Vol. 64, No. 1 Spring 2019 26


a round-over along the full perimeter of the outside edges. Aſt er fi nish sanding, the base was painted with three coats of Minwax gloss black stain. An incised area centered on the front rail was made to hold the display’s custom-cast bronze nameplate at a comfortable and complimentary reading angle.


Step Two: Adding textures to the insulation base


11. While the toilet papered surface is still wet and workable, use a smaller paintbrush (a fan shaped one is shown here) to push the paper into interesting and variegated surface textures.


fi nal fi t of the foam insulation to my model’s hull looked reasonably good, I set the model aside. T e additional time I spent getting this fi t as tight as possible would make much less work later when creating Swan’s convincing wake.


T e depth of the model from the nominal waterline to the bottom of the keel was exactly 2-1/4 inches. T is determined the depth of the overall base and how much insulation I would use to create my diorama’s ocean: two inches, no more. T is matched the height of the base’s interior side rails exactly. I chose 1-inch by 3-inch clear maple for the base sides combined with ½-inch-thick, high-quality plywood for the bottom of the display case. T e side rails were attached with wood glue using several 1-inch by 1-inch internal blocks—no screws or nails were used. T is allowed me easily to make subtle rounded ends at each corner and also permitted


Once the insulation was carved to make appropriately sized swells and the model’s opening was made, I used a lightweight sheetrock taping compound (Figure 5) right out of the container to completely cover the base, using a spoon to apply it. (Figure 6) I worked the viscous white compound with my fi ngertips (Figure 7) and the palms of my hands to smooth-out the thick paste. T is plaster-like material provides a solid surface for subsequent acrylic paints as well as the additional applications of mediums and gels for fi nal water eff ects. I used my fi ngers to give the plaster surface some additional, smaller textures, keeping in mind the eff ect of the wind direction in my chosen setting. Finally, a wide brush was used to


12. Painting and eff ects materials needed. Before applying any color, it is important to brush on a thin layer of artist’s acrylic Gesso across the entire surface.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100