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Steve D

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  1. Steve D
    Nice
  2. Steve D
    You're very kind Stuart, but I think I managed to turn it into a Soviet freighter, you can almost hear someone shouting "get that deck cleaned, now!..." It was an experiment in the use of the pencils, I like then, but like everything, they need practice. Watch this space, calmer more subtle scheme coming later Steve
  3. Steve D
    Today a parcel arrived filled with AK interactive weathering pencils, I bought the full box of 37, seemed cheaper that way, picture is out of focus, sorry These are acrylic paint in pencil form, really colouring in crayons. You can apply them dry and then wash them out with water, or apply to a wet surface, or dip them in water or just leave them dry. As you know, I'm hopeless at painting and even worse at weathering, so after watching a couple of videos on youtube, I thought this might be something I could handle. You can wipe them off with water or I guess acrylic thinners even when dry, so they should be safe to work with and experiment Here is the result of an hours trial and error on the stern and rear deck. It actually looks better in real life than this bad picture, very interested in your thoughts and suggestions Steve
  4. Steve D
    Mast done, I remade the mast bands, much better, couldn't find where I put the yard so made a new one of those etc etc. Small iterations towards a model I'm happy with, sigh... And primed installed with the yard crossed (suspended on its safety chain) and the bell hung, ready for 4 tiny shackles tomorrow Still got the splinter padding round the twin Vickers mount and platform, a probably rework of the boiler casing handrails which I've decided I don't like, mast rigging, lifebelts and three more raft's ropework and Stanchions, I know..... Steve
  5. Steve D
    #3 gets my vote, nice effects on all though
  6. Steve D
    Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
  7. Steve D
    After downloading a proper drawing of a plow anchor and rescaling it against the GA, it turns out that the arm is OK, it was just the blade that's wrong. So, that speeded things up a little Here is the first anchor and bottom chain ready for priming in my spray bay (slightly out of focus sorry) And just to prove I can do it again, here are the two anchors together, one in paint and one brass. The bolts are 14BA on the hinge and the shackle. I rummaged around in the garage and found an old tin of silver car spray, must be 10 years at least. Anyway, this terrible old spray can splattered like mad and I was just about to re-paint it when I realised the effect is exactly like galvanised steel, so its a keeper job done so on to the next item on my punch list which is the mast Running out of reasons not to start the stanchions, soo boring Steve
  8. Steve D
    Spent a boring morning adding 0.5 mm wire locking bars to the RUL's, 6 per unit, 10 units, been putting it off til now.. Anyway to brighten the day, I made one of the Holdfast anchors using the etched blade I'd added to the first etch sheet. But I'd been lazy and used the same etching as the Fairmile, why? don't know. Anyway an anchor for an 85 ton displacement launch is going no where on a 240 ton mini-destroyer. One glance at the drawings showed my how far off I was. So, its back to scratch building the larger two anchors, good practice I guess Still, its a nice anchor, I'm sure I'll find a use for it one day. In the background four new swan-neck vents, the ones I'd made months ago are two large, looked all wrong, these are much better. By the end I'll have made two models at this rate Steve
  9. Steve D
    Kev, I've scaled it to 1/76 and it fits nicely on a A4 so if you would like a pdf, at the right size, just ask Steve
  10. Steve D
    BTW, the next page states that the side plating is 15lb, which if I remember correctly from my engineering days (1 cubic inch of steel weighs 0.283 lb) means the plating is 3/8ths thick or 0.12mm at 1/76th scale
  11. Steve D
    This is all I could find of the LCM(3), not really frame details I'm afraid (from Design of British Warships Vol 3) but having a scale drawing might help as a start Steve
  12. Steve D
    Detailing the obstacle course that is the forecastle on this vessel Anchors still not made, but otherwise this area is coming together. Chart house glazed now, ammo hoist block added, cowl vents inplace, chain added to the wire rope reels, weird RUL with side locker (shown on one of the pictures and the admiralty drawing) made, first two carley floats competed, holman projector and winch not fixed yet, I need the anchor and a weighting chain added looped back to the stowage point by the boat, plus of course the stanchions and other misc hawsers etc. It will be busy. The boat canvas cover is drying, papier mache again. It will be left rolled back but not fully to show the boat internal detail Steve
  13. Steve D
    Kev, You could try it with 0.1 mm aluminium, I've used it a lot. Easier than foil as its stiff and it cuts with a knife. You can frame with the same material and it will provide slight curvature between the frames, not expensive https://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Raw-Materials/Metal/Item/Aluminium-sheet/ITM1055 Just a thought Steve
  14. Steve D
