Ships of the American Flag GB 2019 -2021

Ben and Chris, awesome fine scale work!

This kit was as snap to put together.  (pun)

Now to start adding all the PE.  It came with a full suite of radars and railings. This model will also be a good one to hone up my rigging skills.

Awesome Chris. I think those hose reels are going to work out well 

I have some 1/350 IJN guys ordered from HLJ but tjey aren't in stock, so I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting 

I do have plenty of guys for the NC though. 

In amongst all the car and house projects I got a little modeling time. My Flory washes came in from England last week, I watched the video of applying washes to the Iowa Jima. Based on that Iput a few coats of satin clear on the deck, island, and gray hull sides in preparation. Ill wait a few days before starting so look forward to that later in the week.

 I'm half way through the hose reels. It's been so hard to get motivated on these that i think you can see dust build up in the tray lol

Never did find any steps on how to assemble them. For anyone who searches hose reels on here in the future I'm going to post a few pics to help them out.

then the frame was glued onto 1 side. 

then i folded them, leaving the top PE spine in place to hold it all together. Doing it without this was a real pita! It's just so much to hold onto without springing parts across the room

then fold the frame over and complete the glue joint with CA in the open end of a needle!

And then lastly the 1st set of 144(now 143) sailors were painted. Just have to gloss coat them. Found 4 more packages of them in Japan Super cheap. Unfortunately shipping took most of that away but they still ended up being $6each cheaper than the ones on ebay.

That's it for this weekend. There's a few more nights working in the garage this week, then trying to get an old car running before i get back to her. That should guarantee I give the clear coat planty of time to dry before the wash is applied 

Ben,

I have no idea about the composition of the tub flooring however yo your other point regarding the turet color, they may have been lighter due to sun fading. Just a guess here. 

Scottrc: that is looking really nice in color and the hull red looks perfect. 

UPDATE: I got all of the basecoat on my Arizona and will now begin painting some of the detal along with construction of the superstructure deck splinter shields for the 5" deck guns. 

If you remember, I am going after a look in the late January early February 1941 paint scheme. This is the time that it just left the Puget Sound Naval Yard. The modifications to the Arizona while there included the addition of the birdbath with the 50 cal guns on top of the main top, etc. That means that mine will be all Standard Navy Gray #5 (before April 1941). To me it seems that everybody I see who built this kit applied the two tone Measue 1 so I wanted something just a little different. Since I still wanted to have the OSU2 planes along with nearly all of the modifications up until the Pearl Harbor assignment, this seemed like the best period for my build. The main gun turrets 1,2 and 4 will also have the red tops. 

Now, back to the splinter shields... I am trying to determine if the front (round) tubs on the superstructure deck had a wood or metal floor. I believe they are suppose to be metal, can anyone confirm that for me? (I have seen models built both in wood and metal). The ships drawings I have and the photos I could find do not show that little area. 

Another thing I see on all of the photos from 1939 to early 1941 (prior to the Measue 1 paint); all of the main gun turrets appear to be in more of a lighter color that the rest of the ship. They look somewhere between 5L light gray and a light haze gray. Am I correct?

Below is a photo showing an example of the pre-shading and base color applied to the #3 turret and funnel:

And now the fun begins!

Ben

scottrc

Thanks Steve and John.

John, I like your caption from Oddball, thats the attitude I need man.

 

If I can't, I just fake it. 

Thanks Steve and John.

John, I like your caption from Oddball, thats the attitude I need man.

Oh my Scott , you sure have made great progress since the last update.

Really looking great Scott.

I'm back for now. Using Edge seems to be working.  Got all the painting done and started assembling.  This kit was designed to be a snap together, so the assembly is interesting to say the least.

Hang in there Scott. I read what Aaron had to say so they are aware of the problem. I was able to get back on a few days ago myself. It;s odd how it affects one person deffrently than another.

Nice work here.  Glad others can post.  I can't. keep getting knocked off every five minutes. Having major problems with this website and don't know If I can put up with it much longer.  Got a lot a work done on the Missouri to show.

Awesome Ben! My compressor has been pumping for about as long. I would like to install a foot switch on it some day.

Terry, that's an old 1955 kit, a classic. Being such an old mold I'm surprised it's going together as well as it looks like it is. It's looking sweet and is going to look fantastic with lights! Don't fret the time, you have all you need. 

Hello again guys, and apologies for the long absence (and equally long post, there is a lot of catching up to do)!

I know it's been about six months since I last posted an update, but my build was somewhat delayed by the "current global situation" (to use a handy euphemism).

