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Bismarck - Doing the Sea

Yes. Liquitex is a high gloss varnish (there are other varieties too), liquid form, can't put a thick layer as it won't dry clear. I am doing one thin layer at a time, 3 hours + dry time, then the next and so on. Five done, then dry brushing begins - 24 hrs dry time (oils), rinse and repeat.


Laurence
So no instant gratification in this. I'd be doomed! :rotf
 
Water water and more water ...

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Matt acrylic varnish on the base, strands of cotton then varnish on top. When it's all dry it will be covered with Liquitex high gloss, few layers that is. The interesting bit will be the bow wave, 3D and all, plus the water over the deck.

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Bit of a simulation there, nothing attached just yet, wanted to see what it looks like.

Thanks for watching,

Laurence
 
Oh man, now I'm thirsty! Wow; you're doing magnificent work on this!

I agree with Bob, Bismarck ain't rocking enough for waves to have jumped that high. Waves would have to be much higher and his bow much lower as if dropping into a wave trough.
 
I'm not sure about the water over the bow Laurence, the sea doesn't look THAT heavy.
Logical point MP, I get that. Now look at the sea behind the ship, not quite what you'd expect seeing that bow explosion.

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Appreciate the feedback, keep it coming.

Laurence
 
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Oh man, now I'm thirsty! Wow; you're doing magnificent work on this!

I agree with Bob, Bismarck ain't rocking enough for waves to have jumped that high. Waves would have to be much higher and his bow much lower as if dropping into a wave trough.
Thanks Mark, appreciate the kind words and the observation.

You are right on one thing, the bow should be lower and it actually is. What appears in the photo is the ship "sitting" higher than if it were attached to the base, because it's easier for me to place it on for a test and then remove it so I could work easier. It will sit lower than that.

On the other matter, ships that size don't rock that much. Bismarck was over 250m long, that's some 860ft long. There is a famous video of the Bismarck during the only voyage in the Atlantic, shot by a PR team from the deck of Prinz Eugen. They even got the Hood explosion on that film, that was in bad weather, mid Atlantic, doesn't get much choppier than that. You can see the Bismarck sailing without rocking, camera was perfectly steady, which also means the Prinz Eugen wasn't rocking much at all either. A destroyer or a frigate would go up and down like a mad roller coaster, but a battleship that size not so much.
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I get the point and I have been trying to work this one out as best I could - amount of water on and over the deck must look realistic. The viewers must make that logical connection. I intend to have some water over the deck, a bow wave to explain it, without going nuts about it.

That is a piece by Chris Flodberg, King George V battleship. Look at how much water he captured there, without having any massive waves showing as such. I intend to do a scaled down version of that.

Thanks,

Laurence
 
This ...............is a level of modeling that I can only hope to be at one day. Un.....believable!!!!

Thank you for the compliment. There is no secret to anything you see. Work, trial and error, keep trying and keep working. MA is a great site for advice and inspiration, awesome talent and hard work that led to some pretty amazing models.

Thank you,

Laurence
 
The wind direction bears out the water effect on KGV, but the wave actions do not seem to. Water is HARD! So many dynamics at work. Then throw in the motion of the vessel? Footsie Kapesta!! I'm certain whatever effects you choose will be stellar!
It's your Thing, Do whatcha ya wanna do!
 
The wind direction bears out the water effect on KGV, but the wave actions do not seem to. Water is HARD! So many dynamics at work. Then throw in the motion of the vessel? Footsie Kapesta!! I'm certain whatever effects you choose will be stellar!
It's your Thing, Do whatcha ya wanna do!
Agree with everything you said. Water is very hard, we all know that. I started this thing four years ago, and I spent many hours researching everything I could think of, from building the ship to water, Baltic Sea trials, weather in the Baltic zone in the winter of 1940, found the ship's log, researched the height of the waves and patterns in bad storm and calm waters too. All of that, and I cannot hand on heart say that I have a super clear way forward. I am constantly looking at photos and images, research other people have carried out and so on.
Discussions here have always helped, opinions, advice all of that make MA what it is - a great place with great people. Yes, I do what I want to do, same for all of us, but I am always listening to what folks here have to say, because it's a treasure trove of experience and ideas.

Thank you all,

Laurence
 
I agree, it's gonna be a masterpiece. I would vote that the seas have more vertical distance between waves and troughs than is immediately apparent because the photo was taken with what I think was a telephoto lens. And if a big ship cuts through the water rather than rising and falling with it then the bow is going to cut through the higher swells. I'm an expert (NOT!), my 8th grade teacher loved Victory at Sea!
 
I agree, it's gonna be a masterpiece. I would vote that the seas have more vertical distance between waves and troughs than is immediately apparent because the photo was taken with what I think was a telephoto lens. And if a big ship cuts through the water rather than rising and falling with it then the bow is going to cut through the higher swells. I'm an expert (NOT!), my 8th grade teacher loved Victory at Sea!
Thank you, but let's wait and see the end result. Photos were taken using one of those devices called iPhone, the 11th version of it :bigrin: It's easier, photos are decent in terms of resolution, can add effects too. When I finish this, I will use a DSLR camera on a tripod. But that will happen later.

Laurence
 
Right, more work done, combination of painting, cotton in small amounts and a lot of corrections. I am learning as I am doing this for the first time. Currently focused on the area at the stern, port side. I can only have this base on a piece of furniture that is against a wall, can only work on one side, turn it around and repeat.

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The base sits on a bath mat, don't want to scratch the furniture. This is the bow area, port side. Placed some cotton along the hull line, but a lot more work will be done there once the ship goes in.

Amidship ...

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Stern, two photos. Had to correct a portion of it, then repaint it and apply cotton.

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A lot more work ahead ... a LOT that is, but, at least, I think I figured out what doesn't work, namely lots of cotton applied at a time then soaking it all up. That is a messy affair, looks like a rag gone bad ... yuck.

Thanks for watching, really appreciate the comments too !

Laurence
 
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