ok folks, i asked about basing for my fleets(japanese, dutch, british, american, french, italian, germans, russian for both ww1 and ww2. as i have 1 for 1 that's a heck of a lot of ships to say the least. what i am wondering about is what people use to recreate water( the bow waves and stern wakes? i am thinking of useing woodland senicswater effects, brushing while still wetfor the wakes, thenpaint ocean blu and dry brush some white on the wakes. any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance.
William Compton AKA: IRISH
follow up question opinions wanted
Moderators: dnichols, GHQ, Mk 1
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IRISH
follow up question opinions wanted
Last edited by IRISH on Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sudwind
- E5
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- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:56 am
Vallejo water effects. They make Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean blue. Their clear water might be good to create extra depth....bow waves over a sub...hydrofoil tail....etc.
Modern Wars in Miniature
http://modernwarsinminiature.blogspot.com
http://modernwarsinminiature.blogspot.com
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piersyf
- E5
- Posts: 625
- Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 1:59 pm
- Location: Melbourne Australia
Repost of my method as given on page 69 of the 'micronauts only' thread.
For some time now I've been looking for a way to base my Micronauts so they look decent and have a name on them for ID purposes that doesn't detract from the overall look. I've finally come up with a method that works for me, and given the trouble I had finding ideas for this, I decided to share. If it helps someone, great. If not, at least there's some new pics!
So, this is what I am going with...
I started by measuring the hulls of the ships and determining a base size for each. I then used a graphics program to create a base. These are printed on glossy photo paper to keep the brightness of the blue. The text is reversed out so as to avoid a big white bit on the base. Choose the text to be clearly readable when reversed out!
Cut out and glue the paper base to whatever base material you prefer. I used sheet styrene. Paint the edges of the base, then spray the base with a clear gloss. You'll see why in a second!
Take a sheet of plain paper and trace the outline of the hull of your ship. Take a strip of masking tape and put it on your cutting surface. Place the traced hull over the masking tape, cut through both. There are a million ways to do this, but I found it to be the easiest with much less risk of the model slipping if it is placed directly on the masking tape. Place the mask exactly where you want the ship to go on your base. This is why you spray the bases... if you don't, the masking tape will grab hold of the the toner on the base and peel it up. Spraying first seals it and lets you re-position the mask if you need to. Cut a second strip of tape to cover the name. The little 'tag' on the back of the hull mask is to help peel the mask up. Optional, but I find it useful. You might also notice that I have cut INSIDE the traced line... the pencil line will not be exactly the dimensions of your hull as it must be offset by some percentage of the thickness of the lead.
Next step is to texture the base. I use Vallejo Water Effects, but any acrylic gel medium will do the same. I just like the ease and consistency of a purchased product in this case. When you have arranged your waves to your satisfaction, take a piece of card, or plastic (I use a mixer from an old epoxy resin kit) to scrape the gel medium to the edge of the base mask. This will build up the 'waves' along the edge of the mask, helping to create a bow wave and boundary layer along the side of your model. When done, peel off the mask. Don't let the gel medium dry first!
Let it dry. When done, take any artists acrylic (nice and thick) and add the whites. If you like, you can mix a tiny bit of white into a clear gel medium and make the weaker foam, and use straight white for the primary bow wave, any wake and the boundary layer. Let dry. I find that the white acrylic will dry flat, so when all is done I go over the whole thing with clear gel medium like another layer of waves. I use the Vallejo Water Effects clear because it dried crystal clear. I even paint over the name and into the cavity where the ship will sit, because it acts just fine as a glue (it is close to a PVA in strength). The advantage for me of painting over the name is that from a certain angle you only see the glossy surface of the 'water', no flat section where the name is. It's a conceit, but part of the idea of making the name as clear but unobtrusive as possible.
Obviously, if you are using the clear as a glue, you need to position your ship before it dries!
In the image above, HMS Illustrious is the most recent completed basing. I'm getting better at representing the bow wave and wake. The variations in the blue are the Vallejo product... it is only a single colour but is translucent. Painted over a blue base is what gives these effects.
