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I wish my weathering skills were better. I haven't built many models so getting it to that point was challenging enough. I really appreciate the info you've provided about first-hand experience. Dave

What is the crane model?

Thank you. Your experience building yours was very helpful to me. It's a big, but enjoyable model. I hope I never see another tiny railing again! ;-) Dave Thanks. I did get one from Shapeways. But I liked the style and colors of the one that's shown, Even though it's die-cast. Dave

Thanks. Those look really cool. I think I'll get one just for giggles. I'm afraid they might be to big; the 1/200 that's on the pad looks a little large to me. I might be able to suspend one of the SWEETS above the rig. Sort of a "forced perspective" thing. Dave

Thanks. I'm retired. I think of it like "prison mode" where I have all the time in the world (think "Shawshank Redemption) I'd rather build one giant complex model than 5 small ones. I've built only 8 other models, but that included some weirdos like the BMW Isetta, Bentley Blower, VW Samba ( I owned one). Also built a BMW 320i like the one I owned. I even sought out the exact color match from a touch-up paint source. Dave

Thanks. My vision of this would be heavily weathered. I need to build some simpler models to practice weathering. I have a lot more products (like all of the Vallejo pigments) than skill.

Thanks. I wish my weathering skills were better. Dave

See the build thread here: This is the Revell Germany reissue of the 1/200 North Cormorant Oil Platform. It's finally finished. Again, many thanks to Kallisti for building one first and giving advice. I anticipated running short on railing so I used some PE railings in some places. I'm sort of new to PE work. Otherwise I may have use PE on the whole model $$. I'm glad I used a darker color on the railings. Gives a bit more interest. For many of the railings I asselmbled sections first, then airbrushed, to hide glue marks. This model gave me LOTS of practice at repetitive work on small stuff, something I needed. I also sort of new to weathering so I was conservative. I used Citadel nuln oil on most surfaces and a little Vallejo pigments on the supports. The soot on the flare pipe is also Vallejo. (I need a lot of practice on weathering) The helicopter is diecast. It's the only thing I could find at 1/200. It still looks large to me, but the colors are nice. I used Molotow chrome pens on the helipad landing lights but they don't show up much in the photos. I think my next project will be the Italeri Fiat Mefistofele, which I already have. I've spent lots of time reading the builds of others. There are lots of tips out there, probably the best of which came from the legend, Harry Pristovnik. So sad that he's no longer with us.

Considering the cost of the model, they could have included more railings. Thanks for your experience with railings. I'm going to use more of the PE railings in inconspicuous places. Thanks for the reply and info Dave

It's been a while. Nearly completed the first 3 modules after washing with Citadel Nuln oil. I've been putting off railings and stairs because of the limited amount of long runs of railing in the kit. I knew this was an issue so I bought some 1/200 PE railings from Gold Medal Models. I'm pleased with my first use of those on the long walkway on the flare boom. I still won't have enough long sections of railing without sectioning some of it or using the other type of PE railing. The kit has enough length of railing just not enough long sections. One sprue of railings from the kit. PE railings from Gold Medal Models Module 4 contains a bunch of railings so I might use PE railings for that, but there isn't enough of the PE railings that exactly match the kit's railings. So I might use the other style of PE railings to do module 4. It's inside the module so it might not be noticeable. I'm trying to paint the railings a darker grey than the decking; just adds a little more detail. That means that I'd assemble every railing section, with bends and such, and then glue into place. But that might prove too difficult to do the whole model that way. I tried 3 colors on this test section. I made a decision on the heli for the model after searching a long time for a 1/200 plastic kit. I bought a diecast 1/200 that matched the colors on the Cormorant. Not exactly accurate, but it looks good.

Thanks. Both colors are Testors Modelmaster: Insignia Red and Insignia Yellow, both flat.

