I have had a bit of free time to move the build along. I spent a few hours this early am with a pot of coffee and my Surface going over the current builds here. The talent and dedication is inspiring. I’m hopeful as I continue here I can tap the knowledge and advice of the more experienced builders. The purpose of this England build is to hopefully provide a bit more experience working with PE. That is the intent anyway. I’ll have to fess up that I ended up ordering a 2nd sheet of PE from Gold Medal as my last 20mm gun shoulder pinged across the room into the void. No less than a dozen pieces eaten by the carpet monster. I also invested in a set of quality tweezers. Learning is a word that I’ll use loosely. It’s coming, but damn is it frustrating.
The deck airbrushed and then hand masked. The black boot line was over airbrushed on, some fine blue Tamiya narrow flexible masking tape laid down the seam line and both sides masked and airbrushed. I painted the red hull bottom, masked it and sprayed the top side and deck with Vallejo Dark Ghost Gray, which will be the vertical surface color. Unmasking reveals there will be considerable touch up, both on the deck and the hull. Expected. I’m sure those pots of coffee will help with the detail painting that will be needed as I move from bow to stern. I’m thinking getting a “touch up” deck color that will blend into the existing deck as I touch up is going to be an issue. The deck may end up with a complete coat before it’s done.
I’m turning my attention to the structures now. My plan (all advice here welcomed!) is to start at the bow and work toward the stern one level at a time. I will affix PE where I can (excluding railings) on each subassembly. That will include vertical ladders. That first level sub assembly will go on to the deck. Then to the next levels. My thinking is to use white glue. I may try CA and see which I can work with best.
I’m still undecided as how to approach painting and affixing PE to the structures. They are primed now as can be seen in the pics. One approach is to place as much PE on as I can, airbrush the final color on and then use CA to set it on the deck. Another approach says to clean the entire PE sheet well with a solvent, AB the whole PE sheet, then bend and CA or white glue in place. Yet another opinion, from a fellow model club member who does unbelievable ship work, is to bend each piece, paint, then place. Guess I will have to try each method and see which one works best for me. But… advice is MOST welcomed.
The mast in another issue, but I’ll wait a while before going there. Think It might give the HF/DF antenna a go too. Much more fine PE work to do too. Fidlly bits I believe they are called.
I must keep in mind the intent here which is becoming familiar with PE. I also need to remind myself this build is going on the shelf of my 8 year old grandsons room along with the other builds, not in front of some modeling judge. Like many endeavors, I’m hopeful the quality will come with the experience. Threw in a pic of my transformed bench. I tied flies for many years in Alaska where I spent 35 years. I’m in south Florida now. It’s warmer but they stack people up down here worse than cordwood.
Cheers,
Bob