Mojo restart, with added Clogs: 1/350 Hr. Ms. Bloys van Treslong, Naval Models

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Maarten - re the MLD decals, oh yes please!  I have been wondering whether I could do some tiny masking for the roundels, and some generic white writing for the KONINKLIJKE MARINE on the tail; no way my bog standard printer will cope that small.

 

As for the colour, it isn't as green in real life as that photo makes it look; that's actually @Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies (Colourcoats) Sky, so it's the correct colour, albeit undiluted / unfaded as a base coat.  Still plenty more to do, so it won't end up looking as pure / green as that, honest!

 

P.S.Do you know whether the MLD's Lynx / SH-14D continued to have Sky undersides to their horizontal stabilisers?  This shot (of a SH-14D, roughly equivalent to an HAS3) isn't clear, but the lower one (a UH-14A = HAS2) seems pretty definite.

 

 

 

[Photos from the IPMS NL Lynx walk round section]

 

Crisp

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

A bit of a minor divergence from the largely OOB mantra for this build - but allow the Lynx driver a bit of enthusiasm for the Lynx; 2 x 0.005” brass sheet aerials under the tail, which give it a bit more of its characteristic shape.  Needless to say this took me about an hour, plus a couple of false starts as bits of brass pinged off into the carpet.  Still, it makes me happy!

[maarten.schonfeld]

the MLD's Lynx / SH-14D continued to have Sky undersides to their horizontal stabilisers?

 

Yes, they surely did!

[giemme]

Insane! But if it makes you happy....

 

   

 

Ciao 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Continuing to focus on the Lynx, this time adding 2 x HF aerial supports under the tail & 2 x U/VHF homing aerials on the nose.  All made from 0.3mm Nickel Silver rod deliberately flattened in some PE pliers.

 

I’ve also given it a second coat of Sky, this time a good deal lighter (Maarten was right that it looked too saturated at this tiny scale).  You can see the previous colour under the nose (which will be very dark grey).  Hard to see clearly here, but the under side of the horizontal stabiliser is also Sky

I wish the RN had stuck with EDSG-over-Sky; the MLD (Dutch FAA) stayed with that scheme from WW2 onwards, & I think it looks so cool!  All my Lynxes were assorted (not 50) shades of grey - by the time I converted from Sea Kings (1989) the days of Oxford Blue were long gone (the Falklands saw to that).

 

Still hoping to get to Tank Museum show tomorrow, weather permitting.  More soon, though

 

Crisp

 

P.S.  Macro on a big screen makes this look horribly lumpy, but (as the Swann Morton provided for scale shows) this is very small indeed; in real life it looks fine.  

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I wish the RN had stuck with EDSG-over-Sky

 

I agree, such a striking scheme, and proper FAA like!

 

Excellent looking minutiae on the aerial fit. Should look superb on the flight deck.

 

The weather down here has calmed somewhat since mid afternoon, so hopefully good at this end for the show. Fingers crossed and I'll keep a lookout for you!

 

Terry

[maarten.schonfeld]

... the MLD (Dutch FAA) stayed with that scheme from WW2 onwards, & I think it looks so cool!  

 

Well, the Dutch MLD is now defunct as well: the current shipborn NH 90 helos are part of the 'Defence Helicopter Command' based at Gilze-Rijen, on loan to the Navy.

And the EDSG over Sky has gone as well: these NH 90s are very light grey, I don't know the official specification. The P-3C Orions were in fact the latest type wearing the EDSG over Sky, until these were sold off to the German Marineflieger and the Portugese in 2004.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Today’s work - not sexy, but important 

 

[giemme]

That's quite some masking there, Crisp!

 

Ciao 

[Brandy]

I don't think Lynx are supposed to be in that position, was it thirsty?

All looking good though, especially all those tiny aerials!

 

Ian

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

The Lynx was fairly often in that position… but in this case it’s because I have taken the drastic step of cutting off the main wheels (retaining only the nose oleo).  The Atlantic Models Lynx is excellent (way better than the kit version), but it portrays the main wheels fore-and-aft, and in any case they’re a bit crude (presumably so they’re strong enough).

 

Naval Lynx always fly with the wheels toed-out, and having “wrong” wheels was always going to annoy this ex Lynx driver eventually (I tried to convince myself that I could live with it, but who was I kidding!?).  As luck would have it, Naval Models’ Lynx has PE main wheels, so in due course I have perfect replacements.

 

But for now I have to be careful with the Lynx, or the aerials under the tail won’t survive.  Speaking of which, here is said Lynx as of this evening.  This photo (iPhone camera) is very misleading; the paint is Colourcoats’ DSG, but this makes it look far darker than that - trust me, it isn’t.

 

The aerials show up far better after a bit of paint, & I’m pleased with them; worth the effort, I think.
 

The mask-a-thon on the hangar section has largely paid off (& God bless Aizu tape; you need a lot of thin strips masking details in this scale).  There are a couple of places where the paint has bled or lifted, but nothing that can’t be sorted with a few touch-ups.

 

I’ve sprayed the flight deck, too, but won’t be lifting the masking for a while yet, so little point in showing it.  It’s grey rather than white, so use your imagination!

 

More soon

 

Crisp

[TheBaron]

More marvellous micromodelling: the fact that you added aerials to an already tiny helicopter is really quite mind boggling Crisp.

 

 

[giemme]

Impressive!   (I might have said this already, but I can't think of a better word to describe it..  )

 

14 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

This photo (iPhone camera) is very misleading; the paint is Colourcoats’ DSG, but this makes it look far darker than that

That's because you used a white background. Try light blue or even blue.

