Diorama Resin

[meirion658]

Morning all,

About to start a white cliffs of Dover diorama and would like to try my hand at using resin for the English channel.

Never used resin before and looking forward to the challenge. Any recommendations for resins please?

 

[boatman]

TRY 570 he's the exspert on water with resin i think anyway
chrisb

 

[Dave Ward]

Meirion,
do you mean resin for the sea? There are plenty of products available, not necessarily resin
John has this sort of thing in the shop https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/125ml-scenic-water-deluxe-materials-bd43-p14901/ - if you search for 'water effects' that'll throw up a load of products.
There a load of tutorials on YouTube, obviously each one pushing their own brand!

That's resin - not for indoor use - nasty stuff!
Dave

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Meirion, it depends on what scale you're doing. If it's in a small scale like 1/350 and below you can get away without using resin. But if you are using resin you will need to seal every the base and terrain with a water base sealant like varnish and create a reservoir at the edges to contain the resin. Resin cures very hot at high temperatures so areful with what you put in it to avoid melting...don't know about the newer stuff.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[JR]

Think the guys have covered it well, the only thing I can add it the sealing of the ground work is of the upmost importance. Wabble ( rtfo ) is using it on his Jungle Diorama.

 

[meirion658]

Meirion,
do you mean resin for the sea? There are plenty of products available, not necessarily resin
John has this sort of thing in the shop https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/125ml-scenic-water-deluxe-materials-bd43-p14901/ - if you search for 'water effects' that'll throw up a load of products.
There a load of tutorials on YouTube, obviously each one pushing their own brand!

That's resin - not for indoor use - nasty stuff!
Dav

Yes Dave I'm only looking tonuse the resin for the water element of the build all the rest is sorted.

Thanks for the you tube link been watching a shed load of them over weekend. It beats watching Wales trying to play rugby that for sure!!

 

[AlanG]

I would also have a look at a channel called Geek Gaming. He (in the past) did some really good water technique videos using cheaper everyday product like Clearfix. Well worth checking out.

 

[spanner570]

Sorry Meirion. I can't be of any help what so ever. I don't go on YouTube, but it looks like the lads have it all sussed for you.....

I don't use resin, . I just use ordinary filler, household varnish and silicone.

Ron

 

[andy55]

Sorry Meirion. I can't be of any help what so ever. I don't go on YouTube, but it looks like the lads have it all sussed for you.....

I don't use resin, . I just use ordinary filler, household varnish and silicone.

Ron

Meirion, sorry for jumping in on your thread.
Ron you say you use ordinary filler for sea. Im having probs with a sea diorama, tried using Fimo but its just cracked to hell and back. What filler do you use, do you use styrofoam as a base. Sorry for being a pain.
Andy

 

[Dave Ward]

Meirion, sorry for jumping in on your thread.
Ron you say you use ordinary filler for sea. Im having probs with a sea diorama, tried using Fimo but its just cracked to hell and back. What filler do you use, do you use styrofoam as a base. Sorry for being a pain.
Andy

If the base is cracking, it sounds like a) You've put on too thick a layer b) Not left it long enough for it to dry c) You've dried it too quickly ( heat ).
I use DAS air drying modelling clay & build it up in thin layers. I leave at keast 24hrs between layers, in a cool dry place. After the final layer I'll leave it for at least 48 hours to finally set. Cracking is usually caused by the upper sirface drying & shrinking, whilst the lower layers aren't shrinking as fast. My first efforts were like crazy paving & chunks fell off straight away. I haven't found a way to speed this up - it's just patience!
Dave

 

[andy55]

Thanks Dave I did wonder(all the above). At the moment I have an Ice Breaker

 

[andy55]

Thanks Dave I did wonder(all the above). At the moment I have an Ice Breaker

Should of mentioned its fimo air dry but no heat. Boat not glued in.

 

[Niho]

I saw this on a FB diorama site, unknown scale , but ickle indeed

Looks great, then.....

The real size.....
I thought wowza.
Niho

 

[andy55]

I saw this on a FB diorama site, unknown scale , but ickle indeed
View attachment 491272
Looks great, then.....
View attachment 491273
The real size.....
I thought wowza.
Niho

Wow, slightly putting me off when you see something like that. But as they say 'practice makes another balls up', or something like that. lol

 

[rtfoe]

Wow, slightly putting me off when you see something like that. But as they say 'practice makes another balls up', or something like that. lol

Don't get put off Andy, for the scale you're doing, Styrofoam carved out using a soldering iron as base build up before coating with filler and then PVA before painting and finally varnish. This is exactly what I did for this...


Cheers,
Richard aka Wabble

 

[Peter Gillson]

Hi Meirion

i think resin is great where the water being depicted is transparent - such as a clean stream in 1/35th - but if you are planning on depicting deep water, such as the ocean or the Channel, or a muddy river I think resin will be an expensive solution. A lot can be achieved using a filler such as polyfiller to get the shape of the water, which is then painted, with a final coat of gloss varnish.

Consider great artists such as Roy Cross who painted Airfix box art, were able to depict the sea using only paint.

As others have said - there are a lot of 'how to' videos on the WWW.

Peter

 

[andy55]

Don't get put off Andy, for the scale you're doing, Styrofoam carved out using a soldering iron as base build up before coating with filler and then PVA before painting and finally varnish. This is exactly what I did for this...
View attachment 491319

Cheers,
Richard aka Wabble

Nice looking boat and sea Richard. Thank for the encouragement Richard and Meirion, have decided to start again, didn't like the ice breaker look. Pics are were I've got so far. Not bothered about the hole as it will be covered by the boat.

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Andy, that looks good. Try using a wet table spoon while applying the filler. The rounded side makes it easier to create the dips of the waves.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[andy55]

Hi Andy, that looks good. Try using a wet table spoon while applying the filler. The rounded side makes it easier to create the dips of the waves.

Cheers,
Wabble

Good to know, ended up using fingers with the fimo, but yes, spoon sounds good for pollyfiller.
Cheers

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Just used Deluxe Materials 'Solid Water' to finish off my AVLB base, but I mixed the resin/hardener by weight and not measurement. Dried totally clear, but you can add colour if you wish.