What if

General Modelling Forum => Tips, Tools, and Techniques => Topic started by: The Rat on February 14, 2008, 08:05:57 PM

Title: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: The Rat on February 14, 2008, 08:05:57 PM
Got a few projects on the go which would be much improved with a diorama featuring water, in fact one would be pretty well useless without it.

Scared crapless to try, cuz I figure you really only get one shot at it if you're putting an aircraft's hull into the stuff. Anyone know easy techniques? Any good on-line tutorials?

Sweat, sweat, sweat...
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: philp on February 14, 2008, 10:20:29 PM
Greg would be the one to ask on this site.  He had done several dio's with the stuff.

Woodland Scenics makes a product called E-Z Water which is supposed to be good.

Other ideas on this link.
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page10.html

Good luck.
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: deathjester on February 15, 2008, 06:07:07 AM
Try this for size: make a one inch high cardboard cut-out in the shape of your models hull, and tape this into the apropiate place on your dio.  Then you can pour on your filler / resin / whtever to make your 'water', and when it has set, remove your cardboard cut-out, and put your model in it's place.  Then, if there is a gap around the hull, you can just use a little filler, and paint over that white to simulate a wake.  I wouldn't try the above using your actual model though, as some fake water products, especially the resin ones, get hot enough to melt plastic while curing!!
  In any case, good luck!
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: Spey_Phantom on February 15, 2008, 08:15:37 AM
there are other (verry cheap) ways to make water  :rolleyes:

first you take a bottom board (could be cardboard or wood); spray is in a bleu paint.
when the paint is dry, take out some (clear) plastic kitchen foil (every kitchen should have a roll of that stuff to cover up fruitbows or jars) and spread it on the board, wrinckle it up a bit and there you have your water.

you could also stray a little clear blue paint on it for a bit of realism.

a second idea is to use paper-mashé (newspapers+wallpaper glue mixed together, quite a sticky mess)
you could shape it into any kind of water you like and when its dry, you can overspray it with marine-blue paint and the sand off the tops a little  :rolleyes:

there are 2 ways, although i never tried them  ;D
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: kitnut617 on February 15, 2008, 09:53:53 AM
I tried walking on water once, but making water is a bit above my capabilities  ;D -_- :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: Ed S on February 15, 2008, 10:23:02 AM
Quote from: kitnut617 on February 15, 2008, 09:53:53 AM
I tried walking on water once, but making water is a bit above my capabilities  ;D -_- :rolleyes:

Have you tried drinking lots of beer.  That works for me.

:wacko:

Ed
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: cthulhu77 on February 15, 2008, 10:23:28 AM
In the process of actually making a dvd about making diorama water...

What sort of look are you going for? (tropical still, fast atlantic, etc)

There are some really easy ways, and inexpensive, to create a water effect. One of my favourites involves toilet paper and future.
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: nev on February 15, 2008, 10:37:31 AM
Ratty, are you looking to make an ocean or a stream?  There are differents ways of doing them anyway.
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: GTX on February 15, 2008, 11:17:59 AM
QuoteIn the process of actually making a dvd about making diorama water...

That would be really interesting - please keep us informed.

Regards,

Greg
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: Mossie on February 15, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
Hydrogen, oxygen, flame, stand back.  Brings back memories of a nutter Science teacher at school & a lesson gone wrong..... :o

Oh, you mean modelling!  There's a more in depth description of Nils technique on the IPMS Stockholm site:
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2002/11/stuff_eng_tech_sea_water.htm (http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2002/11/stuff_eng_tech_sea_water.htm)
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: The Rat on February 15, 2008, 07:54:24 PM
Thanks for the help chaps, I'll be studying all the advice. The one which absolutely must have water will be the Convair Tradewind in United Nations service, I want it with the nose raised and deploying men and equipment on a beach. The other will be a Supermarine Attacker converted to a flying boat fighter, and water would be a nice touch. I could take the easy way out and make some beaching gear, but moored to a buoy would be kind of cool.

To answer the inevitable question - yes, I know the side intakes on the Attacker will have a water ingestion problem. That's why they will probably have retractable covers, and during taxiing and take-off air will be taken in by a retractable scoop behind the canopy. Alternatively the present intakes could be filled in (weapons?) and new ones configured slightly behind and above where they are now, like on the Sea Dart.

Oh damn, gotta start carving yet another hull.  :banghead:
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: noxioux on February 17, 2008, 07:05:58 PM
Here is the mega-low tech way to do it.  Simple tamiya flat white drybrushed over flat blue, with some future.  I think you could do this adding some blue-greens and it would look much better, but it does the trick in a pinch.

(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi215.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc214%2Fnoxioux%2Fpink_andwater.jpg&hash=f8f0e0c7461a43dec5ba8dd39ca5c663c93dbe10)
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: The Rat on February 17, 2008, 07:40:45 PM
Hmmm, not bad Nox!  :wub:
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: noxioux on February 17, 2008, 08:40:05 PM
Thanks.  If my old painting professor saw it, he'd cut my fingers off with hedge clippers.  It's crap under close inspection, especially compared to some of those resin techniques out there.  But it does okay on a quick glance.
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: Joe C-P on February 19, 2008, 06:43:04 PM
Make a base.

Carve out a space for the aircraft.

Paint the water part, shading from sand color to blue-green.

Coat with acrylic gel medium, multiple thin coats, building up small wavlets. It's water-soluble and just transparent enough.

If you want whitecaps, dry brush the tips of the highest waves with white.

JoeP
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: puddingwrestler on April 08, 2008, 04:24:34 AM
I've always used the PVA glue (white glue) method myself, but I've only ever used it for wargames terrain and one very poluted river. You paint the base board in appropriate watery colours, then you just paint a layer of PVA over the top. The neat thing is you can tint the PVA glue by mixing other colours into it, which helps to build up the effect of depth. Another neat trick I tried on a model I never finished was to hold the model to the base simply with the glue used for the water effect. If you wait for it to be tacky, then move the model forwards a bit you'll get a bow wave! It's smashing for toxic slime, but I doubt you want that :rolleyes:

Here's a pic (http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~owentop/images/pa_finished_fisherman.jpg) of the poluted water version (not the bext pic, but the only angle which really concentrates on the water.

Here's another pic (http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~owentop/images/canals5.jpg) showing the technique used to full effect on a toxic waste river I sold on eBay last year.
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: Mossie on August 06, 2010, 02:51:42 PM
Anybody know how to get the kind of icy water effects shown in these diorama's that nev posted in the LIS GB inspiration thread.  The second one looks relatively easy, I'm guessing the water coming through the cracked ice is created with PVA, but the I haven't got a clue for the first one.

(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi72.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi176%2FMossie105%2FGeneral%2FTankinIcediorama.jpg&hash=e9bb3d8801a8a142b7fb6a349fc8a48baeead39f)

(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi72.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi176%2FMossie105%2FGeneral%2FIceBattleDiorama.jpg&hash=3ee29b64299560a868a6d486d7dd1d944d192f2e)
Title: Re: Ever made water? I'm dreading it.
Post by: McColm on September 11, 2017, 10:08:50 PM
I asked the same question on  Facebook and was directed to YouTube.
The technique is to use a polystyrene base and toilet paper.
Draw around the model to get an outline and then use wood glue mixed with water in a container. Brush on a thin layer of diluted glue over the polystyrene base and lay the sheets of toilet paper on top. Build up 3 layers.
Using the brush to create the waves and smooth over the join of the toilet paper.
Once dry use different shades of acrylic paint to create the water or sea.
Then place your model on the base.
Works for ships and flying boats.