Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria by Revell

Thanks Bill. I did notice the old Airfix seem better than the newer ones. I think my Prince is pretty new, 1990's I guess.  The castings seem good tho, but some dimples in hard to fix areas. The shrouds on my Wasa got too heavy in the top ones, but they all were some heavy. Looked like someone sat on them.

Gene,

Excellent job on the Wasa!

Bill

Steve,  I just now found your riverboat site. I have a ton of info on them as I have built alot of them including your Robt. E Lee. Let me know if I can help.

just beautiful gene , I for one don't care which ship you do next , I just love watching your build's

steve5

I took some early pictures of my Wasa with sails. I still have a lot of rigging to do. I am leaving off a lot of the interior rigging. Here are the pictures.

I painted my sails a little darker & used some brushed raw umber in the recesses. On my flags I have been gluing them with Arleens glue. Not her fabric glue/ When i trim them again I brush paint the edges of the flag in the color needed & then I dullcote them. I Ca glue them & tie them both. 

    I got my Airfix Prince today & it is nice, but not as nice as the older ones. The sails  & flags are not near as good . I am looking forward to all that gold. I intend to prime with white lacquer & use MM brass as a prime cote for the stern & use Tempera black & blue, for the windows . I will wpie the Tempera off on all gold areas & seal with dullcote & then finish with MM gold enamel on selected carvings.

Hu Bill, I don't know which one i will build first. Right now it might be the Prince. I do love that gold paint. I was looking at the back of the Victory that came to day & thought that I would paint that whole rear MM brass & then use Tempera dark blue over the windows & Tempera black on all the black sections. When it is dry I will lightly wipe all the parts i want brass with a wet Q tip inclufing the divided lites on the windows. Then seal the Tempera with MM gloss & dull lacquer mix. Then I will top a lot with MM gold enamel. That is the cowards way out of all that cutting with black or gold.

  I don't know what period the Constitution is. I was on it back in 1949 or 50 when I was stationed up at Otis AFB. I am not great on a lot of details on time periods, maybe on early airplanes. I do love history & it is such a shame, criminal, that kids aren't taught it anymore. My son in law is a proffesor at W. Carolina & he really thinks it is really bad. 

    I really liked the Mamoli kits better than any wood kits that i built. Their rigging diagrams were the best. I read where some guys on this forum didn't like them but I built  at least 4 of them The material was way better than others.  I built the Constitution in 1983 & the rigging is still perfect. I gave my daughter the Golden Hind.

 I was going to build the Revenge next, but all that gold is tempting me.

Gene,

Congratulations on finding the Prince! I am still looking fofr the St. Louis but still haven't found one yet.  And, I got your letter today.  Thank you!  So, whuch one are you going to build first?

Also, I was thrilled to see your USS Constitution built from the Mamoli kit. Do you know which period that that model represents?  I am just curious.

Bill

I second what steve said , but look on the bright side gene , look at all the models your going to build . steve5

Gene, that is incredible. Your great grandmother must have had some incredible stories. I wish that I could have heard them. To think that she was alive when Lincoln was around. That is mind boggling!

I'd love to hear any stories that she shared with you.

Thank you guys, but you might have to help me get to 100. It took me 40 years on my train layouts. That's why I don't do trains or wood ships anymore. Don't laugh, my great grandmother grew up in the civil war & I grew up hearing about it first hand. She lived untill 105. She went from Lincoln to Eisenhower.

   She was a Rebel in Nashville, & saw the battle there.

That sounds like a great plan, Gene.  I echo what Bill said! 

Gene,

I am sure that you will do each of them justice!  Good luck!

Bill

Well, Steve's & Bill, I went crazy or I better stay off ebay. Bill(warshipguy) gave me an Airfix Revenge & the next day I saw a 1/180 Airfix Victory from the seller I got my Wasa from, for $26.95 & got that coming. I had been watching the only Prince I have ever seen on ebay. It was open box, but looked like it was all there. It was Airfix too & I ended up winning it for $26.50 shipped. 

   At going on 86 I didn't want to get a stash of kits, but now I've got to make at least 87 or build even faster than i have been.

Bill, I couldn't send these over the PM so here are 2 of the Bentley.

Gene,

I have been on  this site since around 2006.  The guys here are great! But, some have moved on to other things.  I miss them.