Basically, I decided to add fiber optics to the SS United States, as not only do lights help brighten up a ship, but I wanted to get a bit of practice with using fiber optic cable for another project I have planned...

Anyway, I ordered some optical fiber from China early in 2020... shortly before everything was shut down! It finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, so I was able to resume progress.

So, after seeing all these beautiful ships nearing completion (or already finished), what have I got done?

Er...

Nothing much. For whatever reason, I decided back at the start of the year to put in the fibers first, then do the assembly. I guess I just assumed that the ancient Revell parts would fit perfectly, and that I could putty and sand around the fibers and portholes.

Well, that certainly wasn't going to happen!

First off, there was a massive step in the hull. I guess it was supposed to mark out where the waterline goes, but it made the hull look like it wasn't quite joined up properly. There were also some rather substantial sink marks in the bow, which are particularly unfortunate on a ship model...

So, I spent a couple of weeks (and a lot of putty) smoothing it out to get to this: 

Having done that, I test-fitted the bow section and superstructure. Guess what - more gaps! I should have done this months ago, while waiting for the fiber optic stuff to arrive (and while I had all the time in the world to do it) but hey, better late than never, right?

So, I glued in the superstructure sections, applied a bit more putty, and got to work sanding it all smooth. 

And that's as far as I've gotten at present. I've still got a lot more filling and sanding to do before the United States actually looks like a ship, rather than a loosely organised collection of plastic parts, but at least this kit's not being neglected any more. And, now that I've got all the necessary bits to build her the way I planned (well, most of the necessary bits at least), it means that I'll hopefully be able to provide more frequent updates on my progress!

Terry

Got a feeling the Eclipse is going to end up being your "go to".

My new toys arrived, compressor, airbrush(s)...... My 30 yr old compressor fuzed solid as did my 35 year old airbrush. Here are the replacements ready to paint the Arizona.

This was l-o-n-g over due. I'm stoked and ready to paint / build.

Ben

modelcrazy

I'm happy you're not giving up on it. I have a 1/700 Dragon Tarawa if you want it to help out.

Thanks for the offer, but I think what I've got should solve the issue. The biggest problem is the Peleliu kit just isn't out that anywhere, so the #5 decals I need may be a huge problem. The parts are the biggest issue and the kit I just ordered is a DML which is the same kit as my Dragon, so parts shouldn't be an issue. Fingers crossed.

BK

Chris: I used thin wire that is used for holding mesh and decorations on wreaths. I would have used sprue but I suck at stretching it so I gave up on it. I do have some clear sprue in my next build so I will have to save it for later.

Steve: Nice to see you back. This was a great place to start for my first group build. 

I'm with you Ben, I finally got back on 

Oh well, it's working now.

Ben, looking fabulous! Love the seascape!

John, outstanding! I'll get you up on the wall. You really did a great job on her  and the sea really sets it off.

Here's your ribbon Captain.

BK. sorry to here that

I'm happy you're not giving up on it. I have a 1/700 Dragon Tarawa if you want it to help out.

Drums you had me laughing at the dinner table! That last shot of the waves in the foil is the money shot. This one's gonna be a show stopper.

Keyserj that carrier is beautiful! I think the contrast on your deck is spot on. That darker almost black color with the landing strip much lighter gray is it! The water base really brings it togther and makes the carrier itself stand out. Did you use a clear rod or do I remember you saying you were using sprue originally? In either case i had a similar experience to you and when i pInted it white it looked sooo much better. Didn't seem like it should but that's the way the light scatters i guess ;-)

I've had a massive set back on the Peleliu. I was putting some finishing paint work down by hand on the sides and the kit literally rapid rolled out of my hand and went deck down on the work bench. Now the super structure was not attached yet and was set aside, but the upper details and ALL the antenna shattered and went POOF. I can't find any of it, and I've really looked. SIgh!!!

I never really liked how it was turning out and I regret not putting on PE railings and such. SO, since I don't have the spare bits to fix the damage I ordered another Tarawa kit and will either rob parts or completely start over. I did also order a full PE set for it was well. Fortunately, I have the Peleliu super structure intact. The kit I ordered is not the Peleliu so the decals won't work. I may not like doing it again, but at least I have some experience with it to know where I made my mistakes before. I'll post up some pics later.

BK

Ben: I always enjoy your updates, you go so in depth about what you have acomplished.

Since the forum went down, I put the final touches on the Kitty Hawk and released her from dry dock. I would like to give a big thanks to everyone for your tips, without them this model would not have turned out the way it did.

