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HMS Rodney Build Log - 1/200


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11 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

Are you happy painting generally? It's always worth having a paint mule you couldn't care less about and use it to get your eye and hand in. It's a good way to experiment care-free with new combinations of products or technique. Some old thing you don't intend to build is perfect for it :)

@Faraway also suggested something similar; painting part of the hull interior to see if I needed to use a primer with your enamels. I'm generally very happy painting using an airbrush, although as mentioned in an earlier post I have never sprayed enamels before. On that subject, normally when spraying acrylics, you would apply a gloss clear coat before applying an enamel filter or wash. Do you follow the same process when applying a wash or filter to enamel?

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Whilst I contemplate my next sub-assembly to start (I've looked at the hull again, said 'hmmm' to myself and put it back in the box), another question for all you well seasoned ship modellers: portholes? Given that I have committed financially to the Pontos set, it would be churlish of me not to attempt to use the etched porthole surrounds. I know that is a lot more work but I hope it will be worth the effort. On the glass though, I have seen a thread where Micro Kristal Klear is used to create clear windows in the portholes. I'm going to give this a go when I get to that stage but was also thinking about gluing pieces or strips of clear acetate sheet inside the hull to cover the portholes. I also wonder if using these for the superstructure windows would be a good idea. Alternatively, for the superstructure windows at least, I did purchase some old microscope slides and covers off an ebay seller a few years ago. I carefully broke a few and used them to replicate broken windows on a diorama. Some of them are incredibly thin, as thin as 0.14mm. Here's a photo of how that came out. This is Miniart's German Street Scene in 1/35 with Dragon's Jagdtiger squatting on the road. I'm not sure the glass worked fantastically well but I also don't think it was a disaster. If you enlarge the ground floor window on the Kaiser Guesthouse you can just make out broken pieces of glass (apologies, but the light is not great when taking photos of models in one of my display cabinets). The question is, would it be suitable for the superstructure windows?:

2022-04-12_07-05-50

 

2022-04-12_07-05-29

 

2022-04-12_07-05-57

 

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43 minutes ago, andyelbac said:

@Farawaynormally when spraying acrylics, you would apply a gloss clear coat before applying an enamel filter or wash. Do you follow the same process when applying a wash or filter to enamel?

 

If planning on using thinners then yes, normally I would but the acrylic clear needs time to cure also. If using oil paints drier (leaching out excess oil on a piece cardboard for an hour first) then I don't bother.

 

To be honest I find I can get a smoother surface by polishing up the paint with a 2500 and 4000 grit sanding sponge than I can get with clear coats so I only bother with clear coats if I need a chemical barrier.

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6 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

If planning on using thinners then yes, normally I would but the acrylic clear needs time to cure also. If using oil paints drier (leaching out excess oil on a piece cardboard for an hour first) then I don't bother.

 

To be honest I find I can get a smoother surface by polishing up the paint with a 2500 and 4000 grit sanding sponge than I can get with clear coats so I only bother with clear coats if I need a chemical barrier.

Thanks Jamie, so to be sure I understood correctly, if an enamel wash or filter is being applied directly onto an enamel top coat, no protective clear coat is required?

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Back onto the GRFLM, I think I may have the answer. First of all, thanks to @Brandy for pointing me in the right direction.  Photos from Man O'War 3 show the access ladders on the range finder located higher up the structure. I'm now thinking that Pontos have made a mistake. There are access hatches either side of the range finder above the circular walkway. I'm guessing that you accessed the walkway by climbing the circular structure below the range finder by way of internal ladders, climbed through the access hatch and used the external ladder to reach the walkway. Alternative solutions welcomed! A reminder of what the range finder looks like with the Pontos additions, minus the ladders:

2022-04-09_07-58-43

 I'm wondering if Pontos took a lazy eye to the Trumpeter instructions which show a ladder running from the bottom of the structure (note there is no walkway on the Trumpeter part):

2022-04-12_07-37-21

 

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39 minutes ago, foeth said:

Hope this helps, two IWM pics and one from my Rodney albums.

 

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Gallery_03_13.jpg

 

 

 

That's really helpful, thanks. Interestingly, the first photo clearly shows the access ladder running from above the walkway to the access hatch but also the hint of a ladder dropping down from the walkway. I think I need to add at least one more ladder.

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Re: scuttles (portholes).  I have never built a 1/200 ship, but even at 1/350 I’d say that adding the brass scuttles definitely sharpens things up.  Be warned, though, that it can turn into a significant rabbit hole if you start comparing the kit with photos of the real ship (as you’re finding with the GRFLM!); once I started down that road with the Merit Ark Royal, I realised that they’d missed a lot out entirely and had many in the wrong place, so I ended up doing a lot of filling and/or drilling.  Here starboard hull half mostly done, port about to be started.

