Below are photos of two near identical 1/48 scale dioramas I built in 1991 (Diorama 1-images one through eight) and 1992 (Diorama 2-images nine through thirteen) trying to duplicate what Shepard Paine built in 1974 for Monogram Models. I'll be the first to admit my work has issues and is off the mark, but it was my first (and second) try at working with epoxy resin to create water. It was a really messy material to work with.
The Setting
Both dioramas depict a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber that has been shot down on June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway and made a forced water landing. The rear gunner has been wounded and the pilot is assisting him to the life-raft before the airplane sinks. It does not represent a specific aircraft from the battle.
1991 Diorama
In my first try I did not get the wave tops to look like I wanted and the water is too dark. Also, after several months small areas of the water began to develop a frosted glaze, probably because I did something wrong in pouring the resin layers. I decided to try again. The only items reused on the 1992 diorama were the crew figures, raft accessories and metal frame. Images seven and eight are photos taken during construction and show the amount of surgery required on the figures to get the correct poses, as well as how the life-raft was made with bent wire and rubber tubing.
1992 Diorama
With this attempt I was able to control the resin much better because I knew what to expect. I also found I could control the color of the water by adding less dye to the layers of resin and laying a piece of green color poster paper inside the metal frame and under the resin water base. This second attempt turned out better than the first, but still had shortcomings. I eventually sold it on E-bay. It would be great to see to see some modelers recreate this same diorama with Trumpeter’s new 1/32 TBD-1 Devastator! I hope you enjoy the photos.
Phillip1
