Cursed Black Pearl (Zvezda 1/72)

Flint

I cannot for the life of me remember which rigging thread I used. I remember I bought it online, and bought a lot of it. It was natural colour which I then soaked in a mixture of black and grey paint to give it an uneven grey colour.

The crates and barrels were made from scratch using styrene sheets and Fimo respectively.

Hope that’s of some help.

Flint

 

Flint, my son-in-law saw your model and would like for me to attempt to build one for him. I explained that my level of expertise is not as good as yours, but I would be willing to try.

Can you tell me the manufacture of you kit, there are several and I am not sure which one to get. He also would prefer one with LED lights in it. He likes that sort of stuff.

Thanks

Joe

Nice, very nice!

If I ever could get to the point of producing something like this, I would consider myself an expert modeler.

Your photos are also outstanding.

Joe

I cannot for the life of me remember which rigging thread I used. I remember I bought it online, and bought a lot of it. It was natural colour which I then soaked in a mixture of black and grey paint to give it an uneven grey colour.

The crates and barrels were made from scratch using styrene sheets and Fimo respectively.

Hope that’s of some help.

Flint

Hi Flint! Would you please share where did you get those crates and barrels that size and texture. And what rigging sizes in diameter are?

Flint, when I was building my train layouts, Iwould do a lot of light weathering. My wife still said my layout looked like Disney Land. Guess I didn't weather enough. I really love what you do. Are you building the big Victory?

Thanks Gene. I like things to look worn and weathered. Gives them character. I’m still working on HMS Victory 1797, but it had to go on the back burner for a while. So tired at the end of the day, some early nights beckoned. I’ll give that a slightly weathered look too. I want it to look like it’s been at sea for a while - seen a few conflicts. 

Flint

Really a great build & super weathering. Somehow I missed it the first time.It takes a lot of guts to weather like that, but it sure paid off great. What are you buildding now? Models never stop being fun.

    I just realized, today would have been my mom's 124th birthday. She was a sweet little lady & we all loved her.      Gene

Nice tips there Don .

I should add that I paint solely with brushes and use a scalpel for scraping off paint. I had an airbrush given to me about 25 years ago. Used it 3 times, clogged-up everytime, threw it in the bin! 

Flint

Isaac W

Hi Flint!

Me again. I'm working on my paint job but I must know how you weathered the hull to look like that it's so fantastic! I tried doing a base coat of grey and then painting black over and sanding it to get the proud area weathered but it just doesn't look great. Any tips?

 

You may have missed a layer there. I did:

Primer

Driftwood colour

Dark grey (then scrape off areas)

Burnt Umber oil wash

Black (for the charred bits)

Red and Gold details

Top tip though; treat every plank of wood differently. It’s time consuming, but looks more convincing. 

Flint

Hi Flint!

Me again. I'm working on my paint job but I must know how you weathered the hull to look like that it's so fantastic! I tried doing a base coat of grey and then painting black over and sanding it to get the proud area weathered but it just doesn't look great. Any tips?

Just as everyone else said... Very nice work.  You should take pride in your model.  Well done. 

T e d

Thanks folks. If you want to weather yours like mine, just leave it out for six months and get friendly with the spiders in your house

Flint

Fantastic job Flint! I have the Pearl in my stash and your work makes me want to blow the dust off (and maybe save it) and start working on her right away.

Love the work you have done and the natural weathering really adds to her.....Cheers mark

Thanks Isaac. Sorry for the very late reply; I’ve been super busy.

I made the cabin from scratch using styrene sheets and made the two siren columns by casting two of the plastic sirens supplied in plaster and then building the rest of the columns with styrene. I vaguely remember having to score new planks into the deck also. The staircases were also made from scratch, as was the binnacle and the frame for the helm/wheel. There was quite a lot of modifications to do to get it looking as it was in the first film. Happy to answer more questions (and quicker too!)

Flint

Hey Flint, AMAZING MODEL!!!! I just picked this kit up and I was wondering how you dis teh Great-cabin Bulkhead because i know that is not how the kit comes. Thanks!!

-Isaac

Flint - thank you for explaining how you achieved the barnacle effect on the hull. 

"Well shave me belly with a rusty razor! Ye certainly stayed true to giving this galleon thee proper atmosphere that she deserves. She be's lookin' like a real beauty!"

Flint

I started with priming it and then painted all the woodwork a sunbleached/driftwood colour. After allowing that to dry rock-hard, I then over painted the whole thing a mid grey tone. Once that was dried I took a blunt scalpel and carefully scraped off the grey paint along proud areas of each plank and any areas I wanted to look a bit worn. Then it was a wash of burnt umber oil paint, which was immediately wiped off so that it would sit in any recesses. After that, it was a layer of dappled black to simulate the charring that occurred in the story of its incarnation as the Pearl after being burnt, sunk and resurrected. Finally, I added the small areas of red and hints of gold to show it’s original build as the Wicked Wench.

BTW. Thanks for sharing your work flow. It is interesting process that I might try someday. Excellent work. I love it.

Thanks Steve, and everyone else for your comments. Had a lot of fun (and stress) making it. I wanted to make it look ragged and weathered, so it just had to have fouling. The rigging's also done in a deliberately sorry state. 

That is one awesome model sir! As with everyone else, I love the marine growth especially but it is all fabulous.

Steve

THAT is why they had to careen ships before they invented copper plating.  Excellent work!

What Bill (GMorrison) said, +1

AHA ! ! 

 There's nothing that beats natural ageing in a dusty cobwebby place . AWESOME ! ! !  It looks just like her in the film ! And she looks like she hasn't been careened ( Bottom Scraped ) for a while !

It's forgotten from this to now .Did I forget to say AAARGH !

The pictures in the dark are somewhat reminiscent of Saint Elmos fire!

Thanks everyone for your comments

Thanks for the warm welcome. Speaking of dirt, that's what the fouling was made from. I stuck dried mud on the hull using clear acrylic varnish and then mixed more soil with various shades of flock into a paste to build up the more textured parts. Black and white flock was used on top of the bult up areas to look like barnacles.

I've done the same kit in black , but your's is way cooler than mine , might take a lighter to the sails , just for a bit more effect . great job .

steve5