Cutty Sark PE

On some kits it is molded in, and needs to be painted.

I figured that some were molded in, however, my model must be an early version and all of the scrollwork is decals and the clear film around the scrollwork has yellowed pretty bad.

That was the case with the one I've built, not molded in, but have no idea what version mine was. Didn't have the problem with yellowing, tho.

I can't claim to have looked upon every Cutty Sark kit, but to my knowledge the only one with molded "carvings" is the old - but very good - one in 1/130 by Airfix.

There's a good reason for that. The scrollwork and lettering wrap around the stern in such a way that, if they were molded in 3D, the hull halves couldn't be taken out of the mold.

Airfix got around that (sort of) by molding the stern carvings as three separate pieces - with awkward seams between them.

So far as I know, apart from the very-small-scale shrouds and ratlines Don Stauffer's been talking about, there are NO metal aftermarket parts designed for plastic sailing ship kits on the market. That's a shame; I can think of dozens of details that would lend themselves to photo-etching. But I guess the potential market just doesn't justify the investment.

I did see, sometime ago, a set of wood decks for the Academy 1/125 Cutty Sark. And today I found out that there's a set of deck pieces for the 1/96 Revell kit ( http://www.freetimehobbies.com/1-96-scale-decks-cutty-sark-wood-deck-for-revell/ ). I believe there's also a set of decks for the big Revell Constitution. Those are the only aftermarket parts for plastic sailing ship kits that I've heard of. If anybody out there knows of any others, I'd be very interested to hear about them.

First, yellowing is fixable. Tape the decal up in a bright south facing window for a couple of weeks. (Pick one that doesn't collect condensation!). They'll bleach back out nicely. AFA falling apart, another story. I always scan my decal sheets, just for future reference. If you do that, you're generally able to make replacements, but that's another story.

I'm currently exploring using gold leaf on my America. It's not easy, as it's a lot less forgiving of crude cast detail that can be tarted up with paint.

Concerning PE for sailing ships- agreed. There's quite a bit out there for pre-dreads, and that really helps because those old castles of steel had a lot of detail.

I'm also of two minds about pe. I consider it a bit of a favorable compromise. I could never build up life lines around the edge of the deck of a big destroyer, let alone a cruiser. So at 1/350 the availability of that is great.

But the aircraft fraternity has a bit of a love/ like feeling when its used to replicate round things at a large scale.

I recently built a Chinese 1900 battleship model from Bronco. PE was great for the railings and coal scuttle hatches. There was a marvelous little piece of PE representing dragons for the bow and stern. But it looked...flat.

I ended up painting the cast on detail- thanks to slide molding it was crisp and good looking.

When dealing with old decals, it's a good idea to spray them with some sort of fixative (e.g., Testor's Glosscoat, or Krylon Clear Gloss). That should stop them from splitting - but no guarantees.

I've had some experience with gold leafing.  It isn't what it's cracked up to be.  When it's applied to tiny parts, at least in my experience, it winds up with a powdery texture that just doesn't cut the mustard.  I've tried both the "composition" (i.e., imitation) leaf and, on rare occasions, the real stuff (which is EXPENSIVE).  I've just about ruled it out for ship models.

Nowadays there are some really nice gold paints on the market.  It's been awhile since I've used any of them in any quantity, but when, in one of my weaker moments quite a few years ago, I built the Heller Soleil Royal, I tested out a bunch of them and concluded that Humbrol made the best one. That was a long time ago.  I think the modern versions - including, surprisingly, the Vallejo acrylic metallics - are a good bit better. There's also a product called "Liquid Leaf," which comes in a variety of shades. (Some people apparently think that stuff really is gold leaf.  It's not; real gold leaf comes only in sheets - that is, "leaves." "Liquid Leaf" is just a fine-grained metallic paint.)

I personally think old-fashioned Testor's gold - in the little tiny jar - is pretty dang good stuff.

On my model of the frigate Hancock I made the "carvings" out of Milliput epoxy putty. Great stuff, but not exactly easy to work with.

What sailing ship modelers really need are aftermarket parts that are relief etched.  All sorts of possibilities there.

Another product I wish the etchers would make:  alphabets in various sizes and fonts.  Seems like the design work for such a sheet would be child's play on a computer. They could even be inclined, for the name on a ship's bow. Seems like all sorts of modelers would find alphabets useful. And one reasonbly-sized sheet could hold hundreds of letters. (The British company Slaters used to make molded styrene alphabets.  I used them for the name on the Hancock's stern. But they seem to be long gone.)

One of these days I'm going to spring the cash for the photo-etching set from Micro-Mark ( http://www.micromark.com/micro-mark-pro-etch-photo-etch-system,8346.html ). Looks like it has enormous potential.

