Trumpeter 1/350 HMS Dreadnought 1907 WIP

Thanks for the tip GM, I appreciate the help as this is only the second steel hull ship I've done. I think I'll give it try if the templates don't work. That seems like a lot of colors but I know that when you mist the last base coat over everything it will tie it in. Do you happen to have a picture of one of your decks that I can see for reference?

Thanks,

Steve

Looks really good Steve, BIG!

I suggest just painting the planks by hand. I start with a base coat like you did, in my case usually USN Light Gull Gray.

Then I get a short straight edge like the little 1" x 2" anvil from my punch set.

I pool out four or five colors of acrylic on a piece of blue tape, my favorite disposal palette.

Like Radome tan, Wood, Leather, White, maybe one of the German yellows.

Dip the tip of a toothpick in one, Put your straight edge down on the deck, use the molded lines as a reference and pen on a 1" (30 foot) line. Do a whole bunch in one color. Just watch not to puddle at the put-down spot. By the time you've done a bunch of deck, go back with another color.

At the end I put on a layer of the base color really diluted, barely a tint.

I like the results and its a lot easier that masking around all those bumps.

the FlyHawk PE set I added to the Dreadnought construction is actually made for the Zvezda Dreadnought and not the Trumpeter version. Here is a shot showing the small differences between the two kits. this shows the framing for underneath the bridge. Just a tad too big so I will not be using this piece!

Here is a picture of the second coat of Model Master's Aged Concrete acrylic that I used as the base coat for the deck. Now to lighten and darken some for bringing out the planking.  I plan on making a couple of templates for airbrushing the colors through. Hope it comes out okay. The darker Gray you see is a color test. I plan on using RN Mid Grey B for the hull, etc... I had purchased 5 tins of WEM Colourcoat but somehow misplaced them...... I am now waiting for replacements which were the last I could find!

Got the first coat of deck color on. There is actual color on the model now.......

Steve

Thanks again GM, that helps. How about brushing it? I am thinking about brushing the decks while airbrushing the rest. Or brushing the deck furniture after airbrushing the decks, either way, I'll need to brush something.

Steve

Definitely don't start black. The WEM paints are like Humbrol, not too thin and not too thick.

They airbrush great right out of the pot. Stir them up well, and they can be thinned down to half and half ok.

I have had success, I guess, doing thinning and clean up with lacquer thinner,

Thanks GM. there are a few spots where I got carried away with the CA or Gator glue, but those will all be hidden further down the construction process. The learning curve on the PE is like rigging, steep but not too long (I hope).

I am planning on using WEM's Colourcoat paints which will be a learning curve in itself since I haven't used enamels, other than washes since the early 1970's!

I haven't decided if I'll lay down a black coat before the colors or just work from the gray, although I prefer the grey since the colors will be truer.

Steve

She's looking really big and gray Steve.

But that's the idea, right?

Yo are doing a really clean job, keep posting.

Have the deck primed and all that lovely brass is now gray, in fact she looks like a big gray thing now. However, once the primer cures, I can start adding some color to her. Here are some pictures of the gray beast and some of the subassemblies.

Steve

Here is a bit of an update on the Dreadnought.  I have attached all the PE on the decks that are needed at his point in the construction. Here are a couple of pictures of the added brass. The first is all the Eduard's PE set for the decks, minus the coaling shoot covers. I then primed all of those. The second photo is all the FlyHawk brass for the deck that I added, minus the coaling shoot covers again.

Using the Robert's AOTS book as well as the Kagero 3D book as reference, I scratched a good number of the hatch bodies (for the life of me I cannot remember the correct term at the moment), as they were not included on the Trumpeter version.

Now it is time to finish priming all the brass and start painting the hull and decks.

Enjoy,

Steve

OK, now all are accounted for of the builds I am following and I have not seen you post for awhile, most excellent job so far, so whats next?

Watching w/baited breath.

Seems I am the odd horse, I am building the Zvezda kit.  I am about to the same place as you are.

Looking forward to your next post, and by the way.......my last posted photo is abit behind of where I am @ in the build.  Noticed you used the wood decking, what do you think about this next step in the evolution of ship model aftermarket add on's.

Also notice you went with the bling bling props.......looks good, adds pop, but the real one's were made of bronze

Rick in NC

Alright, one more of the forward flying deck.

Here's a closer look at the midship and aft section of the deck.  A bit closer to show all the FlyHawk brass added after the Eduard hatches.  The Eduard hatches already have primer on them and this weekend I'll get the new stuff primed.  I still need to clean up some of the Gator Glue on the turret pads which is really easy.  Use a paintbrush loaded with water and slowly soak the excess and then lightly wipe it away with a paper towel.

I'll get some more pictures of the work I get done this weekend posted later.  And yes, I am posting on the iPad so there is only one picture tonight.

