Deep water

I'm not sure how he did this,but I thought this was outstanding and probablty similar to what you are thinking of.

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=174774#1493459

This was done with a clear plexiglas box and a sheet of water-textured plexiglas as the surface.   A hole was cut in the surface and the sub was attached to it.   A bit of white paint makes the wake.    This is 1:72 scale by Bob Santos.   I think it has been in FSM before

Althoug the plexi is really good looking it isnt the kind ill want to archive, i think some sort of resin is the way for me to go.

The hard thing is to find the right kind of resin here in sweden. should be Clear, dont melt the modell by heat during cure etc etc. You need to get a resin that doesnt crack during cure. 

Have not yet found a Clear polytherane resin, only Epoxi.

VirtualWalker

Althoug the plexi is really good looking it isnt the kind ill want to archive, i think some sort of resin is the way for me to go.

The hard thing is to find the right kind of resin here in sweden. should be Clear, dont melt the modell by heat during cure etc etc. You need to get a resin that doesnt crack during cure. 

Have not yet found a Clear polytherane resin, only Epoxi.

 

Clear polyester resin is quite readily available in the US in craft stores- used to make paper weights and many molded items.  However- big warning. It gets very hot- as hot as epoxy- when curing.  The temperature reached depends on the thickness of the layer.  If one tries to embed a model in a layer deep enough to encompass the whole model, it will definitely melt it, so do not use polyester, at least in a single pour.

I think Micro Mark has a transparent polyurethane resin, but again I suspect the heat will be a problem.

VirtualWalker

Althoug the plexi is really good looking it isnt the kind ill want to archive, i think some sort of resin is the way for me to go.

The hard thing is to find the right kind of resin here in sweden. should be Clear, dont melt the modell by heat during cure etc etc. You need to get a resin that doesnt crack during cure. 

Have not yet found a Clear polytherane resin, only Epoxi.

 

The use of a crystal-clear polyurethane resin will be an expensive proposition.    It can also be hazardous.

This link is to the Material Safety Data Sheets for Smooth-On's series of optically clear castable resins.

http://www.smooth-on.com/msds/files/Crystal_Clear_Series.pdf

You can see that the materials are listed as toxic.   Smooth-On recommends these materials for commercial use,  not for a hobbyist.  Respirators and personal protection equipment are required.  

The material cost on their site is almost two hundred US dollars per gallon.    There are some European distributors,  but none in Sweden.   Finland is the closest.

Check the Smooth-On website  for more information on their clear polyurethane resins.  They include a material estimator.   Put in the size of your subject and they calculate the amount of materail needed.   Note that you will also need to get some Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) rubber if you want to totally embed the display and have it visible all around. 

Note too the cautions about heat generated by the reaction of the components which Don cites and are also addressed int he Smooth-On literature

As I have worked in a shipyard with composite boats the use of resinf arent new to me so the hazards im all aware of.

Polyester will melt the polystyrene plastic used in model kits, epoxy may be used but if i find a clear one.

But as i heard the polytherane is smell free and not gettins do hot when during curetime. The inportent is it clear.

The thing is that beautiful little dio is just that. Normal 35mm film is 1 1/2" long, so if that's full sized film the model is only 6" long by about 4 1/2" wide. Now, based on a Sherman being about 3"- 4" long in 1/72, that looks about right so it's only about 27 cu. in. of resin.

It's really nice.

I would agree with bondoman about the size issue, and in thinking that Plexiglas or something similar would be a better way go to. That is going to be an awful lot of resin, it is going to take a really long time to pour it a little at a time, and with every layer you increase the risk of your model getting melted.

bondoman

The thing is that beautiful little dio is just that. Normal 35mm film is 1 1/2" long, so if that's full sized film the model is only 6" long by about 4 1/2" wide. Now, based on a Sherman being about 3"- 4" long in 1/72, that looks about right so it's only about 27 cu. in. of resin.

It's really nice.

The builder did say the sherman was 1/35,so it would be double your calculations ? still don't know if that would matter

The sub i had in mind is 1:350 scale so it is about 20cm long and 2cm wide.

