bapowell

I'm in the process of building this kit in 1/700 and, given the challenge at my comparatively spacious scale, I am truly impressed by your efforts. Question about the CA glues: I too have been having a bit of a challenging time getting the resin the adhere with my CA (I use Bob Smith). You mention solvent vs solvent-free: can you discuss the difference and why larger models would do better with solvent? Thanks and keep up the amazing work!

Nice work on this. Just putting the finishing touches on a grey ghost myself and it’s nice to see another 23.

Thanks! No, the kit comes with a resin piece making up the body. I just wrapped some plastic packaging (HDPE) around it and glued it down with CA. It naturally wrinkled and folded in places. Nothing fancy!

This is the 1/24-scale RealSpace Mariner 9. It includes resin, styrene, and PE parts, and wire. Rather than use the full solar panel decals provided, I cut out the individual blue solar cells and affixed them to gold-painted panels. I also "upholstered" the main probe body in LDPE plastic wrapping to better simulate the sheet material covering the actual probe. Painted with Alclad, Tamiya, and Mr. Color. Light black enamel wash on vents on the octagonal bus. Not complicated but still a challenging, but fun, build. Thanks for looking!

Thank you @Themistokles for the references. I don't really have a strong interest in the Northampton: as a first 1/700 ship kit, I wanted something not too tiny, not too involved, and not super-famous (lest I really screw it up!). I discovered that both Corsair Armada and SS make a version, and thought it would be fun to see what resin ship kits were all about. That said, I think depicting the ship as she appeared during the war (post 1941) would be cool.

I too am an aircraft modeler that has caught the maritime bug. I've got a few kits waiting to be built as I finish up some other projects. You are an inspiration, and have proven that indeed there is life after aircraft modeling. Lovey work on this, and please keep 'em coming!

Thanks @beefy66. That's a great resource; I was actually using that site for the measure colors, not realizing there were more general painting instructions. @Themistokles, any advice would be appreciated. I'm going to take a crack at Corsair Armada's 1/700 release with the Tom's Modelworks PE set.

Hi all! I'm gearing up to take on my first ship model and have settled, for some reason, on the USS Northampton. I'm trying to match colors, and have decided on Measure 1 for the vertical surfaces. I've identified those colors but can't seem to find anything on the deck color. Can anyone assist with this? Thanks all.

Lovely work on these! Thanks for sharing. The 1/72 lunar module is superb.

Thanks everyone for the excellent input! I've decided to start with a 1/700 destroyer and see how I like it (Hobby Boss DDG-51) . I am excited to see the apparent wide availability of PE detail sets, which should go a far way towards improving the realism and sophistication of the smaller vessel 1/700 kits. Who knows...you might see the finished product Ready for Inspection sometime...

Thanks for the replies, guys! @Vlad, as for subjects, for sure more modern: WWII and onwards. Been thinking about picking up a classic US battleship, like the Missouri and seeing how things shake out. Good point about the B-52 in 1/72 vs some ships in 1/350. I guess for me large aircraft are the exception, but I'm not sure whether big ships will be the exception! Hence your last question.

Hi all, I've been modeling for several years now, almost exclusively 1/72-scale aircraft. I've been thinking of trying my hand at building a warship, but would appreciate some advice from experienced modelers about the various scales. For aircraft, while 1/48 give the most detail, they take up more space on the shelf and the range of aircraft available is limited (no reasonable B-52, for example). Meanwhile, there are lots of smaller but highly-detailed 1/72-scale kits out there covering almost the full gamut of aircraft, and these seem to hit the sweet spot for me. So my question: what are the analogous ship scales? Would 1/350 be like 1/48? Tons of detail but *big* models? Are there many different ships available in 1/700 scale? I know there is also a distinction between models with a full hull and those that end at the waterline. Is there a more popular choice here? I don't think I necessarily have a preference either way, but I want to be sure that whatever I choose has a wide variety of kits available. Any advice would be much appreciated! Best, Brian

This is the 1/40-scale Atlantis Nike Hercules kit, the re-release of the ancient Revell 1957 molds. The kit includes the missile and a fairly detailed, movable launcher assembly. The molds had several divots and sink holes, many ejector pin marks, and abundant flash. So be prepared to do some surface and edge prep. Light weathering with gray enamel wash and weathering pencil on the missile to bring out surface details like rivets. The launcher got a more thorough treatment, though I didn't go nuts: liberal black enamel wash, some dry brushing for highlights and oils to simulate sun fading, light rust, and grease in places. Finished missile is about a foot long and displays well with the launcher. Decals held up to setting solutions (Micro Sol) despite the instructions explicitly telling you *NOT* to do this. Thanks for having a look!

Oh for sure! They just released a new Surveyor 3 kit. You can purchase items directly from their website.

This is the RealSpace 1/144 Atlas V - 500 series rocket kit. It comes in 17 resin parts, three of which make up the main rocket body. The main tube and fairing are both cast resin; the rest of the pieces are 3D printed. There were some serious mold issues with the main rocket body which would have prevented proper alignment of the final construction; when I reached out to Glenn he quickly sent me a new 3D-printed version of the part. (He said that later versions of this kit would be fully 3D-printed, but for now I'd be building a hybrid of sorts.) Considerable surface prep, a few fit issues, but everything came together in the end. Tamiya and Alclad paints, and a light enamel wash in places for contrast. I added some plasticard strip "embellishments" on the SRBs and fairing. The final model is a good size: 16" tall and top-heavy with the solid resin "grenade" perched on top. But, the model balances (metastably) on its boosters, avoiding strict need of a mount. Thanks for looking! And together with a Delta II and Atlas-Centaur: