The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Materials needed

Polystyrene base
Green & Blue Acrylic paints (Cheap art liquid acrylic paints type are fine)
PVA glue (woodwork/art type glue that sets clear when dry)
1/4 -1/2 brush

If you are mounting a sea plane or ship cut out an area for the hull to sit in first, the sample shown was an experiment to see if the process would work hence no cut out.

Start with the polystyrene base, I used a piece of packing sheet that came with a stationery order, paint it with the acrylic paints you don’t have to be artistic, just slap the paint down using blue and green in a random pattern merge the colours were they join to stop any harsh lines.

When the paint is dry poor PVA glue over the whole surface and brush the glue into small waves. When the glue has dried and gone clear, repeat the process again and again until you have the desired effect, the sample shown had four coats of PVA.

Thats all ther is to it plane and simple with very little outlay in time or money.

Simple and effective - thanks for sharing.

x10 what Paul said.


I need to do a seascape soon however the waves need to be quite dramatic. I'll be using polyfilla to sculpt the waves and then paint them up in similar colours as you've done yours. I've done this a couple of times in the past when I did some 'dragon on a rock' sculptures, with waves crashing against the rocks so I've comfortable about getting the results I want.

Thank you for that useful tutorial. I have tried a similar method with different materials and need to try again with yours.

jRatz wrote:Thank you for that useful tutorial. I have tried a similar method with different materials and need to try again with yours.

I think it would be useful if you were to post your method also. Alternatives are always good.

A great tutorial Splash, thanks a lot.

Cheers

Andrew

Great idea Splash!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

That is a very good method Splash. I'm going to try it soon. Thanks.

Chuck

Just a quick update.

To finish of the base, I found a simple frame from a local 99p shop, removed the glass and stuck the base in from behind.

This effect is brilliant! i might try it for a little lake Im thinking of including in something Im working on
Thanks for sharing.

Great method Splash. I'm definately going to give that a try.

Thanks for sharing

Just what I was looking for! That's a superb effect and one I will do a practice job on before attempting my HMS Winchelsea conversion. A couple of questions though:

1. When you repeat the process, do you mean just add another layer of PVA or paint the underlying coat of dry PVA first and then add another layer of PVA?
2. Presumably you brush along the length of the waves in order to create them?

Jaime

That's a great effect, thanks for sharing; I have achieved some interesting results using bathroom sealant which I shall post as soon as I can get my useless camera to work.

Really good idea splash, i will be trying that method shortly.
thanks for the lesson.

rich.

Jaime wrote:Just what I was looking for! That's a superb effect and one I will do a practice job on before attempting my HMS Winchelsea conversion. A couple of questions though:

1. When you repeat the process, do you mean just add another layer of PVA or paint the underlying coat of dry PVA first and then add another layer of PVA?
2. Presumably you brush along the length of the waves in order to create them?

Jaime

Hi Jaime

Sorry for the delay in responding to your question.

I add the second or third coat of PVA straight on top of the previous layer of PVA and yes I brush it along the length of the waves to give them depth.

Regards Splash