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Cunard Queen Elizabeth 2, Otaki 1:450


neilg

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I'm going to do my first ship build for a change, and I managed to find this Otaki QE2 in 1:450.

 

I don't know how similar this is to the 1:450 Gunze Sangyo mould; I haven't been able to compare the two.  I'm happy I managed to track one down because the QE2 in this scale seems pretty difficult to find these days.  The Revell 1:1,200 seemed a bit too small for my liking.

 

This kit has two battery-powered motors, but I'm not really sure why.  The instructions show you how to waterproof the hull and prop shafts to be able to put it in water, but the switch to start and stop the motors is on the deck (optional), and there are no steering control.  So if you were to put it into a body of water with the motors on, it's going to sail happily off into the distance...

 

Because of its age, the decals have yellowed a bit, and now that winter is coming, it's going to be difficult to try to de-yellow them in the sun.

 

Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to doing a ship!  I have some time off work soon, so I hopefully I will be able to make good progress on it then.

 

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I'm regretting this decision...  but...

 

I thought I would drill the portholes...

 

I have a 0.75 mm twist-drill to do the lower two rows of portholes, and it took me all afternoon to do it by hand, and only on one side...

 

But since I started, I have to finish:

 

IMG_2776

 

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All of the round windows are drilled with a 0.75-mm and 0.9-mm twist drill (I'm going to use Tamiya Accent Color for the oval shaped windows), and all primed with Halfords Grey Primer:

 

IMG_2792

 

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6 hours ago, ShipbuilderMN said:

If it has enough water, it will most likely sail in a huge circle. and come back to more-or-less where it began.     But you can always put R/C in it if you want!

Bob

I don't know how I would do waterproofing of the rudder area - the pins and lugs are all under the waterline, and would need special work to install waterproof mechanisms.

 

I'm going to build this one as a display model I think.

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I've been dipping in and out of this project for the last week, but now I am off work for three weeks, so I should be able to crack on.

 

All primed now, and dry-fitted just for the photo:

 

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Edited by neilg
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Most of the hull painting is now done (just a few bits that need tidying up after minor bleeding).

 

I saw a chart that shows the paint scheme timeline of the QE2, that showed at one point, it had a royal blue hull.

 

I couldn't find any photos that showed a blue hull.  They all looked black.  Then I found this photo, and it definitely looked blue:

 

qe2-berthed-in-the-king-george-v-dry-doc

So I went the dark blue route with mine, and now I have the same problem as most of the reference pictures - it looks black:

 

IMG_2854

 

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It’s definitely a dark blue... Will have this same issue with my QM2...

 

Not sure you’d want it to look as blue as it does in that photo, but certainly a slight blue sheen.

 

I saw a QM2 that had a colour I like... Will see if I can find it and what paint they used.

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7 minutes ago, BluesModeller said:

It’s definitely a dark blue... Will have this same issue with my QM2...

 

Not sure you’d want it to look as blue as it does in that photo, but certainly a slight blue sheen.

 

I saw a QM2 that had a colour I like... Will see if I can find it and what paint they used.

Yer, that photo shows the blue particularly strongly, and I wasn't sure if I should use Tamiya TS 55 dark blue or Humbrol 15 midnight blue.

 

I went with the Tamiya in the end.

 

Here, though, it looks flat black:

 

QE2.jpg

 

It's a bit premature, but I wanted to compare the QE2 and QM2 kits.

 

They're not the same scale; the QE2 is 1:450 and the QM2 is :1400, but:

 

IMG_2856

 

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Really thought to pin down...  Different in every photo based on how water and other things reflect of it’s glossy surface.

 

I was wrong about the QM2 colour, it seems to be a dark grey.  I have the Haynes manual for it so i’ll check that.

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14 minutes ago, BluesModeller said:

Really thought to pin down...  Different in every photo based on how water and other things reflect of it’s glossy surface.

 

I was wrong about the QM2 colour, it seems to be a dark grey.  I have the Haynes manual for it so i’ll check that.

Let me know what you find out!!

 

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From what i’ve read the QE2 has had a grey hull for most of her ‘life’, and only had the dark blue hull for a short amount of time.

 

The grey paint is called QE2 Federal Grey Interlac Alkyd Gloss.  

 

So, more a very dark grey rather than jet black (similar scheme for the QM2 it seems) but may seem to have a slight blue tint depending on what the glossy surface is reflecting.

 

so, a dark blue that mostly looks black is probably about right.

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1 hour ago, BluesModeller said:

That looks just about perfect!

 

Is that the Tamiya paint you mentioned in an earlier post?

Yes, it's the Tamiya TS-55.

 

I was going to use it for a British Airways Landor build, but I'm glad I didn't!  Far too dark.  I used Humbrol 15 for that.

 

 

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14 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

This is looking both very smart and impressive!

 

Martian

Thanks, so far this kit has been really enjoyable - the parts are really well-moulded and fit very well.  Despite its age, there's no warping, or major discoloration, apart from the decals.

 

I'm back in the UK until Sunday so there won't be any progress for the next few days.

 

It's wet here in Gloucestershire, but I've left the decals on my window sill in Paris, hoping it will stay sunny there for the rest of the week to deyellow them!

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I was looking for some simulated water, to fill the two swimming pools, and ended up buying the wrong stuff online.  I was looking for Vallejo water effect, but the stuff I actually bought was Vallejo water texture, for simulating waterfalls and waves.  It's a thick paste rather than a liquid.

 

While I was back home, I bought some Woodland Scenics realistic water, which is a thick, cloudy liquid, but I'm sure is very similar to the Vallejo product.  The bottle doesn't have an applicator, so I bought a syringe from the pharmacy - complete with hypodermic...

 

Actually, the syringe and needle was very useful to fill the swimming pools.  The simulated water is very thick, but is self-levelling.  

 

It will take about 24 hours to cure:

 

IMG_2895

 

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Well I'm 99% finished with this one!

 

None of the model stores in Paris have black Tamiya panel line accent color (but there's an abundance of grey and brown), and when I was back in the UK, I couldn't find any in my local model store either.  I need it to fill the oval-shaped windows that I couldn't drill out.  I ordered some online early last week, and got notification on Wednesday that it was dispatched.  Nothing in the post on Thursday, nothing on Friday.  I thought, okay, then it should arrive today...

 

I needed to go out today, but I waited until the mailman came this morning before I left.  But he gave me nothing but bills...

 

Two hours later, I got back home and found a missed-delivery slip in the mailbox...  Le sigh.

 

I've got to wait until the 31st to collect it from the post office, but until then, this is how the QE2 is looking:

 

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On 28/10/2017 at 22:28, neilg said:

None of the model stores in Paris have black Tamiya panel line accent color (but there's an abundance of grey and brown), and when I was back in the UK, I couldn't find any in my local model store either.

I am also on the hunt for the Tamiya black pane line...seems to be rarer than a hens teeth.

Interesting about the hull colour for these two sisters, I always assumed they were both black. The revell kit for the QMII calls for it to be painted black as well.

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