Should be something like this.

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=167004#1402948

The thing is its so difficult to get hold of the right chemestry, escpecially as thing are not named the same in different countries

Well, if you are up to the expense of that much resin, which might be 40-50 euro, and be 3-4kg, there may be another way.

1. Complete the model.
2. Make a mold of each half to the finished display size.  Very Important, do not "key" or index the mold halves. 
3. Now, the "tricky bit" (as my British friends say)--you need to make another pair of molds, each of which include the profile of the model.
4. With those second molds, use whatever optically-clear resin suits your workspace/budget/etc. to cast two halves of the final display.  You can layer the pours as best suits your inclination.

You now have the submerged display, just in two halves.  You will want to true the mating surfaces a bit.  You might get one of the canopy-polishing kits to buff the mating surfaces.  But, you will have a cast material that will not melt your finished model.

Alternately, you could create a lost-wax copy of the model, and recast it in brass or the like, that would be less affected by the heat of the resin curing.

Maybe.

Tojo72

 

bondoman:

 

The thing is that beautiful little dio is just that. Normal 35mm film is 1 1/2" long, so if that's full sized film the model is only 6" long by about 4 1/2" wide. Now, based on a Sherman being about 3"- 4" long in 1/72, that looks about right so it's only about 27 cu. in. of resin.

It's really nice.

 

 

The builder did say the sherman was 1/35,so it would be double your calculations ? still don't know if that would matter

A big pour like that is not practical, and I think Mac is a little tongue in cheek. One lonely bubble can really ruin your day. The idea of a solid brass little submarine is intriguing, though....

I am going down this same road with a future build of my own, but in 1/700, the Pitroad Gato-class sub and IJN No. 13 subchaser.

How I plan to do it is to use one of IMEX's clear display cases, http://www.imex-model.com/displaycases1new.htm , the No. 2513, which is about 4 1/2-inches square and 8-inches high. I plan to put the sub on the "bottom" and use a sheet of clear plastic with acrylic gel for an ocean surface near the top to suspend the subchaser. Still pondering how to mount the sheet of clear plastic unobtrusively, and tint at least two sides of the display case to give a Pacific shallow-water effect. I am thinking the Tamiya "clear" green and blue at this point.

I'd be inclined to drill the tinted side and use clear acrylic rods "sideways" to support the hull.

This would allow the hull to "float" beneath the "surface" and above the "bottom."

I always had this notion of building a 1/700 dio about 5' tall--only 3500' to scale (average ocean depth 12-14,000') to help illustrate just how little of the depth of the ocean submarines operate in.

Which may owe to having done some planning for a museum maritime display to show just how far down Trieste went.  We were going to need thirty vertical feet just to show the Challenger Deep dive to 35,800' at 1:1200 scale.  Would have been cool, we were going to use a spiral staircase in front of it (and an elevator at the other end of the upper level "surface" display.  Sadly the money to do this was from a now-infamous energy company in Houston.  Oh well, such is life.

Scaling exercises are worthwhile to illustrate a point.

Bismark sank Hood at a range of about 9 miles. At 1/350 that would be 135 feet.

If the earth were modeled at the same diameter as a basketball, the difference between the top of Everest and the bottom of the Challenger Deep would be about 4 mils. Perceptible, but pretty thin.

bondoman

Scaling exercises are worthwhile to illustrate a point.

Bismark sank Hood at a range of about 9 miles. At 1/350 that would be 135 feet.

If the earth were modeled at the same diameter as a basketball, the difference between the top of Everest and the bottom of the Challenger Deep would be about 4 mils. Perceptible, but pretty thin.

I would bet that the standard grooves on a basketball are deeper than 4 mils.  Makes you realize that the Earth's crust isn't very thick, comparatively.  Probably about the thickness of the basketball skin and bladder.  The atmosphere is even less thick than the crust.  It would be what, about 6 mils for about 100,000 ft?  Yet it works to keep us all alive!