1/350 USS Indianapolis CA-35 (Academy) COMPLETE

Well, I made an executive decision and ordered the Deck Grey 20 (Vallejo 995 German Grey, which is IPMS's Vallejo equivalent). I figured that since the Indy was repaired/overhauled mid 45 and the measure color change was made in Feb 45 (mostly due to the lack of blue, so my research has uncovered), that I'd go with the grey.

Steve

Steve,

I'll be keeping an eye on this build, I have the same kit.

Are you going to use any AM for the build, or you doing OOB?

OOB. It looks pretty detailed already. I looked at the PE sets, and I still may go for the hand rails. I did order Eduard's 1/350 Scale US Navy Sailors though.

I'm starting the Indy tonight. Here's a pic of the bagged parts, and while I'm not installing any PE, I am going to populate the decks with wee little PE sailors. Since they are flat and 2D, I'm going to apply a touch of white glue to add a little depth. I also plan on displaying it in heavy seas, and 1945 measure 22 paint referencing the "Camouflage Instructions - Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers, Destroyer Escorts, Assigned to the Pacific Fleet." C-S19-7(631) of 26 February, 1945.).

Will be tagging along on this one.

This should be a good one 

I have the hull together and the deck on. Tonight I'll spray the deck color, according to the 1945 Measure 22 stats "Apply Deck Gray (20) to decks and other horizontal surfaces exposed to weather.". 
I am pleased with the look and the fit of the kit so far. It has been outstanding. 

 Steve

Edit. the kit is longer that I had expected. You see it pictured on a TV tray.

Ship camouflage 1941 - 1945

Well, we had our open house today. There were some interested parties. We'll see. Good news, I have the garage set up and the temperature was 63 today, so after our open house, I did a little work on the Indy.
I sprayed the Deck Grey 20, which is supposed to be equivalent to Vallejo's German Grey. I was convinced that it was WAY too dark.

However, I did a search and found a picture of the Indianapolis model at the Indiana War Museum. Now I'm happy with the color.
 
Next, I'll start on the superstructure. Come on PE. I figure I have maybe another week or two waiting for it to arrive from Australia.

I decided to build the 20 mm AA guns first. I have 32 more to build.
 

Steve

Good Luck on the house.

The look  of the build is outstanding so far.  Those huge 20mm s will, no doubt, be a treat.

I am very impressed with the kit so far. I can't wait to get the PE in (I broke down and bought some) to see which parts need to be kept and which need to be tossed. I'm a little hesitant to continue until I get then. The guns and such are pretty safe, but I can't be for certain.

I finally received the PE from Australia today, so I can get back on the Indy.

Yikes! I have to use the microscope at work to see these ladders to bend the 4 little tabs. There are several more to do, along with the 20mm gun sights.

Unbelievable. This may take a while.

OK here's crazy man's update for tonight. 
The life boats, davits, aft gun tubs, and whatever those barrel racks are?? (maybe someone else knows, I never have) were completed tonight. The instructions call out for me to install the davits and life boats now. Are they nuts? They would break off and get lost if I looked at them wrong, let alone the whole building and painting process. Duh.
Check out the life boat propellers. I believe they are the smallest I have to fiddle with on this PE set. A whole lot of good they did in the end though.

Steve

MC,

 I think the barrel racks may be depth charges, though I've not heard of cruisers carrying them they kinda look like them.  They appear too short to be torpedo tubes.

Groot

Nice work on those little details.

Groot,

I thought they may be depth charges as well, but after a search, DC racks look more like rails that 50 gal barrels can roll on. Stickpusher believes they may be smoke canisters. I can't find any photographic evidence either way. Not yet anyway. Things like this are a mission to me. I won't stop until I find an answer.

Im building the 1/700 Indy and working with the PE is a challenge

Bill

wjbwjb29

Im building the 1/700 Indy and working with the PE is a challenge

Here's tonight progress. I built up some life rafts, watertight doors and installed the PE to the #2 turret.
Tomorrow night I think I'm going to build up the AA guns and finish turret #1 and #3. Wait till you see the AA guns. I'm going crosseyed. Thank goodness for the Optivisor.
 
Steve

RobGroot4

MC,

 I think the barrel racks may be depth charges, though I've not heard of cruisers carrying them they kinda look like them.  They appear too short to be torpedo tubes.

