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1/350 USS England + Tom's PE


Guest PetrolGator

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Guest PetrolGator

OK, I decided to prime the deck and see what I had. Minus a few rough spots on the extreme bow, I'm happy with the deck. The superstructure is another story...

 

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In order to get a good fit along forward superstructure and the large, solid breakwater/amidships hatch (or whatever those guards are called,) I'll have to glue the superstructure down AFTER I paint the deck. I'll mask the deck carefully, re-prime, and then begin painting her verticals.

 

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On the current condition of the superstructure: There are still gaps on her aft deckhouse. These must be filled and sanded. I'm not OK with how they look. I also need to do some work on her bridge... just not happy with it as of yet.

 

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Once I'm cool with her seams, I'll paint the tops of her superstructure 20-B, mask, then begin the insane task of masking ALL the decks for vertical painting.

 

I'm going to waste a lot of masking tape... :Smile_sceptic:

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Nice! And the KGV looks sharp, BTW.

 

I've been about half-done with that 1/700 Buckley for a looong time. Tom's PE for it is very good stuff; I just get overwhelmed by the tiny-ness of it all and have to put it up for a rest after each step. Then I accidentally broke the !#$%^ mast, so it's time for a bit of soldering practice before re-engaging there.

 

Am certainly not building up my PE skills like you are.

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Get some of Flex-i-file's tweezers. They're amazing and fine. Are you painting your Buckley in a dazzle?

 

Have got adequate tools, to include one of those PE folding/clamp things. It's more of a psychological block. Color scheme will be the overall sea blue, as it would have been when Dad was aboard, c.Okinawa. There is a great photo on navsource.org, but the website appears down right now. New book out called "Shepherds of the Sea" I wanna find, too.

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Guest PetrolGator

Shamelessly copy/pasted from Modelwarships.com:

 

Today's joyous activity: SANDING. Yes! I spent my modeling time today sanding and masking. It was exciting. Thankfully, I convinced the wife to watch Django Unchained with me. It's a fantastic movie, if you have the stomach for that sort of thing.

Anyway.... to the (semi) progress!

I didn't do a whole lot today, you know, life outside the hobby room causing issue. I'm supposed to run in a marathon benefiting cancer for the wife's school, so I've been doing sprints to get my endurance up.

What I did do: The verticals of the ship are masked. I'll start with a layer of 5-O from my dwindling supply of Poly Scale paint. Once that's dry, I'll mask off the sections of the deck and glued upperworks that are supposed to remain ocean grey. I'll then spray down the 20-B.

Now, here's a question to the community: I HAVE to pre-paint the deck, glue down the superstructure, mask the deck, and finally, paint the verticals (with the deck masked, of course.) There are still ugly seams to fill and I plan on showing this model in Pensacola if I can. Now, I can paint the horizontal surfaces 20-B, masking off her vertical superstructure, or I can mask the ENTIRE model, sans the decks in question. I'm really not certain which way is the best to proceed, though I'm leaning toward pre-painting the decks, then masking them for the eventual dazzle painting.

Here's the 32-B I'm using from Kenny:

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Opinions?

Here's my progress. I'm sure it looks impressive with all the masking tape:

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That's all for now. I'm hoping to get the dazzle done this weekend, at my IPMS club's group meet and build. As soon as this one's done, I'm starting on my DKM Scharnhorst which will also be a joy to paint.

 

Here's Kenny's mask, labelled. It's a treat JUST for the IPMS folks, because I love you guys. IF you choose to pull of a scheme like this, I strongly suggest you do the same:

 

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Well, I painted the first two layers of 5-O on the deck. Yeah. It looked awful. I was torn on putting down some additional layers of paint, sanding, and trying to mitigate. However, the more I think about it, the more I simply want to sand down the deck and start over. I hate the plastic cable reels I've glued on. The extreme bow also looks to be a mess. If this thing is going to compete, I need to do a lot better...

 

I'll sand down the deck today, Milliput the heck out of the ship, sand it down, and redo all the details. It'll add two days to the build, but I'm not that worried about time as of yet. I have all of Saturday and Sunday to get the dazzle painted on. I'd rather do it right the first time.


Also - ordered PE cable reels form FreeTimeHobbies that should be here early next week.

 

1/350 scale is a PAIN.

