easy fake water?

Some good suggestions for me to follow up on.  Thanks, everybody.  I'll have to spend some more time reading up and thinking about this.  Might be a project for another day.

Check the model railroad section of the LHS for Woodland Scenics water products.  They also have foam sheets.  

This used to be done in the past using plaster-of-paris.  However, PoP is difficult to work with.  Many of us now use Celluclay ( a form of paper mache).  Estimate how deep the layer needs to be to let the stuff reach the hull waterline, and pour that much Celluclay on the base, leveling it as best you can.  Quickly grease the hull wit some parting agent (butter, cooking oil, WD40 or whatever).  Now press the hull into the Celluclay while it dries.  Now paint the surface a water color.  When that is dry pour a water-clear epoxy over the "sea".  It doesn't need to be very thick, 1/8 t0 1/4 should do if you did a good job of leveling the CC.

All very good advice.

Paint the surface blue color that you like. If you are in the South Pacific, the shallower water can be turquoise because of the white sand bottom. In the North Atlantic it can be gray if the sky is overcast.

Finish with matte or gloss gel medium. The stuff is cheap and comes in a number of consistencies. The heavy stuff can be worked into peaks like frosting.

Stay away from silicone sealant. It smells terrible and shrinks when it cures.

Trying to pour clear resin is hard to do. It's too easy to get bubbles, takes a lot of pours, generates heat when it cures and gets expensive quickly.

Bill

Hi;

        Years ago I did a Kawanishi Flying Boat. What I did, may not be your cup of tea though. I bought a Piece of glass patterned like slightly rippled water, three colors of blue with white streaks in it. Cut the plane like you would a Waterline Ship. I did this for client in Okinawa.

       It's not too hard and works okay. Then you glue the whole think to the wood base of your choice and get a ready made cover from a display or framing store. The base of course would have to have a ledge or slot for the top.

       I still use this method for waterline ships. Paper or plastic. You can use the method that Baron has suggested. It works very well.

Look for an FSM article from about 4 or 5 years ago, from ship modeler Jim Flodberg.  It was featured as the issue's cover photo, but it might also be linked in a post in the Dioramas forum below. 

He uses foam board as a core, carving it to rough shape, and then uses paper towel soaked with artist's acrylic gel to build up the water surface.  For splashes or foam, he uses surgical wadding (similar to cotton) soaked with acrylic gel, which he can shape as desired.

So, you can get a piece of foam board (eg, foam insulation), carve out the spaces where the Cat's hull will rest and the wing floats, to the necessary depth.

Brhino

The hull sinks deeper into the water than the wing floats, so if I put it on a hard, flat surface it will tilt awkwardly towards one wing tip or the other.

Thanks!

There is a video on youtube where the guy uses tin foil for to make a sea for his battleship, looks pretty good. Fold it more or less randomly, then covers it with another leyer, then spray paints it. Try to find it.