What to do next

[Rich75]

Hi all, I got back into modelling during lockdown early last year after deciding to build the Heller KGV, which I'd had for years, after which I thought I'd get into some ww2 aircraft as I've been into them since I was a lad. However I can safely say I'm hooked on ships now,after looking at some of the stuff you guys have done I think I need to get some advice ,firstly on weathering techniques as I tried a few things out that didn't quite work as I hoped,I'm still finding my way around the site so any pointers with ship building would be great before I attempt the tamiya 1/350 KGV,thanks to everyone who commented on my first build too.

[Chewbacca]

Surprised no-one's responded Rich so i thought I'd add my 2-penn'orth.

 

Firstly, I know I commented on the RFI but KGV was very well done, especially for a return to modelling build, so you clearly have the talent to take on any maritime project.

 

The thing with any modelling these days is that there are a whole host of choices and whatever I might like might not be some one else's preferred choice.  So the first thing i would say is don't be put off by the perceived difficulty, just pic a subject that interests you.  So if KGV has whetted your appetite for RN WW2 stuff, perhaps pick something else from that genre.  1/400 is not a great scale and it was mainly used by Heller and then a couple of Airfix Heller reboxes, so you might want to look to either 1/350 or 1/700 which are the two traditional ship scales.  Persoanlly i like the old Airfix 1/600 but the choice is limited.  1/700 probably gives you the best choice as there are a lot of new ones coming out of the Far East manufacturers such as Flyhawk which though I've never done one, they are reputed to be excellent - just look at some of the build logs on here in WIP.

 

Compared to Japanese or US Navy targets (or even for that matter Bismarck models!), choice of RN is more limited but there's enough.

 

If you come into the cold war or modern era there are almost as many, especially of US Navy.  WW1 or earlier is seeing an upsurgence as well.

 

Three comments I think I would make that you may wish to consider.

 

• Firstly, no criticism at all of your KGV model, but it is very rare to see the underside of a ship unless its in dry dock.  So perhaps for the next one you may wish to think about a waterline finish in a seascape?
• Secondly, and related to that, models on stands never really, to my simple mind at least, warrant weathering, whereas they do if in a realistic sea diorama.  And at that point, when it comes to ships in any scale less than about 1/144, less is usually more, unless you're trying to portray a Flower Class corvette on the Arctic convoys!  Don't overdo it.
• Finally, maritime modelling more than I think any other genre of modelling, really benefits from the use of photo etch.  I remember as an 18 year old years ago trying to make guardrails from stretched sprue in 1/600 and never really getting it to work.  Now it's so much easier and etch really lifts a model ship into a different category.  It's quite scary the first time you use it but you'll soon get used to it.

Hopefully that helps.

[Rich75]

Thanks for the reply,all the points you made make sense to me,I thought I'd use the first one to try out some of the things I've seen elsewhere and overall it didn't come out too bad!I think I'll try 1/350 scale next 1/700 is just too much for my old eyes and fingers! and yes photo etch too, I think think the KGV has caught my interest so I'd definitely like to do it again...thanks again