RNLI Severn Class Lifeboat at sea.

[Deadman Disciple]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its finale time on the Lifeboat.

 

After finding out some the decals were useless, especially the white decals (which were very transparent), I painted the white number decals on using a stencil I made using a removeable label cutting out the letters with my Swann-Morton knife.

 

I also had to paint on the red/yellow stripes on aswell & I also made the lifeboat name using the Brother label machine at work, using the smallest font & directly pressed that label onto the superstructure.

 

I had to move over the lifeboats decal over slightly, but it looks great.

 

The black lettering decals, went on a treat though.

 

I got some 1 inch thick foam, cut out the triangular shape for the shape of the lifeboat, with a small channel underneath for the wiring, a small square hole for the switch, fed all the wiring through

& finally a rectangular hole for the battery & PVA glued it to a thin wooden base.

 

Once dry, I filled in the square hole for the switch with some normal polyfiller & once dry I glued the switch on top of that.

 

Then came the sea base work.

 

Using a tutorial I found on Youtube to make a sea base using toilet paper (of all things)

 

Following the instruction on the video, I mixed up some PVA & water, then painted the mixture on to the foam & placed one sheet of the toilet paper (at a time) onto the foam.

 

Working my way around the one side of the lifeboat with the first layer, I then painted some more of the mixture & did the same until I had built up 3 layers of the toilet paper.

 

Once finished, whilst the toilet paper was wet, I used the pointed end of my brush & started to manipulate the toilet paper to make waves & the wash around the edges of the hull & various shapes here & there.

 

Letting the first side dry for 24 hours, I then did the same on the other side of the base.

 

After the other side had dried for 24 hours, I then started on the paint.

 

Mixing some Folkart greenscape with a little of the Americana sea glass, some Revell blue 36152, white 36301 & little Humbrol brown 24, to make a greeny blue mixture, I painted that on top of the dried toilet paper & let that dry for 72 hours.

 

Then I painted some Crawford & Black acrylic white on for the waves & wash, letting that dry for another 24 hours & finally dry brushing some of that same white to bring out the tops of the various shapes id made with my brush.

 

Leaving that to dry for another 24-36 hours, I started on the clear gloss.

 

I was really happy with the results I already had, but looking at the video once again, I pondered whether to paint the clear gloss, but after some encouragement from the guys here & over at Scale Model Addict, I decided to paint on the clear gloss.

 

After the first coat of Revell clear gloss dried, I then painted on a layer of neat PVA glue, let that dry & then another 2 coats of the clear gloss & it has come out a treat.

I then started work on my crew figures.

 

Going back to the Revell NATO pilot figures I bought, I painted the figures & mounted those to the deck, with a female crew figure along with a black crew figure for some diversity.

 

Once all done with the figures, I then started the last bit of construction on the mast.

 

Glueing all the mast parts together, it leaned backwards on the lower mast assembly, so I had to use once of my paint pots to stabilize that whilst the glue dried.

 

Then once the mast dried, I placed the flag decal onto some tin foil (picking that tip of another user here, sorry I cant remember your name), sealed it with some Revell matt & put a little bit of black cotton thread inside & used pritt-stick to glue to two sides together & then using the glue n glaze, I glued the thread of the flag to the mast.

 

Using another tip from Big Dave, I used some tin foil to make a cover for the mini boat, I glued the tin foil cover onto the boat & sprayed the foil with the Halfords VW brilliant orange.

 

Finally, using the inspiration of mine & the wife’s trip to Zoomarine in Portugal & the scene from Under Siege, where the USS Missouri is sailing back to dock to be retired.

 

I made a little dolphin from plasticine & baked him on a low heat in the oven for 5-7 mins, painted him light grey & a little dark grey dry brushed on & mounted him to a clear piece of sprue, so it looks like he is jumping out of the water just in front of the lifeboat.

 

All-in-all, despite my ups & downs, Im really chuffed how this build has turned out.

 

Cheers,

 

Wayne.

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by Deadman Disciple

[Orion]

Hello DD,

 

I made this model myself. Not so easy to get a good result.

You succeeded completely. Good build.

Regards, Orion/The Netherlands. 

[Mark4700]

Excellent model, very nicely displayed. 

[John_W]

Love the Dolphin.

Nice Build.