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HMS Dido (Ikara Leander) 1979 - [WAFU’s away match]


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It's the only down side of building these exquisite resin kits (Atlantic Models).  No choice if you want to build RN subjects of pretty much any era, but especially Cold War - and they are superb pieces of work; “Mad Pete” is a master.  
 

But like most resin kits, the detail is cast into a few pieces, rather than the many separate pieces of styrene in a ‘plastic’ kit.  So separate painting and a modular approach to the build is limited with these kits: you have to mask like crazy (unless you have an incredibly steady hand and like hairy sticks, neither of which is the case for me).

 

I’d better get used to it, since I have Pete’s Norfolk, Glamorgan, Broadsword & Boxer in my stash!

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On 11/07/2020 at 09:35, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

It's the only down side of building these exquisite resin kits (Atlantic Models).  No choice if you want to build RN subjects of pretty much any era, but especially Cold War - and they are superb pieces of work; “Mad Pete” is a master.  
 

But like most resin kits, the detail is cast into a few pieces, rather than the many separate pieces of styrene in a ‘plastic’ kit.  So separate painting and a modular approach to the build is limited with these kits: you have to mask like crazy (unless you have an incredibly steady hand and like hairy sticks, neither of which is the case for me).

 

I’d better get used to it, since I have Pete’s Norfolk, Glamorgan, Broadsword & Boxer in my stash!

That's the one thing I'm not looking forward to when I start my Atlantic Models stash.  I hate masking with a passion because no matter how had I try, I always get bleed through at the edges and then when touching up with a hairy stick the colour is never quite the same despite taking it from the same pot/bottle.

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1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

…no matter how had I try, I always get bleed through at the edges

My gurus have guided me into running some Klear/Aqua Gloss down the edges of well burnished tape with a fine brush.

Works for me (and them).

Don't worry about nasty edges - if you apply just enough (oh ha ha) it'll be fine.

Just keep the Micromesh handy.

HTH

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5 minutes ago, CedB said:

My gurus have guided me into running some Klear/Aqua Gloss down the edges of well burnished tape with a fine brush.

Works for me (and them).

Don't worry about nasty edges - if you apply just enough (oh ha ha) it'll be fine.

Just keep the Micromesh handy.

HTH

That’s exactly what I plan to do, Ced, so it’s now officially your fault if it goes wrong...

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On 10/07/2020 at 14:04, biscuit said:

I will never complain about masking canopies again

I will.

39 minutes ago, CedB said:

No, no! @perduand @giemme made me do it and then ran away!

Ran away?

 

Are you mad Mr B?

 

I couldn't run using your legs me lad, but to be fair it was Giorgio pushing my bath chair...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/07/2020 at 11:34, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

That’s exactly what I plan to do, Ced, so it’s now officially your fault if it goes wrong...

Don't worry Ced, he said the same sort of thing when he messed up the flight deck of his Ark Royal build a few years back. Reckoned that I was some sort of Johnna.

 

Martian 👽

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First coat of (pre-Jamie) Colourcoats: WEM Colourcoats WEMCC M01 Modern RN Light Weatherworks Grey.  Opened this morning having been in my possession for at least 5 years, and fresh as a daisy after a wee stir.  A couple of minor runs on the hull side (especially the flare of the bow), but nothing remotely major:

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She looks weirdly tall without the boot topping painted, but coming together quite nicely.  
 

One annoying discovery is that I put the white metal Mk.10 Mortar somewhere so safe after clean-up that I cannot find it anywhere, so a bit of scratch building seems to be looming.  I’ve also mislaid one of the PE liferaft platforms, but I still have one so cloning it shouldn’t be impossible.
 

More soon

 

Crisp

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She's really starting to look good.

 

I do love the Leanders. I remember going on one as a teenager at a Portsmouth Navy day (HMS Juno I think) and the thing that struck me then, was how small the flight deck felt standing on it. I suppose a Wasp isn't that large, but all the same it felt very small. We were allowed all over the ships in those days it seemed, and I even managed to find my way down into the laundry at the rear under the flight deck, which appeared to be manned by Chinese civilians. It was the early 70's I guess!

