By Sailor Matlac

Board: 1/2" standard spruce plywood

Epoxy: Motomaster Two-parts Epoxy Resin

Pin: Copper wire

Water effect: Woodland Scenics Water Effects (C1212), Liquitex Gloss Medium & Pebeo Matte Medium

Water topography: Styrofoam cut-off strips, Georgia Pacific Joint Compound (or Paris plaster), Kneadatite (Citadel Green Stuff Green/Blue ribbons)

Reef: Natural rock with microscopic fossiles

WARNING: This is an experimental project and, as you'll see, I will surely made mistake during the process.

The actual project cover the creation of a base/diorama through the main steps of it's creation. The figure is Takai Sayaka from Welcome to Pia Carrot Movie. She's wearing a bikini, have a sympathic pose and a pareo. The theme for this figure is easy to point out: the beach. Unfortunately, beach is a common base and often, it's quite boring and very predictable. However, a good way to present it is by playing with the waves. It's why our cute Sayaka will be on top of a reef. Also, a big wave will crush on this rock, creating a dynamic and stunning effect.  Actually, this project is in reality the materialization of an unbuilt Sailor Mercury's base. It returns to life when I saw Gluefinger's Beach Beauty diorama displayed on E2046 Forum. The tutorial was incredible and very useful. After that, Vellj001 shown me Cody's last figure (Shiranui Mai) convinced me it was an idea to do.  For this reason, I'm now in the middle of an exciting project, in collaboration with the E2046 forum's members and also some indirect/direct help from Cody. To give you an idea about the final result, just think about the japanese movies intro presenting sea crushing a reef.

01. Big waves result of a regular difference of level on water surface caused by some shock and/or Moon's gravitation influence. For this reason, you can't model an ocean wave as little wave dying on the sand of a beach.

02. A big wave is like a water mountain in movement; it's submerge everything it cross. Oceanic waves are pyramidal, take a look to this Japanese Pacific Coast.

03. If the obstacle is big or almost vertical, the water "climb" along the reef. At a certain height, under dynamic and gravitational effect, the wave is desintegrated. According to personnal observation, it splash on top of the wave, not at the base.

04. When the water is in chaotic move, it lost it's transparency because ray of light are redirected in several ways. For this reason, the crest is were you can observe it.

After thinking about it for a week, I decided to use a method I already experimented on my previous diorama (see Narusegawa Nerd Conversion); Joint compound & Styrofoam.

First, I take dimensions for the support board: 30 cm x 28 cm.  This way, it will be big enough to build a complete wave. I used left-over from my last architecture project; it is 1/2 inch standard plywood. It is enough thick to support the reef and the sea.

Secondly, dispose the rock in the better place on the board. When you're fixed, mark the place with a line. Then trace convexe lines like a boat crushing on the reef. Double line it; the interior line will represent the higher level of the wave. After that, trace other lines to create "ponds". Those will represent the smaller wave and water agitation on side and behind the reef. (Watch a real picture to understand how to draw those.)

Thirdly, use styrofoam strip to create the pyramidal wave. Seal it on the board with anything you want like carpenter glue, epoxy or other. I was short of material, so I used joint compound to glue it. Whatever you used, plaster materials (I think car putty would do the job) are great for that job: cheap, don't shrink to much (be careful, thin layer dry better than thick one) and are easy to sand. I put too much joint compound in some places and it cracked during the drying period. However, the bond was excellent between parts, so only needed patching.

Plaster light color will be a good base to start to paint and it's porosity will ensure a good link with the clear medium. Don't forget, sides are higher than the middle. This is a modelling artifice. In fact, it is higher, but we need a liquid or semi-liquid transparent medium to create water, so this depression will serve as a contener. Higher sides are opaque and it doesn't really matter because a clear medium finition will cover them. And remember, it is a place where water molecules are chaotic, so it's not clear but rather white because of light diffusion, so the paint will hide it. Last tip: Don't glue your rock to the wave, at this moment, it is to early and maybe you'll need to do some modification.

Alternative way: Use thick cardboard or thin wood to reproduce the wave topography by gluing together different layer. After that, cover it with plaster to obtain a smooth finish. Try to put something like newspaper strips in it to obtain a better and robust result, as papier-mach�.

For the moment, you did everything you could, so let it dry a least overnight (24 hours would be better).

January 31^th, 2004 ~ work time: 10 minutes (epoxy resin)/25 minutes (drilling)

It's hard to glue a big stone, like this one, on a board.  I decided to do it the easiest way I could; plunge it in a pond of automobile Epoxy Resin and let it dry. Before, you have to prepare the surfaces to give grip to the putty.  The stone need no work, except a basic cleaning.  I personnally tooth brushed mine.  However, the board need more preparation. In the first part, we drawn a line around the rock location, now, using an hobby knife (X-Acto), engrave parallel lines in the wood board.  Space each at 3-4 mm. Repeat this in different directions and as much as you need to obtain a stried surface.

Now, in a well-ventilated room or outside (don't play with this kind of product), mix equal part of resin and hardener.  I blend it directly on the board, where the stone will lay.  Remember, a PERFECT half/half mix is primordial to obtain a good result that will dry correctly. Mine have a 30 minutes drying time and have molasse color & consistency.  Depending the shape of your stone, maybe you'll need more expoxy resin. Mine have a lot of little crevices, so I needed a good amount of epoxy resin.

Attention: If your stone have a. In fact, it will be OK for a display, however, you could need, if the stone haven't a stable bottom face, to drill holes in your rock and pin it on the board to assure a good stability.  I recommend it.  Remember, when you drill mineral material, always put water to evite your drill to burn on. Try it only on sediment stone and don't force your drill.

To make the sea beside and behind the reef, we will need to create little wave crests and depressions. For that, you can use whatever you want (Fimo, plaster, joint compound, putty or anything else). Personnally, since it need not a lot of material, I decided to model it with Kneadatite.

The idea is to circle different zone to represent the wave and water level difference. Watch a good picture to understand how water behave. Don't push to much details in this work, see it as a base work for the transparent medium that will be used to create the water.