Groot

Check this out Groot. Stickpusher thought he remembered what they were and found this wed page. Learn something new every day.

"They are indeed smoke generators. Look at this page and scroll down. I know that my memory was not playing tricks on me"

http://www.bosamar.com/pages/bosc14

OK, I may have been a little too ambitious with the amount I could do in an evening. This AA gun took me 2 hours, and I have 5 more to complete. I also have numerous other guns to complete.
I broke off the muzzles of 2 guns and they are almost impossible to reattach.
Does anyone know how Academy's customer service is?

You looking at seats, sites, ammo racks, elevation cranks, and tracks

Sometimes you just wanna throw in the towel on repetitive gun construction.

Plenty of other things to do, come back to it.

When you go to finish paint it, the whole thing except for the flexible seals should be gray.

Any chance to square off the ends of the barrels?

This is going to be a superdetailed model/

Yeah, I forgot to square them off before taking the pics, It was getting late and I still wanted to post the pics. I will probably try to drill out the barrels if possible (obviously just enough to see a hole).  I will likely finish the other 5 quads and the 8" turrets, then work on some superstructure for a break.

Thanks for the color advice, That keeps me from having to do research on B&W photos.

If I remember correctly, the actual barrel tube of the Bofors gun was dull, unpainted brass. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable can correct me on that point - or dig up a color photo.

For some reason I want to say the barrels were grey and the ribbed part black rubber.  If you google "WWII bofors gun" and look at the images you can find photos with both standard grey or a gunmetal looking barrel.  The ribbed part is definitely black.

MC, I'll definitely check out that site when I can, I always though shipboard smoke can from the stacks.  Fascinating!

Groot

I finished all 6 Quad Bofors tonight. I have several duel and single to make still. I think I'm going to take a break from guns for a little bit and work on some superstructure tomorrow night. There's plenty of PE for that as well.

I know all the barrels don't look perfect, however some of the muzzles were broken off when removing them from the tree. I found out the hard way, they are very brittle and very hard to reattach. If anyone builds this kit in the future, be aware of this.

I've been playing that game with a 1/350 U-Boat.  Short connection points + soft plastic = lots of broken delicate parts.

Your gunmounts look pretty solid to me.  I certainly can't tell where they broke.

Groot

Thanks Groot,

Here's some superstructure work. I'm planning on working the bridge and masts this weekend. Looks like I'm starting to make a dent in the PE sheets. 

Boy, I can see why the PE sets for ships cost so much now. It's not so much the manufacturing and materials, it's the time it took to measure and engineer ALL those wee little parts. I was working on the smoke stacks this weekend (I did't get much time between a grandson's birthday, showing the house and family issues) and the grate along the top of the stacks have 13 triangular braces. I could barely see them through my optivisor, let alone pick them up with my tweezers and just dip the edge onto a drop of glue. I don't know if anyone will ever notice all the tiny work I'm putting into this thing, but it should add to the the overall look. I will post pics of those insane smoke stacks when I complete them. Maybe tonight before bed.

In the end, my wife, you guys on the forum and I will know the extent to which I'm going. Ya'll just don't have to hear my string of curses like my wife does.

I also looked, in vane, for a base that would be suitable for the ocean scene. I could't find any long enough to do the "water" justice. Oh well, I will have to make one myself, which shouldn't be too hard. It will just be heaver than I would like. Some plywood and molding for the sides, and I think I have it. I'll start working on that soon and take some pics of that progress as well.

Hey ;

    I am so glad you decided to join the rest of us to continue doing things that totally " toast the ole optical orbs ". Methinks thou art doing a capitol job matey ! When'll the bridge be done so's I kin take me rightful place there ? AAAAAARGH !  Oops wrong ship ! He! He! Darned Great Job !

TB,

I was showing my wife last night, that what is just a little blow up square in the assembly drawings to show the bridge mast and range radar, I believe, takes 1 1/2 pages on the PE instructions. I think all that's left of the original kit is the mast and yard arm. Everything else is PE. The PE instructions (Eduard) show everything in red to be removed. Half of the mast is in red!

I think I'll go back to the guns for sanity.

Just kidding, I'm going to soldier on and do my absolute best. I want to be proud of this build.

