Landlubber Mike

Nice restart!

If you're looking for yellow ochre, you might be able to get away with Tamiya's Camel Yellow (TS34) which [only] comes in a spray can:

There's also Pearl Yellow which possibly could work:

For best results, I wouldn't try to paint or prime large areas by brush - i'd either use an airbrush or a rattle can.  Tamiya, Mr. Surfacer, and others make good primers that come in rattle cans.  You can use Tamiya paints over Mr. Surfacer primer - I do so all the time.

If you do go with Tamiya rattle cans, make sure you buy the TS line of paints which are designed for plastics, and not the PS line which is for polycarbonate.  I made that mistake and it was not fun!  The PS line runs very hot.  It's too bad because the PS line offers Mustard Yellow which could be a good option:

Nice job Greg!  The figures really bring it to life!

Fantastic work Glen!  Really coming along nicely.

At 1/700, I wouldn't bother deburring.  Any tiny bits are likely not going to be seen, and I found you run a risk of ruining the part - or worse yet, losing it if it happens to ping off somewhere.  On my current 1/350 build, I'll spend some time deburring but only for larger, more robust pieces.

The spiders take time but really aren't too difficult.  Pre-bend the legs down, then test fit.  Rinse and repeat.  Just make sure that if the funnel is not symmetrical, that you have the spider set up the correct way.  Once you get the legs close to final fit, you can start gluing one end, and then adjust the legs as you glue the others.  This is one area where having very thin brass is an advantage.

They aren’t cheap, but after trying out many tweezers, I tried Dumont tweezers which are very good.  I believe I first heard about them when reading a book on miniature ship model building.

Here is a picture of the tips of two that I use the most.  Very sharp points!

I saw that in my FiveStar set for the 1/700 destroyer I built.  Hair-thin PE that bends from just breathing on it.

Great start Glen!  Looking forward to following along.  If you need any plan details, etc., let me know and I'm happy to help.

My PE prep process is slightly different.  I usually soak the frets in water with dish soap, though sometimes I've forgotten and I'm not sure I've seen any different results.  I've had success using Mr. Surfacer and Vallejo primers in the past, but Vallejo can flake off with masking which can be annoying.  I did try that Mr. Metal Primer once, but forget what I was using it on.

For most subassemblies, I'll first attach the PE and then prime and paint.  I figure that the primer can help fill in minor gaps left from the PE not fully sitting on the plastic, PE folds that aren't perfect, etc.  For things like railings, I've primed and painted right on the fret and then attached it to the model.  Since railings are just about the last thing to go on, it's just easier that way and like Craig said, you don't want to paint the railings if you have a wood or linoleum deck or other colors on the model that differ from the railings color.  And again like Craig said, you can touch up any parts where the brass shows, glue spots, etc.

I was watching someone on YouTube yesterday who was working with PE on a ship model.  He prepped the PE fret by rubbing it with an Infini 400 sanding stick.  I think the idea is that primer has more surface area to stick to, and maybe to remove and residue from the PE process.  But like I said, I haven't really had issues painting primer directly to PE.  I'd also be a little nervous using a sanding stick on 1/700 PE frets or PE frets in general with very fine details as I'd be worried that the stick would catch some of the free floating details and ruin the part.  But, the guy yesterday didn't seem to have that problem.

Nicely done!  

I ended up finishing the three quintuple torpedo launchers this weekend.  Only 36 pieces of PE per launcher 😳  All in all I think they came out ok.  

Since I'm planning on doing a diorama setting, I decided to make a few modifications.  First, I opened the hatch on one of the turrets: 

Second, I had found an aftermarket set of torpedo launcher covers, and decided to add them to the launchers as they had a little more definition than the kit plastic, and I was able to model one of the covers open:

Next I worked on the twin 25mm AA gun.  There is only one of these, and Infini has you build it completely from PE.  This time only 18 pieces.  I couldn't get a decent macro photo on my phone, but hopefully this gives an idea.  I'm really impressed by what companies like Infini can do with brass.  There's so much detail it's pretty amazing.

Thanks for looking in!

I believe Zoukei Mura is coming out with a series of F-4s, if they haven't already.

