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1/350 HMCS Regina (Halifax Class Frigate) 2021


JohnWS

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Hello again, it's been a while. 

 

Spring is here.  The grass is cut, the new flowers are planted, & the summer tires are on the vehicles.  Time to return to do some modelling.

 

As I was getting ready to start painting the modeI, I ran into a little setback.  The good news is I've been able mix a close match to the RCN ships' grey paint colour.  The bad news is I decided to complete the ship's funnel before applying the first coat of paint.  Unfortunately, completing the funnel has turned into a lengthy project with lots of trials & tribulations.

 

I found that none of the funnel parts supplied with the kit fit properly.  Not really a surprise, as the quality of this kit really sucks. :(

 

Here's a photo outlining the major issues I found;

 

52087645236_5766d081f7_c.jpg

 

And, a photo showing the rework completed to build the funnel;

 

52087892504_dc63a4be1f_c.jpg

 

I'm finally happy with the end result ... what a relief!

 

52088146105_5f824a6196_c.jpg

 

Next, add a coat of primer to the reworked funnel and then start applying a coat of finish paint ... for real, this time :o.

 

As always, thanks for following along.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

 

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Great re-start john if you had not of added or scratch built something on the funnel I would have thought there is something wrong with him great to see all the details again.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

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Thanks everyone!

 

3 hours ago, beefy66 said:

Great re-start john if you had not of added or scratch built something on the funnel I would have thought there is something wrong with him great to see all the details again.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

As terrible as the quality of this kit is, I really do like the challenge of scratch building all the needed corrections, repairs, & added detail. (Silly me! :doh:)  Otherwise, the kit would have been returned for a refund long ago.

 

John 

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The funnel & attachments are primed ... the last step before starting the final paint process.

 

52091988049_473f04e2e7_c.jpg

 

Note the photo of Regina in the background.  I'll use similar photos scaled to 1/350 to make templates for the North Atlantic dazzle scheme.  But first, I need to apply an overall coat of RCN shipside grey.

 

For reference, here's a an RCN frigate photo that shows the actual light green hue of the RCN grey colour;

 

52091832076_f4838f76a5_c.jpg

 

Next up, masking the hull.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

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  • 4 weeks later...

A short delay & a status update.

 

During prep for painting, I noticed that I had needed to add some PE parts prior to paint.  When I went looking for the PE sheet, I couldn't find it.  I knew I had received it, but now it was gone. :wall:

 

I sent an e-mail to the model supplier 'Iron Shipwrights' asking if I could purchase a replacement PE sheet.  Iron Shipwrights replied the next day advising "Not a problem.  Replacement frets are on the way."  Today, 11 days later, I received a complete replacement set of PE parts from Iron Shipwrights in the US, via airmail, and AT NO CHARGE.  Wow, now that's great customer service! :clap2:

 

Up until now, I've been very critical & disappointed with the model quality from Iron Shipwrights.  But today, I have to give them kudos for their awesome after-sales customer service. :thumbsup:   I'm a very happy modeller. :winkgrin:

 

John

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2 hours ago, JohnWS said:

A short delay & a status update.

 

During prep for painting, I noticed that I had needed to add some PE parts prior to paint.  When I went looking for the PE sheet, I couldn't find it.  I knew I had received it, but now it was gone. :wall:

 

I sent an e-mail to the model supplier 'Iron Shipwrights' asking if I could purchase a replacement PE sheet.  Iron Shipwrights replied the next day advising "Not a problem.  Replacement frets are on the way."  Today, 11 days later, I received a complete replacement set of PE parts from Iron Shipwrights in the US, via airmail, and AT NO CHARGE.  Wow, now that's great customer service! :clap2:

 

Up until now, I've been very critical & disappointed with the model quality from Iron Shipwrights.  But today, I have to give them kudos for their awesome after-sales customer service. :thumbsup:   I'm a very happy modeller. :winkgrin:

 

John

Good to know as I want to buy one of their kits. 

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I love this thread, as I have the same kit from iron Shipwrights in my "to-do pile."  Although I have been a little disappointed, since, as you say, the casting quality is somewhat lacking and requires quite a lot of cleanup and alteration.  My main concern is that the kit came with no decals at all, and so far they haven't done anything to correct the situation.  Any ideas on where to source these decals?

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38 minutes ago, ErikT said:

... My main concern is that the kit came with no decals at all, and so far they haven't done anything to correct the situation.  Any ideas on where to source these decals?

Here's a link to the Iron Shipwrights replacement policy.  http://ironshipwrights.com/replacement.htm

 

Per their replacement policy, I suggest you e-mail Iron Shipwrights http://[email protected], giving them your kit # & description, a description of the part you need, and your mailing address.

 

John

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He just referred me to a Canadian company that is no longer in business and then wouldn't reply to any more emails.  No worries; I'm just figuring out how to print my own decals, so I should have them sorted by the time I build this ship.  I doubt mine will look half as good as yours, though.  It already looks superb!

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  • 2 weeks later...

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.” Robert Burns

 

Well said Rabbie.  As this build progresses (slowly), my inexperience building 1/350 scale resin ships is really starting to show. :(   I've been attempting the get the model ready for paint.  But each time, when I think I'm ready, I find there's either something else I've missed, or something else I need to do to simplify the painting process.  Two steps forward & on step back, as they say.  The good news is that this build is still moving forward.