By the way. I saw in my internet searching, that they are working on the Indianapolis story produced by Robert Downy Jr 

 Indianapolis movie

The write up is kinda confusing as it said the Indy was commanded by Spruance, then later in the article it says Capt. McVay. Spruance never commanded the Indy, but he may have been McVay's commander. Oh well, I guess it dose't matter. I would be interested to see that movie though.

It's pretty clear that the PR person who wrote that press release knew nothing about the story. Unfortunately quite a few PR people are like that.

Let's reserve judgment until the movie moves beyond a gleam in Mr. Downey's eye.

Quite a few years ago there was a TV movie about the subject. Stacy Keach played Captain McVay, and Richard Thomas was in it. As I remember, it didn't cover the captain's suicide. Much of it was shot on board the battleship Alabama, I believe. And I think I remember the "survivors" being picked up by a Grumman Albatross.

Later: a little googling turned up a little info on that TV movie. It was called "Mission of the Shark," and first aired in 1991. It's been released on video - though I wouldn't particularly recommend it.

Here's tonight's progress,

The stacks are done, and it may not look like much but this equates to 2 nights work. The second set of pictures show the PE instructions along with the kits instructions. The 2 small boxes in the upper left are the kits instructions on the left for the mast and gunnery radar, and the 1 1/2  pages on the right are the PE instructions for the same steps.

jtilley

Let's reserve judgment until the movie moves beyond a gleam in Mr. Downey's eye.

I agree. Hollywood absolutely does not impress me with their "Based on a true story" garbage. However, I keep hoping in vain that someone will recount a factual story. I guess the truth is just not as exciting. 

Ya'll ready for this? The forward mast, radars, and various radio antennas. A tidy nights work if I say so myself.

By the way, It's lying on tissue paper.

You've got to put the sub assy's in a LOCKED glass case to keep them out of harms way til needed.  

Fabulous work.  Thought the air was a little blue east of me the past few days

In addition to your really fine model work, your photography is darned nice. This is a great thread!

I looked into this movie, as it seems like maybe one too many about the subject at first blush.

It's actually an interesting premise.

Please forgive a recitation of information already on line, but it was a new story to me.

In 1997 a young man by the name of Hunter Scott became interested in the story after seeing Jaws.

He probably saw the TV movie as well at that point.

For a National History Day (imagine that) project he researched the incident, and interviewed 150 survivors. No doubt in some part because of his broad contact with them, and his unbiased viewpoint he became convinced that the Captain was innocent of the charges he was convicted of, namely putting the ship at risk through his own actions, and testified with them before Congress advocating McVay's exoneration. As a result, a Congressional Resolution was passed, signed by President Clinton in 2000, clearing the Captain.

A book was written about it, Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis by Pete Nelson. Scott wrote the forward.

That book is the basis of the movie. I plan to see it.

Separately it's always been my understanding that, Quints statement to the contrary, most all of the fatalities after the sinking were a result of exposure and injuries from the attack, after 100 hours in the water.

GMorrison

Separately it's always been my understanding that, Quints statement to the contrary, most all of the fatalities after the sinking were a result of exposure and injuries from the attack, after 100 hours in the water.

Yes, that was my understanding as well. Most of the survivors of the sinking perished of hypothermia, hypernatraemia, and the original injuries sustained by the attack, not as many shark attacks as we are led to believe. Although that undoubtedly was a factor.

GMorrison

In addition to your really fine model work, your photography is darned nice. This is a great thread!

Thank you sir, the praise is very much appreciated. I only hope I can continue to work to that level. Encouragement like yours certainly makes me want to continue to do better.

I had a slight mishap last night. I was working on the Indy's superstructure with all the associated PE on my usual TV tray workbench and my dog got tangled in the lamps extension cord. Well he started to panic and the TV tray, with everything on it, goes flying halfway across the room. My wife and I got down with a a flashlight and started looking for all the pieces. I was convinced that all the rails and radars I had so painstakingly built last night and the night before were destroyed. After locating all but one small piece of railing (which can be replaced from my generic USN railing PE set), I was able to repair the one piece that broke off. Who says CA is too brittle to hold?

Well needless to say, after repairing the broken assembly, I put the whole thing away for the night.

Steve

I'm sorry to hear about the mishap.  I've found a vacuum hose with junk pantyhose rubber banded over the end a great way to find missing pieces (when I remember to try that method!).  

Your mast looks incredible, would have easily take me 2 weeks!

