Building 1/700 - 1/350 ships

[Saros]

I grabbed 3 1/700 Fubuki(I) kits on special for about $3US each and now I am scratching my head as to what exactly to do with them. The default layout is just after the refit to remove the 12.7cm guns for 25mm AA platforms but there are a heap of spare parts so I figure I can do an early/mid/late series with them. Does anyone have a link with a latewar Fubuki(I) layout? I can't seem to turn up much.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: nashvillen

On the subject of plastic models. I have several Japanese 1/700 CVs. For those in the group that have done this in the past, how do you represent the wooden decks? I have found just painting them a single color with a darker wash brings out the individual wood details, but it is still just one color. I know those decks had a variable wood color and had marks from engines warming up, tire marks, etc. I have thought about some colored pencils, but that is going to take a bit, so if anyone has invented the wheel already, I am ready to listen!

I have been getting back into building 1/700 scale. While looking for photo etch, (which I've never done and scares me paralyzed just thinking of all of the tiny things I can break in two) and I noticed somewhere a stencil for the paint job of an IJN flight deck. All of the cool white arrows and other stuff. I think you'd have to do the weathering on your own. Tamiya makes some kits for weathering, but I think thin glazes of various darks should do it. There are some great paints like 'gun metal' that really get that slightly oily dark look.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Saros

I grabbed 3 1/700 Fubuki(I) kits on special for about $3US each and now I am scratching my head as to what exactly to do with them. The default layout is just after the refit to remove the 12.7cm guns for 25mm AA platforms but there are a heap of spare parts so I figure I can do an early/mid/late series with them. Does anyone have a link with a latewar Fubuki(I) layout? I can't seem to turn up much.

Great find. Here is an example from a modeling site of a Fubuki in 44.

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/dd/ijn/shirakumo-700-dk/dk-index.html

This forum thread might also help. All about building Fubukis.

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=39642

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: netjam99

The Warspite is coming along nicely. That is one of the best names for a ship ever!

I named one of my Line Ships that in Empire Total War. Pic is the HMS Warspite fighting the Royal French ship Spartartie

warspite1

Good call netjam99. I trust HMS Warspite despatched the French blighter to the bottom of the sea toute de suite?

One of the best names, certainly the best looking, and well...just the best battleship ever. And I'm not even biased [;)]

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Blind Sniper

Great job Warspite, clean assembling phase, is it a Tamiya model?

warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Thank-you Blind Sniper [:)]. The model is from Academy. Trumpeter did Queen Elizabeth I believe.

Trumpeter did a Warspite too:

http://www.squadron.com/product-p/tr05325.htm

I think there is a WW I version of the Warspite from Trumpeter too.

A person can spend a fortune on aftermarket stuff. Much of it is gilding the lily IMO. I did end up with a wooden deck as an extra in a 1/350 Lexington I got on Ebay. It's nice, but I don't think I would buy it separately. I ended up with two 1/350 Lexingtons, the second one was gifted. I was thinking of converting it to a late war Saratoga, but finding information on the AA suite layout on the Saratoga after 1942 is not easy.

The decks of those carriers would have a few oil drips and such, but they would be too small to see in 1/700 scale. I think the wood decks of carriers got changed out fairly frequently. They got a heck of a lot more wear and tear than any other type of surface ship.

On the modeler's forums they talk about the carpet monster that regularly eats small parts like those microscopic bits of photo-etch.

If anyone likes to bargain shop and is in the US, I recommend signing up for the newsletter from Dragon's website:

http://www.dragonusaonline.com/

They import Aoshima and Fujimi as well as carry their own line of ship kits. They have sales going on all the time and some kits are 50% off retail. A few months back they had a 1/350 Independence at over 50% off. I grabbed it. I've also picked up a few 1/700 IJN BB kits at bargain prices too.

Bill

[Mundy]

Here's my usual haunt:

http://www.modelwarships.com/index1.html

Daily builds posted and a very helpful forum.  I've seen that our friend Tiornu has posted there before.