49995448018_cd8e3fa048_b.jpg

 

Your model, your choice.  But you are spending so much time (& money) on it - and doing a great job, I’d say - that if you’re like me and you decide not to bother with the brass scuttles, you’d probably regret it later.

 

You can get away without glass at 1/350 for all except big things like Admiral’s Bridge windows.  Can’t advise you in 1/200

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Re: scuttles (portholes).  I have never built a 1/200 ship, but even at 1/350 I’d say that adding the brass scuttles definitely sharpens things up.  Be warned, though, that it can turn into a significant rabbit hole if you start comparing the kit with photos of the real ship (as you’re finding with the GRFLM!); once I started down that road with the Merit Ark Royal, I realised that they’d missed a lot out entirely and had many in the wrong place, so I ended up doing a lot of filling and/or drilling.  Here starboard hull half mostly done, port about to be started.

49995448018_cd8e3fa048_b.jpg

 

Your model, your choice.  But you are spending so much time (& money) on it - and doing a great job, I’d say - that if you’re like ke and you decide not to bother with the brass scuttles, you’d probably regret it later.

 

You can get away without glass at 1/350 for all except big things like Admiral’s Bridge windows.  Can’t advise you in 1/200

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the sound advice. Although I do like to try and get my models as accurate as possible, I don't want to spend the rest of my life building this ship. I can live with someone telling me I have two portholes too many! Where there are obvious errors, I will try to correct them but I won't get out of shape over it. The main thing is that I enjoy the experience. So brass porthole surrounds it is (which probably won't be an enjoyable experience!). Also, I'm far from being as expert, both on model ship building or Rodney, so really dependant on all you good people pointing out where I have (or preferably) are, going wrong. In a nutshell, if I screw this up it's the fault of all my fellow modellers! 😎

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The ladder pics are very useful and it makes total sense that there would be a second ladder downwards. After all, if it's a range finder it must rotate!

 

Ian

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I've decided I really do need to move onto the hull. Are far as I can see, there are three issues to address. First, is the hull plating over thick? I have seen a few Rodney (or Nelson) builds which suggest it is. Looking at the pictures in Man O'War 3, it does appear to be so. Reducing the thickness seems like a complete pain in the a*se but I think it does probably need doing. Here are a couple of pictures showing the moulded armour plates:

2022-04-12_06-44-07

 

2022-04-12_06-44-19

 Secondly, you will notice from the next picture that Trumpeter determined the bottom of Rodney was made from one giant piece of steel! The bottom is completely smooth. Whether this is a limitation of the moulding process or just a bit of laziness on Trumpeter's part, who knows. I'm minded to try and scribe some plating effect in but of course have a concern that it may look, against the kit plating, a bit odd. Also, I've never scribed anything in my life!

2022-04-12_06-44-30

Thirdly, how do I mount this Lady (no sniggering at the back there!). I've looked at the price of Pontos pedestals and I'm not overly keen on paying £50 plus (in fact I won't). I am looking at some brass plumbing parts which may serve but would welcome any other suggestions. On a final note, we know this kit is big, but just for some sort of comparison, here is the box laid out on a standard double bed:

2022-04-12_06-43-54

 

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04.00 in the morning and lying in bed listening to the birds start their dawn chorus. A perfect time I thought to start on the hull. One cup of tea and one hour later and I wished I had stayed in bed. Is there anything worse than sanding? I thought removing split lines from 48 road wheels was boring, or cleaning up and fixing together 200 + individual track links was a fate worse than death. But taking wet and dry to a hull this big in such cramped conditions, knowing that you have to go over it at least two or three times with progressively finer abrasives was down right depressing. I blame you ship modellers, enticing us perfectly sane, seemingly happy armour chaps over to the dark side with your promises of a better life, "'Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs…'” Yeah, right.

Here's the mess I managed to make:

2022-04-13_05-32-30

 and here's the excuse I found to go back to bed:

2022-04-13_05-32-41

 Clara. One of three rescue cats. Thankfully she knows on no account is she allowed in my modelling room. Yeah, right. The Tank Room (as it's known in the household) is the only room where the door is kept closed, whether I'm working in there or not, mainly on account of cat hairs, static and air brushing making an unholy combination. Clara however has a cunning plan to circumvent my strictly applied rule. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. "Clara, $%$## off, I'm trying to work!". Silence, then scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. "Clara, for $^%$%%%$ sake, #$$%### off!". Silence,  then scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Repeat incessantly. I give in, every time. Talk about a man's home is his castle. I'm not even King in my own little dungeon! But I digress. I'm committed now to using the Pontos porthole surrounds (do they have a technical term?) as I removed all the plastic ones from the hull during my hour of sanding madness. As the forecast is for a lovely spring day here in Kent, I plan to sit on the patio and finish of the hull..... once I've painted the shed. A naive and foolish commitment I made some time ago, probably after a few glasses of wine 🤔. As for the over thick plating, there will be just a subtle reduction as I'm concerned about putting flat spots on the hull, particularly on the raised porthole type bumps that run the length of the hull under your actual portholes; some sort of failed anti-torpedo system?. Anyway, I've decided I can live with the likely result. Well, the jury's still out on that......

