Hello there, I've been looking at that live fire excise where the ship gets blown out of the sea by a torpedo strike, a hugh ball of smoke and the like as you'd expect, then very shortly after a strange carm, still loads going on but nothing exciting, my little question is, has anyone built a torpedo strike diorama ? Look forward to your reply.

Hi Alec!

Years back I produced a dio showing the USS Hammann getting her back broken an instant before the other Japanese torpedoes struck the Yorktown alongside during the Battle of Midway. The scene took best of show at my first contest.

I intend to produce more such scenes for the upcoming Divine Waterline campaign this autumn, but if you have any specific questions in the meantime, I'd be happy to make suggestions.

--Karl

Hello Karl, thank you for the reply, I'm beginning to get that funny feeling that I either pick out the hard stuff, or the subjects no one is basically intrested in, I have a quite low skill level, and no matter what type of glue I use, I struggle like something crazy with photoetch, and because I've never done anything like this before, I wanted a sinking ship and the waves, and waves is something I have never done before, I've done plenty of research and got a ton of tips, but sadly if you haven't got the skill, you're only left with the knowledge, so far, I am quite please with my very first 1-700 diorama, (under wraps at the moment) however I did want to ask, how do you make the big heavy swells, not the white tipped waves, but those sea-sick looking swells, that go up, and down, up and down - ohhhh excuse me, no but seriously though, any help on the subject of making swells, sinking ships would be of great help to me.

I think it is a great idea. It is also not something you see all the time.

There are plenty of pcitures from SinkEx's for you to look at. I would think the hardest part would be replicating the explosion.

The ship would not have to be perfect since it came out of mothballs and it was stripped before it went into mathballs. I like the idea and will be interested in seeing how you can pull it off.

Hi Alec!

First off, and I'm sure everyone else on this site will agree, no one is born with the knowledge to produce heavy seas and other special water effects in scale. Having the ability to produce effects like that comes from research, and rolling up the sleeves and experimenting. Anything in modeling takes practice, and if you stick with it long enough, you will eventually produce pleasing results.

So far, this all is nice prose, but seeing examples will really help. I encourage other naval dioramists to post pics of their high seas work. For me, since I am only really getting back into the habit, I will be pulling out the stops for the Divine Waterline campaign this fall.

But back to your latest post, Alec. Since rolling seas are like hills, you will need a material that is not runny like glue. I've seen large waves done with artists gels, clays like Sculpey, and my favorite, Liquitex Artists Modeling Paste. Since these materials can get pricey, you should build up your 'hills' with solid materials, taking care to smoothe out any rough edges or sharp demarcations with your base since many of the water materials will reproduce these seams when they set.

Another thing to keep in mind is that for each large wave, there must be a corresponding trough. Waves are produced by forces working on the water, and since water has surface cohesion, when it builds up as a wave, there is a connected valley right behind. Just determine where the level water line is on your base and map out the hills and valleys (yes, it helps to have a base that is hollow or could easily be carved into ).

The one thing left out of heavy sea scenes is spray. You could pull off all the other items, but leaving off spray will make your model look impossibly static. Years ago, I saw an article featuring a Bismarck kit going through rollers, but the lack of spray made the excellent model look like it was traveling thru speed bumps. I am working on a process of applying thick layers of acrylic tube paint onto polystuff cotton filler to both anchor the material and create a foamy look. Since I work in larger scales, this approach has merit. But no matter the scale, applying spray will give the scene the dynamism its needs.

--Karl

Sounds like you've picked a challenging project there. Getting the sea swell (as a real tough nut to crack) is nothing with trying to mimic smoke and fire. A lot of folks used colored cotton balls, just sort of tear at them and get them wispy looking. Oughta be an interesting dio when you finish it

Right then, before you all fall over laughing, please remember 2 things, 1, that I am 51 years old and have been building for only 2 years and 2, this is my very first 1-700 sea effect diorama plus I have never seen a sinking ship dio before, the model is almost finished just requires a tweek here and there, so plaese let me know what you think, both good and bad comments please.


on the left hand side of the bow section of the ship, that's an oil spill and not missing paint, I am in two minds weather to coat the whole thing in matt varnish.

Very nice job.

If I were you I would add some more water around the ship parts to cover the seem. Also iy you have any bits of plastic you could toss on to make wreckage. Just a few ideas.

I think you did a bang up job on your first try.

I would definitely apply some more water around your hulls. Right now they are sitting on the water and not in the water. Also put some life boats in the water. Can't have a ship going down without the crew floating near by.

Hello there, many thanks for the advise and really good ideas, the following pix is as far as I can now go with the diorama, as I am waiting for the crew from the good old US of A and once they arrive, I shall up-date with new pix, obviously I'll also have to think up some sort of plinth to mount the whole thing, just to make it look good, in the mean time, may I have both good and bad comments please.

And finally lifeboat with crew, well sort of crew.

Hi Alec
I think you did a bang up job for your first try! a great idea also.... I like the idea of small pieces of boat/sprue as part of the explosion...

come join us at the Divine Waterline group build and share/learn more water-ways
cheers