 

Here's a couple of recent examples;

 

Something missed:  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had lost PE parts, & that the model supplier had quickly sent me replacements.  The parts were two catwalks attached to the rear of the bridge superstructure.  These are fiddly little parts that needed to be formed in 3 dimensions, as shown in the photo below..  Since there were no mounting holes or brackets to mount these parts on the model, I decided to do the forming & dry fitting before final paint to minimize the chances of damaging the painted surface.   Also, I felt these parts should be painted separately ensure the detail was preserved.  After time consuming trial & error, I finally formed the parts to fit. :wall:

 

52204549724_d6396c7dc6_c.jpg

 

Simplify the painting process:  Not having built a resin model before, I don't have much experience painting all the little pre-cast details on the ship's deck.  To simplify the masking & painting process, I decided to remove as many of these pre-cast details as possible & paint them separately.  A relatively simple process, but time consuming having to putty, sand, & re-prime the bulkhead & deck areas once the details were removed.   The example shown in the following photo shows a boarding ladder & three lockers being removed to allow the bulkhead & deck area behind these details to be masked & spray painted.

 

52203276882_11141e7ee4_c.jpg

 

In hindsight, I probably should have completed these tasks as the build progressed, rather the waiting to decide what to do at the final painting stage.  

 

I still have a few details to add before final paint, but at least this build is still progressing with no major issues.🤞

 

PS:  Who would have thought "blueberry ripple" would be so complicated, eh Kev? :giggle:

 

Stay safe!

 

John

Edited by JohnWS
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On 09/07/2022 at 15:43, JohnWS said:

my inexperience building 1/350 scale resin ships is really starting to show. :(

 

and how else are you going to get experience.....:whistle:

not to mention providing us with such an entertaining and informative build :cheers:

 

Devil is in the detail and you're doing a great job

 

Stay safe

 

Kev

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Thanks for the reply Kev.

 

3 minutes ago, longshanks said:

... and how else are you going to get experience.....:whistle: ...

And just when I thought ! knew it all, too.  Not! :doh:  :laugh:

 

John

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1 hour ago, JohnWS said:

Thanks for the reply Kev.

 

And just when I thought ! knew it all, too.  Not! :doh:  :laugh:

 

John

You know what they say about the day you'll stop learning...

Edited by Silenoz
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John - you set yourself very high standards.  The view count for this thread is testament to the interest people have in your build methods and build choices.  

However - there is a bit of "project managment" in these small builds of larger vessels and I frequently get it wrong.  Devil and detail and all that ;)

Rob 

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Thanks for the feedback Rob.

 

1 hour ago, robgizlu said:

... there is a bit of "project managment" in these small builds of larger vessels ...;)

For sure, Rob.  I sometimes get impatient & skip steps in the build, especially when the end is in sight.  I end up having to go backward to correct the oversight(s).  I've got to learn to come up with a build plan & then try to stick to it.  The assembly instructions that came with the kit aren't very detailed, adding another level of difficulty when planning this build.  Challenging but still doable.

 

Forging ahead, :)

John

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  • 3 weeks later...

The journey of discovery continues ...

 

As part of the process to lay out the paint scheme for Regina, I came across a number of photos on the 'net, & from personal collections, that got me thinking about changing the size of the black waterline as well as changing the colour of the anti-fouling paint on the bottom of the hull. :o   I've ended up using the group of photos included below to scale the size of the waterline & to determine the final colour of the anti-fouling paint.

 

52261255324_d6ac71d1dd_c.jpg

 

Here's photo showing the end resul (I used a gloss paint so unfortunately there's lots of reflection in the photos);

 

52260999753_4d505ee392_c.jpg

 

Quoting Jon Canadian in his earlier post, the antifouling paint colour is "much brighter and bluer than reproduced in books."  From a cosmetic standpoint, the new colour will provide a nice contrast to the blue camo paint scheme.

 

52260013992_b7e03596e3_c.jpg

 

While I was laying out the camo paint scheme, I found that the opening for the bow anchor was cast in the wrong location (too high), as shown below;

 

52260985726_2541a6daa0_c.jpg

 

I'm glad I was able to make the change now, instead of during the painting process.

 

Next, I had to finalize the unique RCN hull paint colour.  The actual colour is IPMS/Canadian Colour Guide 501-109.  Basically, a light grey with a green hue.  I found a number of paint chips on the 'net.  It came as no surprise that each chip was a different colour than the others.  I also found a couple of recipes for mixing model paints to get a close(?) match to the actual colour.  So, I decided to use photos of the actual ships that I felt best represented the actual colour, for reference (But, I still wish I had my 50 year old work boots that were splattered with that RCN hull colour paint. :winkgrin:)  Using the reference photos, I started mixing the paint.  One of the easiest recipes was mixing Tamiya XF12 (Japanese Navy Grey) with Tamiya flat white.  I had to add much more white to the mixture than what was called for in the recipe. But I'm happy with the end result, as it  is a good close match (at least to my (old) eyes :clif:), as shown in the test below.

 

52260987276_0b47799222_c.jpg

 

So, finally, I'm ready to start painting :yahoo:.  I can't wait to start applying a final coat of paint.   I plan to paint the RCN hull grey overall & then paint the camo pattern over that.

 

Thanks for the 'likes' & comments, & for following along.

 

Stay safe!

 

John

 

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14 minutes ago, Brad-M said:

It will look different outdoors...Nice work!

 

Thanks Brad.   It will look different outdoors, for sure.   I've found the model paints I've used tend to darken with age as well.  So, here's hoping all my mixing trials & errors pay off. 🤞

 

John

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