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My PE folding tool is a Mission Models Etch Mate. Have used it for a couple of the wee 700th bits on the Buckley and it really is a plus; the proverbial third hand. Have also set up the 1/300-ish Revell USCG icebreaker for the PE treatment, but that's also been in limbo for a while. No excuse there - just lazy. It did a great job folding up a cockpit interior framing set for a 1/72 Sopwith Camel (Airwaves?). Just wish some of that magic was visible in the finished model.

 

A masking set for dazzle...well...dang...

 

What went wrong with the 5-0 paint on the deck?

 

Keep the faith, bra'!

Edited by VonL
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Dude, Gatormasks are invaluable for ANY dazzle scheme, if you don't want to spend a week making sure something semi-accurate. Kenny's also a stand up guy and deserves all the business he can get.

 

I really, really need to get a PE bender. I keep putting it off, but I know it'll help make my models that much more accurate. Plus, I hear it speeds up builds! My stash is getting big enough where I NEED to hit the accelerator a bit.

 

Regarding the deck, I got impatient. I filled all the holes for the depth charge launchers rather poorly. When I noticed that the filling had shrunk, I used some Mr. Surfacer and primer to try to fill the voids. It.... just looked horrible. I put on another layer of primer, and it still looked bad. I figured I'd try to paint ONCE to see if I could get away with it, and... no.

 

I've since sanded, refilled, and reprimed the deck. It looks a LOT better. I'm hoping to have the 5-O and 20-B painted on the deck tonight. I'm not sure I'll have the time, though. Worst case, I'll do it tomorrow.

 

Edit: Also, cable reels never quite fit. I cut them off and ordered PE.

Edited by PetrolGator
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After a short time away from this build, I'm back. I spent most of my time on her masking her upperworks. I have a few area left to hit with 20-B. When that's all done, it's back to masking. I'll cover ALL the decks (which will be a pain) after gluing down the superstructure. Once it's puttied and looks good, I'll give it a quick sand, primer treatment and start the vertical dazzle.

 

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Small update. All the 20-B has been painted and I've added the hull red to the ship. Sigh.... now I get to mask away the horizontals and begin the process of painting her dazzle. I'm also removing the small ammo boxes, photo etch, etc and I'll be painting those soon.

 

With this and a review I'm working in, I'm hoping to have them both done by the end of next weekend.

 

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I only have one word for the dazzle: disappointing. I was sure between the masks and masking tape that I would avoid most serious bleed over. I was wrong. I was sure that I could pull off a 1/350 dazzle. I was terribly wrong.

To put it mildly, I'm disappointed with how this turned out... The pictures I'm posting are AFTER I spent a good deal of time correcting bleed over. I'm getting into the habit of photographing a model once I get to a stage to better identify issues. Well, there are a lot of them. The bridge looks horrible. The gun tubs are disappointing. From a distance, it looks GREAT, but much like a Picasso, becomes terrifying up close.

I'm reapplied antifouling paint due to the bleed and haven't gotten around to its black stripe. I'll continue trying to hand correct issues I see with the paint, apply future, and may take some VERY thin light grey paint to weather it a little... Perhaps the weathering is how so many of you make these look so good?
Unfortunately, I don't have many experienced ship and/or smaller scale modelers anywhere near my area. I'm teaching myself this stuff build by build.

Anyway, for the judgement of the forum:

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Well, after a day off and a day trying to make this ship look better, well, it looks a lot better but I think I can still do better.

I attempted a few new things today:

- Oil weathering
- Highly thinned paint for fading (Tamiya sky grey)

It turned out alright. There are still some spots I'm not 100% OK with, but overall, and considering I'm at my one year plus two months of modeling, I guess it's okay.

Progress so far:

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Comments/tips/criticisms are welcome. Seriously. Rip into it. I'm learning this hobby a bit more with every build.

 

Oh yeah. I'm going to have to repaint part of the waterline. Again.

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Chris, it looks like a pretty good recovery. The light wash looks really nice. Have you thought about maybe using black decal striping for the boot stripe? Since that boat isn't that huge it might work out well for you.

 

Anyway, it's lloking good.

 

Bill

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Bill,

 

It's funny you should mention the black stripe... painted it on this afternoon! I also dirtied up the ship a LOT.... I'm going to use some oils to add rust, etc to the hull tomorrow. I found a picture of one of these girls from hard service and it was impressive... gonna try to mimic that.

 

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....been trying to blend some of the weathering and dirtied up hull. I had a major screw up on the starboard side and have eliminated a LOT of the smudging. There's still a lot to do.