GMorrison

But the aircraft fraternity has a bit of a love/ like feeling when its used to replicate round things at a large scale

Not being knowledgeable in the ways of photo-etch, I have often wondered why one would want to represent something round with something flat?

Even though photo-etched scrollwork would not have the rounded dimensional texture of molded in scrollwork, I think it would look better than a flat decal.

jtilley

Another product I wish the etchers would make:  alphabets in various sizes and fonts.  Seems like the design work for such a sheet would be child's play on a computer. They could even be inclined, for the name on a ship's bow. Seems like all sorts of modelers would find alphabets useful. And one reasonbly-sized sheet could hold hundreds of letters. (The British company Slaters used to make molded styrene alphabets.  I used them for the name on the Hancock's stern. But they seem to be long gone.)

Hey Doc

Made my own.  Start with some Ferric Chloride PC board etching solution at Radio Shack (or ECU's Chem Department),   some K&S brass sheet,  rub on letters, some disposable tweezers and some spray paint.    Rub the letters onto the brass.  coat the opposite side of the brass sheet with the paint.    A couple of good heavy coats to act as a resist.     When the paint is dry soak the brass in a container of Ferric Chloride.  Be careful this stuff stains skin & concrete.   Do not do this on Mrs Tilley's kitchen or dining room table.    It will turn the brass black as it etches.   In a couple of hours you will see that the brass has been etched through to the paint.   Pull the sheet from the FeCL and flush with clear water.   Soak the letters in lacquer thinner to remove the paint.

You may be able to approximate the scroll lines using architectural/landscape design rub-on tree branch shapes.   I have not looked -- you may even find leaves.  I made PE strips using solid rub-pn lines, prop blades using triangular electronic solder pads, and round dot/washers using circular solder pads.

jtilley

When dealing with old decals, it's a good idea to spray them with some sort of fixative (e.g., Testor's Glosscoat, or Krylon Clear Gloss). That should stop them from splitting - but no guarantees.

That works pretty well. A tip on that, however. When a preprinted decal sheet is made, the color is "over struck" onto a clear carrier film that is ever so slightly larger than the color image. The carrier film is the layer with the water soluble glue that releases the decal from the paper. There are exceptions in the more arcane corners of after market decals, and home made decals as well. In those cases, the carrier film is an unbroken layer on the entire piece of paper. Similarity, if one over sprays a coat of clear onto a preprinted decal sheet, the sheet becomes monolithic in a sense. The decals have to be cut out of the paper rather precisely around their perimeter, otherwise the clear coat forms a bridge from the edge of the carrier film onto the raw paper surrounding it. Fortunately decals are a small part of the picture with ships. Several years back I took an interest in old aircraft kits and bought quite a few at swap meets, on eBay and traded them on forums that allowed such things ( one of my very few whines about FSM). Those brought to my life every horror story you can imagine with old decals.

jtilley

When dealing with old decals, it's a good idea to spray them with some sort of fixative (e.g., Testor's Glosscoat, or Krylon Clear Gloss). That should stop them from splitting - but no guarantees.

There is a product called liquid decal film.  That is even better than the overcoats intended to protect the decals.  The "decal film" is made specifically for repairing old decal sheets where the decals are breaking up.  Major hobby shops should have it on shelves.  Works very well.

Here: www.dafinismus.de/index_en.html

is a large selection of PE for Hellar's Victory.

There is also a company that does decks for it that are supposedly realistic and about the thickness of paint, very interesting. I'd post a link, but I am currently booted in the wrong OS.

Now that my senile brain has been reminded, I do remember reading about those German photo-etched sets in The Nautical Research Journal. Impressive stuff. I stand corrected.

I'd like to get my hands on some of the figures in those pictures. They have a Preiser look to them -which is to say that they look excellent. But I haven't seen them advertises anyplace. Premised has an enormous website, but it's not much help in buying the company's figures in the USA.

when I googled "reviser 1/100 figures," I got a bunch of ads for the company's HO railroad figures. If Preiser is now making 1/100 eighteenth-century sailors-or even HO ones - that's big news. Anybody know more about them?

Thoroughbred's Sea Eagles 15mm Age of Sail

www.thoroughbredmodels.com/SeaEagles.htm

A product line of 15mm ship kits, crews, guns and aux. items for the Naval War of 1812. All kits have cast resin ... (20 Figures in Pack) - $12.00

The figs on the previous post look like metal castings to me.

There are lots of 15mm war game figures from the era out there. Just about the right size for the Heller ship.

Frankly I wasn't too impressed by the PE at least as shown. Factory produced uniform metal sash was probably still 50 years away in 1812. It just doesn't have any charm.