Ok now with my base finished its time to add water around the 1/700 test ship.

This will be my first attempt at water and I’ll be using Vallejo’s Water Effects.
You guys have any tips, advise, or suggestions for me on doing this?

Sorry, Jacob, never used the product (but am very interested on how yours will turn out!), so I can't give ya any advice. . .maybe try a little out on a test board first to see how she goes?
~Gunny

I give it a try on a scrap piece first.

I would start it this morning but don’t know how much time I have or if I can stop in the middle with this stuff.(Once I get a call I’m to head over to check out a new job site. we’ll be getting a load of block there so it depends on when that comes in.)

Jacob,
Here is link to an article I did about using Woodland Scenics Realistic Water and Water Effects. Maybe it will help.

http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net//features/882

Best regards and good luck,
Gary

Hi Jacob,

I haven't used that product but here's a link to a post I ran about making water.

http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/82663#686006

If you look in the Carpenters Shop I ran one on Shipwrights too under Pier 52 Making Water.

Both provide some useful tips and ideas.

Here's a few additonal links:

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TNT067_making-water_Geraths/tnt067.htm

http://www.pwmrc.org/water/Water.htm

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers

Al

Thanks guys.

Gary what did you use to shape the water in the open areas? Or was that carved out of the thinner pieces as well?

I’ve been messing around with it for a while now and have tried 2 ways of doing it. (One on each side of the block.) Once it drys I’ll post pictures for opinions.

Of course anymore advice would be appreciated

Jacob,
I did the underlay for the open areas using acrylic gel modeling paste (aka heavy gel medium).
It's translucent when it dries and maintains it shape without shrinking. I used several different small spatulas to pull and shape the rough water. Then I started to paint the layers with acrylics and added layers of realistic water to gain depth, painting inbetween each layer. I thinned the acrylics (I use el-cheapo craft acrylics in the 2 oz bottle - 69-99 cents each) with gloss medium to keep them translucent. The final top coat was completely clear - no tint.
Then I finished the white caps and foam using the Foam Putty(this stuff is great and it makes great snow too).

The spray was made by brushing a thin coat of water effects on a glass plate and letting it dry. It makes a rubbery sheet that you can cut and form bowspray with by using Water Effects to bind it into place. After it dries just add the Foam for effect. The geyser was made with Water Effects by pulling the medium up a wire pin. By building up several layers you can pull and shape the spray. I use a piano wire on a dowel handle to pull the little tufts out and shape it.
It took me almost a week to complete but I was happy with the results.

Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Gary

Thanks Gary. I’ll do another test try and try to do the rough water.
The stuff I’m using came precolored I’ll just have to add some white to the high points.

Heres my first try.



(If you go into my gallery you can see a larger picture.)

The left side is calmer water with a few small waves and the right side is rougher.
Let me know what you think.

Looks fine my personal tastes would lead towards a much darker blue.
I think you could affect this by making your baseboard black and this would put a little darkening to it. Loooks like some pretty neat stuff. Pretty soon making water for ship dioramas will become as easy as pouring it onto the board doing a little shapping with a spatula and after it dries adding a little white drybrushing to pick up whitcaps and wake / foam

Very Interesting, Jacob!

Is the solution thin, or is there body to it? You might want to build a temporary frame around your base to hold the "water" in place, to keep it off the sides of that nice oak base that you made.

Is that stuff easy to work with? Tell me a little about it, I may give it a shot next waterline I do. . .
~Gunny

Steve this test is pretty thin so I’m expecting it to be a bit darker on the real base.
The stuffs transparent and sort of looks green at some angles where the wood can be seen so I’ve painted the ship base a light blue. (I have a large amount of white oil paint and just added some blue to it to help blend in with any shallow spots.)

Mark the stuff kind of reminds me of wood glue. I’ve taped the base to add the oil paint and will be leaving that tape on till I’m done. (Any that gets on the tape should be able to be cut with a knife before removing.)
On the test piece I applied it with a painters knife.

Also you can sort of see a dip in the middle of the piece. This is from a 1/4" hole in the wood there that the stuff covered over and sagged into.

I’m hoping to do a 2nd test tonight so I’ll try to get some pictures of the stuff in use.

Looks pretty good Jacob. If you do another sample try this color combo. Load your airbrush up with dark blue and spray the water from [i[one[/i] side only. Clean out the airbrush and load up with dark green, do a 180 with the water and spray the other side. If you keep your blue and green the same dark shade, they will blend together and give your ocean a 2 tone look.

later...Gator

Hi Jacob and All,
just got this thread today, your water is looking fine, i also suppose you could go there: https://hfmodeling.kitmaker.net/forums/86141&page=1
this is a recent Historicus Forma thread, and Rudi's first post contains a VERY interesting link about Water Effects and stuff, and how to avoid some problems.
good luck, don't drown

Hi All,
I agree with Gator, the key to good looking and convincing water is the depth you achieve.
Layering with some varying colors is the only real way to achieve this if you're using a transparent medium such as any of the EFFECTS type materials. It will take a little extra time and effort but the results should be much more believable than a straight pour.
Besy regards,
Gary

Thanks guys.

Kenny I wont be able to airbrush this base. I’ve already got the ship on it and am afraid it would be too much trouble to try masking it from the water. And I don’t think I could get them blended together properly by hand.

Gary do you think I could get the desired depth look by painting the base itself a few shaded of blue and green or dos the effect need to be stacked on the layers?

Jba thanks for the link.


New pictures should be coming today one I get a chance.

Jacob,
I think if you use semi-transparent washes brushed inbetween a couple of thinned layers of the EFFECTS medium you can get the depth that Gator and I were referring to. Experiment on your test piece using a hairdryer to speed the drying and see if it works to your liking.
You're the ultimate judge here so don't trying anything you're not comfortable with, especially if you feel it might damage the model if it's already in place.
Remember, there's always the next model you can try it out on. Back to the LHS...Oh Boy! :-)
Look forward to seeing your progress.
Here is a diagram of what I was getting at....



Best regards,
Gary

Thanks again Gary.

I think I have transparent blue and green paint to I’ll give it a try on a test piece.