Please use this first photo for the front page Steve.

For those of you who might ask, I did go back and paint the rod holding up the Viking that is making its landing approach after I took these photos. It is now white so that it blends in better.

Sorry everyone about the slow updates but I was one of those that was locked out and in a loop preventing me from accessing the forum for over a week. Also some summer projects and honey do lists have pulled me away from the build just a little. I also fuzed my old airbrush compressor that I use for my airbrush solid. It was over 30 yrs old and the cheapest one on the market back then. I guess I can't complain as 30 yrs isn't bad for something like that. Considering much of the remaining model is going to be sprayed, I had to re-think what I could do while waiting for it to arrive.

I started pre-shading some of the assemblies. While many of you already know about the pre-shading technique, some may not. My thought behind the shading is to force more visual depth and perspective. I hand painted the areas beneath the assemblies in a darker gray. Next I determine the desired orientation of the sun in the models display. When spraying the hull and superstructure top color I will spray it all at the same angle to achieve the soft shadows beneath. Here are some of the assemblies with the pre-shading done.





I did managed to get some of the kit sprayed before the compressor melted to include the first coat on the hull and several parts of the superstructure. Next I applied paint to the superstructure decks that were painted. Afterwards I marked out the places on the painted decks where the superstructure rooms would be and painted the interior floors. Within each brass room section of the superstructure I painted the inside light gray (almost white) like in the actual ships of the period. My plan is to detail inside the rooms a little and add people. I figure if you add people in the rooms you want to see them, right? I suppose if I was going to light the structure, like on some wonderful carrier build in this string, then perhaps I could forego these details and have some striking silouhettes (you all know who I'm talking about). While I love the lighted carrier option, I do not want to venture into that phase of building for this kit.

Here are the levels of the superstructure with the floors painted. Any color showing from beneath the rooms once attached will be touched up with USN Deck color. While I am not happy with the little bit of grit in the painted deck, I believe that after the dull coat and adding people, the little bit of grit will not be seen. 



Next I began painting the broadside guns. If you recall, I am wanting to show them with the canvas covers deployed. Looking at period photos, the canvas covers quickly bleached out to a lighter color than the ship's paint, looking something like this.





Here are the painted guns (the barrels will be painted later). 



And here they are test fitted to the hull to compare the colors, I think they look OK once assembled. There will also be some other small variations of gray in the build for areas  such as the open doors, main guns, rafts, highlights, etc. I hope some of that reflection on the hull comes through after the water is painted, that would be neat.



Regarding the display base, first I shaped the waves in the foam a little more, then I added the crinkled / stretched aluminum foil around the foam insert. To ensure a tight test I used the lower half of the hull to form the foil. As it dried I added to top half of the hull to see how it would lay, here is the results.



This shows a better formation of the water (waves) in the foil.



Much more to come..... and thanks for following along.   

Ben

Chris, your wife has a good idea with the pegs from game of life. Hasbro and ebay probably sell replacement parts so that you wouldn't have to buy a whole game of life set.

Bruce I have you down.

Chris, yes, life is expensive. I need about 2 more IJN pilots kits but Northstar are out of stock and it takes up to four months to receive.

Was telling my wife about looking for all the people I needed on my carrier...546 by my calculations. Was explaining the different options we chatted about and that after laying them out on the deck I decided to order a sprue of the Tamiya guys, 144 in a lot and they are 3d. She said...ohhh, like the peg people in the game of life? Visualize my hand hitting forhead lol. Now, it turns out Life is popular so the $17 Tamiya people are cheaper, also a good laugh. We then went to the game of battleship thinking those pegs are already white. No luck there though. Although they are nice and cheap they are 20mm tall. Dang.

Anyway hope you enjoyed my miscellaneous ramblings about how the ordinary can possibly end up adorning our models someday 

Fleet Admiral Steve,

Would you add to my fleet a 1/350 Cyber-Hobby USS Independence LSC-2, please?

However, I'll probably make her in to the USS Cincinnati LCS-20.

Thanks!

Wow! Chris, she looks amazing! I can't wait to see this build up close!

That is awesome looking Chris!

goldhammer

I think he quit counting long ago, and I doubt he has all of them in the gif.

Yep, at last count I have 65 badges, but not all of them are in the GIF and that was a couple years ago! Like GH said, I quit counting long ago. I should go through and update now that you reminded me.

just gorgeous mongoose , that 2nd to last shot really shows the deck weathering .