Groot

I didn't think of that. Oh well, the 1 missing part can be replaced from the generic PE sheet, so this isn't a total disaster, just a setback.

Well , Now ain't that a bilge chiller !

   We'el Matey , Yer gotta keep the ships mascot under control or ya gotta keel- haul him .Argh , Once be enough matey . Don't let any of your friends see the panty hose you cut up in your parts drawer  , Ya , an don't be stealing the wifey's either !

Well, sorry it's been a little while since my last post, but I have been very busy with Spring yard work and other chores.

Anyway, here is an update. I completed the forward superstructure, and will be moving on to the aft.

I will be drilling out the portholes at some point.

Steve

This is really 10 10 10 work sir.

Insane p e work . Can't wait to see it painted up

Thanks guys.

As far as painting, I am a little intimidated by the prospect. I think I'm going to have to paint in stages. Each subassembly as I complete it.

Very nice.  Hope you own stock in your favorite CA factory.  You are not going to want to see another piece of PE for 6 months after this.

Well you have "mad PE skills" no doubt about it. 

goldhammer

You are not going to want to see another piece of PE for 6 months after this.

Boy that's the truth. I'm trying to get up the gumption to paint what I have done and start on the aft superstructure and mast...which is similar to the fore mast. Yikes!

Well, well, well, long time no post. Life has kept me very busy as of late.

Here is the forward superstructure, almost done. I still need to install 2 more single AA guns and the signal lanyards to the yardarm. After I get that I'll work on the aft structure,mast hangers and cats.

I'm getting there.

Steve

Gee Wizz that looks fantastic!     

  but ya know, it seems to be a bit shorter than I thinking the ship would be

Thanks Steve! This is the fast attack version.

Steve

I know I posted a lot ;

Can you say Yikes ! I am doing this same ship as we watch you .

Thank you Tanker-builder, I really appreciate it.

Although, I hope your not waiting on me.

Here's tonight's work, I got the signal lanyards, missing AA guns and the bridge windows darkened, at least I think it's the bridge. Since the bridge windows were rectangular I just painted them rather than drill like I did for the portholes. Now to put the assembly in a safe place until I need it later.
On to the aft structures.

Steve

That looks fantastic!

Groot

Here's a tip of the 'ol white hat for your work in general, and a big "bravo zulu" for those halyards!  Incredible work!!

Thank you SM2!

So here's this weekends nightmare PE work. The aft superstructure, mast and radar. I feel like a jeweler.
I still have quite a bit more to add. More AA guns, treterary guns, gun director hanger doors etc.

Steve

Very nice work, you must have the steadiest hands in the world.

Steve,

Nicely done.  

Thank you Marcus and Mike. I hope to get some more up here soon. I'm really looking forward to sculpting the water scene.

Steve

That is some excellent work there, well done!

Mike

Got some more done on the aft superstructure, added the second deck, crane, quad bofors and the 5" guns (not glued yet). Tomorrow night I'll paint it and maybe get some time to install the halyards. Once this is added to the hull deck, I'll add the hanger doors, which will be closed with the scout planes stowed securely inside due to the moderate to heavy seas she will be sailing through.

Steve

Awesome looking superstructure you've got there.

Here's tonight work. I painted the structure and antennas and installed the guns and halyards. Next, I'll work on a minor structure aft of this one and install all the sub assemblies onto the hull.

I was thinking of making some tarps for the guns since she will be in some spray. I saw some pictures of her in the Mare Island drydock in '45 with tarps over the guns. I suppose they were to keep foreign matter and welding slag off, but it got me to thinking. What do you guys think?

Steve

Steve,

I wouldn't cover your excellent work with tarps even if it makes sense with your planned display.  While knowlegable ship types will know what is covered and why, any casual viewers of you model will miss the fact that there were guns mounted all over the ship.  That of course, is one of the distinguished characteristics of a WW II USN ship anyway.

Besides, the ship was on a special mission and may have been at a constant high state of readiness and may not have had anything covered at all.

I more of a CV guy and don't know all the particulars of the ship, mission, etc., but I'd show her as a fast ship going in harm's way...

Wow Mike,

You make an excellent argument against it. I like your logic, especially regarding being in a heighten state of awareness while transporting such valuable cargo. I'll leave them uncovered.

Thanks.