Anyway, I will be happy to give the kit to you.  I don't need the money and I have an extra kit that I will not build.  I have built the Prince, Royal Sovereign, Victory, Wasa, St. Louis (decades ago!), Golden Hind, and, I believe, the Discovery. The ones I haven't built are the Cutty Sark, HMAV Bounty, and HMS Endeavor.

The reason that I haven't posted photos is that I do not have a digital camera.  I suppose that I should get one.

Bill

Bill, I forgot to ask how much is the Revenge & what other Airfix big sailing ships do you have that you will sell? I think the thread shrouds are a reason to buy the Airfix. I had real good luck on the mayflower with the shrouds. 

 What kits did you like best in the old sailing ships? How about some pictures of your ships here, I know everyone here would like to see them. There are really a great bunch of guys on this site. 

Gene,

Yes, I have built the Victory, and the Revenge does have those thread shrouds.  Both are excellent kits!

Bill

Bill, did you build the Airfix 180 th Victory ? Does your Revenge have the thread shrouds ? They are about the only way I will get ratlines on. Shrouds are ok for me,but ratlines, no.

gene

your painting talent is just superb , that ship is going to be sensational .

you said your skills have diminished , wow ,

steve5

Gene,

The Revenge really doesn't resemble the Golden Hind at all.  The model is based on the drawings by Baker, and is considered to be an English "race-built" galleon. And, I am not sure that she carried the Tudor color scheme throughout her life.  The model is in the same style as the Wasa, something that can be said of all Airfix sailing warships.  It looks like it would be a straightforward and easy build.  Anyway, just let me know.

I have built and enjoyed most of the Airfix sailing warships.  The only Airfix ships I haven't built are the Bounty, Cutty Sark, and Endeavor.

Bill

Hey Gene, thanks for the info. That is really good to know. I have a future project that may need some.

Thanks!

Bill, thanks & let me see if I can find some pictures of the Revenge. It does look like the Golden Hind with all that triangle painting. I have the large Imai Hind & the small Revell one too. 

   The St Louis looks like it would be easier to paint. Painting has gotten to be a problem for me with cutting lines. My hands shake & I have to hold them down to the desk to do any close work. I will let you know if I want the Revenge. What other Airfix kits have you built & like. Right now simple is my middle name. Even the Wasa was fairly simple. I have only been on it less than 2 weeks.  The gold was easy with that MM gold enamel, it doesn't run hardly at all.

Steve, It is MM gold enamel. It is super & goes on & covers with one coat easily. I had a bottle for ages & read David K say it was what he used on the Swan. I just never had any thing to put it on until I started on these ships. I went out & got a new bottle. It is and does stay super glossy.

Say, Gene. What brand of paint are you using for the gold pieces? It seems to give a really nice gilded look to it.

Gene,

I love those Airfix sailing ships and have been lobbying them for years to manufacture more of them.  The only thing that I don't like about them are those dummy cannons. I wish they would have included full gun decks. It just gets mildly tedious carving the gun ports out and scratch building decks and cannons. Other than that, They are nice kits.

I do have one extra Revenge if you would like it.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. Have you built any Airfix ship kits?  Revell has finer engraving, but Airfix does go together good.

Gene,

Beautifil work!  I will let you know if I can find the St. Louis.

Bill

Thanks Steve, I did some things that worked out well. I primed it with several coats of white lacquer primer & used that for the top rails so I could wipe of any acrylic colors later.

 I sprayed the round light with Black & silver Tamiya lacquer & lightly brushed Tamiya clear blue acrylic over it & wiped it off the frames with alcohol Q tip. Then gold MM enamel. Worked good. I wanted black frames on the light, but didn't have any black lacquer left.

  I found it easy to clean up any yellow that had red on it as yellow covers better than red. 

 I drill the holes in my temporary & finish bases oversize to let me hold the ship straight up. I countersink the screw in the bottom. On small ships I just used polished brass tube for a support post & file a notch in the top for the keel with a small square file.  I already have a piece of wood in the hull to screw into. It glues in before I put the hull together. I block plane it to fit the hull & CA glued one side to 1/2 hull & then glue it as I put the hull together. Nuff for now. 

My gosh, Gene. That is absolutely gorgeous. I am envious of your talent. 

Signed, one of many Steve's on here.