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3 hours ago, andyelbac said:

cat hairs, static and air brushing making an unholy combination. Clara however has a cunning plan to circumvent my strictly applied rule. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. "Clara, $%$## off, I'm trying to work!". Silence, then scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. "Clara, for $^%$%%%$ sake, #$$%### off!". Silence,  then scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Repeat incessantly. I give in, every time.

LOL 🤣🤣🤣   With two cats in our house I understand COMPLETELY. Good luck with the sanding. Regards, Jeff.

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18 hours ago, andyelbac said:

Thirdly, how do I mount this Lady (no sniggering at the back there!)

Andy.

It's good to be back after my enforced beaching by covid, never coughed so much.

I made this for my current build 'Atago'

The square wood is cut from a piece of plained oak, from B&Q. Two holes drilled through it, with the underside countersunk to accommodate the bolt heads. The 'pedestals' I made from pieces of dowl, cut to length and drilled through. I drilled a couple of corresponding holes in the hull and araldited a nut over each. A coat of varnish or stain and a name plate http://www.nameitplates.co.uk/ and bingo.

Jon

p?i=6d6d69acbb1b9e943676aaf0e21691fd

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I've spent two hours today rubbing down the hull. I forced myself to stop when I realised some of the protruding 'bumps' under the portholes (were they some kind of anti-torpedo experiment?) where getting dangerously thin:

2022-04-13_02-11-17

 You may not be able to see clearly in this photo but I decided that there was a danger that some of those 'bumps' would disappear altogether. I will live with the armour plate in its current thickness. I obviously managed to thin some out, so it wasn't a complete loss. Total build time to date: 60 hours. I'm going to add the kit parts to the hull over the next few days; stabalisers, prop shafts etc, prior to fitting the porthole surrounds. Thay should be fun.🤨

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6 minutes ago, Faraway said:

Andy.

It's good to be back after my enforced beaching by covid, never coughed so much.

I made this for my current build 'Atago'

The square wood is cut from a piece of plained oak, from B&Q. Two holes drilled through it, with the underside countersunk to accommodate the bolt heads. The 'pedestals' I made from pieces of dowl, cut to length and drilled through. I drilled a couple of corresponding holes in the hull and araldited a nut over each. A coat of varnish or stain and a name plate http://www.nameitplates.co.uk/ and bingo.

Jon

p?i=6d6d69acbb1b9e943676aaf0e21691fd

Damn Jon, wish I had seen that earlier. That looks really good and no doubt didn't cost a fortune. One issue I have is that I managed to find a second hand acrylic box that is big enough to hold Rodney, albeit without a base. It will stop the kit from gathering dust but I will need a piece of wood big enough to mount it to, so I think I will take some of the elements of your base and adapt to suit my case. Thanks!

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I've decided to prime the hull. The main reason is that I've always primed my kits and I feel comfortable doing that, so going to stick with what I know. Also, with any luck I can get the porthole surrounds added and glue on the stabalisers ready for the large rattle can out on the patio, whilst the weather is good and before I go back to work next Wednesday 😕 Then, the camo scheme ..............

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2 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

If your figure modelling is good, get these guys to do it :D

 

133847545_10222798536170274_569423571158

Now there’s a thought, at least you wouldn’t have to weather it.

 

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33 minutes ago, andyelbac said:

Another question. I know the propellers are brass, but what would the prop shafts have been made from.....steel?

I would imagine they’d be made of steel, which runs through softer material as a bearing/bush.

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1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

If your figure modelling is good, get these guys to do it :D

 

133847545_10222798536170274_569423571158

Ha! My figure modelling produces clowns in uniform!

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6 minutes ago, Faraway said:

I would imagine they’d be made of steel, which runs through softer material as a bearing/bush.

Thanks Jon. I'm thinking of replacing Trumpeter's prop shafts with some metal ones, although as I type I should really check to see if in fact Trumpeter supply metal ones!

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1 minute ago, andyelbac said:

Thanks Jon. I'm thinking of replacing Trumpeter's prop shafts with some metal ones, although as I type I should really check to see if in fact Trumpeter supply metal ones!

 

Propeller shafts were painted in a single coat of anti-fouling paint on British warships so you need not worry about the material of the original :)

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