This is one of the better places I've come across to buy stuff:

http://www.freetimehobbies.com/

I can manage to lose photo-etch on a bare wood floor.  That kinda halted my 1/700 1942 San Francisco for the time being.  I need a break from "Braille Scale" for awhile...

Loose Cannon makes a 1/700 Long Island that I want to try sometime. Lots of photo-etch for the girder work under the deck.

Ed-

[U2]

I'm not overly happy but I will learn from each kit. I tried to cut corners and it did not pay off [:)]

Next I will start with the superstructure (I hope that is the correct name for it)

[U2]

the box...

[wdolson]

I don't know what you did to get that color, but at least to me it looks like the brown for the deck is too thin and the gray plastic is showing through.

One thing aircraft modelers do is color the recessed panel lines with a dark color, sometimes black, before painting the camo colors. After painting the dark shows through the paint a bit and highlights the panel lines. IMO some people over do it, but very visible panel lines are the fashion these days.

I would think a similar technique would work on a ship's deck. I would try it with a dark brown pen, then paint over it with a lighter brown. The darker lines will show through the top coat a bit and you should get some contrast on your deck. I'm not 100% sure it will work, but it might be worth a try.

Bill

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: wdolson
I would think a similar technique would work on a ship's deck. I would try it with a dark brown pen, then paint over it with a lighter brown. The darker lines will show through the top coat a bit and you should get some contrast on your deck. I'm not 100% sure it will work, but it might be worth a try.

Bill

I'm not sure on Japanese destroyers, but battleships and cruisers used brass strips to secure the linoleum decks. The raised lines running across your deck represent those strips I believe. Something you might want to try. Also, Tamiya has a paint available specifically for Japanese linoleum decks. Just some more info for you U2.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

I don't know what you did to get that color, but at least to me it looks like the brown for the deck is too thin and the gray plastic is showing through.

One thing aircraft modelers do is color the recessed panel lines with a dark color, sometimes black, before painting the camo colors. After painting the dark shows through the paint a bit and highlights the panel lines. IMO some people over do it, but very visible panel lines are the fashion these days.

I would think a similar technique would work on a ship's deck. I would try it with a dark brown pen, then paint over it with a lighter brown. The darker lines will show through the top coat a bit and you should get some contrast on your deck. I'm not 100% sure it will work, but it might be worth a try.

Bill

Try using what's called an ink, or a wash. You can salvage (insofar as it needs salvaging*) the deck fairly easily. Basically, an ink or wash is a very runny paint but with powerful coloring effect to it. It will sink into the recesses of the plastic. Some will be left on top, which is why after inking this you should either use a technique called drybrushing or highlighting.

To do that, just dab your brush in the paint pot as usual, then wipe anywhere from about half to 80% of the paint off onto a paper towel (this is so that you can be sure to only get the areas you wish to highlight). Then lightly brush this on top of the area you wish highlighted. I've found that while it may take some time to do so, brushing at a 90' angle to the ridge you wish to highlight is best.

This works best with water color paints. If you are using enamel, I've forgotten most of what I learned as a young lad due to the more difficult logistics involved with enamel paints.

Source: 15 or so years of miniature & wargames painting

Bill's method is also a good idea, but one that I think would be best when starting from completely unpainted plastic.

*Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible... And really, it's your model. You're the ultimate judge on how it should look.

[U2]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: wdolson
I would think a similar technique would work on a ship's deck. I would try it with a dark brown pen, then paint over it with a lighter brown. The darker lines will show through the top coat a bit and you should get some contrast on your deck. I'm not 100% sure it will work, but it might be worth a try.

Bill

I'm not sure on Japanese destroyers, but battleships and cruisers used brass strips to secure the linoleum decks. The raised lines running across your deck represent those strips I believe. Something you might want to try. Also, Tamiya has a paint available specifically for Japanese linoleum decks. Just some more info for you U2.

