What if? Diorama - Bismarck + Scharnhorst seascape 1:1200 scale

[pjgtech]

Yes, I know they never actually sailed together, but I have just built the Bismarck and the Scharnhorst in the same tiny (1:1200) scale and I was so impressed with them that I wanted to do a little diorama to show them off.
NB: not quite finished the Scharnhorst yet, but its almost done.

A little base with a seascape seemed appropriate? Maybe some sort of rocky background or even some cliffs?

I had lots of spare off cuts of foam base board, so cobbled together a small base.

I then cobbled together a raised corner using smaller off cuts of foam board and some more rock/cliffs from two small pieces of old packaging foam.
By placing them on the base board I got an idea of what the basic layout could look like.

I then put some fine modelling filler and the foam blocks to add more texture...

At this stage I also glued on some thick water colour paper onto the base board, as I will be painting the base, before adding the water solution. Then I glued those now set foam pieces to the base board...


Then I added some Ammo/Mig "Mud" putty to fill a few gaps and add even more texture....
At this stage I also marked out where the ships would sit, being flat bottomed I did not need to sculp recesses into the base, or so I thought...


NB: the line at the bottom of the base board is where I might cute the base board down as it might look a bit too big/empty otherwise, we'll see.

[pjgtech]

Next, I put the ships onto the baseboard, but... oh dear!
The board has warped ever so slightly, presumably because I cobbled together pieces of foam base board, rather than using just one thick sheet(even though I weighted it all down whilst it was setting).
The left and right side edges have raised up slightly, not enough that you would notice juts looking at it, and only by a couple of mm, but enough that the the flat ships hulls are now ever so slightly raised off the base in the middle.
But, easily cured by just sculpting out a small section at each end of the ships, so that they sit more "snugly".




Thats better, they fit much better now, nice and snug.
Onwards and upwards... 8-)

[pjgtech]

Obviously I know in real life that ships of that size would almost certainly never sail so close to rocks/cliffs, but this is just a diorama, and I didn't want a huge gap or space between the ships and the coastline, so close up they will have to be.....I'm not after perfection, (which is lucky really as with my ham fisted attempts I would never achieve it! Lol) I'm just after something that looks halfway decent.... 8-)

[Jim R]

Great idea. I agree with the notion that in a seascape dio distance has to be reduced. I think the reason your base curved was the water colour paper being glued on one side only. Thick paper tends to shrink as it dries.

[pjgtech]

TBH, I think it had warped ever so slightly before I applied the water colour paper, but yeah, thinking about it I should have pva'd both sides, bearing in mind I'm going to pva the top of the base now before I paint it anyway. You live and learn... 8-)

[PaulTRose]

Nice whiff idea......what if the war had gone different?.......what if they operated as surface raiders out of norways fjords? (Explains rocky backdrop)

[pjgtech]

Base and backdrop now primed (black)....

[pjgtech]

Further update for today....
Flat brown added to the backdrop/rocks...


Then started on the seascape colours, this is first layer, a mid blue, a light blue, a white, a mid green and a dark colour, in this case a very dark grey/black...


Also added the first layer of lighter shades to mimic the wash around the boat and the wake....
These are paints that I used...


I then added some lighter shades to the backdrop/rocks, eg: flat earth....

I will add more shades as I go, maybe an even lighter brown/beige and a grey of some sort to mix it up a bit.
I think I will add some green to the tops of the rocks/cliff, we'll see....

Here is a mock up of what the layout will look like once its complete, I think I need to lighten the ships wash and wake and where the sea meets the shore a bit more, but I'll wait till it fully dries before adjusting it, probably tomorrow....

Then it will be a gloss coat over the sea and onto adding the water texture....

[Stefee]

Looking rather good.

[pjgtech]

Further little update today.
I added some very dark green and a dark grey to the backdrop, rocks, cliffs....
So there's a few colours making up that section now, from the black primer, to a dark brown, then a mid brown, then a light grey and now a dark green and dark grey. So I think I've got a nice colour palette on the rocks now, hopefully looking a bit more natural.

I've also added a bit more white and a bit more light blue on the sea surface to highlight the wash around the ships and the shoreline and wake.
Really trying not to over do it, sometimes its hard to know when to stop!


Then I wanted to add a bit of "green" to the tops of the cliffs/rocks. So I gently brushed a bit of pva around the top and a few other areas.
Then, using my acme static grass applicator, eg: a small fine metal sieve, I mixed some light and dark 2mm grass and sprinkled it over the top of the rocks.


Yes, I know even the tiny 2mm grass is way out of scale for these 1:1200 ships, but its the smallest I have, and I just want to give the impression of a bit of greenery around the cliffs, so not too bothered about it being exact scale.

Can still see just slightly the white of the pva in this photo, as its still wet, but once its dry the pva will disappear and just leave the greenary.....

[pjgtech]

Tomorrow I will be adding the water gel/paste to the sea surface, and the water texture, eg: waves, etc. Think I'll be going for a gentle sea, nowt too dramatic!
I'll be using the Mig/Ammo Water Vignette stuff, (seen in one of the photos above).

[pjgtech]

Today is the scary bit, adding the water effects!
I'm using the Mig/Ammo Vignette water gel, you just splodge it on with a palette knife or similar, it takes 12 - 24 hrs to set, but after about an hour they advise you to go back in and add any little ripples, etc, while its still soft enough to adjust.
Initially its very boight white but slowly goes clear as it sets, and should show through the colours below that I painted on previously.
Pics....

[pjgtech]

What an absolute NUMPTY!!!!
Anyone spot the deliberate mistake? Yes, I stupidly put the ships on the base the WRONG way round.....Doh!
Wake coming off the front, erm, no.....
Went up to check on it just now, to see how the water gel is setting and noticed it.

Luckily I had only lightly pva'd the ships down and the water gel is set but not yet hard, so I could easily cut around the hulls with sharp knife and prise the ships out, and then turned them round the correct way and re-pva'd them down to the base and a quick further coat of the water gel around the hull to seal couple of small gaps.

What an absolute plonker Rodney! 8-) 😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣

[spanner570]

Peter, yes, I did notice it, but I don't believe in pointing such things out or be critical in public, But now you've mentioned it.......

Sometimes, when looking for 'Minor' corrections or errors, we miss the bigger picture.

We've all done it, so join the club!

I hope the 'Correction' is straight forward.

Onwards and upwards, eh?

Ron

[pjgtech]

This one is now done.
Water effects seem to have come out ok.
Just added a thin veneer around the base.

[spanner570]

Excellent!

A very nice, compact diorama.
Well done that lad....

Your Servant,
Capt. Otto Ernst Lindemann.