GRK

Great work, I’ve always been put off doing all black schemes by the difficulty of making it look interesting but you’ve really nailed it.

thanks Paul!

A big thank you to you all for all the helpful tips and information, I'd hoped that there would be people here who would find it interesting and would like to see the model. Reading your comments has made me take a step back and have a proper think about what i want to do and how to go about it. I knew that i didn't want to alter the paintwork and only want to restore rather than re work it and i must admit i was wondering about the black and the grey below the waterline so thanks @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies and @Steve D. @wombat The comment about the repair workshop programme made me laugh as its exactly what my wife said. I'd like to do bits on it that i feel comfortable with (I think dust removal and hopefully the railings should be doable- thanks for the tips on the twisted copper wire and beeswax), however the deck is warped and split in some places which presents a bit more of a challenge that I'm not sure I'm up to yet! Then there's all the electrical parts that i have absolutely no idea about but I'm hoping my father in law might- I'm not even sure if the propeller er.. propels. @Steve D Thank you for the drawings- it does indeed look like he did an excellent job getting it to scale- apart from the guns which are much too thick!!!

Hi all I've recently become the custodian of my Great Grandfather's 70cm, wood and tin model of HMS Westminster in which he served in 1919 (I have a letter from that date but don't know from when and to he was on Westminster). I've done a bit of research and it looks like it was on patrol in the Baltic supporting the white Russians at that time. Overall its not in too bad shape, the lights don't work anymore and the railings and rigging are mostly snapped, along with a few of the masts. I'd like to restore it but I know next to nothing about ship modelling and certainly not one made 100 years ago with no plastic involved, so i've come here for advice! So step one will be to de-dust the model (also happy to take recommendations on the best way to do this as i was just going to use soapy water and cotton buds) and refit most of the loose superstructure. I'd like to know what people would recommend for re threading the railings. He seems to have used a very thin twine but there's absolutely no 'fluff' so it looks like metal- any recommendations on a modern equivalent that I'd be able to use? Apologies if this is in the wrong section- maybe WiP would be more appropriate! Its a cracking model and completely scratch built which leaves my modern approach to modelling look extremely lazy in comparison but its been good to learn that modelling certainly runs in the family! Any tips greatly appreciated! You can see the 'thread' railings a bit better here: I'm also struggling to see what would have fitted into the two holes here:

Hi George I was just looking through your posted models and saw this one. I hadn't realised they'd tried this on T-34s, its looks almost sci-fi to my eyes with the boxed in wheels and turret. Finish and weathering looks spot on

Thanks LM, glad you liked it! Thanks George, and 'what's on the list next?' - well now you're asking! I've recently become the custodian of my great grandfathers wood and tin model of HMS Westminster of 1919. Its about two foot long and is a bit battered and looking for a bit of restoration but i have no idea about ships so might be asking the good people here for any advice. So its either that daunting project or a 1/48 jagdpanther in the bocage! Thanks both, yes I was annoyed I couldn't find any good 1/48 figures of sitting infantry and my skills aren't good enough to try and rework poses- let me know if you see any!

What a cracking build, looks flawless and one to be proud of!

The final part of this model has been completed now its been added into the scene. I've posted more pics in the diorama section here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235102904-knocked-out-in-argentan/ But here's a little pic to show it off in its proper setting courtesy of a little photoshop:

Hi all May I present the latest off the hobby desk (as we call it). Knocked out in Argentan is my first attempt at building an urban scene. I saw the original picture and knew straight away i wanted to have a go at doing that. I found it odd that the placement office was left virtually untouched by the bombing while the rest of the street was knocked to bits- shows the contrasts you can find in war. I made a brief WiP which you can find here if you'd like to know a bit more about the techniques involved: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235098840-knocked-out-in-argentan-wip/ And with a bit of photoshop: And the original inspiration (for info only): Hope you like it and thanks for looking. Any comments and critique welcome. Thanks Graeme

Beautiful work on such a small scale, think the weathering looks great

Looks great, as others have said the exhausts and the chipping are extremely well done. I followed along on the wip and made some notes on the technique you used to mottle/dapple the oil paints-will have to give that a go when I get back into doing aircraft!

Great start, looking forward to seeing this one progress!

Thanks George, pretty pleased with how the rubble turned out. These are the figures I'm going to be doing, look really nice detail wise for 1/48 so I'm hoping the painting maybe slightly easier than the standard tamiya that i've done before.

So a bit more progress to report on, well quite a lot actually. So the rubble and the ruin was painted up using the same technique as the main building and the pole fixed in place with ez line added. Apologies the picture quality isn't up to much but you get the idea! I added a window frame to the ruin made from another coffee stirrer which was set alight. I've added smashed glass but its not in this picture. I also scattered aftermarket ruined sections of wall around which will add more depth to the rubble once the final layer is on. And this is where I'm at currently. I made the final layer of loose rubble by adding aftermarket bricks, ground up cork, small stones with more broken up coffee stirrers and put it all in a pot with various washes and pigments and gave it a good mix. I then piled it on and then added some cut up clear plastic to act as smashed glass and fixed at all in place with diluted pva. I then added more pigment and some ash from the fireplace which was fixed with a few drops of thinners. I also printed out some very small newspaper images and glued them around the scene. Just a few more coats of black around the edge and the main scene should be done with just a few figures left to paint.

Great job, as others have said the side tarps really look the business.