"Has anyone used the Vallejo Water (Ocean) effects? Tips?" Topic

I have a number of Modern and WWII ships (1/2400) that need to be based and am intrigued by the Vallejo Ocean gels.

Has anyone used them? Opinions, tips, tricks of the trade?

Thanks in advance.

Good question I have just bought a tin for a project but have not started using it yet. I'll follow your thread to see if I can pick up any tips.

x42

I've got them and for basing my 1/1200 through 1/6000's, I don't care for them.

I get better results painting the base the blue I prefer, drybrushing a few lighter colors and then applying a clear gel medium to give texture and then hitting that a bit with white. Alternately, I apply GHQ's flexpaste sculpting the waves as needed and then paint as desired.

The Vallejo water effects are, as far as I can tell, gel medium mixed with varying opaque blue paints and don't really convey depth or variety that you can get with drybrusing up from a textured base or painting and then brushing on a clear gel.

Thanks McKinstry -

I had planned to basecoat the bases, more for the type/material of bases I was cutting, than any other reason (and actually grabbed a can of spray when last at Home Depot…)

I figured to have to dry brush some white caps/foam/spray, as well.

I think the main draw, for me, was the consistency of the color applied to multiple bases and the consistency of the gel as well.

x42Brown -

I went through 10+ pages of google and found very little – although one web site had a single photo of a (maybe) 1/350 US BB using Vallejo water on the base, but no description of how it was done.

Apply with a brush, don't have to be neat, just make sure you don't get it on the ship, and then I always paint over it….the opaqueness doens't work for me, I use it in the same way as the GHQ flexpaste, I always basecoat over them to get this:

link

On the lower part of the page you can see what it looks like before basecoat, if that helps.

I use mine to make bow waves, wakes and a slight texture. It is hard to handle but produces a nice translucent effort over a white primed base.

I love the stuff…

I use a knife to smear a thinish layer on some plastic card and then plan the ship ontop whilst its still gel is still wet.. it holds the ship pretty firmly but its not invincible as I found out when I dropped a ship not so long ago!!

Anyway… after the ship has been placed on the board I used a cocktail stick to create ripples and wave effects.

I then leave it over night to dry (about 24 hours to be honest) and then spray the ship and the base and go from there.

I paint the gel with GW Regal blue paint, give it a green wash and dry brush the tips with a white…I quite like the effects for far.

my blog has a few pics of my ships with use this method

combatlane.blogspot.com