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I've lightened the weathering under the aft most gun and empty 1.1 in gun tub.... looks a TON better. I still need to do a little bit of work to do 5-O underneath the funnel and along the hull. BTW, the contrast between the thin band of 5-L and thicker paint forward is due primarily to my iPhone camera and the gloss from the Future... isn't nearly that apparent in person. I'm still going to lighten it a bit with some VERY careful dry brushing. Also, fitted some guns... just because I wanted to see how they looked.

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Port view shows how my weathering will look once blended. This side is done and ready for some oil paint-based rusting.

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Torpedo tubes are done. That "wavy" transition between the 20-B and 5-L was an affect I've seen on a few DE and DDs in WWII. I just thought it looked cool and wanted to reproduce it. You may note the white line along the base of the superstructure. That's... more Trumpeter fit shenanigans currently being fixed with Elmer's.

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Amidships. I still need to bend some of her ladder into shape, but those look OK. Note that I'm using the kit supports for the forward AA gun tubs. The PE from Tom's just pissed me off and... ended up being scrapped. If I did this over, I'd use thin brass tubing, honestly.

The base has been sanded and puttied. I'm going to paint it in this awesome smoky black from Alcad to add some shine.

All for now.

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More guns added and some of the wear toned down... I'm 50/50 on the WEM 1.1 in, but that's about the best on the market unless I got white metal.

Pictures show that I have some filling to do with white glue (see forward gun tub) but overall, it's turning out good, just slowly.

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Moderate progress. I've started adding railing to the upper deck.... unsure if I'll leave it 5-L or not. I kind of like the contrast. Cable reels have been added (not painted) and all her 20mm guns are attached. I have some work to do on getting the railing where I'm happy along the superstructure, then I'll work on the depth charge racks. Finish line ahead!!

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Small update... been a busy day.

I've installed her port and starboard depth charge racks and painted the railings to match the dazzle. I've started clean up on the paint, but still have a lot to do.

Tomorrow: Aft racks, remaining deck fittings, and detail painting. Ideally, she'll be ready for rigging Thursday. Ideally.

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Hey Dick, don't look now but my England can now totally make sure your sub has a BAD day. :smiley14:

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So, here's "progress." This is my first kit in 1/350 and for some reason, the railing is giving me fits. I use the glue/mask/bend/proceed method, which works GREAT in 1/700, but damn man... I'm hoping (read: going to HAVE TO) finish this up today, or it's not going to Pensacola with me.
Anyway. I have some small detail work to do, painting wise, plus need to weather added parts to match the overall look of the boat. I'll do a bit more "rusting" along the rails and aft depth charges as well. The bridge is pretty much complete. I even managed to add a small scratch built "windscreen" like I've seen in pictures of many Buckleys.
IF I have time, I'm adding some L'Arsenal figures to the ship. Honestly, I still can't believe how nice they are.
That's all from last night. Hopefully, I'll have a great update tonight. :please:
Buck1.jpg
Note issues with railing and hull mating. Thankfully, this ship is NOT pristine and I can work a lot of the flaws into the overall weathering. Thank God I used to actually paint.
Buck2.jpg
Fully armed and operational!
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Note bridge windscreen. I think it adds a LOT to the look of the ship. Again, you can see where I spectacularly failed with the superglue and railing. I've sanded a LOT of the excess off, but still need to do some blending to make it work.
Edited by PetrolGator
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The ship is mostly done. I'll enter it in Pensacola, but there are too many flaws for it to really win anything but attention. Still, I'm pretty happy with it, being my first stint into 1/350 scale and having a little over a year in the hobby... always improving.

To do:

Detail painting on anything I don't like
Flags
Figures? (Time permitting)

I've dull coated it to get a look at anything suspicious I don't like. I'll look in the AM when I'm rested.

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What were your rigging options this time? I notice some different sizes...all stretched sprue?

 

The photos look great.

 

Bill

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Mostly various lengths of EZ line (shredded some to make thinner lines) and some stretched sprue. I'm STILL getting comfortable with the super thin rigging and hope to go 100% stretched sprue on my next build which will be....

 

 

....WHO THE HELL KNOWS.

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Took 2nd behind a superb Russian 1/700 DD. I'm happy for the winner, but pissed this wasn't good enough to win. I'll be adding L'Arsenal figures and some other modifications.

 

What can I say. I'm competitive! :smiley16:

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