This is what I'm thinking regarding the seas. You shipoard guys know what I'm talking about. 

I realize these are all destroyers, but you get the idea.

Steve,

Just read through you build.  You are doing a great job!!  Can't wait to see more!!

Steve

Steve,

Just wanted to let you know that you are doing an excellent job on the Indianapolis. I cannot wait to see the next installment.

Steve

Thanks Steve's

I will be posting soon, I'm painting the hull now and will be installing the sub-assemblies.

Steve

A little more done this weekend. I painted the Hull (I still need the black boot top stripe) and sat the sub-assemblies on the deck to see how everything fits. I am' very pleased with the results. I'll take everything back off and do some more deck and hull painting, install AA guns, the catapult , rigging and railings, but I just wanted to give an update.

Steve

Steve,

Looks good.

Isn't camo Measure 12 fun?  How much trouble did you have marking the demarcation line?

Mike F6F

 How much trouble did you have marking the demarcation line?

Non at all. The kit/ship has a "line" from the 01 deck half way to the bow that is easily masked. The two piece hull is sectioned at the boot top so that's no problem. All in all, it's a very nice kit, although I'm glad I got the PE set as I don't think it would look half as good without it.

Steve

She looks great!  It's amazing how much a good PE set can improve a ship model when the PE is so well done.

Groot

Awesome work!

However,you have scare me a bit with the photo-etch. I bought the Trumpeter Baltimore in 1/700, along with the Tom's Modelworks pe set. One of the radars has nine(9) bends in it,and its as small as the width of my pinky finger nail.

It just looks scary. If you have an optivisor and a pair of needle nose tweezers, it's not too hard. I place a white bed sheet under my work area so WHEN I drop a piece, it's easy to find. I also set a drop of medium CA on a piece of scrap plastic or something and just touch the piece to the drop to attach it. Alternatively, I will use a toothpick to apply the slightest amount of CA if needed.

I'm really glad I got the PE set. It really makes a difference.

Steve

Steve,

She is really coming together now. Beautiful work and thanks again for posting the WIP. I have the Trumpeter 1944 version of the Indie that hopefully I can build as nicely as yours.

Steve

Hi gents,

Here's the latest on the Indy. I will be able to get  a bit done this weekend, but I just wanted to post an update. I will install the superstructures, rigging and railing next.

Steve

I have completed a considerable amount of work to The Indy this weekend.  I added the superstructures, railings,  small boats and weathering.  I still need to add the Low Frequency long wire antennas and HF whip antennas. After, I will start on the base.

I have to say, I am really pleased with it.

I will hold off on pictures of her until I'm finished so I don't ruin the final reveal.

Steve

Yeah!You dont want to spoil the surprise!

I'll show the making of the base and water and some close-ups of the ship, but it may diminish the impact of the whole thing to show the finished ship out if it's base. It does look good though, and I'm never impressed with my work. I was putting some final touches to the weathering last night with my optivisor on, you know how you don't see the whole picture with those on, I took them off to look at the whole thing and Bamm! I was thinking to myself, I did that? Too bad some of it will be hidden by the water and spray.

It won't be long now, the hard part is finished, Yea!

Great!Looking forward to seeing the completed model!

A photo etch bender would come in handy with the small and long stuff..

It is indeed some piece of work!

did you hand paint the small decks?

constructor

did you hand paint the small decks?

Yes. I sprayed the hull and deck first, and pre sprayed the superstructure decks and bulkheads, although I had to go back and touch-up with a brush. The small decks were hand painted with Vallejo. That stuff really brushes nice, I hate to spray with it though.

With the weathering, any brush strokes, if any, were covered up.
I see that your building the Missouri. Good luck with it, I don't know what scale it is, but it should be a fun build. 

Steve

I really like the hull weathering you showed above.  It looks just right for a ship that's been at sea for a little bit.  What did you use for the dry brushing and dark streaking?

Groot

Thanks Groot,

I went over the Hull with a combination of  gray and rust pastells.The streaks were created with an oil wash of burnt umber.

I didn't want to go too far with the weathering as she just came out of repair/refit. The diorama will depict her in late July, after she delivered parts for the Little Boy bomb at Tinian . As you know, one month in the Pacific will do a job on a paint job.

Steve

OK, here I go with the base, this will be the first time I try this method.