I remember your post about the internal details. I decided to paint them anyway, I needed the practice. I'm hoping that you can see inside just a little bit from one angle. I didn't bother to weather the walkways. I don't know why they went to the trouble of making them that way since you really can't see much of them. I saw one display on the internet that had one module off to the side opened up. But I guess that was an extra module because the whole model was completed beside it. https://goo.gl/images/zNZEpL

Finally some progress on this. All module floors were sprayed with Testors Aluminum and then equipment was brush painted. Gave me lots of needed practice with brush painting skills. Directions called for assembling the modules around the floors of equipment, but I wanted to spray the module frames completed. Two modules weren't tall enough to allow sliding the top floor in place. So I inserted the top floor first and then "lifted" it to its upper position. I drilled some of the ducting openings and then squared them as best as I could with a Dremel and hobby knife. Also filled ejector pin marks on the side. I spent two long sessions cleaning mold lines from the 40 well heads. (Boring!) The two boom arms were a bit challenging as they had compound curves. I held them at right angles using a piece of aluminum angle and glued them with a touch-and-flow applicator. I started in the center and worked outward in small steps, pressing the curve with my fingers. Worked out well with very little, if any, glue visible. Then last session(s) was painting lots of red (Testors Insignia Red). This took two coats in spite of the fact that the plastic was red to start. Now for railings and walkways!

Yes, in a weird way. I've built only cars up this point, and got tired of fretting over every perfect finish. And at least I can see all of these parts without magnifiers.

Sure, sorry about that. https://www.revell.com/germany/other/80-8803.html#.WgoMMbpFw08 Oilrig North Comorant Plastic Model Kit Product ID: 80-8803 Overview Skill level: 5 Scale: 1:200 Length: 685 mm Parts: 615 Description Primed to pump petroleum The North Cormorant off-shore oil rig can be found 100 miles (160 km) northeast of the Shetland Islands. Twenty-eight steel nails are used to anchor the rig to the seabed. Forty pipes transport up to 24,000 tons of oil and gas to temporary stores and the mainland every day. This limited edition kit features a waterline with detailed substructure, modular platform structures, a detailed drilling rig, supply cranes with movable loading arms, multiple containers, lifeboats, a heli platform, detailed staircases, forty pipes, railing and decals.

First, thanks to Kallisti for his WIP thread and for advice on this model. I can work on this build only several hours a day as my neck pain allows, so the build might get slow at times. So far, I've primed the base of the model. I've decided, from advice, to paint it black and then overcoat with yellow to get the great weathering effect that Kallisti got. Pictures of this later. This model is built of modules, each a small build of its own, so I'm building it that way. I'm using ModelMaster enamels because I'm a relative beginner and I'm familiar with how they spray. I'm using Insignia Red and Insignia Yellow because I like the dark colors they produce. I'm using MM Aluminum to paint the interior floors of the equipment areas; equipment will be brush painted. As Kallisti mentioned, this kit requires quite a bit of cleanup as the part numbers are molded into the parts; some will not be seen, so I'm cleaning up areas that might be seen. There are also some slight mold lines to smooth. Here are pics of the module cross members as found and cleaned up. Also shown are pics of the module frame, assembled first, then painted, not primed. I experimented with priming and not priming the corrugated parts and could see not difference, probably because both yellow and red are flat colors. I've included some comparison pics to show the colors before and after painting. I decided to assemble first and then paint, as I always seem to mess up painted parts when assembling. (fumbly fingers) Also, on the fourth and fifth pic, you'll see locators on the frame for the cross members. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the instructions as to which side of that should be used. So my pattern is to place the cross member to the "outside" of each locator. That way they sit flush and don't encounter the small tab above that is used to mount each equipment level. I used the square when attaching the cross members to the frame. I glued each cross member to the frame with super glue and then set with accelerator. I then attached the opposite frame to all four cross members at once. This approach eliminates and clamping and waiting for the glue to dry. One side of each corrugated panel is a cutaway revealing the interior detail. Once assembled, these can barely be seen. I considered reversing each module with the cutaway to the outside but decided against that. Maybe I'll do that on a second build of this monster.

I'm going to build a Revell North Cormorant. Another user requested that I post as a WIP thread. OK? or not Dave