Military Model Scene
Robin Buckland's
Experiment with Balsa Foam and Transparent Water Gel...
...Using Balsa Foam with AK Interactive Transparent Water Gel plus 1/300 Siebel Ferries from Heroics and Ros
Balsa Foam is a product that has got rather more attention in the last year or two for modellers, and there are some really first class examples out there of just what can be done with it, particularly for creating scenic pieces ideal for dioramas. While there are many modellers out there with more skill and patience than me with building dioramas but I did want to do a bit of an experiment which also enabled me to experiment with something else as well, the new Transparent Gel from AK Interactive.
I first saw Balsa Foam at Euro Militaire in September 2016, on the stand of Breveco Modelling, a company based in Holland who deal with the material. They had some small samples of the different densities of this material and I chose to use one to make this miniature diorama base. I started by sanding out the water level in this harbour corner and then engraving the stonework of the quay. The depth of the engraved lines might be a bit deep for scale, but it painted up nicely enough. The sea was then simply painted with a dark blue/grey. The side walls of the quay then had some AK Interactive Dark and Light Slimy Green applied.
The three Seibel ferries are 1/300 scale wargames pieces from Heroics and Ros. These are all single piece castings with just the small Flakvierling to fit. One has boxes moulded loaded on the deck, another has a couple of 88mmm FLak guns and the other four trucks. Once undercoated and painted these were ready to simply put in place. The surface of the sea, already painted, was then given a thin coat of the new Transparent Gel in the Diorama Textures series from AK Interactive. I found that really easy to use. In the pot it is a white colour, but it goes clear as it dries. Once that was on, I placed the three little ferries in place and they were 'fixed' into the dry gel. The end result is very small, but as an experimental piece to try things out, it worked out nicely. The next trick is to try something a bit more elaborate with Balsa Foam, as Breveco were here in the UK again at On Track in February when I bought a couple of the larger sheets.
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Robin
