Coming together very nicely. The waves are looking good!

Everything is coming together nicely. The water is looking fantastic.

First of all, thanks for the compliments about this! It is my rookie venture into A) water and B) armor dioramas.

Second, I had some great mentors on this site who directed me to some great tutorials. Look up a thread in water effects started by me and there will be some great references. I can't say enough about how I have been welcomed and all the help that has been rendered by the members here.

Third, to the process... I used three products. The deep layers were EnviroTex which is a two part resin that is very easy to use. I mixed just two drops of blue food coloring in the mixture at first and every two layers halved that until the top layers that were clear. As advised you should only do 1/8" to 1/4" "pours" at a time and let it cure for a good 72 hours before doing the next layer.

I wanted to try to do waves in the resin so the top layer was a product called "QuiikWater" from Michaels. It was supposed to set up faster than the EnviroTex but even at 8 to 10 hours, if I tried to create nice gentle waves in the sticky resin, they just smoothed right out again. I finally gave up on that idea.

The third layer is LiquiTex acrylic gel which can also be obtained at Michaels. It comes in a variety of thicknesses and textures. It is white and look like cold cream when you open the jar. You spread it like peanut butter and then start working it with a popsicle stick. LiquiTex doesn't take long to begin the thicken and that the real fun. You can make peaks on the waves by just pulling up and I think (if you hit it at just the right moment) could probably get a nice curl for a "breaker". I would suggest playing with it on a sheet of glass (after it dries, you can just peel it off and start over. It is a lot of fun to experiment with and there is really no "wrong" to the method.

As far as fluids dripping down, there is lots of advice on how to do that online. Just do a web search for "fake dripping water" or "dripping water for model railroads" etc...

Drop me a message and if anyone else reads this, please feel free to chime in with advice for JG.

Last elements ordered for this project... I had an idea what fun this might be but I also had no idea how wrapped up my checkbook would be in this! Somewhere around... well, never mind... I still need a Dremel to make the cuts necessary. Oh, well... it's cheaper than drugs and alcohol and I get to keep the buzz a lot longer!

Cheers!

Have been following your progress all along. So far it looks great. For your news people, Velindin makes a TV reporter and camera man. The only thing I would have to say about your sand bags, is after living in Florida for 3 years and suspect to high water, we usually got flooded out pretty good in Kissimme is tha after a year or so sand bags which are made from burlap usually deteriate after a year or so to the point of falling apart. Just a helpful tip for you. Other wise, I love your idea and reminds me of a National Geographic issue of a sherman stripeed out but still there after all these years.

Thanks, Bob... ordered the news team today along a few other little surprises...

The sand bags are by now means done... they were just placed there for an early brainstorm... I like the idea of the rotted bags, etc...

Thanks for watching. Things have been a little slow until today... gonna try to do some wave painting tonight... will take photos... LOL!

Hi Patrick ,

congratulations with your beautiful groundwork . The water and waves and beach are nicely done !

Kurt

Thanks, kurt... gonna sit down with paint tonight and work on adding white caps and surf back into the water.

I bought a Dremel and did the cut last night... no going back now... I need to practice on thinning the plastic to make rust throughs...

Also, I ordered the last visual elements. Will try to post photos tonight as I work along. Might have a few weeks to work as we are waiting to close on a house...

Thanks again for looking and commenting.

The sand around the hull is "kinetic sand" and will provide the base for the dune built up around the derelict. Figures are ordered for the project...

I have nothing to compare the waves to as I have never done them before... there will be lots of foliage around the hull and the hills will have much more...

Ficus plants are not in season yet for the palm fronds.







Your comments are always welcome....

Coming together nicely Patrick , the water looks great .

The waves look real good Patrick. The kinetic sand looks great for this scale and looks like it will work really well. It is amazing how these projects can take on a life of there own. Can't wait for the next update.

Robert

Hi Patrick,

I have to agree - those waves look awesome - I'm expecting to see some surfer dude/beach bum type (they look a bit small for surfing) to appear at any second.

I take it you have painted the waves - any photos on the process?

Regards,
Kobus

Waves and water look very good and the groundwork is shaping up nicely as well. Really coming together. Anxious for the figures.

Kurt,
I did paint the waves and was so worried about how it was going, I didn't even think to photograph the steps.

Here was the process:
1) Tried painting areas of "foamy water"... that didn't work.
2) Tried painting individual wave tops. That didn't work.
3) Started using dry brush techniques to highlight the tops of the waves with gloss white.
4) Then used a very, very thin white wash (Tamiya gloss white with Tamiya thinner) to rework failed "frothy" areas.
5) Used a very thin wash of Tamiya Sky Blue (X-14). I then wiped the wash on the areas closest to the shore.

On introspection and self examination, I have discovered a few things... the beach drop off was WAY too deep. That leads to #2... I could have used a lot less resin mixture to make the water if it had been shallower. #3... the color of the waves obscures the under color of the water. Didn't need to worry about that as much. #4- LiquiTex gel is amazing. #5- making water is just time consuming and not that difficult once you get the process down... looking forward to doing it again with waterfalls, etc...

Thanks for reminding me that this is fun! And thanks for your comments.

I need help!

I am having a dickens of a time locating any kind of Japanese marking decals. I think the drums would look soooo much better if they had some kind of markings, don't you?

