Anyone know of any material .......

Milliput or any epoxy putty would work (for small bits, not a whole model!), provided you use baby powder as a 'releasing agent'.

No, Miliput is to hard. And expensive, at least here in Canada.

I guess I should explain what I want to do.

You know how some people display there ship models as waterline. They cut off the hull at the waterline. Well I want to do one as a full hull water diorama. I want to be able to see some of the boot topping, red hull, props, etc... through, say 1/4 to 1/2 inch of acrylic gel medium water. Now having 2 or so inches deep of acrylic gel medium would not be practical, and cost a bit to boot, so...

I will build the shallow recangular box (say 2" deep) and then place a sheet of 1 1/2 or so sheet of styrofoam inside the box.
Then trace around the hull where I want to position it. Then carve that out of the styrofoam sheet. So now I have a hollowed out area. Of course the hull, with props, etc... won't be a snug fit so I want to line the hollowed out area with something, like plastercene or silly putty, and then press the hull into it. This will leave an impression. Like a mould.

I prefer this way as you have a few options on how to have the ship. Listing to one side, or bow out of the water, etc...

They I can paint the styrofoam sheet dark blue or whatever and apply the gel over top. Etc... Etc...

So, am looking for something I can line the hollowed out area with that isn't sticky or too dense as I don't want to apply to much pressure when pressing it down.

Hope I explained that well enough.

James

Just a suggestion. Why don't you try ordinary wall putty. There is a certain water to putty powder ratio that will make it soft enough to be pressed on and yet not sticky. Same consistency of the dough for cookies or pizza.

Thanks! That's more like what I am looking for. Will have to check it out.

James