Air Sea Rescue water vignette

by Benedikt Wallisser | Nov 18, 2022

Building a 1/144th scale water vignette with a scratch built life raft for an air sea rescue P-47D diorama

The making of a water diorama with Water Texture from Vallejo

First I sealed the MDF base with styrene sheets and tape. With a few drops of Vallejo "air" colours I coloured the water texture in shades of blue and green. With a palette knife I mixed the texture and applied it roughly. After 48 hours, the layer was still not completely dry. I probably should have applied it in thinner layers. Because I was getting impatient, I simply glazed the still slightly white areas with Vallejo colours. 

Then I applied a second, also coarse layer. Here I tried to model the final wave movement. This layer was also coloured with one or two drops of paint. After 24 hours this layer was dry. After correcting the edges with a hobby knife, I applied the last layer thinly and evenly. This time without paint. With the back of a pencil I pressed in the structure. After drying, I applied a layer of gloss varnish to even out small imperfections. Now I painted the whitecaps of the waves with paint and a fine brush.

Finally, I sealed everything with matt clear lacquer from the Mr Colour series. I think that from a distance rough sea doesn't look shiny. On a small scale, you always look from a distance - an important observation brought to my attention by my friend and inspiring small scale modeller Mike Harris!

I hope this little guide is helpful.

War-Weary Saviour

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May 1944: An old P-47 Razorback armed with lifeboats and smoke markers circles above a ditched B-17 crew – the USAAF Air Sea Rescue unit detachment B of the 65th fighter wing, later known as the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron was born.

Air Sea Rescue water vignette

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