It wouldn't matter if they were 1/32nd aircraft markings as who would be reading them, correct?

I have lots of time to think on my way to work. I am going to hollow out one of the drums and cut the lid off so it will be filled with water... also, once resin (not the water but a solid round such as a barrel) is hollowed, can it be melted to simulate a bent in drum? If not, maybe then I need to find some plastic rod of same diameter which looks to be about 5/8" (guess I could have thought that through better and bought rod instead of the Vernlinden resin barrels... oh well). Well, there is my answer... evergreen doesn't make 5/8" hollow rod... only up to 1/2"!

What about plant growth on or out of the tank? Any suggestions?


So ideas about Japanese markings? Any other tidbits? This diorama stuff just grows and grows doesn't it?

I'm guessing you mean fuel drums? ... Years ago, I modified some using heat and a Dremel Tool: 'Distorted Fuel Drums'
These are Styrene Fuel Drums from Tamiya — pretty easy. There are more detailed versions of fuel drums in Styrene out there as well. HTH.

—mike

Patrick,
I had the opportunity to go to Guadalcanal for a recovery mission in 1989. I saw lots of Japanese and American equipment there, and by that time, there were few if any readable markings left on anything. In the tropics, rust sets in quickly, and eats right through the paint, so I doubt you'd find many markings left after 40 years, or paint for that matter, especially in an environment close to salt water. In fact, for a 55 gal. barrel, I doubt much of the barrel would be left at all. I was dealing with Japanese 75mm and American 155mm rounds, and the only markings we found were on the underside of one or two 155 rounds (out of 125) that were left in a stack pressed up tight next to another round-- any paint exposed to the air or soil was just gone. There were some very badly pitted Japanese rounds, with some tan paint barely peeking through on one side, but that was about it, everything else was just coated in rust. Keep in mind most paints in the 1940s were lead based, and lead leaches out very quickly in moist environments, leaving nothing but powdered pigment, which then just flakes off as dust. If you need to mark the barrels, you could probably get by with some hand painted "kanji" here or there appearing very weathered, nothing more than a stain perhaps. As for bending a resin barrel, you could heat it against a small soldering iron, holding the tip 1/4" or so away from the desired bend, then bend it with your fingers. For resin, the preferred method is to dip it into boiling water for 15-30 seconds using tongs, and then work in the bend with your fingers (wear a rubber glove, since the resin is hot) what I'd recommend for very old barrels is using your Dremel to thin them out from the inside, then poking severe rust holes in them with the tip of an Xacto knife, perhaps only leaving the supporting strengthening ribs to show in some spots. That will contribute a sense of "age" to your diorama even more-- for that matter you could do the same with the floats for the Ka-mi too, since they were also very thin metal. And, if a human presence is desired, Verlinden makes some nice skeletons! VR, Russ

Russ, already with you on the rusted out portions on the floats. Just got the Dremel two days ago and cut the hull to create the list to starboard.

Thanks for the tips on the rust and the barrels. Wish I had known about the Tamiya hollow barrels. Maybe a few more dollars won't hurt.

And I don't know anything about any skeletons...

Thanks, Mike... I did an extensive search for styrene before going with the resin barrels. And I just ordered the Tamiya set... guess I was just biased that they were German fuel drums but I doubt anyone will notice, right? Oh boy, this is fun spending money! Great dio by the way... love the actions depicted and all the good stuff!

Thanks for the tutorial... considering what Russ said in the next post, I am in for some edumacation this weekend!

Appreciate all input and help! It makes life so much more fun to know someone else already suffered through it!

Thanks all!

My first attempt at thinning plastic to create a rusted look... I know paint will make it pop but input by anyone?




Your comments are always welcome...

More progress... your comments are always welcome...

Hi Patrick,
The damage is really beginning to take shape ... fun with the Dremel Tool!

One thing that caught my eye when I saw the 1:1 photo on (p. 2) ... maybe you could lean a couple of the palm trees toward the water just a bit, and if they could be bent a little as well, that would be even better? Maybe it's too late for that? — just a thought.

—mike

Mike,
I tried the skinny palms and didn't like the look... it would have made the diorama another 6 to 8 inches taller. Just thought it looked odd...

Maybe next time... but thanks for the advice! I realized the whole tank needs rusted... oh well, that's what Dremel lives for, I guess... eating plastic.

Looking real good, the water came out great. Al

Not much progress, in fact none this week because of lots of stuff... not the least sweating out the escrow process...

In addition, I am waiting for the last two purchases (I hope) for the scene. That is, if you don't count waiting for ficus plants to come into the local nursery. I know the palm fronds will take a lot of time, but I can do them at work!

Can't run the Dremel at work as the dust and debris are not appreciated by the cleaning staff... teaching this weekend as well so it will be a while.

I do need some advice from all of you. Should the entire tank show the same kind of rust through including the turret? I know parts will be hidden. But is there any part of the tank that might need more attention than others? Also is the rusted out panels currently shown good or too much? Not enough?


I have never done rusting techniques prior to this. What color should it all be shot with as a base before applying either Rust-All system or Vallejo system for rusting and streaking? I have hull-red, some IJN greens and some other colors. You can see the variety in the photos. Which would be better for the base color of the hulk?

Thanks for your invaluable help. Look forward to all comments and criticism...