Tutorial - Creating clam fouling on a boat

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Aloa pirates!!

This article is about a really special topic and shares the thoughts of mine while diving deep into pirate stories and pirate action. You can listen to the following song to feel comfortable and in the right mood to see yourself in Pirate mode:



I did start the project of the Tales of War Pirate long time ago in my mind. While i was visiting mati in Berlin about a complete year ago i did buy a plastic boat kit in a hobby store and already had a scene with a pirate on it in the back of my mind. The days did pass - as you know there is the right time for every project to be started with and to have it done - so it took its time. Last weekend at the painting class i did find this moment. I was thinking what to paint during the class and came upon this idea again. I took the plastic boat and cut it in pieces needed with a saw and gorilla powers. I've used McDonalds wooden coffees sticks to make the boat planked as it was only plastic and did not fit good to my plan. Also i have added tons of dirty stuff and more stuff i did find during the class to make the cut-out i am showing of the boat more lifelike. I only got one Work in Progress photo of this stage of work, but that isn't the topic at all in this text - here you go:

As this has been build up at the painting class it was a quick build up. I did use the planks and also added some crackle medium to the ship's side to get an intresting look of a very old base. I did not forget to prepare an article about that crackle medium, it is already waiting in line and will soon be written forour readers, sorry for the delay. The boat body looked like this after the first wave of sketching around with colours.

I was thinking to add waves and water to the scene later on and believed that there has to be something else on the boats edge to show that it is old and hit by water very often. Clams fouling was my idea, so i've checked mother nature for inspiration.

It took me about 3 seconds to grap the latest explained Vallejo Putty 401 and start some testing with toothpicks.

Toothpick brought up a small amount ot the putty to a dark surface, just for testing - like a tiny drop.

1 minute of waiting made the putty hard in such a small amount. I then took the clean side of the toothpick to hit the dots again and press a hole in them.

I was very satisfied for the moment and added this technique to the lower parts of the boat. I was not afraid fo the dots being white as i want my clam fouling to be bright and also i did expect to easily cover it with a glaze to darken it down. Also i used the mosh technique to bring on some more rotting feel to the wet wood.

After this was dry (about 5 minutes), i took some brownish glazes to bring it all together... in fact i just did paint and some were still bright, others less. For a more clearer vision i have added gloss varnish at the places i planned to look wet.

As you can see the project grows from within all the time, painting and boat weathering included. Raffa told me about small clams he did collect during his vacation in Italy last year. He was wandering the beach and picked up every single small clams with a single swift monkey move. Good boy and many, many thanks for the help to make this project grow. Raffa's small clams really made my heart bounce in joy...

I took some of them, mainly the ultra small ones and checked where they might fit in place at the boat, then glued them with superglue. A little glaze of colour and some sketchy highlights have been applied to have a better look on my vision.

The project still runs and i am looking forward to apply 2 component water later on. I am still painting on it but here is a little preview into the direction the project goes - always beware of the monkey ninjas!! Still Work in Progress.... strange photo quality again with my WIP shots:

 

As you know the jungle you will be updated about the progress of the project soon.
I hope this little article can help you do a pirate or a beach scene. For sure there might be other goes at this topic but i was happy to find my own so far. If you want to mention something or ask something please feel free to do so via comment.

Keep on happy painting!
Best Regards
Roman

PS: I will not forget the Crackle Medium Article :)