I took your advise and created churned up water and sand on the water at the stern of the boat. Great idea and it came out fine. I poured three 1/8" layers of Woodland Scenics Realsitic Water and added sand to the stern for each layer just be fore the water set up which held it in suspension. I then used Liquitex Gloss Gel to create the water disturbence effects on the surface.

Thanks again for you input. I've stood on the shouldres of several modelers during this diorama for which I am grateful.

Chuck

Thanks Cliff. If any modeler want's to know how I created the effects you see in this diorama, let me know.

Chuck

Well, I can't argue with the results- again great job there! You've inspired me to keep hacking away on the dios I've tried to build even though I'm not sure if I'll just end up with a big mess in the end.

Cliff

Thank you for your comments, but I was flying by the seat of my pants through the whole project. I had to hand make most of the jungle flora and trees.

Chuck

Chuck: I've been following along but didn't have any advice to contribute so I didn't comment. Really nice job there, the water you'd had the problems with came out great- looks really convicing. Super work on the figures and the landing craft but I love how great the vegetation came out.

Please see completed diorama.

Thanks,

Chuck

I finally finished it-

I've add churned up sand and white water to the stern. Wonderderful effect. Thanks for the tip.

Chuck

I'm going to follow your suggestion and create a Woodland Scenics Artificial water single 1/8 layer in a smaller test bed and then experiment with ocean surface effect, wave and shore surf. I'm with you, no surprizes.

Chuck

I've made more progress. I completed the LCVP, populated it and have poured two 1/8" layers of Woodland Scenics Artificial Water. So far, so good.

That's what I was going to say - if I hadn't already - You only get ONE shot at this when you use this stuff, so maybe make a small, scaled-down version of what you're doing, paint it the way you intend, do the beach, etc., fill with Woodland Scenics water, let dry, etc., then see if the acrylic gel medium on top of that will work for waves.

Because if, for some reason, it doesn't, you are well and truly screwed if you've done that on what's shaping up to be a magnificent diorama display.

Thanks for asking. I have done so much research on this and spoke with so many modelers both on this site and others that it became obvious to me that for my diorama, Woodland Scenics Artificial Water was the best apporach, I just added the second 1/8" layer this morning and things are looking good. It's still up in the air over the best approach to creating ocean water surface effects, waves and shore surf.

Chuck

Hi, Chuck. I've been following this thread for a while now, and am wondering if you have considered doing some test pieces on the side, before committing yourself to using whichever materials on your diorama?

Yes, I've seen "How to" videos on that technique which look very straight forward. Here, I'll be making waves on top of about 1/4" of dried Woodland Scenics Artificial Water which is transparent to the bottom. I think that my Liquitex Gloss Gel dispensed from a large syringe may be the best way. I'd sure like to find someone who has done this before.

Thanks so much,

Chuck

I haven't used that combination of products, so I'm afraid I can't speak to the results.  I've used the caulk over a board as a base, and it can be shaped with things like butter knives or popsicle sticks.

OK, everything is complete except for pouring the Woodland Scenics artificial water. As I understand the majority of you think I should let the water setup smooth and then use gel to form ocean surface, ripples, waves and surf. It’s that right?

Thanks, I'll look into that.

Regarding making water (in a manner of speaking) I'll second the suggestion to use a gel, or more specifically, use clear silicone caulk, available in tubes at the hardware store.  Also, I would paint the base, before applying the gel, since the caulk is relatively translucent.  That will help create the color "base", if you will.

The caulk can be shaped into waves, and once set, you can coat it with additional gloss media, like Future floor wax, for example, and you can highlight wave caps with white.

Chucker

How do I post a photo on this site?

Thanks,

Chuck

Regarding this question, Chuck, I suggest using one of the number of websites that host your photos, like Photobucket or Fotki.  I use Photobucket, and when I upload and save each image, the website generates a "tag", a line of code, that is used then to embed the photo in a post at a forum.  In this case, it's an image tag, which is identified by the code "img" at the beginning and end of the line of text.

If you've never done it before, it can sound daunting, but it's really very simple.

Hope that all helps!

Brad

Good points Bill,

The diorama has physical limits on where it's going to be displayed in our home which was one of my restrictions from the beginning. I never intended this to be more than a cameo scene. As previously mentioned, the LCVP you see is not the one I'll be using and until I'm ready for the artificial water, the surf's edge with amounts of debris and other Marines wading ashore with their M1's being held over their heads have not been show yet. The LCVP will have Marines staged in the craft waiting for their turn to charge down the ramp and join the action.

I found the two videos below (part 1 and part 2) which lead me to believe that that type of caulking could be use to create realistic looking waves and surf if I followed their method. What do you think?

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFOpc8Q6a7M

Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtWCKsx30I&feature=relmfu

I also have a new jar of Liquitex ‘Gloss Heavy Gel’ I’ve also seen this product used creating waves when applied from a syringe and fluffed to make a wave,  What would be your approach on using the gel and is their a website video that could show me how it’s done?

After the artificial water is added, you will see that the slope of the beach up to the edge of the jungle is more pronounced that seen right now. After sealing the ocean area, I poured tap water into it to see where the water lines would come for both the LCVP and the beach. I adjusted things accommodate.

Yes, I like your idea about finding the bunker and will work on that.

Your mentorship has been very generous and I appreciate your comments. Please reply on the best approach to making surf, waves and the surface of the artificial water so it doesn’t look like a calm lake.

Chuck