Enjoy,

Steve

I wish I could figure out why it is SO difficult to post pictures with my iPad.  Here is all the new shiny brass.

Not sure where the picture disappeared to, so here it is reposted.

After a long intermission due to health issues and slow boats from China, I have resumed work on the Dreadnought.

The slow boat from China had the FlyHawk photo-etch set I ordered to compliment the Eduard set I was working with.  The FlyHawk set not only had all the hatch covers that I had started to scratch build but also has the rigging for the Boat boom which is a LARGE feature amidship and numerous other features that I wanted to bring out.  More money, but well spent I have concluded. Not that I couldn't have scratch built all these features, but this kit was starting to take on a life of it's own.  Although the FlyHawk set is for the Zvezda kit, I have been able to use parts from it for my Trumpeter kit.  I am beginning to think that this model will sink with all the brass that is going on her.

I am impressed with the Flyhawk set as the brass holds up to my learning curve with photo-etch quite well.  I am going to show where I left off with the Eduard set and then show all the new brass I have added.

So, I hope you enjoy,

Steve

Ships,

I did my First Class cruise on the USS Copland FFG-25 way back when I was a Midshipman.  In fact, I was the first Middie to serve on her right after her commissioning.  Great skipper and crew and a good ship.

On the Dreadnought front, I haven't had a chance all week to sit down and do some modeling due to family commitments.  Bill P posted some great pictures on his thread and his last entry mentioned issues with the 12 pounders pointing down when installed on the turrets.  An excellent example of why one should dry fit parts before glueing!

Hopefully I'll get some building done this week and post some pictures.

Steve

I thought the kit props looked decent, but that little voice said..."Look at those nice shiny G-Factor props". Thanks for helping me ignore that voice!

Did you serve on a Perry-class FFG? I bought the Pontos standard set for the Reuben James, which still depicts the Perrys in their original fit, with the missile launcher on the fore deck. If it comes out as nicely as I think it will, I may get a second Perry so I can build one in the final configuration with the 25 mm gun in place of the missile launcher.

In the meantime, back to Dreadnought! I will be painting the hull red tomorrow, using Insignia Red. It seems from what I have seen here and from other sources that it really was a fairly bright red, not the hull red like you get with Tamiya. Once that is done, and the bootstriping is done, I will put the Artwox deck on the main deck and glue the superstructure in place. I have been working on that as much as I can, slowed by assembling the 12 pounders and their associated PE. You really can't do much on the superstructure until they are mounted, as everything builds up on the decks that cover them.

Marcus,

Sorry to hear about the Torpedo Net booms, I think Bill lost one or two also on his Dreadnought build as well as pulling a rudder off with the masking tape like you.  I know now to be careful with the rudders when I tape the hull for painting and I am not going to attach the booms until later!

Bill M,

Welcome to the Dreadnought Mafia or Crew or whatever....... Hopefully you will be able to post your progress as I would love to see how the Zvezda kit shapes up.  I am also jealous about the Pontos kit you'll be using, maybe one of these days I'll bite the bullet and purchase one.

Ships,

I'll post a picture tomorrow of the G-Factor props so you can see how they came out.  It did take a good hour of filling to get rid of the attachment point on all the props and I had already attached the brass prop shafts.  Unfortunately, the brass props attachment point is positive and the shafts I did were positive, so I resorted to the kit props as they were negative.

By the way, I did my Midshipman First Class cruise on a FFG, although that was many moons ago.

Steve

Thanks for sharing the great pics of your work. Now I have to give some thought to adding the armor bands! I was wondering if those G-Factor props were going to work, as it looked like they may have issues of cleanup after removing them from the sprue. From what you are saying, I will avoid them.

My work on the 12 pounders goes on slowly. While working on them, I have also drilled out all the searchlights, painted them silver on the inside, and filled them with 5 minute epoxy. This weekend will also be the time for me to paint the red on the bottom of the hull, so it will really start looking like a ship.

On an unrelated point, I did order the Pontos set for my Reuben James. It will be interesting to be building a modern ship next to the Dreadnought...different eras, different modeling challenges!

Steve,

I am enjoying this thread. I have the Zvesda version, which is differs in that the hull plates are not pronounced as on the Trumpeter kits.  You have inspired me to take this kit off of my waiting list and build it now.

Thanks!

Bill Morrison

Steve,

I completed the lower superstructure last night and installed the decking to start the second level.  Removed the masking tape from the deck and it looks really nice. I wish I didn't install the torpedo net booms so early, broke a few off and will have to replace with styrene.

I finished adding the rudders last night.  ICM did not have pre-drilled holes for them and my first attempt put them to close to the center propeller.  Made repairs, move the rudders back a little and gave them a coat of hull red from Tamiya.  Will be putting the black stripe (can't remember what it is called) along the hull tonight.  

