Ideas for making Ocean Bases

[embuchho]

Can anyone point me toward a favorite technique for making ocean bases for 1/2400 ships?

I have a bunch arriving and I need to figure out how to do this.

I found a very nice one somewhere on YouTube but the ingredients were British and I am in the US.

I can find equivalent stuff for patching holes in the wall but that gets sanded smooth and is a much larger surface. I cannot tell what the right brand is for the right consistency to make realistic looking water.

Any ideas?

[embuchho]

I think I found something.

Base blue/black/green on the base, then paint on Liquitex gloss gel medium and try to make the surface look "ocean-like" which will take some practice.

Then paint on some blue or green, however make sense to you.

One more layers of Liquitex gel medium to create wake and water disturbance. In the video example the guy uses some cotton ball material. I don't think that's feasible for 1/2400 but it looked nice in 1/700.

Here's an interesting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB49R5a ... joekmodels

Does anyone have any ideas for using this material in 1/2400?

Other options included using crumpled aluminum foil but I cannot see that working well for tiny, 1/2400 scale.

What do y'all think?

[nashorn88]

I been using Liquitex Prussian blue as base then cover it using white glue like Elmers glue. When tacky Dan use your finger up and down motion to get the waves.
At this point I also stick the ship on and then you’re done.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/nO ... 4zgn2RQg0L

[redleg]

Those look great, Nashorn! I'm following this thread closely.

Welcome to the forum, Embuccho! Post some pics of your ships when they're ready, we'd love to see your work!

[embuchho]

Thanks, folks.

That's just Elmer's glue? Wow.

[embuchho]

Thanks, Cama.

Is there any brand of that gel you prefer?

Are you in the US?

[nashorn88]

Yea, it’s not too bad looking with the white glue. Just remember to press the ship in when it’s still tacky.
I tried the foil too but in order to look right I had to buy thin foil to work. Maybe it was just me.

[embuchho]

I've figured out a recipe that seems to work.

I use the Pacific Ocean water gel from AK and there is a white water medium-type product from them, too. These work great together.

I paint the area around the ship and behind it a light blue/green mix and the rest of the base Vallejo Prussian Blue.

Since the water gel is semi-transparent, these different base colors actually show through.

It has taken some practice to get the surface texture right with that blue gel. Multiple layers work just fine, including gel/paint/whitewater/gel again. This builds up a very slight 3-D effect.

One trick with the whitewater is to paint a layer of it around the ship and then make a wash of off-white paint to go in the crevices. After that, touch up the whitewater with the whitewater medium again. This gives some depth.

Maybe not necessary at 1/2400 but if you have good enough eyes to appreciate it then it can be worth doing.

One more caveat is that the blue and white gels can creep up too high on the hull of your ships. You'll have to use a q-tip or clean, wet brush to push it back downward. Do this quickly as the gels dry surprisingly quickly. They are easier to build up than to remove.

If anyone has a place to host photos to link to this forum I'll be glad to send you some. I don't use these sites, myself.