Mongoose
The bow wave was made by forming the Medium Gel into a wave. It doesnt take much to work it into form. When I apply the cotton, I add some to it to simulate the white caps and splashes the cresting wave makes. I was stationed on a cutter and was fascinated with ship wakes, bow waves, hull boundry layers and such. I could watch them for hours. Still can.
Everything that moves through the water make the same wave action called the Kelvin Wave System. Here is a great link I found a few years back the explains it well.
http://www.steelnavy.com/WavePatterns.htm
I searched the internet for, in this case the Perry, wake paterns to study the pattern of that particular ship. Each ship, while making the same wave pattern, will have diffrent bow wake turbulances. A Freedom class LCS will create more bow turbulance than an Independence class LCS but less than a WW2 ship for instance. A transom stern will create a more turbulant stern wake than a round stern ship.
Freedom class
Independance class
OHP
North Carolina
Duck
The hardest part of making a water base is creating the Kelven wave pattern. How fast is the ship going? The length of the ship? The rougher the seas the less you will see this patern, in reverse, the calmer, the more pronounced the pattern, IE the duck in the water.
My Scharnhorst making about 5 to 10 kts in calm water.
I hope that helps.