?

John

I got it from a local store here, but you may try contacting them here:

http://www.bayplastics.co.uk/Product%20 ... paltuf.htm

Good luck!
Pachi.

Jason M. · Post by **Jason M.** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:49 am

This is what you need. Liquitex gel medium. Not sure if they have it on your side of the pond though. If it's over there, it will be in any craft store. On this side of the pond I get it at Michaels.

johndon · Post by **johndon** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:15 pm

Hi Jason,

They do sell it over here as well.

I've gone ahead with my diorama and tried something slightly different:

1. As mine is a dockside diorama, I first covered the base in a thin coat of filler than bedded the dockside in.
2. I've then given the filler two coats of an acrylic blue called phthalo blue - this, when used directly from the tube, is quite a dark blue.
3. I then began to brush Future (Johnsons Klear in the UK) over the top of the blue colour when it dawned on me a thick coat of future may do the job.
4. So, with some trepidation, I've poured the future over the top of the filler creating a layer of future about 1mm thick.

I have to say, I'm stunned with the result - the sense of depth is amazing and the dockside is reflected in the surface of the future. Hopefully this effect will stay once the future has had a change to dry out.

Once it has dried out, I'll do another thin pour and bed the hull of the ship into the future.

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow to see if I can show the effect.

John

Jason M. · Post by **Jason M.** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:46 pm

I'd love to see how that worked Johndon.looking forward to a pic

johndon · Post by **johndon** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 3:04 am

Did the second pour last night and, this morning, found it hadn't worked out quite as well as I'd hoped.

The look of the water is as good as I'd hoped but parts of the filler base have 'peeled' open so the base is quite badly damaged now. So, I'm going to start over again on the base (the dock can be salvaged) without the filler as the water base.

John

Jason M. · Post by **Jason M.** » Sat Mar 31, 2007 11:39 am

That sucks. Well, at least you had the guts to try something new!

Karsten · Post by **Karsten** » Fri May 04, 2007 2:06 am

I would have to agree with Jason M. on the Liquitex, I have been playing around the stuff in jars as well as the Heavy Bodied Liquitex in tubes and a painting knife.

You can do the rough or smooth surface, paint then add more Liquitex as/if needed. (the Heavy Body Tube stuff will give you white breakers/Wave tips)

An even thinner media is a Mod Podge paste over the top of that above then tint with paint..Buff with a damp clothe and left to dry then apply Vanish or other such floor wax.

For Docks, rocks and other detail there is Paperclay for about $4.00 for 8 ounces that will go far. Wet it nead, flatten or shape then paint.

Also for a base, Poplar can be found in thin 1/4-3/16 by up to 12 inch wide sections. You can also get Luwon or Mahogony plywood ment for floee underlayment and cut it to size for models then trim it out.

I am no expert and at best a novice and rookie compared to a number of folks here...just sharing what I have been playing with.

Karsten