AliGauld Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Hi There, Whilst Innis and I were building his Mustang, I was building this as a side project for myself. I didn't mean to get right into it but after taking it in to work on a Sunday evening to drill out the flood holes it got the better of me and the fit of the hull pieces was so good I had to get going with it. It was primed with UMP black primer, shadow coated with Tamiya flat white. The Hull was painted with Lifecolor Dark Admiralty Grey and the deck with Tamiya Nato Black. Weathering with oils and finished with Galeria Satin varnish. It sat for about a week while I summoned the nerve to weather it and I hope it's not overdone, but it looks good to me. A wee bit of back story. My dad was a Submariner during WWII and was quite guarded about the stories he would tell. If it was remembering the good times he was happy to talk but that was usually it. In one unguarded moment he told me about a mission where they were towing an X-Craft out to take it to it's operational area and when they surfaced to transfer the operational crew there was no sign of the X-Craft. A search was mounted but nothing was ever found. This still bothered him. In my meagre research regarding this I have come to the conclusion that the X-Craft would have been X-9 and this would place my Dad on HMS Syrtis as part of Operation Source against The Scharnhorst. This gave me a personal connection to this kit and as such I had to make it. On with the Pics. Thanks for looking,and as always and criticism or comments extremely welcome. Cheers, Alistair 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Looks really good to me. Brave souls that operated those things! ✅ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 6 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said: Looks really good to me. Brave souls that operated those things! ✅ Thanks. They were very brave indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Well done a well built and painted X-craft. Being an ex-submariner, I have deep respect for those guys who crewed them things. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 great work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Courageous said: Well done a well built and painted X-craft. Being an ex-submariner, I have deep respect for those guys who crewed them things. Stuart Many Thanks. I once asked him what had possessed him to volunteer for The Submarine Service and then serve in a tin can. He just looked at me and said "The skipper wanted me". The subject was never broached again. The men who serve in Submarines are indeed a special breed. 57 minutes ago, mick said: great work Thank you 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Hi Ali, very nice x-craft build, you asked for comments, please be assured these are just my thoughts as a submarine modeller. Please do not let it detract from what i consider a very nicely done build. Modelling is an art and as such is open to individuals interpretations and not gospel. Very subtle weathering nicely done, but i wouldnt expect to see any staining below the waterline or from the torpex loading points. Considering that this mixed with seawater is what caused the big bangs at the end LOL Photos of the x-craft on deck of the tender just before operation source show the craft as being relatively clean, considering they would only have had a few months use. From my research the black was not just applied to the deck, but to approx halfway. Be interesting if you know different in the name of research. The later X-craft were all black except the two used for d-day. Heres a link to my build. All the best Chris. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 18 hours ago, whitestar12chris said: Hi Ali, very nice x-craft build, you asked for comments, please be assured these are just my thoughts as a submarine modeller. Please do not let it detract from what i consider a very nicely done build. Modelling is an art and as such is open to individuals interpretations and not gospel. Very subtle weathering nicely done, but i wouldnt expect to see any staining below the waterline or from the torpex loading points. Considering that this mixed with seawater is what caused the big bangs at the end LOL Photos of the x-craft on deck of the tender just before operation source show the craft as being relatively clean, considering they would only have had a few months use. From my research the black was not just applied to the deck, but to approx halfway. Be interesting if you know different in the name of research. The later X-craft were all black except the two used for d-day. Heres a link to my build. All the best Chris. Hi There Chris, Thanks for your kind comments. I read and reread your thread many times before and during my build and found it extremely helpful, informative and instructive. I was going to paint it using the scheme you advised but, in truth I wasn't used to using the Lifecolor paint and in tests it could go very runny and spidery on me (FX Grams: Bottles Smashing 😉). Thinning it seems to be a precise art and so I went more with the scheme taht was done by our own General in Airfix Model World. The weathering and lack of on the real thing was something I hadn't considered. Would i do it differently now. Yes but I would be using Colourcoats and would be much more confident their application. Again Thanks so much for your comments. Cheers, Alistair 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Very nicely done Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGauld Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 1 hour ago, robgizlu said: Very nicely done Rob Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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