Looking for advice on seascape dioramas?

[Michael Morris]

Amongst twenty billion other projects, I'm looking at modelling a series of dioramas of different spacecraft landing/splashing down in 1/72 scale.  This would include splashdown dioramas for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and eventually the new Dragon spacecraft.    I've never tried to model a seascape before.  What is the best way of modelling a seascape in 1/72 scale?

 

Thanks

[s.e.charles]

watch some youtubes and practice first. I think of all modeling, creating water is the most uncomfortable while it's happening, yet 12 hours later when you see it dried and from a bit away, it looks fine.

 

tons of videos out there to gain inspiration.

 

http://www.terranscapes.com/oceanboards

 

 

 

 

[Badder]

Er... it may seem an odd thing to say, but there ARE seascape dioramas and vignettes on Britmodeller. Some have WIPs if you want to take the time to search for them. I don't have the time, but here are two very nice patches of water....

 

 

 

 

Good luck.

Rearguards,

Badder

[Red Five]

On 07/01/2020 at 13:37, Michael Morris said:

Amongst twenty billion other projects, I'm looking at modelling a series of dioramas of different spacecraft landing/splashing down in 1/72 scale.  This would include splashdown dioramas for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and eventually the new Dragon spacecraft.    I've never tried to model a seascape before.  What is the best way of modelling a seascape in 1/72 scale?

 

Thanks

Depends. If you want to see under the water at all then resin but it sets flat so there is more work involved to get wave crests etc but for 1/72 that may not be too hard. Otherwise if you want a real rolling sea I'd look at clay then add toilet tissue on top with pva then just paint it the relevant sea colours. I've done both recently and found each entertaining with different finishes. If you want more info feel free to ask. 

[Robert Stuart]

If you want a splash-down, they were in (relativly) calm weather.  You could go with the water resins linked above ... or, do what I did and use acrylic gels & paints + soft-toy stuffing.

 

 

Take a look at some ship modelling sites (that's where I started looking) ...

 

Jim Baumann is a master of sea modelling - several approaches here: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=155661 - don't be phased 'cause he's working in a smaller scale, his techniques work in ¹/₇₂ and ¹/₄₈ scales.

 

I made my own variation...

 

Your base should be easy to work with.  Wooden bases are fine.
I prefer expanded polystyrene stiffened with plaster bandage (lighter, and I can use my normal tools).

There is a trick to make the bandage easy.  Lay the dry bandage on the surface and, when you are happy, spray with water ... I use a plant spray ... then, gently use your fingers to spread and smooth the wet plaster.  (Don't move the bandage.) One layer of bandage on top and one on the bottom is enough - wrap up the sides.  Don't forget to leave space for your model to rest in the 'sea'.

 

Main colours I used were phthalo blue* for a duller day + phthalo green and white plus a little yellow iron oxide.   All artists' quality.  (Take a look at the Baumann approach)

My base was undercoated in burnt sienna, but I'd suggest most people start with black.

 

Layers of acrylic gel (for texture) and thin layers of paint** (for colour) helped build up the movement.  I wound up wearing a nitrile glove and using my fingers to spread and stir up the acrylic gel ... gloves reduce the risk of fingerprints, and saved hand washing after.  The top layers were acrylic gel - the transparency helps the watery look.

 

My sea foam comes from the soft-toy stuffing (Baumann recomends medical cotton puffs).

 

 

HTH

 

p.s. my build log is here:

 

 

 

* Ultramarine blue is an option, giving a brighter day.

** I use sprayable artists paint, bought online - difficult for mainstream artists' materials shops to offer.

[Michael Morris]

Thanks for all the really useful links.  I think a long period of experimentation will precede any attempt at a seascape.

[dcrfan]

I'm pleased how my small section of a Pacific lagoon turned out.  One hole cut to sink the LCM hull, a second for a PT boat will be cut against the wharf in background.  Only one layer of gloss has been added so far as I'm waiting until second boat is in place to sort out the waves interacting with the hulls.  

 

fullsizeoutput_18e9 by tankienz, on Flickr

[Pinback]

On 1/8/2020 at 12:37 AM, Michael Morris said:

I've never tried to model a seascape before. 

Hi Michael - I'm in the same boat as it were (!). I have been looking at videos on You Tube and will be using casting resin. It seems that a good recommendation is to always have a practice session first if starting out.

 

Another way is maybe following how Michael Jack did his wonderful diorama of the Apollo 13 recovery. Sorry my photos are a bit blurred! This used a wooden base (bit like a deep picture frame) with a Perspex sheet laid on top as the main components. 

 

He wrote an article on the build in ModelArt Australia magazine back in 2014. In the article he says he used some Perspex (bought from a hardware store) that had an embossed ripple effect pattern which looked like water.  He covered it in epoxy to a depth of about 2mm and used a large brush to create waves. He added more epoxy to replicate further detail including the helicopter wash. The interior of the wooden base was painted dark blue. The divers legs were glued to the underside of the Perspex along with the sea anchor and parachute. The parachute is not clear in my photo- its the light blur to the left of the capsule. The capsule was scratchbuilt.

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

[michaelc]

oh, this is going to be fun, experimenting with some of these techniques at the 1/2400 and 1/6000 scales.  My head hurts!