Marcus

Marcus,

Thanks for the input and thank you again for all the help you've given me, it has been most appreciated.  I'm having fun researching this ship so hopefully I can cover the details at least to a certain degree.  The combination of the Kagero book and the AOTS has been indispensable, especially the 1/350 scale drawing.  I was able to cut all the bands to the correct length as well as positioning them correctly.

How is your Dreadnought coming along as well as your Konig?  Your last post looked great and hopefully you were able to cover the red, but if you haven't I would give it a couple more days to make sure that red is cured.

Steve

Steve,

She is shaping up very nice.  You are really doing an excellent job covering all the little details for the hull and deck.  I am looking forward to seeing how the deck comes out.

Marcus

Bill,

Thanks!  I have to admit that I'm starting to add more and more scratch built parts now.  I just added the the armor bands along the hull and added Evergreen strips on the hatches that Eduard missed.  I believe that the Pontos includes the forgotten hatches.  I used the Anatomy of the Ship - HMS Dreadnought as well as the Kagero book to figure out what went where, for the hatches and bands.  And like you, I am going to replace the masts with brass rods because the kits one would never hold up, even with EZ Line.

Regarding the deck, I plan on painting the decks first to see how it looks, if it looks good then no, I won't use the Artwok deck.  I plan on trimming as you suggested to get the deck over the hatches so I am not TOO worried about the deck fitting.  I really appreciate the heads up, I could have forgotten all about it until it was too late with my memory!  Your ship is looking awesome by the way.  I like the Insignia Red much better with the Gray on there now.  I have read that the Royal Navy used a even brighter red than the US Navy did.  I have been trying to find RN Anti-Fouling Red by WEM but have not been successful.  Heck I cannot even find Norfolk Anti-Fouling Red 65A!  Even searching the Web hasn't given me hard evidence yet; however, I might not be using the right search phrases.

Ships,

I am happy that I replaced the prop shafts with brass rod.  Marcus used 1.0mm rod and I used .81mm and it worked fine.  I also know all about those "voices" but I try...... to not listen to them ALL the time!  I also have the brass props from G-Factor.  They were a bit of trouble getting off the tree and cleaning them up and I am not going to use them since the kit props are nice and after painting with bronze they are as nice as the metal ones.

Here are a couple of pictures of where I am at right now.  As stated earlier, I added the armor bands using the 1/350th scale line drawing in the Kagero book as well as the AOTS book as backup.  If you look hard you'll be able to see the strips I added to the hatches.

Enjoy,

Steve

I have given some thought to replacing the shafts with brass, and I think you have inspired me to do so. If I go that route, I may also buy the brass props that are available. Fortunately, that can wait, because I also am working on the FFG-57 Reuben James, and it needs the Pontos upgrade set. That's right, it spoke to me, begging me to buy some more brass to make it shine!

Looking good Steve! I hear you on the 'didn't think of doing scratch building'...I had the same, momentary, ideas myself...and now find myself eyeing brass rod replacements for the masts in order to support the rigging given the delicate nature of the kit-supplied parts.

One quick question, have you decided to forgo the Artwox deck in favor of the kit planking yet or are you still undecided? I ask only because of how tight I found the Wood Hunter deck fit to be on things and I assume the Artwox might have similar issues? Since you've already fitted some of the Eduard stuff like the skylights and those are bigger than the molded-on pieces, you might have to do some extra trimming work to make the Artwox fit properly and it's much easier to do that now vs. later while you still have the decks separate if you're still going to go the Artwox route.  

Thanks Bill, you have really gotten much more than I have at this point.

Ships, It sounds like you're having fun with the 12 pars, war too much fun.  This is my first foray into 1/350th scale and I cannot believe how small and delicate some of these parted are!

Here are the corrections to the skylights and I was able to get the prop shafts switched out with metal.  I now need to addd the strengthening bars on the hull with some Evergreen strips and use some screening for the deck hawse holes which Eduard does not provide.

Interesting, I thought I was not going to do any scratch building on this model.......

Steve

I finally got the first 12 pounder assembled. I used the 3 PE parts on the WEM PE set, and added a pair of .01" round strips to make the gunsights on the guns. It is a slow process because the PE covers all the most convenient places to hold the part with tweezers, and I have been using white glue to assemble them, so I put on a couple parts and let them dry. I also was able to add another coat of gray on the hull where I had some sort of issue with the finish. I'm giving it the week to dry before I mask it and paint the bottom of the hull red. By that time, I should have more guns built, which I will add to the superstructure along with the doors that cover the gunports.

Looking good Steve! Gator glue is great stuff and something I use all the time for PE like this...very forgiving and a good work time to allow for things to be adjusted if needed.