First I made the base out of an old piece of house siding and made poster board walls and used hot glue to attach them to the sides. I also stiffened the walls with some cardboard backing.

Then I placed the ship inside the box and laid in sawdust, and formed some crests and troughs. I then squirted some thin CA onto the sawdust to stabilize it. That worked remarkably well but use an enormous amount of glue. 

Once dried, I applied Mod Podge for a base for the acrylic gel.

I will use the acrylic gel to form the wave peaks and smooth the texture. After the gel will be applied, I'll paint dark blue mixed with turquoise at the foam. After the paint will come the cotton, but I'll show that when I get there.

That's all for now.

Steve

MC,

 I haven't used it before, but is the acrylic gel medium clear?  If you paint your blue and turquoise on top of the Mod Podge and then apply the acrylic over it, it might give a nice appearance of water depth, then paint the acrylic white for the foam at the top.  Just a thought.  I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Groot

Groot,

You can get it in a few different degrees from clear to cloudy and flat to gloss. I was debating whether I should paint first as well. So I just finished the blue, and painted some turquoise in the churn. Once that dries, I'll paint on the gel then apply the cotton.

I can't wait to see how it turns out either. This is my goal. I hope I can reproduce a shadow of Chris' work 

DKM Z-30 Zerstorer 
by Chris Flodberg

MC,

 Wow, that looks good!  If you're going for the grey seas kinda look that you get on rough weather days, I would actually not paint until the gel medium was down.  Water just doesn't visually seem to have much depth on days like that.  Do you intend to do the bow spray as well?  It looks like he used a couple cotton balls, but I have no clue how to get one somewhat glossy to look like water.  

Groot

Groot,

I applied the gel last night and I'm waiting for it to dry, which could take some time. If the blue does not show through satisfactorily, I will repaint it. That will be a lesson learned. Pictures of the Philippine Sea show a dark navy blue tint to the water, although like you said, a cloudy day would add a hint of gray to the scene. I not sure my painting skills are quite up to that task for that much variation, but I'm sure giving it a try. My hope is to duplicate seas like this.

A lot of churn and foam in windy conditions. Yes, I intend to show a bow splash on the starboard side which is blowing over the bow, also a smaller one just aft of the hanger, with water running off the hanger deck and stern. My vision is pretty precise, I just need to transfer that vision to the diorama.

Steve

Well, I didn't like the way it was turning out. The sawdust was too lumpy, so I did what Chris Flodburg suggests and went over it with pieces of paper. I think it looks much better. I will paint it again when I dries. I'm really anxious to get to the cotton stage.

Steve

I am glad I came back to the site in time to witness this fine piece of work. Well done!

Thank you subfixer!

After a night and day's drying, I should be back on track and will paint the blue and AB the seafoam color in the wake tonight. I'n not concerned with the brush strokes in the medium as I brushed in the direction of the wind, and there will be a considerable amount of foam on the waves. It should look natural (I hope).

By the way, I wasn't happy at all with the Stars and Stripes that came with the kit, it was a flat Academy decal, yuck! Plus it has 50 stars instead of 48 (which you probably wouldn't notice anyway, but it bothered me). So I tried a method I found in the ModelWarship.com forum. I found a suitable image of a 48 star flag and downloaded it. I used "Paint" to re-size it, copy it and reverse it for the other side 

Then I printed the image and taped some white wrapping tissue paper over the printed image (I printed first so I would know where to place the tissue paper). I re-feed the paper/tissue paper into the printer, printed again, and cut out the outline. I didn't want such a tattered flag as the Indy had just come out of the shipyards and was more than likely flying a new one, however after re-sizing to 1/350 and cutting it out, it didn't look tattered, just slightly use. And the best part is that it's correct and much easier to make look like its in a gale force wind.

If you want to make some flying colors other that the decal that come with the kit, I highly recommend this approach. Sorry, I don't have pics of my actual flag yet.

Steve

Great technique on the ensign. It is too bad that aftermarket companies haven't picked up on this. Flags, pennants, and ensigns are rarely represesented in an authentic manner. .

Absolutely wonderful work. Museum quality. Great job.

I Painted the blue and sprayed the seafoam green to the churn area. Next it the cotton application.

I also grabbed some pics of the ensign while I had the camera in hand.

Steve

I Painted the blue and sprayed the seafoam green to the churn area. Next it the cotton application.         

