1/144 Fairmile MTB D: NeOmega

[Jeff.M]

Well.  In the intro to my Flower build, I established why I have such affection for smaller ships (boats).  At the start of my naval career, I served in ships large enough to earn a USS appellation and a name (a Patrol Gunboat and an Ocean Salvage Tug), but still pretty small.  Hence my fascination with corvettes and coastal craft.  So, here goes with a Dog Boat.  I kind of cringe at calling these craft that seemingly too familiar (to my ears) term, but it seems fine enough--but I probably won't use it again.  I would be preaching to the choir (at least to this audience) if I were to give the usual synopsis of these fine boats' development and history.  Suffice to say they were the largest craft of the coastal forces and meant to duke it out with the Schnellboate (E-boats).

 

NeOmega's offering is very, very good.  Pricey (oh and add postage to the States!), but worth the money. The usual observations:

 

Box art?  None.  It came in a plain wrapped box with no art.

 

Packing?  Something lacking.  The very fine shafts and props came shattered  NeOmega (Gordon) says he will replace.

 

Very fine resin casting, 3D prints, and PE.  I am still getting used to the heft of a resin hull.  That's just me.  Things like the castings of the wind baffles on the open bridge are are fine as PE.  All 3D prints are very detailed.  That said, I will be going for Micro Master prints of the 6 pounders and twin Oerlikons.  Why?  Because they are world class.  Unsurpassed.  Micro Master offered a 1/72 10ft dinghy, and I asked Simon about printing it in 1/144.  He has obliged,  NeOmega's offering was just fine, but Micro Master has so much more detail.

 

Pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Size comparison with a Flower (fit of superstructure aft could be better, but that will be dealt with:

 

 

Aside from loads of internet pics, my one reference:

 

  Ready to roll!

 

Best,

 

Jeff

 

 

Edited October 21, 2024 by Jeff.M

[beefy66]

Nice one Jeff will follow for some tips I have a 1/72 version that I keep looking at in the stash.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[theskits62]

I'll be following this one. I've never done a resin kit but i think i've seen other people say that sometimes parts bow slightly but hot water will enable you to straighten things out - might help with the superstructure fit issue.

[Steve D]

Nice on Jeff.

 

You probably have it, but if not, Coastal Craft History volume 3 may provide inspiration on colour schemes

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[robgizlu]

Hi Jeff

Looking forwards to seeing this 

Great choice and will complement that Flower very nicely indeed

Rob

[JohnWS]

1 hour ago, robgizlu said:

Hi Jeff

Looking forwards to seeing this 

Great choice and will complement that Flower very nicely indeed

Rob

I'll be following along as well Jeff. 

 

John 

[Faraway]

I’ll be watching this.

I’ve built all the other boats from Neomega and they all had minor problems, damaged or missing parts, but Gordon very quickly remedied them.

Sometimes the part to part fit is a bit inaccurate so lots of dry fitting and gentle trimming.

I also found the 3D parts could be a bit brittle, so take care when cutting them from the supports.

[Jeff.M]

4 hours ago, theskits62 said:

sometimes parts bow slightly but hot water will enable you to straighten things out - might help with the superstructure fit issue.

This is my first resin build. I’ll certainly give that a try!

 

Jeff

[Jeff.M]

3 hours ago, Steve D said:

Coastal Craft History volume 3 may provide inspiration on colour schemes

 

 

Thanks. Actually @robgizlu made that suggestion in a PM to me. I’ve decided to model this as MTB 628 of the 55th Flotilla with the way cool shark’s teeth (who can resist?). NeOmega provides an excerpt from that reference, as well as the requisite decal for the teeth. So, I’m good in that regard for the moment.  I still may pick up that book, just to add to the library though. 
 

Best,

 

Jeff

[Jeff.M]

1 hour ago, Faraway said:

 

I also found the 3D parts could be a bit brittle, so take care when cutting them from the supports.

I’ve already found that to my dismay. Nothing irreparable, except for the aforementioned prop shafts, which shattered in shipping. A sharp set of sprue cutters is a must, but even then there have been a couple of accidents. 
 

Best,

 

Jeff

[Faraway]

34 minutes ago, Jeff.M said:

This is my first resin build. I’ll certainly give that a try!

 

Jeff

I’m sure you know, but be sure you give the hull a good, but gentle, scrub with warm (not too hot) water and soap, I use washing up liquid.

I’ve found the release agent can be particularly stubborn to remove, and it’s worth priming, before painting and doing a tape test.

Jon

[Jeff.M]

29 minutes ago, Faraway said:

be sure you give the hull a good, but gentle, scrub with warm (not too hot) water and soap, I use washing up liquid, and it’s worth priming, before painting and doing a tape test.

Jon

Thanks and will do!

 

Best,

 

Jeff

[Jeff.M]

So it begins.  I drilled out the decklights and will glaze them with Krystal Klear.

 

I was going to do the same with the outboard scuttles (portholes or airports in USN parlance), but rather than risk ruining the framing, I decided to leave them as is, hit them with a pin wash, and drop in some clear gloss.  I think the effect will be the same.