Hope this was helpful to someone, otherwise, enjoy the pic at the top (the rest are a bit boring).
Oh, one final thing... if you decide to experiment with this method, I'd suggest not using the clear gel as a glue. Instead, leave the masked area for the model as clean and clear as you can. That way, the base is quite separate from the model right until the end. You can then sit the model on the base, decide if you like it, then glue it down. If something went wrong, your nice model is nowhere near the base... just toss it and try again!
For some time now I've been looking for a way to base my Micronauts so they look decent and have a name on them for ID purposes that doesn't detract from the overall look. I've finally come up with a method that works for me, and given the trouble I had finding ideas for this, I decided to share. If it helps someone, great. If not, at least there's some new pics!
So, this is what I am going with...
I started by measuring the hulls of the ships and determining a base size for each. I then used a graphics program to create a base. These are printed on glossy photo paper to keep the brightness of the blue. The text is reversed out so as to avoid a big white bit on the base. Choose the text to be clearly readable when reversed out!
Cut out and glue the paper base to whatever base material you prefer. I used sheet styrene. Paint the edges of the base, then spray the base with a clear gloss. You'll see why in a second!
Take a sheet of plain paper and trace the outline of the hull of your ship. Take a strip of masking tape and put it on your cutting surface. Place the traced hull over the masking tape, cut through both. There are a million ways to do this, but I found it to be the easiest with much less risk of the model slipping if it is placed directly on the masking tape. Place the mask exactly where you want the ship to go on your base. This is why you spray the bases... if you don't, the masking tape will grab hold of the the toner on the base and peel it up. Spraying first seals it and lets you re-position the mask if you need to. Cut a second strip of tape to cover the name. The little 'tag' on the back of the hull mask is to help peel the mask up. Optional, but I find it useful. You might also notice that I have cut INSIDE the traced line... the pencil line will not be exactly the dimensions of your hull as it must be offset by some percentage of the thickness of the lead.
Next step is to texture the base. I use Vallejo Water Effects, but any acrylic gel medium will do the same. I just like the ease and consistency of a purchased product in this case. When you have arranged your waves to your satisfaction, take a piece of card, or plastic (I use a mixer from an old epoxy resin kit) to scrape the gel medium to the edge of the base mask. This will build up the 'waves' along the edge of the mask, helping to create a bow wave and boundary layer along the side of your model. When done, peel off the mask. Don't let the gel medium dry first!
Let it dry. When done, take any artists acrylic (nice and thick) and add the whites. If you like, you can mix a tiny bit of white into a clear gel medium and make the weaker foam, and use straight white for the primary bow wave, any wake and the boundary layer. Let dry. I find that the white acrylic will dry flat, so when all is done I go over the whole thing with clear gel medium like another layer of waves. I use the Vallejo Water Effects clear because it dried crystal clear. I even paint over the name and into the cavity where the ship will sit, because it acts just fine as a glue (it is close to a PVA in strength). The advantage for me of painting over the name is that from a certain angle you only see the glossy surface of the 'water', no flat section where the name is. It's a conceit, but part of the idea of making the name as clear but unobtrusive as possible.
Obviously, if you are using the clear as a glue, you need to position your ship before it dries!
In the image above, HMS Illustrious is the most recent completed basing. I'm getting better at representing the bow wave and wake. The variations in the blue are the Vallejo product... it is only a single colour but is translucent. Painted over a blue base is what gives these effects.
Hope this was helpful to someone, otherwise, enjoy the pic at the top (the rest are a bit boring).
Oh, one final thing... if you decide to experiment with this method, I'd suggest not using the clear gel as a glue. Instead, leave the masked area for the model as clean and clear as you can. That way, the base is quite separate from the model right until the end. You can then sit the model on the base, decide if you like it, then glue it down. If something went wrong, your nice model is nowhere near the base... just toss it and try again!
There is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences.