Hi all,
Well,I bought it and built it so it can't sit around and not become a dio.Had to keep it the least space possible for room.I'd like the beach to be bigger ,but can't.Hardly have space on the bench for this.
Basic groundwork cut from foam.A quick paint job to give me a better idea of the water and sand.I'll need a border on the sides to stop resin.This will take a while.Be patient
Tom

This will be interesting for sure !
J

so far so good

I am looking forward to this one! Great start, I like it!

This should be a great one to follow along with. Really can't wait to see what you do with the water.

Robert

Water is fun especially when you get to the gel point and get to tease up those waves! I am going to do an experiment one day and see how big I can make a curl!

Looking on with great curiosity and interest!

Patrick,I could use more info on the gel.
What I'm looking for and how to apply.
Border is in place basically and sand for beach added.Once dry will need an airbrushing to remove shine an add correct color.Added decals to the sides,found it looked to plain without.

Tom

LiquiTex is a gel medium that you can purchase at Michael's or from several sources online. If you look at my diorama here ("On the beach, many years later") you can get an idea of how the medium works.

It spreads on like a paste and is milky. As it dries, it becomes clear. I actually thought about spreading some on a piece of glass because when it is dry, it can be peeled up as a single piece. But I digress...

As it get more frim, you can take a chop stick, a knitting needle, just about anything and start to "tease" it up in wave crests. It will hold and dry like that.

I would suggest that you try it on another surface just to have fun and experiment. It dries clear but then you can paint the wave crests with flat white and make foamy areas.
Since you are making water, I would buy the clear but they have all kinds of the stuff with textures (I just discovered this the other day) for doing stucco and the like. It isn't cheap but it isn't too expensive.

For water, I used the two part stuff from EnviroTex. You can use food coloring in it but remember to only pour about 1/4" at a time and let it cure 72 hours between pours. With the deep water on my beach, I halved the amount of food coloring each time. Another hint... use clear plastic cups like drink cups to do your mixing. You can make two of them measuring cups for the A & B and a third for the mix itself. Craft sticks (popsicle) sticks are great for stirring. If you get bubbles that you don't want in the resin, gently blow across the surface. Sounds crazy but I learned so much from Russ Bucy and a couple of other guys. You will also want to build up some side dams to the height of your water. Edges will show the consecutive pours so you need to be able to hide them unless you are only using one pour of 1/4" and then gel on top.

Any other questions, just send me a PM. I owe everything I know to the guys on this forum!

And I know more about sand than I ever hoped to learn!

Thanks a lot Patrick,
I use EnviroTex for large water areas too,but need to get a better way to create large waves.

Thanks again,

Tom

Gel...

Hey Patrick,
Just saying I'm used to EnviroTex.
The advise on the gel is great,going to see if I can find some tomorrow.
Anyway,put a bottom on the hole for the craft to stop the resin leaking through,added some darker blue to the water.
Starting the resin tomorrow.Let you guys know how it goes.

Tom

Hi guys,
Back with a short update.
Had to glue the LCM into place to get the fit, stop leaks and to fill gaps.
The gaps are just filled with cotton batting.Added some clear sprue for bullet shots.Found this gel that seems to work good.Drys clear in 24 hours.Easy to pull for waves.
Just applied in photo,so looks white.
This will take some time because one bad mistake may will make it garbage.

Tom

Very nice until now...

Yeah! That's the ticket! And I love the cotton batting along the sides of the hull... just wonder if the cotton and gel will play well together.

I became fascinated with the gel since it will peel off the surface of whatever once it dries. I am considering an experiment where I lay the gel out on a piece of glass or plexiglass, let it dry, peel it up and them place it somewhere else. Might be a fun experiment!

Keep those updates coming!

Hi Patrick,

It seems to take to the cotton,but I was only using it to fill gaps.Did one side tonight,see how it looks tomorrow.
Thinking the same thing.Has to be probably glass.I checked it out on a kit box top and it will never come off.
Looked At Liquitex and too much selection to find what I was Looking for.Plus they were all sealed so hard to tell.
This you can open and actually see what's in it.

Thanks again for the gel advise.

Tom

Back again,
Still a very slow process. A lot of drying time here.
Doing builds on the downtime. Considered a Sherman and a Greyhound,but think I'll stick to the Stewart.
First layer of Envirotex added.Learned that the resin covers a lot of the gel and should wait till the final coat is done.The tank barriers are real pain. Instructions are hard to follow and I can't find good close-up photos of any.

Tom

Tom,

Quote...Tank barrier...

If you are referring to the Czech hedgehog, here is a pretty good photo:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_hedgehog#/media/File:Rozsochac.JPG

Cheers,
Joe

Thanks Joe,
Much better than anything I've found.

Tom

I have been following with interest as I haven't done a water scene in decades. I like what you did so far. Seems to be working. My only point would be the color you painted the base for the water. I think it would have served you better to blend the blue color into sand color the further to the shore you got. Right now it gives the illusion of deep water right up to the edge of the water.
See what I mean? It may be too late but maybe this will help someone else that tackles this?
Very balsy job though,to tackle this kind of complex dio.
J

Excellent point Jerry.
May be too late to fix?
Talk about balsy,still following yours,you have done more great figures than most may do in a year.

Tom

Hi guys,
Very small update.
Tried to add more beach under the water.
Working on the figures.
Had some teeth removed lately and they gave me this syringe to wash the holes out. As usual I thought I can use this for something.Cutting the tip a bit wider it works great for a more precise way of adding the gel.Used a pipe cleaner,windex and water to clean it out.I expect they can be purchased at a drug store?

Tom
Santa's coming and I know he has another Sherman for me.

Hi guys,
Don't mean to bore you, but another small update.
Rough sea,so added more gel.First troops in place.Need to add more.Shell splashes added and working on.Also splashes to bullet fire and wet troops legs.Decided I'll go with a Sherman on board.

Tom
Happy New Year to everyone.

How did you do the shell splashes?

The beach looks much better now!

Looking great overall!