I also grabbed some pics of the ensign while I had the camera in hand.

Steve

Well done!

Thank you gentlemen,

I'm done with the Indy...Yea!!! I am looking for a suitable backdrop for the pictures, possibly a poster with a stormy sky. If it takes too long (a couple of days), I'll just take some pics in front of a grey background.

Here is the beginning of the stormy sea "wave" application.

    
Acrylic medium and cotton.       Brush the cotton on to the base. Continue application as desired.

Steve

Looking forward to seeing photos of the finished product.

Gentlemen (and ladies),

Here it is, this was my first attempt at doing water for a ship. So without further adieu, my 1/350 scale Indianapolis. Please excuse the tape in the middle of the backdrop. I need to come up with a better method for a background.

As always comments and critiques welcome.

Steve

Beautiful work MC! Can I ask you to get one more photo. at around the same angle as the top most photo, but far enough back to get the entire ship and base in the shot. This will be for the front page honor roll photos.

You don't play around when you make a water base. Spectacular is the idea  for this tour de force

Thanks Stick and Duster.

Stick, I answered you in the 45 GB. No prob.

Duster, I did extensive research on the subject prior to building the base. I still may play around with the bow crash some at a later date. I'm not totally happy with it. Also, at first, I thought I was going WAY overboard (so to speak) with the waves, but now looking at pictures, I think they are about right.

I just need a better "studio" to capture it better, Maybe a white sheet as a backdrop, or redo the wave backdrop.

My next ship will bet to complete the Yamato or Arizona, which have been box bound for around 15 years.

Steve

Awesome!You even have waves breaking over the sides!Super nice job!

Steve,

Congrats on the finished model and sea base, it is one of the best I've seen.  

In your photos, you matched the perspective with the photo background well.  Try taping the seam on the backside of the prints if you can.

If you printed the image yourself and have the ability to print it again, PM me.  I can make a couple of suggestions to help you match the colors, etc., if you'd like.  I don't want to clog the thread with lots of stuff without knowing what imaging capabilities you have.  I have experience doing this kind of display, so let me know.

Again, nice work.

Thanks Philo and Mike,

Mike, Yes, actually I just printed a different image and will try it again. I was telling my wife about the tape seam and (of coarse) she asked why I didn't use a glue stick...................ah, I hadn't though of it, that's why. So I'll try that tonight.

That is really a superb job on the entire project. My hat is off to you.

WOW ! !

Anyone who's  prone to , could get seasick looking at that . What a gorgeous , gorgeous presentation ! !

Steve,

That's one spectacular build! Outstanding job!

I have several ships to build eventually, and I always thought to present them on a stand. But, after this perfect presentation, I'll have to rethink how great these water scenes can be.

Again, outstanding job!

Looks like a contest winner!

Thank you Philo, I'd like to do that at the IPMS at Salt Lake in Oct, if I can get there.

I have new pictures that I like much better.

Steve

Im so jealous.... you have no idea....

Superb Work!!!!!!!!

Thank you Cody. That's how I feel when it comes to some members builds in armor, cars and aircraft. I'm all WHAAAA, how did you do that?

MC,

 Just WOW!  The water color and chop look just right on this and I love the dynamic look of the spray, not to mention the fantastic job you did on the ship itself.  You'll have to find a prominent place to put her!

Groot

Thanks Groot,

I was thinking that I will need to make a glass (or Plexiglas) enclosure for her, like I did for my Mayflower.

It's not tough after you get someone to cut the glass for you.

Steve,

The second group of shots look a lot better with a much better sky.

If you have the software, try shifting the color of the sea in the photo to better match your modeled sea.

That, plus making it a tad darker in tone would heighten you effect.

Nice work.

Thanks for the suggestion Mike. I don't really have much in terms of photo software except Microsoft's paint...Bla!. All the pics you see are from my Galaxy S3. I may try to take her to an IPMS show in Salt Lake in October, if I can make it there.

Thank you Allen.

I appreciate everybody's praise very much.

Steve-  TOUR-DE-FORCE!!!!!!!!   You hit it absolutely out of the park.  Love the second series of pics.

Steve,

What an awesome build!  The Indianapolis is a great build!  Your base and water are amazing too!  You've inspired me to break out one of the few ships in my stash and give it a whirl.  

Steve

Thank you Steve and Goldhamer.