1/350 Hobbycraft U.S.S. Missouri

Thanks for the reply James. I'm a big Missouri fan and I have been doing the Big Mo from the time Revell came out with thier version. I also have their Admiral's Fleet. I've done two of the Tamiya model but I'n not quite satisfied with them so I plan to make another one with all the PE's I can get my hands on. Again you have a great looking Mo!

constructor

Hi James! That is one good ship you have there. This is the first time I saw a weathered Big Mo and it looks great. I just want to ask you if this is an original Hobbycraft kit and in you opinion, how does it compare to the Tamiya Missouri>

I believe they are the same kit. I have looked at the Tamiya kit on other sites and they look the same. I'm sure they are cleaned a little better but other than that I can't see a difference. I thought it went together well. I kinda messed up with the top of the tower as I was painting it like the Washington with the light gray top but the MO. was the same as below. I didn't want to lose detail by painting it again. I love to weather models once I started doing waterline models the out of the water builds just don't look right. Ships are meant to be in the water where they are graceful not bulky hulks. Hope I've helped.

James

thanks for the tips....

Im also interested to learn how to create more depth in the surface of the water. Ive seen a picture of a model plane landing on water; because the scale is more "close up" than say a battleship, then the scale of the waves is different.

I read that that particular setting was created with modelling clay and painted with artist oils and coated with Future floor polish...stunning result.

If anyone has any details on creating such settings i would love to hear more. 

Hi James! That is one good ship you have there. This is the first time I saw a weathered Big Mo and it looks great. I just want to ask you if this is an original Hobbycraft kit and in you opinion, how does it compare to the Tamiya Missouri>

Hey Danny, I don't think there is much on the subject of using liquatex gel as water, I came by it as I have a degree in art as a painter and have used it many time to build up paint. What I do is first decide which ocean I'm putting the ship in They Look very different, Pacific is a Blue green and the Atlantic is just blues. I first paint my board, If it is to be moving I paint in the wake with darks with light in between, if sitting at anchor I do more of a mottled job to depict the different depths of the port, not a smooth bottom and there is a difference in color. The Gel medium dries Crystal Clear and shiny. If moving I build up the wake two to three times as high as I want them to be as it dries it shrinks, in the still parts I just dabble my brush a little(thin coat just barely there) to give the small wake of the wind. I cover the whole board with the gel when dry I Dry Brush the tops for the faom ( more heavy at the rear for prop churn. The gel will give the shine of water all by itself no need to polish, since it is so clear your board paint will give depth. Oh by the way First you must draw the hull onto board (and I put the screw holes in so I know it will go in place right) so you know where to put wake then take it off to paint so the color can go under ship and you don't get gaps in color. I'm adding a couple pics to show painted board before gel.

Mike I understand your point of view, If all guns fired in same direction it would tip up to 30 dgrs. The point at which I am depicting is about  .00000005 second after it is fired I even thought about putting the round at the end of the puff, Then comes the big blast (way to much to depict) of cordite. But I appreciate your concern.

These are for the Mo.

This is from my upcoming Intrepid and shows motion in the water before gel.

just thought I'd let you know and this is no criticism but when a 16 inch gun fires you get a big and I do mean big fireball coming from the barrel as seen in pictures of the Iowa class firing their guns. And a little known fact is that when the Mighty MO fires her big guns she actually moves sideways in the water and if she had the #1 turret firing port and the #3 turrer firing starboard theoretically she could spin around on her Axis.

Love it.

my fiancee bought me the missouri for christmas. cant wait to get started on it.

How did you mould the base. I noticed you mentioned you used Liquatex Gel medium, but i would love to learn how to mould and paint realistic ocean settings like you have done here.

Any tips on where i might be able to learn this from? aany resources on the internet?

Very nice! I particularly like the weathering. Thanks for sharing it.