My very first model and questions it generated.

Wow, impressive training project!  Welcome back to the hobby, I think you're off to a good start.

To get straighter lines painting, use the blue masking tape that you can find just about anywhere.  It has a low-tack release and it won't pull off any paint under it.  Just make sure you give the paint under it adequate time to dry -- I usually wait a few days.  In areas where you need to follow a curve that tends to "buckle" the masking tape, lay a strip of masking tape down on a very smooth cutting surface (I like to use a small pane of glass) and cut thin strips of tape.  I usually cut them as thin as 1/8", and this way I can follow curves very easily.  As for painting small details, I know of no other way other than to use a very small brush or even the tip of a toothpick if it's like a small dot.

As far as the rigging (ie, ropes), about 20 years ago I was doing wooden kits and did one with a lot of lines.  What I would do is use a small dot of Crazy Glue where the line was attached to a fitting, then pull it taut to the next point and apply a dot of Crazy Glue there, and keep working from point to point.  This way my lines never went slack.  All I can say is it worked for me.

Stay tuned...you'll definitely be hearing some good advice from other forum members on your project, and weigh it all out, there are some very resourceful folks here!

You have made an excellent choice as a first model kit and no doubt you have learned many important skills and lessons from it.  Those big kits do not allow a modeler to build into sucessive models their improving skill simply because of the immense time involved.  The big Heller Victory is a couple years work, the big Revell Constitution is somewhat less. 

The most important first step in a model is to make sure you know how you plan to mount it once it is finished.  A sailing ship model is easiest to mount once the bottom is painted and before the decks are installed.  It is a real good idea epoxy in blocks of wood that you can directly screw into from below.

Your hull work is done quite well.  Improving masking and careful selection of colors will make the your next model better.  You might try to use subtle variation in the planks to highlight the construcion of the deck.  One thing I use is artist oils over acrylic.  When subtly brushed can give very nice natural wood look.  Use of pens and markers can make some of the decrative work better.

Working on some scratch building techniques will help with adding some detail.  This is very much an advanced topic but one to consider.  Adding additional rigging to the guns makes things look better as does adding more detail to the boats.  The key to this is to experiment and to learn from others on this and other forums.  above all, key is keeping good references.  Brass wire is a good thing.

On a sailing ship model nothing shows the skill of the modeler better than doing excellent work on the rigging. 

It is definitly a good idea to work very hard on experimenting with different sources of cord and thread.  You might look into aftermarket product from the wood ship guys.  they have lots of items that will be easy to integrate into your model including hearts deadeyes and blocks.  It is good to have some variation in color and weight of thread.  The standing rigging should be tarred black to dark brown.  The running rigging could be almost white, grey or tan, or yellowish color depending on the conditions.

 A lot of the moulded deadeyes and hearts look nasty.  I used them on my Constitution, and they look nasty.  I did ditch the preformed shrouds, which was a good move.

You certainly have made an excellent start to ship modeling.  If I were to recommend a second model I would recommend a large scale fishing schooner or racing yach.  Focus on the rigging and rope work. 

Great job and welcome to the hobby.

One thing that I have learned is that any paints and supplies that come with kits will always be of very low quality.   

Grahor wrote:

Greetings. First of all, what I'm not - I'm not a real modeler; I'm not really concerned with historical accuracy or correspondence to scale as much as with good looks of my model. Also, I'm not ready to spend years on a ship. :) Thus, the direction of my attempts and questions. Couple of months ago I was suddenly (and rather surprisingly for myself) interested in modeling. In plastic kits of sailing ships, to be precise. Of course, as every beginner, I wanted to build something huge and majestic, like that huge kit with 2700 pieces, but not being an idiot, I knew, that it's not a project for someone who is trying to make his first model. So I've chosen Heller's "starter pack" - small Pirate ship with paints, glue and brush.

Hello: Impressive result for a beginners project. Congratulations. Btw: the pre-assembled shrouds made of plastic are typically a sign that though a Heller kit box mouldings come from Revell. Heller its Mayflower is another such kit which definitely does not come native from a Heller factory.

As you also noticed and recognized: Humbrol/Heller paints are very good and up to ones joy when painting. Me too I like Humbrol paints very much.

 A small note: do not become scared by a kit which inlcudes parts in the realm of a many hundreds. If you go to build straight out of the box assembling time is not too time consuming (most of the parts go into cannons and that typically calls for repetetive tasks).

It is this even: I am in the process of building Heller its Saint Louis which includes some 430 parts. However, I noticed that my building time will be longer than building the Le Glorieux from Heller which includes more than 800 parts. I think Le Saint Louis takes a bit more care when painting and building up the hull is slightly more complicated.

 Regards,Kater Felix 

Grahor wrote:

Greetings. First of all, what I'm not - I'm not a real modeler; I'm not really concerned with historical accuracy or correspondence to scale as much as with good looks of my model. Also, I'm not ready to spend years on a ship. :) Thus, the direction of my attempts and questions.

Btw: it makes me wonder whether your plans in the kit box showed some rigging of cannons or did you decide by your own to add rigging lines? Have you consulted some additional literature/books for your project? 

Regards,

Kater Felix 

Thank you all for replies.

As for aftermarket details, I'm on a strict budget, so it's unlikely  I'll buy them in close future. May be later, when I'll not be a beginner anymore... As for moulded parts, I would say, that for my eye they are surprisingly good-looking; not one part of all have broken in any way. The only parts I've broken were those highest parts of masts. I can't help but accidentally hook on them and break them. For the same reason I've not glued all those small parts like hatches and everything; they'll come last.

As for rigging of cannons - rigging was shown in the manual. All rigging, standing, running, rigging 

of cannons is described there very carefully, with a lot of great illustrations; I had no problem whatsoever with rigging. As far as I can say, rigging is the simplest, although slowest, part of build. Once I'll learn how to stretch lines properly, it would be pure pleasure for me to add rigging.

No books, no literature except for online literature. I'm not all that into precise historical stuff; I like the way ships look. :) Of course, I'm trying to be as close as I can to historical truth; but I don't have money to spend on specialised literature.

Some more questions: I've tried a bit of washes, but result was very unsatisfying. Well, it'll wait

 untill I'll have more and better paints. But still, how do you glue cannons to the painted desk? Or how you paint desk after cannons are glued? :)

Also, I've learned how to do wooden-looking decks; but how do you make other details "wooden-looking"? Is there some manual for that? I'd like to know techniques for painting realistic dark wood and "red" wood - I know they are not very historical, but still.

Grahor wrote:

but how do you make other details "wooden-looking"? Is there some manual for that? I'd like to know techniques for painting realistic dark wood and "red" wood - I know they are not very historical, but still.

Well, that's the question isn't it?  This is complicated, a bit, by the practice, in days of old, of painting things to not look like wood.

I'm guessing you mean in places where the plastic is smooth, such as the trucks of the cannons (oops, "truck" is the nautical term for the wooden carriage the cannon rides upon--remembering to keep this simple for potential translation is easy to forget).

Anyway, what you could do is use a very fine razor saw's teeth to lightly engrave a "wood grain" pattern into things you feel ought look a bit more wooden.  Then, highlighting that 'grain' with drybrushing or a wash might get you what you want.

You likely need flatter (less-reflective, or non-glossy) paint, as the shine tends to not look "real," which may be what you are seeking.

Oh, and if there's a stationary store handy or an art store, see if they have a bit of sepia ink.  Ink can be thinned with a bit of water to make a wash, and the brown of the sepia is not so "strong" a contrast as using black (without diverging into the subtleties of color washes here).