 

OK, OK, I'm annoying, I'll get my      

 

Ciao

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

15 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why there is an untidy splodge in the centre of the deck on top of the hangar, it’s a piece of tape; the base pf the Goalkeeper fits there & I reckoned it would be easier to paint (the lighter grey) as a separate part, but still get a good firm glue bond resin-to-resin when the time comes to fix in place.

 

Not annoying at all, Giorgio.  I suspected as much.  I have a proper tripod/DSLR/macro lens set-up, but I don’t keep it permanently rigged, so you have to out up with iPhone pics for WIP; duly noted about a different colour background.

 

C

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Crisp, I've found the same with my camera. If I use a white background the camera over compensates and hence the ship appears quite dark. I usually use a sheet of plain MDF board but i guess each camera is different. HTH.

That Puma has come up really well. Regards, Jeff.

[Heather Kay]

20 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

If I use a white background the camera over compensates and hence the ship appears quite dark.

I use an iPad for all my WIP images. Using the default iOS camera app, you can tap on the screen image where you want the exposure (and focus point) to be read from. In Crisp's case, tapping on a dark colour will bring the exposure up. Once you’ve tapped, you can also drag your finger up and down to adjust the exposure as you wish.

 

Hope that helps.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Thanks for photo advice - I’ll do some experimentation.  I do actually have a proper DSLR / macro lens / tripod set-up, but I don’t keep it permanently rigged so WIPs just get the iPhone pics (which to be fair are far from rubbish).

 

Yesterday’s work concentrated on the hangar section.  I had major issues with the kit decals, which are commendably thin - but VERY fragile; they basically disintegrated as I moved them off the backing.  So trusty Hawk Graphics 1/350 Modern RN decals to the rescue - and if the radhaz marks are the wrong colour for Kon. Marine, so be it.

 

I’m not worried by the variations in colour where I have patched, partly because real ships do exactly the same, but mostly because this is going to have a lot of oil dot weathering done on it yet.

 

My ongoing love affair with Aizu tape continues, too:

 

Away from home with work for a couple of days, so more later in the week.

 

Crisp

[giemme]

That is quite impressive already, can't wait to see how it turns out after weathering. Great job!

Ciao

[Terry1954]

That Hanger section has come alive, and looks great and the flight deck markings have worked really well. Is that a small residual radii from the original engraved markings on the deck? It may just be the light. 

 

Terry

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

17 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

That Hanger section has come alive, and looks great and the flight deck markings have worked really well. Is that a small residual radii from the original engraved markings on the deck? It may just be the light. 

 

Terry

Sadly, it is a small section where the Mr Surfacer must have fallen victim to the masking, but I only noticed it when I took these photos.  I think I am going to leave it, on the grounds that the area is going to have helicopter, flight deck crew, lashings and possibly even a weapon, so it won’t be obvious (and redoing it basically means stripping everything off and starting again - I really don’t want to get bogged down in this build).

[Terry1954]

19 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I think I am going to leave it, on the grounds that the area is going to have helicopter, flight deck crew, lashings and possibly even a weapon, so it won’t be obvious (and redoing it basically means stripping everything off and starting again

 

A wise decision I reckon, given what's going to be on that deck. Also, I reckon that picture above is magnified considerably (on my screen at any rate) compared to the actual flight deck, so has probably over emphasised the issue.

 

Many of my builds "bog me down" when I notice really small issues, go about correcting them, or trying, only to end up with a similar or worse problem!

 

Really enjoying this thread, and once I have gotten that long stalled Vosper build out of the way, I plan to do my first proper Warship build - I don't count the little 1/350 Song class sub as proper!

 

Terry

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

2 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

P.S. the two small pieces of deck in the foreground in this photo (hangar door is other end, if you’ve lost your bearings) are where the ship has her SRBOC chaff system - a 6-barrelled launcher on each side pointing 45 degrees either side of the bow.  

 

The kit parts are fine, but while cleaning them up I remembered that I bought some Veteran Models SRBOCs for my Ark 5 build, & have some left over; visible here in the foreground still attached to their resin pouring stub.  These are superb pieces of casting - you’ll only really see how good once they’re painted.

 

That means I will have upgraded the OTO-Melara gun (brass barrel), Goalkeeper CIWS (hybrid of kit parts and Airfix/Eduard from Ark 5 build), Sea Sparrow (Veteran models, courtesy of Chris Hewitt), Harpoon (ditto), SRBOC (Veteran Models, another Ark 5 leftover) & Lynx (spare Atlantic Models with added scratch) - i.e. all the weapon systems, which are often the focal point of builds like this.  
 

So not exactly OOB any more… but I haven’t gone out and bought anything for it apart from the gun barrel, so does that count?!

 

Either way, it will enhance the final result.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

The macro photo makes this look pretty rough, though the size of the newsprint beneath gives a clue about size.  This will only be dimly visible under the flight deck, so any subtlety in weathering would largely disappear; my miniature Dutch quarterdeck officer will probably escape his “my cabin: no coffee” interview with the First Lieutenant about why his part of ship is such a sh*t-tip!

 

And speaking of the flight deck… it’s on

 

Much of the rest of the weekend was spent masking the upper deck, and particularly the fo’c’s’le, in readiness for weatherworks grey:

The keen-eyed will note that a couple of bits of bitts (see what I did there?) have been damaged, but they’re easy enough to replace.

 

On, on

 

Crisp

[giemme]

Excellent detail painting and masterful masking, Crisp!    

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

Masking coming along well as Giorgio says. I think we need to start calling you the Dutch Master Masker!

 

Terry