Success! (Patreon)

My friends, I managed to finish the diorama without any major accidents! 

I started by scraping off the raised lip left by the masking tape, quickly covering it with a coat of Tamiya clear varnish. Then I started creating the water ripples using AK Transparent Water Gel. This gel is very thick and dries relatively quickly, it becomes hard to manipulate in roughly 5 minutes depending on its thickness. It's hard to create a homogeneous effect if the surface is too large and you're forced to work in sections, so I had to apply 2 layers to hide any obvious brush strokes. 

Next thing in the morning was adding some floating debris. I used sea balls and natural scatter from my garden, fixing it all with Still Water. This turned out looking pretty awful! Everything turned very dark and the colors didn't match the groundwork or anything else in the diorama. Disgruntled, I started painting every floating piece in different greyish tones, just as I did with stones on the ground. I think that partially saved the diorama! And it also obscured some of the visible cuts on the tank. 

Then it was just about finishing the figure. The sculpt isn't too great, many details are oversized and the facial features are crude. But I gave it my best and I think it's a nice addition to the scene! 

Finally it was just about painting the sides with a thick coat of Tamiya Flat Black using a large paintbrush. I quickly put the video together in the evening, placed the diorama in my display case and now I can start thinking about the next project!