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Elco 80 Motor Torpedo Boat


Derek A

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So I thought it may be interesting to record my journey building only my second boat, the first being Revell's 1/72 U boat Type VIIc. 

 

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Whilst I'm pleased with how this turned out the Elco 80 presents a specific challenge for me, it's made of wood!  If you wear the paint away that's what you should see, wood.  The bigger scale also really appeals and my hope is to produce a much more subtle weathering effect than my usual efforts.  Mr U Boat got me some of the way there so let see what I can do with this one.  I have a plan of attack that I hope will work but more on that as I progress.

 

So here's the kit:

 

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I also have the Eduard PE set for this kit which should add some additional interest, not to mention some Anglo Saxon!  I'd better hide the swear box now!

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Hi Derek, have you got a specific boat in mind you wish to model ? If you go for PT 596, you should bear in mind "Hell Razor" only saw active service for a couple of months and never fired a single shot in anger. Weathering in this case should indeed be subtle. 

 

Regards,

 

Arjan

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1 hour ago, Arjan said:

Hi Derek, have you got a specific boat in mind you wish to model ? If you go for PT 596, you should bear in mind "Hell Razor" only saw active service for a couple of months and never fired a single shot in anger. Weathering in this case should indeed be subtle. 

 

Regards,

 

Arjan

No, I'll have to give that some thought and think about options.  I don't want to end up having to modify things because a specific boat was equipped differently even to the extent that PT596 might not be accurately represented.  I'm just going to enjoy myself!

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21 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Derek - "I'm just going to enjoy myself!" - Spot on, I like the way you think. (Sorry but I don't know how to do quote boxes.) Regards, Jeff.

Cheers!  😃 😄 😄 

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So a little bit of costruction tonight with the major deck houses completed.

 

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Next will be painting the wood, steel, brass, etc to look like, would you believe, wood, steel, brass, etc!

 

Edited by Derek A
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OK so the deck and deck houses have now recieved a nice coat of Vallejo Tan Earth to represent the base wood colour.

 

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I've used a slightly darker colour than my usual Deck Tan as I'm trying to represent a treated ply.  So it's on to painting on the wood grain in Burnt Umber.

 

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This is meticulous work and takes considerable time with a fine brush...........  OK I'm not fooling you am I?  You're right, it's a stencil!

 

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Mind you, this is still going to take a while, but you should now be trigging the master plan!

 

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53 minutes ago, JohnWS said:

Hi Derek.  You've tweaked my interest in your approach to the Elco build.

 

Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

 

John

Glad to have you tag along.  This is a voyage of discovery for me, it's a long way from WW2 wingy things!

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Once the 'wood graining' is complete I added a coat of Vallejo Orange Clear to give a more treated look to the timber!

 

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But not everything is made of wood so....

 

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Next up will be a coat of varnish to seal before a coat of chipping fluid.

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25 minutes ago, ejboyd5 said:

So the deck was made from sheets of plywood butted together?  Makes sense, but I've never seen the issue addressed before.

Well, it was made of wood! The sheets of marine ply are an assumption on my part! The hull was 2 layers of planks laid in different ways but no mention of the deck!

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So some progress made, all the major wood bits have a wood finish!

 

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So now it's time to start the painting and weathering!  First the chipping fluid:

 

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This is a section of deck at the stern in front of the Flag locker and I have to say I don't like it, it's far too heavy and the wood is just too in your face.  for this method to look right (to me anyway) I've got the underlying wood colour wrong!  Time to rethink and try some thing else.

 

After a bit of head scratching I decided to see what could be achieved by carefully sanding back the top coat:

 

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This is what I got.  I have to say this is much closer to my original vision of what I wanted to achieve.  The paint is wearing, revealing the wood below!  What do you think?

Edited by Derek A
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2 hours ago, Derek A said:

The paint is wearing, revealing the wood below!  What do you think?

Definitely better than the first photo. You can control it more this way. Heavier in some areas lighter in others. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Definitely better than the first photo. You can control it more this way. Heavier in some areas lighter in others. 

 

Dennis

 

1 hour ago, longshanks said:

Plan B for sure

 

Kev

 

I agree, plan b it is then!

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Having tried to implement Plan B on other areas of the model, I've hit bit of a snag!  No matter how carefully I sand, there is a tendency for it to suddenly and without warning to not only remove top coat but all the paint back to bare plastic!  On the interior side of one of the side screens this was in fact the first option!

 

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As you can see, these 'bare' patches would need to be repaired somehow!  With a flash of inspiration I thought why rub the paint back to get the semi-translucent effect, just paint it on thinly in the first place!  Plan C was born.

 

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Trouble is I don't like Plan C either!  I've come to the conclusion that the main problem is that the wood effect I've created is basically the wrong colour.  A weathered wood would be greyer in appearance than my efforts.

 

Oh well, back to the drawing board, I'm not sure I can face stripping it all off and starting again: some careful thought required!

Edited by Derek A
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  • 2 weeks later...

Whilst I'm thinking about the deck weathering corner I've painted myself into I've been getting on with a few sub assemblies!  Here are the Bofors 40mm, the 37mm and 20mm.

 

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The Eduard PE has certainly lifted this model!

 

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