NOT DICTATING

The puzzle for me is whether or not the ship has "life". I've built a few dioramas, in which the ship was weathered and it had a crew.

But when I put one on a base with stands, I don't know what to do with the hull below the waterline. To be frank, ships look pretty bad down below. So these models end up staying brand new. Not entirely happy with that but it seems like a reasonable approach.

HI ;

  I agree with both of you . There is , as they say a place for certain things. Ships are a very hard subject to get "just right" .I have many sitting on brass pedestals and many of them on the kit stands. they are NOT weathered at all !

Now on the other hand , because of an article in FSM I put a little plate around the rest  at the proper waterline and do a kind of close to ship "mini-dio" that works for me .

     I just find it very hard , considering the work involved to shoot a modeler down for boo-boos . weathering on ships and presentation is and always has been a big problem .

There will always be more than one school of thought . I just didn't want ship modelers to forget , the judges will look at your work differently , because most don't know a thing about the subject , but if it doesn't look right they will shoot you down , right ?

 Please think about this and do your ship , both to your liking and abilities , and according to the referrences you can work from . . Just remember , when competing , you as a shipbuilder, are on the spot to make sure it is correct , or reasonably so . .         Tanker-builder

Indeed...sometimes a little is too much and sometimes not enough.  The situation you are trying to model is very important..even a static museum representation.

Having a theme is important..not just the assembly.  a weathered tank looks odd on a shiny mohagony base...but on a well executed base with grass, mud and debree,,it works well.

But, in weathering ships, one has to be careful.  While it is true that different metals weather differently, most warships are maintained beautifully. A heavily rusted appearance is more often than not inappropriate. Tramp steamers, on the other hand, might have heavy weathering with little maintenance.

I got called out once for making this observation about HMS Iron Duke, Admiral Jellicoe's flagship in WWI. The builder titled his model as such but painted such a heavy weathering appearance the ship looked derelict.  He then cited a photograph of a rusted, poorly maintained cargo ship as the source for his weathering of the Iron Duke.  It just looked wrong.

Anyway, builders should check photographs of how particular ships weathered and how well maintained they appeared.

This just my two cents on weathering!

Bill