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1/350 Laffey: The model I couldn't wait to build.


Guest PetrolGator

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Guest PetrolGator
Thanks, Rick.


I've painted most of the water its base dark blue. I've left some of it along the waterline alone as I was doing some stuff in lower light and would rather NOT make a stupid mistake at this point. I'll finish it up at a later date.


I've added about 20 figures from L'Arsenal to the ship, which are just simply awesome, but fragile. I'm sorry to say some sailors fell in the heat of action with the severe loss of limb. :cry_3:


I dropped this. I snapped the main mast, damaged the range finder, and tore up the forward railing. Thankfully, I fixed it. The ship herself is around 95% done, with life rafts, stretchers, and life boats needing to be added. I'll then rig her up with Caenis thread VERY CAREFULLY. I'll then dull coat the ship and proceed with finishing up the water base.


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Opinions or any critiques are always welcome.


Better pictures. The ones I took kind of sucked, quality wise:



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You can see in these where I still have to paint some of the water....

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Guest PetrolGator

Not sure. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do where the gel dried on the ship. I removed most of it via wet Q-tips during curing, but some spots looks pretty bad. I think I can cover up a lot of it, but it's a serious buzzkill with this build...

 

Frankly, water basing a model is as complex as the build itself. I've found, ever step along the way, that this hobby requires a multi-faceted approach to what is often played off as a one solution issue (seam lines.) Next time, I'm going to go for the Liquidex gloss, which does a good job of simulating simple waves. Vallejo Water can do well at crests and roughing the seas. Puttty any/or thick white glue may help build the "curled" bow waves.

 

At any rate, I'll post this with some degree of protest. The dark splotches are areas I intentionally over painted to mark where I will add Liquidex acrylic gel to cover up areas that I cannot salvage. I've also stripped the paint off the propeller guards and repainted them. It helped a lot. Smaller imperfections have also been corrected via an... eraser. I'll post remediated pictures tonight.

 

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This will end up being a rather unceremonious end to one of my best SHIPS (not scenes.)

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Chris,

Your water looks great. Did you just dry brush it to get the white foam look? BTW the ship looks good too! I like the figures on it as they give a nice scale to the build.

 

Bill

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I don't know what you're seeing, but I'm seeing a totally outstanding model and base. That water looks so real, I expect it to run off the base! Your ship looks like it could be the real deal shrunk down to size. You'll definitely bring home some awards with this one. I can't say any more; there aren't any words left for me to use. Makes me glad I don't do 1/350 scale ships, I'd never stand a chance!

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Guest PetrolGator

Don't underestimate yourself, Mark. You do good work.

 

The ship is largely done, outside of flags. I'm still "wetting" the water a bit, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Prior to the Future, the hull was dull coated, though I've coated the lower portion of the hull with some Future to indicate her "wetness" in the heavier seas. The wife has offered to help decorate the sides in order to hide the ugly foam.
I'll post final pictures tomorrow night!
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Opinions most welcome.
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Guest PetrolGator

Thanks. It took 2nd behind my Chevalier over some silly, silly glue mistakes I am correcting as I type. I'll post final pictures later.

 

Next up:

1/700 Maryland

1/350 U-96

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Guest PetrolGator
DONE!


The ship took 2nd at a contest behind my USS Chevalier over some poorly hidden glue spots (which have since been remedied.) This build taught me a lot that I hope to apply to my next waterlined DD.


I want to send thanks to Matt LeBlanc and other Northshore show judges who took the time to point out the flaws in this build. I really, really appreciate it!


Base decoration credit goes to my wife, who helped a lot with this build.


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Mods, please move this to the "Completed" subforum. Thanks.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest PetrolGator

She took "Best In Show" in Lafayette.

 

Truthfully, I'm shocked. People like Dick, Mike, Arthur, Warren, and the other IPMS people who helped show me how to build something spectacular deserve this credit.

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