theskits62

A bit more progress on the decking, 1.5 mm strips are glued in place, sanded back then grouted using polyfilla mixed with some buff paint. More sanding then then a grey/brown wash before a final sanding. I want it to look faded and worn so I might cut the colour back some more with some grey wash but for now i'll leave it as is i think.....

It has been a few months since my last update, progress is running at a glacial pace unfortunately. I was away for a couple of months over xmas and then again in March while my body repaired itself after a skiing crash (that will teach me to go off piste with my 2 twenty something year old sons). Anyway it was nothing serious but it meant i couldn't walk for a couple of weeks and had to hop around. Back in Exmoor again now and have finally managed to spend some time building up the superstructure and main elements. At the moment i'm focusing on the basic shapes, the detailing will follow later. When i started this i thought (foolishly) that the smaller size would make this a quicker build but its actually proving a lot more complex than i thought and i never realised just how much "clutter" there is on a military ship's deck. The large cowl vents are 3d printed (Shapeways), the smaller ones are made from brass sheet pressed in a dapping set to make a semi sphere which is then mounted on plastic rod and blended in with filler etc. The 2 gun platforms took ages to make and are quite fiddly. You can also see my first 3 samples of potential decking. Not sure if i'm happy with the colour of any of them yet, i want something that is quite muted and worn looking. The basic process with these is to cut 1.5mm strips of wood veneer and glue them to a thin piece of plasticard. A dark grey paint is then mixed into some polyfilla and this is forced into all the gaps etc. Once dry the whole thing is sanded back quite hard until it is smooth and finally a brown wash applied before this too is sanded back. Anyway thats all for now folks, hopefully the next update won't be so long coming !!

Oooo that takes me back, those heady days before they ruined everything with low vis camo !! Myself i used to hang them up in a tree and then get the air rifle out. Then SAM came along and i started spending serious time on them (and not shooting them afterwards !)

Reading some of the replies here makes me feel a bit better about my 12 x 84 litre boxes sitting in the attic. Don't have an exact count but its certainly in the hundreds, mostly ww1 aircraft in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32nd scales including 40+ WNW kits ! In a cruel twist of fate i've now been bitten by the ship bug and have spent the last 4 years scratch building nautical stuff ! Hoping it will pass but but who knows.....

I don't see any warts ! I think that looks fabulous.

Absolutely superb !!!

Thats a great piece of work and like others have said I also really like the seascape, very convincing.

I only occasionally dip into the car section as i'm more of a plane/ship person but glad i did today !! That is really stunning, you feel like you could literally hop in and drive off. I used to have a few Pocher kits in my stash but let them go a few years ago, this is almost making me wish i'd kept a couple.

That is absolutely superb. So many different materials and techniques on display and thanks for taking the time to educate us lesser mortals !! I guess you can continue with the Jason now 😉

Great result especially since that is your first scratch project. At that scale the hull must have been really difficult but you've really nailed it !! Well done.

Another stunner, love the corvette and as usual your seascape !!

Gorgeous as always !!! I love the multi-tonal effect that you achieve.

I love that shabby chic look, very realistic !!

That is very very good. The photos are also great and help to show it at its best.

crikey that is good !! That rigging is the stuff of nightmares, what did you use and how to do you anchor the ends to the infrastructure/decks ?? Do you use eyelets or somehow just CA the end down. However you do it that is a model to be very proud of, well done.

Lovely work there. Detailing looks great, i'd love to do some work at that scale but don't think my eyesight is up to it !!

What a fantastic piece of work !!

i think that is stunning !! Well done

That is one of the best paint jobs I've ever seen - superb

That is an absolute beauty, hard to believe its 1/700. The detailing is superb and that together with the subtle paintwork makes it look very realistic.

Yet another beauty don't you ever sleep ? Love the subject and the way you do your water, it looks so realistic.

Beautiful - love the paint work

That is fabulous, the paintwork is sublime

Lol - thanks but haven't been called a young man for a while !! Sixtieth b'day next weekend i was hoping to be retired by now but with inflation running hot i've resigned myself to another 2 or 3 years servitude before i can focus on the important stuff in life.

Thats looking great and those photos are superb !!