Clear silicone scratch build bases for miniature ships

Using clear silicone for making transparent bases with swell effects. Also about its painting.

The transparent silicone, although painted, allows part of the ambient light to pass through, just as water does, so the bases acquires a very luminous appearance.

It is also very easy and fast to do the modeling, but some drawbacks must be taken into account. Keep in mind that this material is not designed for this use, in the video I explain the solutions that I have found to be able to use it. An important point is that it is difficult to glue metal to styrene, and the better strongest glue, cyanoacrylate, can react to create corrosive fumes that can stain your painstakingly painted figure. It can be used, but with tremendous care and assuming the risk: in the video I explain an alternative, and maybe you know a better glue, please, comment on it.

In the video you can also see that the silicone does not adhere well to the styrene, do not be afraid of that; perfectly resists normal use and to unglue it you have to do it on purpose. It can even be seen as an advantage if in the future we want to change the base.

Despite everything, the results are very good and it's really easy.

The figures that appear are:
00:01 (from the left) Scratchbuild Xebec 1:450
Minairons Miniatures - Ship of the Line 1:600
Imperial Modellbau - Xebec-Frigate 1:600
04:33 Saturnalia Studios - HMS Suffolk 1:650
07:51 Minairons Miniatures - Late Galleon 1:600
12:05 Navwar - Admiral Graf Spee 1:3000
12:33 Navwar - Potemkin 1:3000