Thanks guys,

the raised lines running across are indeed those strips. at this tiny scale airbushing that would be impossible to do. I've seen others not paint them and I did the same. I've seen it done in 1/350 though and I might give it a shot in 1/700 with my next build.

Now to the brown deck. Yes, I have that Tamiya color and I airbrushed it with that color. The hing however is that I cut corners masking the deck. I first painted the deck and then had to mask it when I wanted to airbrush other parts of the deck with an IJN grey. Instead of using masking tape I wanted to save time and used a Vallejo masking liquid. I did not cover 100% so I have tiny spots of grey over my linoleumm deck. I can't airbrush that over due to the spots being in difficult places riskingpainting over parts that were suppose to be grey. Remember this scale is tiny. I decided to haind paint over the grey pots with the linoleum color. This is not a good idea since airbrushing and handpainting the same Tamiya color is uite different and does not produce the same result. The hand painted over grey spots became much draker than the rest of the airbushed linoleum deck. I tried to cover that up by weathering the deck. So it's not actually grey shoing through. It's weathered [:)]

Taking a photo at night with a flash might not show what I am seeing. It's not perfect but I tried to cut corners and was punished for it. I will continue even thoguh I am not happy since I will learn from my mistakes.

Thanks for you input guys.

[U2]

édited

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: U2
Taking a photo at night with a flash might not show what I am seeing.

I was wondering if maybe some of the effect we see in that photo wasn't from a flash. Keep plugging away, I'd love to see a picture when it's finished.


Back towards the OT somewhat, I've got maybe 8 or a dozen 1/700 ships built. I got started when I found my uncle's model of the Bismarck from the 1960s. My mother said he liked to put firecrackers in them and blow them up out in the gutter after it rained [X(] [:@]. That's the only one that survived him.

So before I started wargaming, I built models. I have the Iowa (disclaimer: I'm from there! The state capitol building has a pretty wicked scale model of it about 10 feet long, I wish they also had one of the Des Moines), Massachusetts, Yorktown (CV-5), Suzuya (I've always loved the IJN CA designs, not to mention they were extremely potent ships), Jintsu, a generic Gato-class (I pretend it's Wahoo), and I believe either a Fletcher or Akizuki - I just remember that I have a DD model.

If I could think of a way to properly display them (maybe I'll make a glass-topped coffee table depicting a battle in Ironbottom Sound?!), I'd bring them out of storage and paint them up.

[Mundy]

A good curio cabinet would work.  One of the first things I bought after we got our house.
 
Ed-

[U2]

Latest update. The hull completely weathered and decals applied. Again I made some mistakes that I will not redo but one must continue to learn from them. I do realise that this angle does not show the weathering that much.

[wdolson]

Nice work.

I was just thinking that you might be able to save the deck paint job with some dry brushed black. Don't do much, just a very light dusting of black will make the deck look a bit grungier and help distract the eye from the gray over spray. I haven't done it with ship models, but I've done it with aircraft interiors and it can help cover up a multitude of mistakes.

The whole idea of weathering models may have started by somebody who made a painting mistake and wanted to cover it up. That's why I weathered my first model. [:)]

Bill

[wdolson]

I've been very lucky on Ebay over the last week. First I came across a 3 kit deal that included a 1/700 Nimitz for a song, then I found a deal on 107 1/700 kits for a great price. There are some duplicates with what I already have in that collection, but I can sell the ones I don't want.

I don't normally go for post WWII subjects, but an idea hit me about the Nimitz. I can build it as a what if from the Final Countdown. Paint it in 1942 colors and the planes in 1942 colors.

The first thing that struck me was how huge the Nimitz is. The picture included is the Musashi hull next to the Nimitz.

Bill

[wdolson]

Here they are again with the deck sitting on top of the Nimitz hull.

Bill

[PaxMondo]

CVN's are BIG. [8D]