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Building an A/B Waterbase for Your Ship Models
Building the Base…
Materials
For the support base I usually use acrylic plastic: 1/8” thick pieces for the sides (a material readily available as leftovers for those that build their own display cases like me). For very large models (like a 1/350 Enterprise or large dioramas) I may use some pieces of ¼” acrylic plastic. For the top part I commonly use thin acrylic sheets ordinarily known as fluorescent light diffusers (I may use thicker material).
This product comes with one smooth side and the other molded in different patterns, several of which are good to simulate water. The following photos illustrate these diffusers:
To glue the parts together I use an organic solvent that dissolves the plastic, thereby creating a firm bond between parts. I have been using chloroform or dichloromethane. These are the components of some “liquid cements” sold at hobby stores. I suppose that these commercial products should work as well, although I have never used them. To me the best way to apply the cement is using a fine point transfer pipette like the one shown in the photo. Take a little amount of solvent with the pipette and let it run into the juncture left between the parts held together by clamps in a "dry-fit" assemble.
Other materials I use both at building the base and making water. I mostly use commercial silicones and/or acrylic gels, shown in the photos below:
The Parts
Polygonal bases (i.e. rectangular, square and the like) are composed of 2 main parts: The sides and the top (4 sides and one top for square or rectangular bases). The sides will be glued to form a supporting rectangle (or square); the top is cut to match the contours of the supporting base and glued to it.