sunray Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Here is my first ship, first 1/700 and first sea diorama. HMS Illustrious by Dragon (Revell) in 1/700. The base is made from chipboard, the cheapest decorators filler I could find from B&Q (in the UK) and cheap acrylic paint which was varnished. I also used a decal set from WEM for the pennant numbers and the big "L" at the stern was made from a "D" off an old 1/72 decal sheet from an aircraft kit. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Very nice - really captured the feel. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich2010 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Your 'sea' is really good - very realistic. Could you elaborate on how you got it looking like that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Very nice mate, very nice. I do like the seascape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunray Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Thanks for the kind comments guys. Your 'sea' is really good - very realistic. Could you elaborate on how you got it looking like that? I assembled the hull and then cut to the waterline using a razor saw. The hull is approx 30cm long so I cut a length of chipboard (from B&Q don't use MDF) to 50cm and edged the chipboard (which was 15mm thick) with pine trim 18mm wide allowing a bit of a lip for the filler. I put some Frog masking tape around the hull to protect it and placed the hull on the base roughly in the middle. Then I started adding filler (made by Diall from B&Q a UK DIY store) to the base using a pallet knife to build the waves. Once you have a rough wave(s) shape I then used a cheap large artists brush with white stiff bristles (the type we used in junior school for painting all them years ago) and I damped the bush with a little water & brushed the filler in the direction I wanted the waves to go also to take out any knife marks and round off the waves. As the filler starts to dry it gets easier the form the wave curls. When I was happy I lifted the hull out of the filler before it dries and tidied up the edges where the hull had been. I then removed the tape from the hull. I gave the filler a good few days to dry allowing me time to build the kit. Once the filler has dried it shrinks a bit and I found that the hole for the hull has enlarged a bit but don't worry. Using cheap acrylic paint from tubes (bought from The Works a discount book chain and Sainsburys a UK department store) I mixed until I got the colour blue I wanted and then using the same brush as before applied it to the filler thinning as required with water. The filler takes the paint quite well but in some areas you might have to work it in. Once all the base is painted including the hole for the hull and before it is completely dried I started painting using white paint for the wave crests in a dry brushing kind of way if you know what I mean. Once I had the required effect I left it to dry for a day or two then varnished it using Humbrol Clear. When that was dry and my model was finished I added a little filler in the hole for the hull and the pushed the finished model in the hole. The filler then fills the gap around the hull and sticks the model to the base. Before the filler dried I was able to shape the excess filler around the hull for the hull wave. I left over night for the filler to dry and the following day I filled any cracks or air holes around the hull. When dry I started to paint the hull wave the same dark blue as the base but I did not go right up to the hull I left about a 2mm gap all around. After that I lightened the base blue with white I painted the hull wave a bit closer to the hull. Then using white neat I painted the crests of the hull waves but I didn't paint right up to the hull. I was left with I thin irregular line of unpainted white filler to act as the white foam you get around the hull of a ship and gives I think the effect of movement if you know what I mean. I then sprayed the base with varnish again. The reason why I said don't use MDF is because I tried it and found it draws up too much moisture from the filler and bends. I hope this helps 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foghorn Leghorn Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Stonking model! Great water effect and you've nailed the sea colour as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jockster Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 A very very nice build indeed, well done! :-) :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 very good build, keep it up,like the sea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Looks superb,especially the base great looking sea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunray Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thanks lads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollythedog Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Very nice job, the sea is impressive and the kit extremely cleanly built and painted-well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 1 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 That is good; very finely finished ship and aircraft. The sea looks really good too, it does bring the model to life! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Good job well presented Kev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PZRGREN Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Great work, and even better write up of how you did the sea!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forlornhope Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Beautiful work well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunray Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Thanks again guys and here is a photo to give up an idea of the scale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetwin Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 A beautiful build on such a small scale, congratulations 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greased Lightning Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Excellent work, and as others have already said, what a great sea! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Hi Andrew, Due to the small scale, you did remarkble well I like it, including the excellent water display. Greetz, Dirk The Netherlands. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunray Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Thanks again for the kind comments guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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