Large Update- 10/3 WIP- PG-117 Soviet Dock Diorama

Good gracious, Ian, how did I pass up this lovely dio....fantastic work you have done so far...

Regards, Dan

IanIsBored2000 wrote:

Thanks Snake.  I never did finish "Pathos & Deimos"  The piles of unpainted figures sit on my bench as a reminder of my earlier, more ambitious, days of modelling.  I still have plans to eventually take another swing at it, but probably with far less figures, and a smaller LCVP instead of an LCM.  After seeing how much Envirotex resin this tiny PG-117 took, I can't even imagine how much I would go through submerging a 50 foot LCM!

This cracks me up; not laughing at you by any means, but it was a large pile of GIs and a couple of landing craft that I handed off to you, due to the very same situation. My first dio idea was also Omaha, and I bit off way more than I could chew.

I think you should pass your stuff off to the next dude who wants to enter the world of dio-building, making a beach landing his starting point. And so on, and so on... in five years or so, somebody will end up with some completely finished figures and LCVPs. All they will have to do is pour the resin. Maybe in 8 - 10 years, this Omaha Beach dio will actually get finished

Again, not laughing at you.

Steve

All great suggestions, thanks Steve. 

I'll try another highlight, and more washes.  I'm thinking about varying the texture a bit, but I think it may be too late.  I can't pour another layer because the dock is already almost underwater, and I've already placed "Lilly pads" on what I was planning on being the top layer of resin.  I was going to experiment with thick gloss coats to help hide the meniscus, since I only need to build up a tiny fraction of an inch, and yeah, I still have to redo the water's edge on the sand.  I'm going to have two scared geese from Doug's Originals taking off of the water, which will give me an excuse to put some rough water affects in with 5 minute Epoxy and clear-caulking.  With water that calm, a little disturbance like a bird taking off would send ripples through the whole area, so I might be able to make it a bit more visually appearing and less flat.

Last, to Dirkpitt, I used 2 part Envirotex Resin, which was recommended to me at the hardware store since it's almost perfectly clear before you tint it (Which turned out not to be among my best ideas). 

Ahh- juggling job and modeling... welcome to my world

Real nice dock, and the groundwork looks awesome! Maybe one more highlight to bring out the details of the grass and shrubs? Maybe wash that oil drum some more. Some smudges, too?

I love your dead trees, very convincing.

I agree about the overall flatness of the water surface. I do know what you mean by smooth-as-glass, and I've seen (and been awe-struck) by water like that. However, I believe that some texture would go a very long way in tricking the eye. Our brains know we're looking at resin, so to mislead with slight texture would be a good thing. Might help hide that meniscus, too. I dunno, I haven't had much luck making convincing water, so I don't know what to suggest. Maybe some artist's acrylic gloss gel medium, or some clear-drying glue.

I might also redo the groundwork around the edge of the water, speaking of meniscus. Evil meniscus! It would probably only take a few minutes to lay down some more celluclay (or whatever you used). Just a suggestion. IMHO. . et al the disclaimers.

Overall- outstanding work.

Steve

maybe even pour a tiny bit of resin in the boat with a guy bailing water, as if there was a a storm the night before and they took on "water", which would also explain why the boat is nearly beached.

Yupper...Modeler's version of  "Improvise, adapt, overcome"...

Thanks to both of you.  To the comment of the resin being to flat, I was attempting to portray a sheltered marshy cove sort of thing, which often are as still as glass in my experiences, especially at dusk and dawn.

On the comment of too clear, that you are correct on.  I tinted the very bottom few layers too much, you can't really even see the bottom in places (Mostly under the boat) so I poured the rest of the layers more clearly, a bit too clear I guess.  I'm going to order some of those dead leaves from militaryminiatureswarehouse, wish I'd thought of that before since they would have looked great sopping wet with resin, covering the ground underwater.  I can still scatter them on and in the boat, maybe even pour a tiny bit of resin in the boat with a guy bailing water, as if there was a a storm the night before and they took on "water", which would also explain why the boat is nearly beached.