U-991 1/72 Type VIIc U-Boat - Revell

[longshanks]

I feel your pain but that soldering has turned out first rate.

Weathering is superb

Kev

[Alan P]

The best thing about this is that large, close-up photos do nothing to dampen the realism. Quite an achievement!

Al

[sailorboy61]

Mine's staying in the box now!!

[Dads203]

Stunning .... Nothing else to say just Stunning.

[Phil Lewis]

Pardon the crudeness but, the gob is well and truly smacked

[TristanR]

Thanks for the comments folks! I'm nearly there now. The main thing stopping me is the white I need to paint on the conning tower. It came out super chalky on the hull, Tamiya matt white is very temperamental it seems, somethimes it's nice, and sometimes it's chalky, I think it has something to do with overspray.

I tried making a little video of the weathering, I'm using lifecolor acrylics here to build up salt deposits on the hull, the color I'm using is dunkelgrau 52, which is actually quite dark, but makes a difference. This only works on a matt surface, then you load up the area with water so it soaks in, then drop watered down paint into the wet area.

I like it better than oils - I often end up just blending them into a glaze. The acrylic dries quickly so you can build up layers in minutes, It takes a bit of practice though, the trick is to try and remove any brush stroke or tide mark before it dries. When you get it right the paint blooms onto the wetted area and creates very interesting shapes. I've tried to illustrate this here in the video.

[Chango]

Definitely one of the most amazing U-boat paint jobs I've ever seen... just wow!

[TheBaron]

I'm not known for lingering in the naval section but your 'magnificent obsession' has me absolutely transfixed. That paintwork - you ARE the weather!

Splendid.

[TristanR]

Thank you guys! The painting continues a lot slower now.

Conning tower rust practice. I was always going to do another layer of white paint on top of this grey. I'm scared though, XF-2 is so finicky, I can't put it on too thick or else it won't chip, but I don't want it looking too speckly. So I will do some heavy rusting round here, if I go over the top I have further incentive to paint over it.




I made something to hold the schnorkel, I don't really care if I can't raise and lower it, but I'm going to try.



It fits nicely in it's recess when under the deck, but when raised it's leaning forward. Hopefully I can fit this without causing to much damage.

Rigging.

I'm using easyline for the riggin, I printed some little brackets and pullys, but I'm still not fully sure what the best way to go is.

Decking. I feel like all the hatches are getting a bit lost, and the surface is a little too precise.

Here I cut them all out,


After a bit of sanding around the edges, I put the hatches back in, flipped some over etc. It adds a nice bit of definition to the hatches. You can't see it here very well but the hatches are also at slightly different heights which further breaks things up.


It's also interesting with the hatches missing.


OK so I did the white chipping.

I did a lot of work trying to get good at spraying XF-2 flat white. First it's mixed with meduim grey, this makes it a kind of warm light grey, the hull is slightly blue, so this white is warmer to balance it.
I mix it with about 30% thinner, the x-20 stuff. I tried water but it's a lot mushier during chipping for me. It has to go on at a high pressure with a lot of paint flow, which means you have to be quick to add a thin coat.

So there it is, sitting on top of 2 thick coats of hairspray, that were left to dry for a hour.


I gave the white paint about 10 minutes to harden, else it goes mushy. My plan was to wear away the paint under the wintergartens, which will be in shadow anyway. I also wanted to keep the upper tower paint fairly un-chipped, U-991's diving eagle will go here.



My Dad made me these super-awesome legs. I got round to cutting a temporary base for them. So much better (those other holes are different spacings and hole sizes). The legs are as long as the hull is tall, I messed up the holes in the base, that brass washer is supposed to be underneath the base.

Cheers!

[longshanks]

Magic !

Kev

[rollsroyce]

Hi TristanR

This is a truly outstanding build. There are so many tips, mini tutorials and items I now want to try out. Inspiring stuff. First maybe the weathering then may the deck effects down to the way you have painted the wood in the conning tower. The soldering looks amazing and a skill I will take years of practice to reach your standards. I have only soldered water pipes when doing DIY so far and even then it looks like a pigeon has had an accident!!!

Stunning stuff.

Guy

[TristanR]

Hey Rolls,

Thank you! Regarding the soldering, you can shortcut the years of practice by watching this video by paul budzik. Still takes practice but it's a superb process.

[rollsroyce]

Cheers TristanR.

Gonna give that a go after watching. Great tutorial Thanks

Absolutley love this rust effect.

looks just like the real thing

Guy

Edited August 2, 2016 by rollsroyce

[TristanR]

A small update, trying to weather the whitewashed tower, using this a reference, who knows if the stains are rust or not!

I'm Using very watery lifecolor paint again to get thie directional runs and streaking like in the picture.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

[longshanks]

Magic !

Kev

[rollsroyce]

Hi TristanR

Simply wow. Are you going for a spot the difference competition? The only one I can see between this and the real thing in the photo is there are the crew stood on top of the tower.

Cheers Guy

[TristanR]

Thank you for the comments!

I found a tutorial on a thing called focus stacking, where photoshop will assemble a bunch of images into one all in focus one, which is helpful as I only have a macro lens with a very short focal range.

I should also paint these pipes up seeing as took the trouble to get them printed...

[longshanks]

Awesome

Kev

[rollsroyce]

Amazing. That photo looks great using your photoshop image is stunning and shows the quality of the paintwork and weathering.

Cheers Guy

[robgizlu]

Tristan - Magnificent weathering and thanks for that video tutorial which is just Fab. The effect you have on the hull is enviable

The whole build is remarkable.

Rob

[Rob 1]

This is a masterpiece in looking real and weathered, very impressive.

[Gremlin56]

Really amazing build, weathering is mind blowing........................................

[Blastvader]

Looking amazing Tristan, truly inspirational!

Going back a little to your 'issues' with some of the Tamiya paints. I have found that Tamiya thins best with Mr. Hobby Leveling thinner. Despite being a lacquer thinner you can still chip it easily with hairspray. In fact, I have just now tried a spoon I coated with a couple of coats of hairspray and a blast of Tamiya white (thinned with this thinner) several months ago and I can still chip it with a medium hard brush and some warm water.

The thinner also has the advantage of turning the paint semi-gloss rather than completely flat which means that things like enamel filters or pin-washes can be applied right over the top rather than having to add a gloss coat in some cases.

Just thought it might be helpful for you in the future.

Toodles,

Paul

[TristanR]

Thanks Paul! I will try that, I have some levelling thinner but havn't experimented chipping with it. I guess it melts the pigments or something? I would imagine enamels will work with chipping too, as long as it's matt and the water can soak through to the hairspray.

Luckily an end of war u-boat, covered in salt and rust can just about get away with the rough paint job I have!