Chih Who? WIP.....The Finer Details....9/18

It doesn't have to have a lot of guns on it to make you a ship modeler.

mfsob

It doesn't have to have a lot of guns on it to make you a ship modeler.

And I for one am glad it doesn't have all those tedious flak/AA guns, hehe.

Hey Vance, good to have some of Manny's Minions tagging along!!

Moving right along, I began the task of masking off for the white on the upper parts of the hull and sprayed it followed by masking of the lower hull and spraying it with a mix of about 80/20 Tamiya Red/Red Brown. I like the shade. Then went ahead and painted the decks with another custom mix of Tamiya paint. It was done with about a 60/40 mix of Desert Sand/White. I like it better than my previous deck colors but not sure I'm sold on it yet. Here are the pics......

Feedback will be welcomed!!! Thanks for tuning in......

Looking good---I think that deck color is pretty good---a wash should make it pop and tone it down a bit...

Wow a model being built. I like that. Here are my comments:

The red looks really good.

Make sure when you use black, it's gray. Yours looks good. I like the Pollyscale colors "Steam Power Black" and "Engine Black". Got a big stash.

I'm not so sure about the deck. It's pretty yellow. It looks like a good base but you will be working from dark to light. A good weathered deck color is good old USN Light Gull Gray.

I would think that deck house in the middle would not be deck tan on top. More probably paint. Who knows what color, I would guess black.

I would/ will replace those bridge supports with much lighter gage stuff.

Last, your model shows what is so instructive about this era.You've set up the Citadel.

Thanks for chiming in Manny and Bondo.

Yeah, I agree the deck color is still too bright. Going to go over it with something a bit lighter and try to blend them both in and tone it down to more of a worn color.

Not sure about the roof of the deckhouse. Just really going by the paint guide on it as I dont know a whole lot about these ships.

Citadel??

Well kit color instructions are notorious for being wrong. Unless that roof was wood decking, it would have been canvas or metal, and probably painted. I always tend to think that surfaces that are canvas, and other fabric stuff like boat covers and "blast bags" get painted a common color on account of a "for canvas" paint in the locker.

I spent the evening going through Wright's book and there's no answer, but the best clues would be "what would the British do".

Who knows?

It looks like she had a machine gun on a stand at the extreme peak and stern as well.

The Battle of the Yalu River makes a good read in Wright's book. Unlike Tsushima and Jutland in later years, the idea of torpedo boat screens, and certainly destroyer screens had not been developed, so the ships went at each other with 8" and 12" guns at 6000 yards or so.

I can't wait for my battleship.

After reading this thread, I've just ordered one of these kits. It looks a real gem.

There's a good photo of an 'Elswick' class cruiser here that might be of some use:

http://www.tomorrows-history.com/images/content/NE/NE0500240001.jpg

It was usual practice in Britain to cover charthouse roofs (and the like) with painted canvas. If no one walked on it, it would be unusual to leave it planked! The lead-based paint used started out white, but became off-white/grey very quickly- within weeks.

Will

Billyboy

After reading this thread, I've just ordered one of these kits. It looks a real gem.

Very nice pic!! There is a thread over on modelwarships with this link about this ship. I use the built in translator in IE but there are some great picture links at the bottom of the page. Even some recent color pics of one of the life preservers from the ship that give a good idea about the yellow used.

This kit in particular has the roof with molded planking. Are you guys suggesting to go ahead and paint it maybe an off shade of white?? I'm building it in a pre-war setting fitted with guns that were taken of for the batttle.

Working some more on the deck to try and tone down the base and achieve more of a worn/faded color, I set to work with some artists oils. Using a blend of paynes gray/white/burnt umber in a ratio that I couldnt even begin to guess, I brushed the oils on over the whole deck. Then came back with a wide flat brush with clean thinner on it , almost dry, and began to work the concoction into the paint. It lightened it up quite a bit and I am feeling much better about the deck color now. Thoughts???

Jester75

 

This kit in particular has the roof with molded planking. Are you guys suggesting to go ahead and paint it maybe an off shade of white?? I'm building it in a pre-war setting fitted with guns that were taken of for the batttle.