 

 

NeOmega gives you the option of doing the model as a Long Range Rescue Craft, which would not have the deck moldings associated with the torpedo tubes, so they are omitted from the hull casting.  They have a novel means to provide these features if you want to build the model as an MTB.  They provide a stencil to fit over the deck with the location of the fittings marked.

 

 

You pierce the stencil with a hobby knife at the corners of each fitting.

 

 

Cut out the corresponding PE parts and glue them to the deck.

 

 

The fittings look pretty good under primer.

 

 

 

I thought this was a novel way of giving the modeller options as to the version of the vessel to be built without the fraught method of scrapping away unwanted moldings.

 

Best,

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beefy66]

Great start Jeff

 

beefy

[Faraway]

As you say, a novel approach to change versions of the same boat.

Jon

[robgizlu]

That is an interesting approach - Jeff do they provide Decals/parts for the LRRC or will this be another release in the future?

 

And neat work BTW

Rob

[Jeff.M]

2 hours ago, robgizlu said:

 Jeff do they provide Decals/parts for the LRRC or will this be another release in the future?

 

No, Rob. Aside from giving the option of having a clean deck, there are no other provisions The instructions do state that the reason for providing for the clean deck is so that the model can be built as an LRRC. But in this kit, all parts and decals pertain to an MTB, circa 1944. I’ve seen nothing from NeOmega to indicate a future release of an LRRC version. That would be nice, as the color scheme on those vessels is quite striking. 
 

Best,

 

Jeff

Edited October 22, 2024 by Jeff.M

[Jeff.M]

I was of two minds about doing pre-shading.  There are no hull plates to work with, but, I thought what the heck.

 

 

I'm glad I did.  Working with an airbrush is beginning to be second nature to me, and you can really add subtle effects that relieve flat mono-color surfaces, even at this scale.  Using @robgizlu's Vallejo formula for G45.

 

These photos may not capture the effect well, but I am happy with it.

 

 

Next up will be some pin washes and very light weathering.  I keep repeating to myself, "Do not reach for the rust streaking, Jeff,  do not reach for the rust streaking--these boats are made of wood,"

 

Best,

 

Jeff

Edited October 24, 2024 by Jeff.M

[Jeff.M]

So how often do you get to add ferocious animal teeth to a maritime subject?  I mean us Yanks did it now and to the odd PT boat during WWII and to a few PBRs during Vietnam, but this really seems to me to be an aviation thing for the most part.  In this case I couldn't resist:

 

 

NeOmega provides the teeth in two decals.  I would have thought one would suffice, and I approached the whole thing with some trepidation.  Decals, to paraphrase Gollum, can be tricksy, and I only had one chance to get it right.   The first decal was of the outline of the shark's mouth with a plain white background.  After a gloss coat, it went down nicely, with liberal use of Micro Sol.   I then applied another gloss coat and put down the red decal over it that defined the teeth.  With another gloss coat for protection, it looks quite fearsome!

 

 

 

 

Phew, happy so far!

 

Best,

 

Jeff

[robgizlu]

Perfect!

Rob

[Faraway]

Well done.

When you’ve only got one chance with decals, the old nerves kick in.

Jon

[JohnWS]

Fearsome, indeed.  I can hear the theme music from the Jaws movie in the background.  lol

 

John

[Jeff.M]

3 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Fearsome, indeed.  

Actually, I doubt that any enemies of the realm ever got close enough to be struck with fear by the visage, but it probably did wonders for the esprit of the crew!  Which was probably the whole point. 🙂

 

Jeff

[Jeff.M]

I have not been happy with the finish of the Vallejo gloss varnish I have been using, so I decided to reverse my practice of adhering to the maxim of oil-based washes over an acrylic gloss coat.  I applied a lacquer-based gloss coat and made up my own acrylic pin wash.  If any one is interested, the formula I used was: 1 part paint (Vallejo NATO Black), 5 parts water, 1/2 part isopropyl alcohol, and a touch of flow improver.  I added a bit of weathering.  I have shots that show these boats as pretty beat up and stained, but I wanted to be a bit more subtle.

 

 

 

The above photo provides a classic example of not fully checking resources.  I have the wrong pennant number (MBT 628) in the wrong place. The following open source photo from the IWM's collection clearly shows MTB 628 with a more simplified shark mouth, and the caption (which did not copy) states that the one with the teeth as provided in the model is MTB 629. Plus the 55th Flotilla"s hull numbers (at least those of MTB 628) are located much nearer the bow to boot.  So two errors due to my lack of doing due diligence.  It's too late to rectify as I've no more decals, and those that are there are sealed in with gloss and dull coats.  Oh well (sad face), lesson learned. Onwards!

 

 

Best,

 

Jeff

Edited October 27, 2024 by Jeff.M
Fairness

[Jeff.M]

All,

 

In retrospect, I think the onus for my mistake in pennant number placement should be on me alone, and I edited my previous post to reflect that and to not unfairly point to any other source. 
 

I feel better having done so . . . 
 

Best,

 

Jeff