    Don't know if this is any use Kev, but here are some pictures I took a few years ago of the landing craft that is preserved (sort of, not very well) just outside Calais in the D day museum there. The rust patterns may assist, I have larger copies if they may help Cheers Steve
  15. Steve D
    That's such a shame Kev, but I fully understand the mindset that says, I'm not doing this well enough so leave it for a while. I have probably 6 models in that state, some of which I may actually decide to finish one day. And davits and boats rigging is tough when you've set such a high standard to start with, looks like a good call 👍 Relax, it's supposed to be fun, not hard labour, the LCM looks like fun to me Steve
  16. Steve D
    Meanwhile, I've been making spoons. Well raft paddles actually. Five rafts means 10 paddles, a steady job. Luckily, in my wood pile was a length of 1.2 mm thick cherry wood sheet. I love cherry wood, just saying. Each one is traced out, cut out and then sanded to shape, hand made so they all look slightly different but very similar, finish is a coat of tung oil, 15 minutes for each, all done now. The blank at the end was for the spare I needed when I oversanded the 8th shaft, sigh.... I'm sort of working my way from the bow picking up on the last bits I overlooked while focusing on the large components so lots of random stuff to come Steve
  17. Steve D
    Exactly, its back to the blue grey of the rest of the deck and they'll need to find somewhere else for a kick about (it really did look like AstroTurf). The surface finish is subtle (probably helped by two coats of paint), I like it
  18. Steve D
    Googling that gave me dozens of pictures of spaniels. It would seem un-necessary, certainly illegal and possibly unhelpful to Semtex a spaniel, whatever colour was chosen .. Re the colour, I know what you mean, I worked offshore in the 70's in the oil business and from your prompting, remember red/brown Semtex decks on various vessels, however, I don't think it applies here. I'm actually slightly worried that I've got it completely wrong and she was painted in a unique set of greens. The vessels with the curved camouflage were certainly in 3 shades of green as Beefy pointed out for Goose. Having worried about this overnight, I've decided that Fox was unique within the class being the only vessel with these straight lines, and so I'm going to close my eyes and stick with the grey pattern and MS2 deck, all of it. So, now I'm stopping talking about colour completely, or may get too depressed to continue Thanks Stuart, and for all the generous likes. Overall, I'm really enjoying this build, sharing it with the community and still learning as I go, which is what it is all about
  19. Steve D
    Yup, standard grey primer. I think that is the colour, only one coat, if I keep it, I'll add a second coat of course, will even it up and darken it a little.
  20. Steve D
    That's where I got the flat green from, I know, he is great, thanks
  21. Steve D
    So, I painted it flat green just to see what it looks like and its sort of growing on me, not as startling as I had thought, though it looks a bit like AstroTurf in this picture. In reality its a bit darker than this picture indicates and while its far too bright right now, I guess it could work. Edge not painted yet btw. Weathering will blend it in more, it certainly is a talking point I'm going to sleep on it, quite a big decision Steve
  22. Steve D
    Thanks Stuart, I'm just trying to work my way through this the best I can. I have to say though, I'm quite pleased with it so far, most of the really hard bits are done now
  23. Steve D
    Thanks Les, I can't find anything either. However, blowing this picture up, I'm thinking they are simple canvas covered cork pad fenders, stacked one on top of the other. I have a sweet little book published in 1946 by a Captain Isard that contains simple illustrations of ship fittings. Here you can see a rectangular cork pad for use on the gunwale and the picture does seem to be two very large versions of that (2 ft square and each 16" thick) with rounded sides, top one painted deck colour
  24. Steve D
    Of course, as long as you wish to be sunk by the first Luftwaffe pilot to happen by
  25. Steve D
    I cannot believe they painted a large chunk of the foredeck red!! The linoleum/corticene is a dark brown, but that would not be installed here, its an interior finish and not anti-slip. This is certainly Semtex which I can only find on the colour charts as Ivory til 1940 and then flat green. G20 is a sort of pale sage green and Grey Goose is shown on all the pictures in the light blue-green Western Approaches scheme so a pale green deck is most definitely possible. Grey Fox carries a version of a dark coastal forces colour scheme and the pictures how the upper surfaces dark. Really, who knows unless we can find someone who served on her... As ever, colour debates are endless I've gone with 120 grit paper in the end - thanks for the suggestion Les. I tried 4 different ones and this one came out best when painted, certainly anti-slip but not in your face so. Time will tell once its weathered down Of course, its a right awkward shape and edged in .8mm x .5mm brass strip (that I happened to have lying around as you do...) I think it will look pretty smart painted, whatever colour I land on Steve
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