 

I'm sure you are well able to scratch build a Limbo mortar, hollow brass or steel tubes and all that, but there is always this sort of thing as well if you are feeling lazy.....

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/C7KZDXG9A/4-5-mk6-naval-gun-and-limbo-mk-10-mortar-1-350?optionId=40581353&li=shops

 

Trouble with that one is you get a twin 4.5 for your money as well!

 

Terry

 

 

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7 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

...the laundry at the rear under the flight deck, which appeared to be manned by Chinese civilians. It was the early 70's I guess!

All RN frigates & above had laundries run by Hong Kong Chinese in the Cold War era - the contracts were very highly sought-after, because they could make a lot of money.  The recent documentary about Big Betty suggests they still have Chinese laundrymen even now, but I might be wrong about that.

 

P.S. Thanks for suggestion for replacement mortar; Peter is sending me a replacement, which I think is extremely civil (but typical of his service).

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The great deck unmasking - and some real progress:

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A bit of paint lifted in a couple of places - most obviously on the starboard side of the quarterdeck - but nothing that cannot be patched in a way that looks authentic even if it doesn’t match 100% (the original was patched all the time).
 

Now to be left completely alone for several days to let the enamel cure thoroughly.

 

Happy

 

Crisp

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As Ced says Crisp (try saying that quickly three times), looking very nice indeed.

 

Good news re the Limbo replacement. Peter is indeed a gentleman to deal with. It seems like I only have to think about my next Atlantic purchase, and before you know it, a package arrives!

 

Those Colourcoats look as if they give a superb finish. I'm about to try them for the first time on the Vosper bridge internals. Fingers crossed for that!

 

Terry

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Hi Crisp,

 

Missed this build up to now, looks great and so much of it mirrors my build experience - especially discovering those extra details, fixing the fairleads, yer masking still makes me shudder...  don't worry about the wasp - I've built three and they are good and solid. Do worry about the boats in the davits - I can't remember what I screwed up now, but I could not get them to sit level - have the same problem on both my Leanders.  

 

Andrew

 

 

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Looking very nice indeed. Reminds me of a 'near miss' about '81 where I received my draft papers to join HMS Galatea (F18). Not having 'sea legs' I had opted for sub training before this draft came through. Fortunately, a fellow 'greenie' was being drafted to subs, so we swapped drafts...as I said 'near miss'.

 

Stuart

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Greetings Sir.

Very nice job ,must overcome my fear of air brushing. I seem to recall flight deck colour as a very dark grey almost black.that was the colour i went with on my Airfix Arethusa.

I would be interested to know the correct shade,I,am thinking you would know.

Cheers Brian. 

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6 minutes ago, Brian Derbyshire said:

Greetings Sir.

Very nice job ,must overcome my fear of air brushing. I seem to recall flight deck colour as a very dark grey almost black.that was the colour i went with on my Airfix Arethusa.

I would be interested to know the correct shade,I,am thinking you would know.

Cheers Brian. 

The flight deck will eventually be much darker than it looks now; the real thing is somewhere between DSG & EDSG, I'd say.  This is just a base colour, but once it has been washed, stained, weathered, sealed etc. it will be much, much darker.  All the current colours are too light at the moment, but there's a long way to go yet.  [It also looks darker to the naked eye than it does in washed-out LED-lit camera shots - but you are right that this is not (yet) the right colour]

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This probably gives a more accurate impression; in the other photos, the flight deck doesn’t look that much darker than the upperworks, but there is actually a big difference.  The hangar roof (resin) and half-open door (PE) are both dry fitted, so don’t worry about gaps / wonkiness!  I’m also very pleased with how well Maskol coped on the SCOT & Ikara radomes; I have had very mixed success with it in the past, but it performed flawlessly this time.

50143742672_e16a037e0b_b.jpg


More soon - probably tiny Wasp related!

 

Crisp

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Thats looking very smart, well done on the masking, bet that involved some colourful language !

A wasp in 1/350 !!!!!!!!!, it must be significantly smaller than a real one (the yellow and black variety), looking forward to this !

 

Cheers

 

David 

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