Creating water with Resin!

Falcon

Falcon

New Member
Feb 6, 2004
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Samutprakarn/Thailand
:D Hi to all, finally after a lot of work ,I'm back on my favourite ships. Under construction at the moment are Takao, Darvin's Russian Icebreaker and My student's Project a Titanic Diorama. Does any one have experience with making water using Resin?
I just finished my 3th test and the results are a bit better . I will show a picture later (resin is not dry and if you put to much hardener in resin it will go up in smoke like my second test :oops: ) so I place it in my garden and wait untill it dries.

Regards: Falcon 8)
 
Falcon,

Do you have access to Liquitex acrylic products, perhaps at an art store? Resin especially in the amounts which would be needed to make a water base sounds kind of toxic. If you must use it please do it cautiously in a well ventilated area.

Cecil
 
If you have to use polyester resins, the usual ones that get hot, do it in layers, making sure you add the next layer as the previous one JUST starts to gel. This way the heat build-up is reduced, it is unlikely to crack, and provided the layers bond together, you won't see the joins; there won't be any. Also, you can get some depth under your model, place it on the gelling layer and add the final couple of layers to locate the model. Also again, you can tint the layers, starting dark and lightening the tint until the last layer is clear. This will give a really enhanced sense of depth. Also yet again, if the first layer is 'sea bottom'colour or 'river bed' colour, it will look even better.

Test the resin on a hidden part of your model, or some scrap material, to check the liquid resin won't attack the ink or paint, if it does yuo will have to seal the model with a polyurethane varnise.

Acrylic resins and gels are much more freindly to use, they don't get hot, they don't usually disolve the model, and they don't stink! You can sculpt very effective waves with the stuff too.

Tim P
 
Here is a tutorial to create incredibly nice water for a diorama.
http://www.digitaldioramas.com/2002/aug02/dd_geraths.htm

For waterline models of ships this kind of transparent "water" may be too clear.
Nontransparent water, which nevertheless looks quite convincing, can be made with the gel that is sold in art supply stores to give acrylic paint more body. Sculpt the ocean surface with gel. For higher waves add successive layers of gel. Paint and finish with one or several coats of high gloss varnish (or the fabled Future Floor Wax) for that wet look.
Amazing but true, if you want to depict a stormy sea paint the waves grey and give them a matte finish. It looks more convincing than grey and glossy -try it!

Bernhard
 
That's a great link on using sculpey to build up waves. A guy in the ASM club uses Liquitex gloss gel to give his water bases a shine from below the surface. It's very convincing.
 
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