The Official 1943 70th Anniversary Group Build

That's a great looking destroyer, Eric.  Measure 21 is a nice change of pace.  It would be too monotonous if everything were Measure 22 !

I appreciate the comment on my photography.  I crop them with "Paint."  They load faster on photobucket that way.

Alabama coming along nicely - you're good with the macro lens.

I've got Maury through build - a little adventure actually. Mast won't be seated until the very last step prior to rigging. It's just been given Future for weathering prep. You can sure tell the difference between Scheme 22 (Navy Blue and Haze Gray on horizontal surfaces) on Bama and the kinda boring Measure 21 where everything is Navy Blue or Deck Blue (they're all grays really.) It's not easy to catch the difference with the camera, although it should be a little more obvious after washes etc. If WEM is right Navy and Deck Blue were really pretty close in real life regardless.

Eric

A kind of "walk-around" for construction step six and Alabama's superstructure.

First, starboard, fore and aft.

Then, port, fore and aft.

At this point, I'm goint to return to some aircraft modeling.  BB-60 needs her float planes.  The kit planes were weak, so I bought a set of Trumpeter Kingfishers.  I'll need to paint and assemble these so her catapults won't look empty.  Thanks for looking.

Here's an example of how I've been handling painting, since I'm not really a brush painter.  I've used really small pieces of masking tape and poked and prodded it into place, even on the insides of the little walls (I don't know the proper nautical term). 

This is construction stage six.  I had to mask the piece below in two stages.

Here are the parts for step 6 painted but unassembled.

Then a bird's-eye view of the complete assembly with a penny for size reference.

Thanks for the insights, Eric.  I agree about the rails and rigging.  I usually put at least some rigging up, but haven't done any rails yet; but if that's the last thing to go on, I can probably add some deck rigging later to ships I've finished.  

Do you think thinned white glue would be enough to hold rails in place?  I'm not sure I'd trust myself with applying superglue to such a narrow area.

One more thing concerning ships. You don't need to use a whole PE detail set to get a good ship model. However, a ship really needs railings and very basic rigging. And you don't have to go overboard at all. Putting railing on the main deck is very easy on a battleship.  At 700 scale Tom's Model Works offers generic railings and ladders for $8. I"d use Tom's over White Ensign because it's less fine and a little tougher. I'd get some tacky glue like Aleene's to set the railing and then carefully put a little Super Glue on to keep it steady. That's probably the last thing to do. As for rigging, even six or eight lines with make a dramatically better ship than one unrigged. An hour of tying and connecting lines between the main masts, bow and stern will greatly improve a ship. (Crazies spend weeks doing it - no idea how.)  I like 1lb monofilament fly fishing line, but fly tying line works well and so will a coated thread. If you haven't looked around on the gallery at Modelwarships.com you really should. Don't be intimidated by the works of the fanatics over there, but it's an extraordinary resource. Ships are wonderful topics for mortals too. They're also trumps for display. The only model I have that will draw the eye of the people that see my stuff the way my ships do is a biplane.  

Eric

Ships are very modular so a different approach toward painting is required. One of the things good ship builders know is how much to do in one chunk. Briefly put, it's almost essential to do a lot of brush work on a ship. Particularly with some of the very complicated camo schemes, a lot of ship modelers will use the airbrush on the hull, the deck (before anything is put on it) and maybe a base coat on the superstructure. From there on out masking becomes almost impossible for some painting schemes. For what it's worth, some of the best styrene and resin ship builders in the world use the hand brush as the primary even only weapon. (On my last ship I airbrushed the hull, and put on a base coat on the deck. Most of the superstructure and the "planking" done to color the deck was all by hand - far more than I'd do with either a tank or plane. Pic below.) Because of scale weathering really must be done differently. You can see why a lot of modelers will build aircraft and armor but almost never a ship. It's a different drummer - but you will learn a lot.

Eric

Thanks, Trey.  Very kind comments.  I hope to progress to more PE stuff in the near future.  I bought a Hasegawa set, but it didn't come with instructions, and, anyway, I misiplaced it somewhere, so Alabama is strictly OOB.

