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Slowboat/Blitzenboat


Angus Tura

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I suppose the main reason for the existence of KUTA GB is the multiplication of projects and starting one before the last is finished.

 

In that spirit here is a second KUTA XIII for me.

 

This was in the Christmas Blitzenbuild recently. There is only one part, so construction wasn't a problem. However, I haven't finished the painting.

 

210108a

 

20210108_232747

 

20210108_232913

 

Since the end of the blitzenbuild I have painted the edges of the base; which was a bit of a production. I wanted it neat, so it's had many coats of black Mr.Surfacer 1500 and much rubbing down. It's finished with Mr.Color semi-gloss black sprayed from below and looks quite neat. I masked-off the "sea" so that it didn't get covered in black Mr.Surfacer dust while doing the edges and that and my fingers have flattened some of the waves of the "sea". So, they've been repaired with acrylic gloss gel.

 

I've repaired the decal on the starboard side which was missing the lowest limb of its "S". I've also painted the hatches and the vent on the top. I've used oils for those so that I could repair any muck-ups before the paint dries, but that does mean that it takes forever to dry. I painted the "S", white, and the splitter in the vent last night. The splitter is a mix of W&N silver, Payne's grey and white oils. So, it's now put aside to dry for days and days. I haven't used the W&N silver much, but it seems to take even longer than white to dry.

 

I want to give the boat a couple of oil washes and then fix it to the base and more acrylic gel to blend it in to the water. Then the wave crest need to be painted white and it'll be done.

 

The main learning points for me have been to have the edges of the base finished before making the seaacape, and to allow for how lightening matt varnish is to the colour of the boat. I was surprised how much the varnish changed the shade.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Alan

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for the delay! Having tried out the new technique, for me, of making the sea scape, I thought I'd try out another new thing: making an acrylate/perspex case.

 

Here it is taped up.

 

210123a Dust cover assembled

 

Here it is glued up.

 

210123b Dust cover glued

 

The acrylate I found on line. It's 1mm while most of the places I found have only down to 2mm. I thought that would be a bit much for such a tiny model. The 1mm is still not easy to cut. I've got through a fair few Xacto 11 blades to get to this point. The base block is basswood cut to size and then subjected to the multiple coats of black Mr.Surfacer and rubbing down. Hence the delay since last posting.

 

I am much enjoying myself but, of course, its all back to front, as it were: if I had started with the base board and then built up the acrylate to fit and then the sea to fit the acrylate, it might have been quite quick:. I'll know next time.

 

The boat has been sprayed 50:50 Mr.Color matt and semigloss varnishes and looks a lot happier.

 

Alan

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello mateys,

 

Did I say a couple of oil washes?

 

Here's my reference. I didn't figure out a way to do the datum lines and numbers which would have looked quite whacky. This is the Lockheed-Martin website.

 

210127 weather reference

 

Here it is varnished before washes

 

210127a Pre-washed

 

Filter of Payne's Grey:

 

210127b Payne's grey filter

 

Streaks of Davy's Grey with Zinc White:

 

210130a Streaking Davy's grey and zinc white

 

A few smudges and streaks of Payne's and Davy's Greys and white:

 

210131a Few smudges of Payne's grey and Davy's grey with white

 

And a final coat of varnish. That is 50:50 Mr.Color semi-gloss and matt.

 

210201a Varnish after washes_210759

 

And it's nearly there:

 

210204a Nearly there bits

 

Still to do are sticking together of the base, sticking of ship to base, more acrylic wash for the bow waves, and white highlights on the sea scape.

 

Thanks for looking, and patience!

 

Alan

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I suppose if there is anything worse than not finishing a KUTA build, it must be not finishing two.

 

Here is a contraption to get rid of the warp in the base:

 

210205a Antiwarp

 

That is slow-drying epoxy splot to stick; perspex cover to guide, bit of pin vice and weights.

 

I haven't got finished because of a problem with the acrylic gel for the water:

 

210207a Gel drying problem

 

After putting it on it sinks a bit and so, while the bow wave looks OK, further back it looks like the boat is sitting on and not in the water. It needs some more coats before I would start painting the foam on. C'est la vie. That is your actual French.

 

Here it is as far as its gone.

 

210207b End of KUTAXIII

 

 

On 1/25/2021 at 6:19 AM, CliffB said:

Superb cutting of the acrylate Alan :thumbsup2:

 

Thanks for that. Another bit of learning for me has been that it is better not to try to cut the acrylate too accurately and to cut it with the Olfa P-cutter. That makes short work of it and its surprisingly easy to sand back the edges and polish them with Tamiya compounds. That also serves to make the joins thinner and less obtrusive: the one top right here has been done and it looks a less than on the left.

 

Thanks again for any word.

 

It'll just have to end up in the maritime RFI now.

 

Alan

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