If there's planking moulded, then I suppose they must have some evidence to suggest it was a planked deck! If however there's no way of the crew gaining access to it, and indeed we're talking about a light deck structure, I would be surprised if it would be planked like that. If you went down the route of painting it white- then it would have been covered in canvas, so in this scale no planking would be visible.

I wonder whether plans for this ship, or one of her near 'sisters' exist in the UK. I'll try to dig around.

Will

Here is a scan from the instrucions on the offending part. As you can see, it has a machingun platfrom attached to the rear of it and Bronco has me putting rails on it (which I guess doesn't necessarily mean that its right).

I'd say they've got that right- looks like it should be planked. I was thinking more of charthouse roofs and things like that.

Will

Billyboy

I'd say they've got that right- looks like it should be planked. I was thinking more of charthouse roofs and things like that.

Will

Man, time really does fly. Sorry for the long delay, lots of stuff going on and no time for modeling unfortunately I started weathering the deck again and tried to get some different shading for the planks. I am really happy with how it looks right now and I think this is how it will stay. I have yet to put a darker wash in the panel lines for the individual planks, but that should really make it pop. Working on the smaller stuff for the forward deck now, hopefullly more pics soon....

About time you worked on this MOJO...you trying to break the record on longest ship build (which your Tirpitz now holds)?

Deck is MUCH better in shade, IMO...you nailed it...looks almost like an AM real wood deck...

Looking forward to seeing more fixtures added---front casemate looks cool...

Thanks Manny, I think Isn't that the same record that DITCY Part 2 holds over in dioramas????

Added a oil wash to the deck to make the planks pop using a color slightly darker than that deck color. Pretty pleased with how it turned out although it did darken the deck more than I had hoped. Next time I will probably go much lighter on the initial deck color and let the wash bring right down into place.

Also got the lifeboats finished with the exception of the PE oars. There is alot of detail in these little lifeboats and they almost became like little kits of their own. Put a wash in the bottoms to make the details pop a bit and then drybrushed over it with some white artist oil.

Thanks for taking a gander, more to come soon hopefully.....

Nicely done...yep, washes always darken what they are applied to---still looks good

Those boats look like just about the best plastic ships boat in 1/350 that I've ever seen. Impressive kit!

Will

No kidding about the detail on those boats, wow! 

Good job on toning down the deck color and some washes on the hull, it was looking too bright and clean, more like an ocean liner and not a warship.

Thank ya gentlement!! Hopefully some more progress soon.....

I'm not holding my breath....

I am, for my kit. By the time it comes everyone else will be finished and have moved on to the next subject. Oh, well, live and learn. I shoulda not ordered the kit and the deck together.

Don't sweat it bondo, I'm sure it will arrive before you know it. I have begun cutting and forming the PE for the kit but I am finding the attachment points to be much thicker and tougher to cut away than other PE. I normally use a chisel blade or a #11 blade and cut into a steel ruler but some of the PE is so delicate that its actually bending before it cuts. What do you guys use to cut the PE from the sprue when its really fine ( such as railings and the likes) but hard to cut from the fret??

I usually use a single edge razor blade against glass.

I have a set of Xurons with the blue handles (somewhere)

I use a Xuron with the blue handle. i also grab my safety goggles. i usually work on models without my glasses because they are too strong for close up work. sometimes i wear my computer glasses when working on models. but I ALWAYS put on my wrap around safety glasses when cutting PE.

i have 2 of these plus the sister ship and one of the "battleships". i bet i can take longer to build mine than you can (at least until i get comfortable with air brushing). can't wait to get started but i have a bunch i want to finish up by the end of the year (12 or so)

bondoman

I am, for my kit. By the time it comes everyone else will be finished and have moved on to the next subject. Oh, well, live and learn. I shoulda not ordered the kit and the deck together.

I ordered the battleship, plus a KA deck for it, from Freetime Hobbies. I just haven't had a chance to chase them abt it. It was on sale for $ 40 or so marked down from $ 60ish. Still got charged $ 90 or so total etc. THEN I get an email saying my status is changed from "shipped" to "backordered". I waste so much time blathering on line, I guess I'll go dig out the email now and see what I can do. Woulda been nice to have this weekend.

Just dropped Brandon an email. We'll see wotappens.