*EDIT*  ZM recently released the F-4 in 1/48, not 1/32.

Great work on a really nice subject Craig.  Fantastic!  Can't believe I missed this one.

I don't want to bring up too many things from prior posts, but:

1.  Some of the PE on my destroyer was so thin, you could breathe on it and it would bend.  I'd say just do the best you can.  If it works, great, if not, the detail is probably so small nobody will notice anyway.

2.  On the acrylic primers, I was just PM'ing with Craig the other day.  I was a big fan of Vallejo, and still am to some extent, but now that I've figured out airbrushing a little better, I think I'm going to be moving to paints/primers like Mr. Color/Mr Surfacer, Tamiya, etc.  At least for bigger areas.  I've gotten decent results thinning Vallejo a bit, but the annoying clogged airbrush gets frustrating.  It's almost like you need to shoot lacquer thinner through the airbrush at the end of the session to ensure you have removed the invisible sticky remnants.  I'm ok with the smells because I vent outside.  For things like cockpit interiors and other small details, I'll probably stick with Vallejo for ease of use.

Thanks Lou!

Yeah the Shimakaze used a newer form of boiler that exceeded the expected speed of 39 knots.  For comparison, the IJN Yukikaze, which was commissioned about two and a half years earlier, had a speed of 35 knots.  So, this was certainly significantly faster, even with the added length to accommodate a third quintuple torpedo launcher.

Very nicely done!  How are you planning to display these with the ship?

Really nice work Craig!  Looking forward to your return to this project.

Wow, how did I miss this one??  What a fantastic build, amazing work!  Mucho respect!  Looking forward to your forthcoming builds!

Quick update on the log.  I finished the three main gun turrets, and started work on the Type 0 quintuple torpedo launchers.  A lot of the detail on the kit parts is scraped off and replaced with PE, which adds a little more definition to the parts.  I would say that the railings and ladders are the biggest improvements, but otherwise, the kit parts are fairly nice:

There are three of these to build, then a whole bunch of AA guns, ammo boxes, etc.  These destroyers really packed a lot on their decks.  

Thanks for looking in!

Looks great Joe.  Way to think outside (inside?) the tackle box. 😆

4 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

Thanks, Mike!  Your build log was a HUGE help.  Plus, I can't thank you enough for your thoughtful answers to my questions.  You get half the credit for this!

No way, that was all you and your skills.  I'm just happy to have been along for the ride to follow your build.  

That came out fantastic!  Love the overall presentation, nice job Glen!

Really amazing work Alan.  Congratulations!

I don't know how complicated the rigging is on the Gneisenau, but it wasn't too bad on my 1/700 destroyer (though, it's certainly a simpler ship).  The elastic rigging lines that are out there these days make things very easy.  Anchor one end with CA, then anchor the other with a drop of CA, and cut the tails.  The elasticity is nice as you can change how taut the line is.  If I remember correctly, many of the products out there can stretch an additional 1/3 or more of the length of the line.  

Lots of products out there - Infini, EZ-Line, Uschi, Modelkasten, QW Model, etc.  I used QW's product on my destroyer which was the thinnest I had on hand at 0.047mm.  You can probably go bigger with your subject.

Really nice work Jeff.  Your PE work is outstanding.

On 9/7/2021 at 9:14 PM, CDW said:

Last year I ordered a couple of kits from Russia that took over three months to arrive. Hung up somewhere in Europe from what I've been told. Makes me leery ordering from Russia now. 

On 9/8/2021 at 7:01 AM, RGL said:

I have always had to wait three months from there, the last time it took 2 months to leave their own country! They have nice stuff but using a horse and cart as UPS

I placed an order with NorthStar back in June, and the package for some reason sat for two months and then wasn't allowed to leave the country due to paperwork issues.  The NorthStar folks were very nice and apologetic, so hopefully round two will go a little smoother.  Definitely need to order way in advance from Russia, Ukraine, etc.

I have a 1/32 Kingfisher kit and it's going to be hard for me to replicate that look!  I can only imagine at 1/350.  But, I'm sure you'll do a great job on them.