Landlubber Mike

Nicely done, and what a collection!

For priming larger areas, areas to be masked, areas that may have imperfections that will need to be filled, etc., my go-to primer now is Mr. Surfacer. It's a fantastic smooth finish that withstands taping very well. You can get it in 1500, 1200, or 1000, which is like grit on sandpaper in terms of how much it will fill depressions (like sandpaper, the lower the number, the more it will fill, i.e., it is "coarser" to use a sandpaper term). You can use it through an airbrush, or get it in rattle cans. I usually airbrush it, but the rattle cans work very well and aren't prone to clogging or spitting as the Tamiya rattle cans. They also come in multiple colors like light grey, black, and white. Only issue is the stink - better to do it outdoors, or indoors with access to a window and/or venting unit. For things that wont be masked like cockpit interiors, figures, etc., I'll use Vallejo primers for the convenience. I thin it down with their thinner and add a few drops of flow improver, and it works nicely. Same thing when airbrushing Vallejo Model Air paints or Vallejo Varnishes - even though they say you can use straight out of the bottle, I always thin them down and add a bit of flow improver and have not had issues. I do think you need to do a more thorough cleaning of your airbrush when using Vallejo however. Even if it looks like you can run water through it and you're done, I believe it leaves trace amounts of a residue that will slowly accumulate and gunk things up. So, after a session I'll wipe down the needle and clean out the nozzle using a small bristle brush followed by a metal needle. That helps a lot. You can also run a bit of lacquer thinner through the airbrush which will get rid of anything you missed. This is an absolutely fantastic video from Vince Venturella that goes over the four basic components of paint (pigment, binder, solvent, and additives) and the additives that are out there and what they do. Vince has really, really good videos that are geared towards miniature painting, but I've learned a ton watching them and have a much better understanding of paints and techniques that I can apply to model building.

Same to you Craig and all my friends here!

Thanks Rob - I didn't realize the dampening actually passes through the paint, that's very interesting. I wouldn't have thought that possible, but it's clear that must be going on to get to the hairspray layer. Looking forward to your progress on this one!

Looks really great! Really nice finish on the cast pieces.

That looks great Rob! I haven't yet tried the hairspray chipping method yet. How does the water end up stripping/chipping off the layer on top of the hairspray? Is it because the paint doesnt have a chance to fully cure on top of the hairspray so it flakes off? Also, if you don't mind, does it matter what paints you use for the bottom coat and chipping coat? I saw one modeler building a Japanese aircraft who used Tamiya enamels for the base aluminum coat, then applied a chipping medium and a follow on coat of something other than enamel. I think he said something about the enamel being a stronger paint for the chipping effect, but could be mistaken.

Sorry, just catching up on your log - great progress so far! And a lot of congratulations to throw your way - daughter, pup and grandson the fisherman!

Hey Craig, looking forward to this build. Looks like another goodie. A year or so ago, I looked into how to do spoked wheels. There are a lot of approaches out there, including from Plasmo, on Model Cars Magazine forum, etc. A guy put a jig he made up using the Model Cars Magazine forum approach on Shapeways. Here is the 48-spoke jig (there is a 72-spoke one as well I believe): https://www.shapeways.com/product/Z3BMGHPPJ/wheel-tool-48-spoke?optionId=43346329&li=marketplace

Great start Kevin - looking forward to this one coming along!

Nice work Edward!!

What do you guys think of the shooting plane? Wondering how much I would use it, but you know, need to tell Santa what I want for Christmas...

Looks great OC - the weathered bones effect you got with your washes looks really spot on. Nice job!

I just took a look at Sprue Brothers - they have the same 41 kits listed as Andy's, and a couple of extra decal sets. So, they must be pretty confident that these are in the containers coming over from the warehouse in NZ.

I don't often check the sold history prices, but I've watched various items I might be interested in to see where auctions tend to shake out. What's interesting is that for some kits, the final selling price after a bidding war can be $100+ over what it sold in another relatively contemporaneous auction. Just have to do your due diligence.

I was very surprised that some kits like Jeannin were (and are) still available. That one easily goes for $300+ on eBay.

I've never bought from Andy's before, but I have to say, that was incredibly nice of him to offer the kits at the normal pre-WW-closing price. I'm now going to add his shop as a go-to for my modeling needs.

They posted on Facebook.

I also picked up the Jeannin Stahltaube - on my wish list for a long time now but has always been in the $300+ range. Also picked up an Albatros B.II and Junkers D.1. Hope it all works out! Almost everything looks like it's sold out already - wow! If you missed any, Sprue Brothers will run a similar pre-order.

Nicely done Kevin!! Beautiful work on a cool subject.

Quick update on this one. I added some more PE details to the Asashio in the hopes of putting as much on as possible without interfering with painting later. This diorama is going to be of the Asashio getting repairs by the Akashi at Truk after the Battle of Midway. The only details I could find were that the ship was hit by a 500lb bomb in the stern area and strafed, and unfortunately, I didn't find any pictures of the damage. The bomb killed 22 crewman but otherwise the damage couldn't have been too bad as the Asashio not only helped its sister ship the Arashio rescue 240 survivors from the sinking Mikuma, but it also escorted the crippled Mogami to Truk. Using my micromotor, I went ahead and carved out an area to represent what the damage could have looked like. Interestingly, these 1/700 ship hulls are hollow, which made the work pretty easy. Having the brass deck on top helped also to represent the damage to the deck. From there, I had some extra junk pieces of PE from earlier builds that I ended up twisting and cutting and threw it into the hole to represent debris. Here is what it looks like at the moment: There are a couple of paravane towers along the sides of the hull just behind the hole (that sit on the circular platforms in the picture above). I'll probably twist up the starboard side to show it mangled as part of the explosion. I'll add some twisted wreckage and other debris, including beating up rack that sits on the rectangular area in front of the hole. Question for the group: I might actually extend the hole to the starboard side - does anyone think that is a good idea? Again, I don't have pictures of the damage, and have to assume that the 500lb bomb didn't create massive damage given that the ship continued operations until it got back to Truk. The hole still might be a little small though, so I can show a little more extensive damage by taking it all the way to the starboard side. Apparently the ship received emergency repairs by the Akashi, then went to Sasebo for more extensive repairs. So maybe extending the damage a little more would be more consistent for what happened. I also plan to display the Asashio and Akashi pointed to the right, with the Asashio off the starboard side of the Akashi, so the damage will feature prominently in the diorama. Thanks for looking in!

Beautiful job as always Craig, and the display base is fantastic! You've inspired me to pull mine out once I get through my current plane models in progress.

Craig, that prop is incredible - really nice job! @ccoyle, I used Infini line on my Shimakaze build and really liked it. It's definitely better scale for ships than I think EZ Line, which by the way isn't too bad itself. Properties are very similar to EZ Line. EZ Line I believe is flat, but not sure about the Infini line - at such small diameters, you really can't see the difference so personally I'm not bothered by it. As Craig noted, it's nice that Infini includes diameters (in deniers). FWIW, they also make rigging line for planes. Free Time Hobbies has Infini line in stock, in fact, I just ordered some as part of an order for other stuff that arrived today.

That mast came out amazing - wow!

That rigging looks beautiful Craig - spot on man!

That's coming out insanely good Ron. Looking forward to your final display! For your diorama settings, do you cut off part of the bottom of the hull to reduce the height? If so, how do you do it? Cutting through something strong like MDF bulkheads would be a bit nerve wracking!