Hi, I'm a beginner modeller from belgium,
i am building diorama's for a couple of months now, and i wanted to make a nice
gravel shoreline like on this pic:

I made my ground, put the men on it, and now i have to start on the water, but
only now i realise i really don't know how to do it...
I have "Water effects" acrylic gel from vallejo, wich i plan to use...
but what and how do I do first ? do I need to color my botom underneath the water
first, before I apply the gel, or do I have to work in layers, and what tool and/or
techniques are best for creating some small waves and foam ?
I searched the forum, but all I couldn't find much about shorelines etc that helped me..

So, if maybe someone can help me thx !

greetings from Belgium !

Nice to have you here, nice to see more diorama builders.
As far as water goes it can be intimidating because you have to get it right the first time or your in for a huge 'fix'.

here is a recent thread regarding water Water Thread

You should always put color down before water goes in. In my opinion it's better to be safe than sorry. If the water comes out at all translucent some color will show through. For a gravel beach I would look into using Rail Road ballast or rail road pebbles.
I would paint it various shades of blacks and grays to get lots of variations. I would add greenish/grayish washes for algea. I would extend the gravel all the way to the edge (under water too).

I have never used the gel you have so I can't say directly how. Lots of products require a few layers to get thickness. I would test it in a small hand made bin/container made out of kitchen foil.
Waves and ripples are usually made by letting the water medium set up 1/2 way or 2/3 of the way then gently dragging a toothpick or stir stick through the top layer of water where the ripples are. It may take a drag or two until the desire affect takes hold.
Foam is usually added on after the base water is set. Since its usually white you can use a two part epoxy or even some of the one part types. Slowly build up layers of foam on the base wave. As the epoxy dries stap it with a tooth pick and pull out splashes. Add to them with more epoxy if necessary.
Painting the water, I prefer to use oil paints for water because I can thin them a great deal and really add tons of layers. White greens blues... mixes.

Water discussion on page 11 12 and 13

Gotcha Covered feature

Page 13 of this one
Sparrow

Well so far im using E-Z water but this youtube videos looks promising!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQQHg4tg9r4&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfUgKB1vmCM&mode=related&search=
there about 9mins long so, check them out when you have some time.
David

ah, thanks !!!
you guys helped me alot! now I know what to do ,
But first I will test it on something else, didn't think of that before too, good idea !!
:):) when I get my webcam fixed, ill show u some pics of my very first diorama's, and this one too.
greetings