Need to replicate a thick smoke like from an explosion on a ship for a diorama. Is there another and better way to replicate this besides the painted cotton fiber technique?
Mark
Set the kit on fire. Styrene produces a nasty, thick, black smoke. Can’t get any more authentic than that.
[;)] [(-D].
But seriously, stretched cotton balls and some hairspray may give you the best, most dynamic looking smoke effect.
-Fred
I did that w/ a Zero and it look great. Did it with w/ a Stuka and it looked like cotton fiber and hairspray. 
I’ve seen lots of attempts to represent smoke with cotton over the years, and I have to say I’ve never seen one that I really found convincing. (I hasten to add that I haven’t seen Gymbo-59’s Zero; maybe that’s the exception that proves the rule.) I don’t want to say it can’t be done, but frankly I’ve never had much inclination to try it.
The most successful attempt at immitating smoke on a model I’ve seen was on that appeared in a model railroad magazine quite a few years ago. (Railroad modelers who specialize in the steam era face the problem all the time. Even if somebody figured out a way to make an HO-scale steam locomotive produce an authentic-looking smoke cloud, it would drive the modeler out of his house in a matter of minutes.) This particular modeler had carefully carved a block of styrofoam into an appropriate shape and plugged it into the smokestack of his locomotive. An HO locomotive chugging around a layout with such a thing sticking out of it would look ridiculous, but as a prop for photographs it was mighty convincing. Whether that trick could be adapted to work with a ship or airplane model I don’t know, but the idea might be worth considering.
I have been working with cottonballs to do a fire effect for a project I am doing. I have NO idea what you guys mean about the hairspray, but I actuially impale them on wire, and super glue them there. It allows me to really manipulate the cotton balls and position them EXACTLY how I need them.