CMK that is so cool putting the penny in there for scale referance ,makes it even more impressive thinking of the skill required to pull that off! My hat is off to you Sir!

Thanks for the compliment, Doug; and for the suggestion--although, I might have to get a new apron.  I'm afraid the little parts would get caught in the ruffles.  

CMK... Man... You are the ship builder extraordinare' I would go nuts trying to keep track of those parts much less trying to paint and assy too! Gotta give it to you brother... not to mention EB(Eric) building a smaller one! Hey, I got tired of crawling around on the garadge floor chasing parts, and got a cheap apron at a thrift store, taped it to the bottom of my bench, and when working "small parts" I slip it on and when parts get dropped they usually wind up in the apron. Just a thought... Keep the pictures coming! Great work!

Doug

Unfortunately, a missing 20mm even in 1/700 leaves a noticeable gap in the armaments, if it's not there--and so I've come to a new aesthetic appreciation of the kitchen tile.

Looking for dropped parts, i am not sure i would even bother at that size. People keep commenting about the detail that we get in 72nd aircraft. They really need to have a lok at this.

Thanks, Trey.  I appreciate the comment.  It's not so bad, really, but I find myself on the floor alot, looking for dropped parts.

Here are photos of construction step 5.

Parts unassembled:

Parts assembled.

Thanks for looking.

Wow thats some seriously tiny detail work ,my eyes hurt just looking at it. Great stuff CMK. I'm hung up on a build B-17 so its still going to be a while before I start on the Me410 but I'll get it in before the g/b ends!

O i bet it does.

Thanks, Bish.  The Optivisor comes in handy for things like this!

Thats some detailed work there CMK, very nice.

Some odds and ends from BB-60.

Alabama carried 52 20mm cannon; the kit provides myriads.  I stopped counting at 77.

Then there is construction step 3:  painted but unassembled.

Now assembled.

Next, the painting stage for bits and pieces for construction steps 4 and 5.

Finally, the completed construction step 4.

 Thanks for looking. 

Eric:  Glad to see another naval subject.  Being relatively new to ship building, I'm looking forward to learning some new and better techniques.

First question:  how will you go about painting additional colors on the parts you've already assembled?  Will you use a brush?  It seems that masking and airbrushing would be very difficult in such a small scale.

Going to have a second naval subject. Am building a Midshipman Models 1/700 Gridley - from which we'll make USS Maury and 1/700 Tamiya Shiratsuyu which we'll turn into Shigure. These two were among the most famous warships in the South Pacific and met at Vella Gulf in August 1943 in the first truly decisive US surface victory over the IJN. More on that later. Gridley/Maury underway.

Eric

Thanks for sharing, Very cool aryicle. Another thing I had read that makes a nice looking water is a heavy clear artist gel. It takes a long time to dry (appx 24 hrs) but can be worked to show some pretty convincing waves. Any way, thanks again for the article. Cant wait to see your progress on this one!

Take care...

Doug

Nice work on the water, Doug, and the forced perspective is outstanding.  Really makes for an interesting scene that draws the viewer into the action.

Here's the article link I found.

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=2527&page=1

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Thanks, again, Doug.  I will look at your work.  Foil sounded easier to work with than plaster and gels and stuff, plus I'm not sure I want to "sink" the ships into something permanent, when I've had no experience making waves.

Checkmate... I did a foil water scene one time on pg 18 of the Gruman Iron Works GB last year, It looked pretty good I guess, a little tough straightening out the crumpled foil with out tearing, but all in all it made a convincing water. I love ships, specially the old battle ships like your doing, but every time I stray from my beloved Luftwaffe, I always wind up back there.  Really enjoying your work so far... Keep up the good work !

Doug

Construction step two.

Masked and unmasked turrets for the main battery.

Components for  the 16 inch guns.

Assembled 16 inch guns, with a bottle cap for size reference.

Thanks, Doug.  I found an article on the net about making "water" with aluminum foil.  Thought I'd try that when it comes time to take finished photos.

Forgot to ask, are you going to "float her"? Diorama plans? They look so good in water scenes.

Doug

This is gonna be a cool looking ship build! Great work so far!

Doug

Construction step one.

Little parts:

Assembled parts: