Chuck Seiler
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I'd be happy to take the credit, but they are actually Sam's guns.- 259 replies
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I agree with those above that do the pencil method. For me, it provides a hint of color but is subtle. Living in San Diego I have the opportunity to see caulked deck planks on real sailing ships. Even at the distance I can get above them, which is about 6 or 8 scale inches, the caulking is not overwhelmingly dark.
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Nenad, I disagree. If you have the opportunity to display it where people will see it, at least ONE other person will see it and say "Holy cow!!! Will you look at that!!!!" ...and that makes it doubly worthwhile, because that person will talk about it for years. "....I remember one time, I was looking at a ship model. The guy made actual working sheeves THIS SMALL."
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Sam, Your swivel guns look great. I particularly like the brackets. Is that thingamajig in picture 3 the jig for making them? If you are a mind, I would be willing to send a few bucks in your general direction to purchase some of those guns. I will PM you on this.
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You can't go wrong with white. That was the common color on the Mississippi and Missouri.
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There is hope for us all!!!
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Personally, I am a 'red snob'. I seldom like the red most people use...too bright in my opinion. I like the barn red or caboose red type color for internal bulwarks and appropriate deck furniture. I am currently experimenting with artist acrylics. Using "Windsor and Newton Galleria" paint, I mixed a large gob of crimson red and a wee dot of Mars Black...and alot of water. I am going for the consistency of olive oil for right now. I think I have the color I want. The secret (if, in fact, this works) is to start off with the gob or red and add VERY LITTLE dots of black until you get what you want...or what I want. Now, I will do a test paint to see what it looks like dry, on wood.
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Speaking of Kurt....his article in the recent Ships in Scale is terrific. Excellent pics.
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Small, yeah. One problem with cleats is/are that unlike some pieces of the model, they may have to take a strain....and will pop out. For Philly 1 I used some brass cleats from Blue Jacket. They are flat, but in that scale you don't notice. Also, they have a longer stem so they sink into the wood further. I used a glue, can't recall the name but I will get it. It is not quite an epoxy, but stronger than regular wood glue. For Philly 2 I am thinking of using some of Chuck P's wood cleats. The plan is to drill a small hole down the center and use a small dowel to give it more depth. I usually use bamboo, because you can get it real small and it is still strong. I turn it down with my dremel and sand paper.
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Keith, I have used Elmer's stainable wood filler with much success. On one of my first projects, I gave it a couple coats of sanding sealer. On later projects I have gotten lazy and did nt use the sealer, but it still worked.
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As most have said or alluded to, in the end, it depends on what you are comfortable with. I, for one, will admit that I have omitted some details I originally intended on including because, try as I might, I couldn't get it looking very good. After numerous attempts I resolve to leave it off but try again will my skills improve (and/or I get better tools).
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Better now than when you have the mast on. So, the catheads broke but the flimsey railing in the back didn't? Hmmmm.
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Frankie, I disagree. I see no issue with including SOME detail at a certain granularity, but not include all. I suspect we already do that. If you rig a ship without sails, don't you leave off some of the rigging? Some people rig the guns to a gnat's ***, but do the really model in every rope, line, bucket, widget and who-ha that might be on deck?
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All good points. I think that the better you get, the more detail you can put into your model. One reason for this is because you are getting better and can do things quicker. If it takes you forever to do the basic stuff, it will take several forevers to make it detailed. Secondly, when you get better your quality improves. Crappy details don't improve crappy models (trust me on that one). However when you have a quality model, quality details improve it. That having been said, there IS such thing as too much detail. I think scale dictates that. Sometimes you can overwhelm a model with too much detail. Personal preference. Take a step back and let the model tell you what is right. Who is your audience? If you are doing if for just yourself, make it for you. If you are making it for the public to see, remember people will only look at it for a few minutes, then go away. Some will look for 30 seconds some for 10 minutes. Make your model so it appeals to all of them in its own way. ...and whatever level of detail you decide upon, make ONE thing significantly more detailed. People will focus on that, you will get your "Holy Cow!!!" and people will walk away with a feeling it is far more detailed than it really is, because of the one they fixated on.
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The Smithsonian 3D scan is of the ship as it is now. That includes all deterioration. Notice the gaps in the planking. . Above is a picture of Dave Yotter's PHILADELPHIA (taken from our recent ship model Guild meeting) built from the Smithsonian plans. Note how the curve of the caprail trends upward until it abruptly ends. That's where it was chopped off. You can that, if left in place, the operation of the forward gun would be impaired. Unlike the Model Expo plans, the Smithsonian plans are structurally correct. If you blow up the pic, you can see that the gap is indeed open and you can see into the innards. Kurt's replication is about the same. As previously discussed, they were not too concerned about water getting in there and rotting the insides out. They knew it would not be afloat long enough to worry about.
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I left the innards exposed. A half inch seems excessive. I have not gotten to that point yet with Philly 2 so I am not sure of the distance (I guess I could measure). I'm thinking a half inch total...but I understand what you are saying. In real life that happened because they didn't plan very well and the bow was too high for the gun to clear....so they sawed off a chunk. On Philly 1, that area is reinforce with sold wood, so I painted it black to appear open. The 12 pound forward gun covers some of that, but not all.
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I built the FAR WEST about 10 years ago. It is here in my office at work and I gaze upon it as we speak. As part of doing research, I was amazed at where those things could go. While the Mississippi boats and Missouri boats has a lot in common, it was two different worlds. The interior passenger areas were pretty luxurious (for their day) but with limits. Note the two "rest facilities" at the aft end of the upper deck, just forward of the paddlewheel. Two seats, no waiting!!!
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I might be tempted to use a red auto primer. I know its not acrylic, but....if I recall from my Navy days, it is close to anti fouling red. With reference to water down ratio, I would say to experiment. When I water down artist acrylic, it is heavily pigmented water. The first coat is translucent...you can see the base below. The second, third and fourth coats do the job. I let dry and sand with 1200 sandpaper (first 2 coats) or buff with cloth. It works great on wood, but I'm not sure how it will work on plastic. You may need a slightly different technique.
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Pics! Pics! Pics! Pics! How did you end up doing your lower dead eyes? I remember having a tough time with those. ...tying the knots in the right place after running the line thru the hole in the hull was difficult. I think what I ended up doing was determine where the know should be. Tie it BEFORE putting it through the hole, making it about the same size as the hole. When I pulled the knot thru the hole, it was hard, but with a little effort I pulled it through and it was not going back.
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Thoughts in general: I have had a lot of success hand painting with Badger acrylics. Even better when thinned down, a Nenad suggests. I have had good success using artist acrylic (from a tube) watered down as well. I got this from Chuck's discussion in his Winchelsea (?) log. (Confederacy maybe). Thinned down to almost water, multiple layers until you get the finish you like. It works great on wood. I assume it will work on plastic as well. So far I have only used black. Red is n my future
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Will it fit a Byrne's Saw? I imagine a feather board will work as well.
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Which project do you start first? The model or the room addition used to store the model?
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