gjdale

Congrats on the milestone Mark. Can't wait to see her free of the jig! As for the camera, sounds like you have an excuse to deploy HMS Visa into action again!

Nice to see you underway again Rusty. Lookin' good!

Thanks again for all the kind comments and all of the "likes". Another mini-update....... After a further three coats of clear finish, with wet-sanding between coats using 1200 grit paper, I think we are done with the spray-gun at last. I’m quite pleased with the way that it has come up, although the camera can be a little unkind. It looks better to the naked eye! It still needs several hours’ worth of polishing before it’s really done, but here are a few glam shots by way of update.

I've recently started using Vallejo acrylic paints and they are excellent. Their main range is called Model Colour, which can be brushed as is or thinned to use in an airbrush. They also do a range called Model Air, which is designed to be used in an airbrush without thinning, though I understand that some folks do thin them anyway. The colour range is extensive; if you know the standard international designator for the colour you want (I can't remember what the dsignator system is called) you will be able to find it, or a very close match in the Vallejo range. That should help with your colour blindness. Most local hobby/toy stores seem to carry the Vallejo range.

Lovely work, as always, Toni.

Nicely done Jesse.

Excellent work Daria! Thank you for sharing your build with us. I think pretty soon you'll be helping Dad with his model too!

A Stand and some Graphics Now that the finish on the hull is approaching a state that I’d like to preserve, I decided that it was time to make a stand. So today that’s what I did. Not sure yet if this will feature as part of the final display but in the meantime, it is quite functional. It is simply made, copying the design in Pat Matthews’ excellent book. The uprights are 16mm dowel, while the cross-braces are 8mm dowel. I finished it off with Vallejo Metal Colour “Chrome” and the Vallejo Metal Varnish (Gloss), all applied via the airbrush. One advantage to using these paints is that they dry almost instantly. A coat of primer, a coat of colour, and a coat of gloss, all applied in quick succession through the afternoon. The contact points have a self-adhesive felt applied for protection. Then it was time to apply the graphics. I first gave the entire hull a light wet sand wit 600 grit paper, so the overall look is a bit ho-hum (the gloss will return with the next coat of clear). The graphics are vinyl and come from Callie Graphics in the US. I went there following a recommend of several others over on the RC Groups forum and must say that I’m delighted with both the service and the product. I had a quick email conversation with Callie, sent her a pdf of the general design and told her what they were for. She quickly came back with some proofs for me; we made one minor change; another set of proofs and we were in business. A few days later the finished product showed up in the mail. I ordered two complete sets and with postage the whole lot cost me less than AUD $20. So now for the big reveal! I may have mentioned that this is going to be my wife’s boat, so it is named for her, Georgina. Georgie Gerl (yes, the spelling is correct) is her email “handle”. And of course, one must have the Chris Craft logo and a registration number: If you look closely, you will see that the registration number is GE 041282 GD, which is a combination of our initials and the date of our wedding (in non-American date format). I know, I’m just an old romantic…….. The admiral inspected the graphics on completion and has given her seal of approval. Next up, sealing the graphics under several more coats of clear varnish……………

Brilliant "cheat" Bob - I love it!

Thanks guys. Keith - yes, I was aware of the little bit of "orange peel" but am confident I will deal with that with the remaining coats and sanding. Thanks for the links for the micromesh - I've got some really small pieces (about 50mm square) but was starting to think about finding some on a larger scale. I've just ordered a bunch from the linked site, so when the Admiral asks, I'm blaming you okay?

Thanks Hoff - no problem answering questions here - that doesn't count as a "highjack". It started with fibreglass cloth and 3 coats of West Systems Epoxy Resin (using their 207 Hardener). The "shiny" stuff that goes over that is a Feast Watson Spar Marine Varnish that has been diluted with 10% Mineral Turpentine and sprayed on. At the moment there is only one coat of that in place and it looks almost satin in appearance. By the time I have applied the remaining 4 or 5 coats, it will look a lot shinier. Then the hard work of polishing will begin. I have a cunning plan for that but you'll have to stay tuned to find out what that is........ Incidentally, the main reason for using the Spar Marine varnish is that it contains UV protection. As this boat is going to be exposed to the elements, it makes sense to use products designed for such.

Thanks Bob, Keith, Carl and David for the comments (and the pictures David - very cool), and also for all the "likes". I applied one coat of clear coat this week in preparation for the boot topping and artwork. I used my new mini-spray gun for this and learned a little in the process – primarily that my little airbrush compressor is only just up to the job for this. The spray gun sucks a lot of air (it needs about 30 - 40psi to shoot the clear coat), so short bursts and some patience while the compressor re-charges are required. There is a little bit of an ‘orange peel’ effect evident on this coat, but that will disappear with further coats and light sanding (and improved operator technique). To apply the boot topping, I used two new products. First up, some pinstriping stencil tape from Finesse. Quite expensive, but does a super job. Essentially it is two pieces of masking tape with a clear carrier tape over the top. It is applied as “one” tape, and then the carrier tape is removed, leaving two perfectly parallel masking lines. The second product I stumbled across in the LHS while picking up some extra paint. It is a masking tape combined with plastic sheeting. It comes in a roll like this” As you can see, one edge has standard Tamiya yellow masking tape, which is pre-attached on one edge to some thin plastic sheeting that unfolds to be 550mm (nearly 2 ft) wide. By running the tape along the outer edge of one side of the Finesse stencil, the sheet was wide enough to go completely over the model where it was taped down with some more Tamiya tape to the stencil on the other side. The process was repeated for the opposite side of the stencil and in no time at all the hull was completely masked except for the boot topping space. If anyone is interested, the Tamiya product ID is 87164**640 The boot topping was airbrushed on using Vallejo Model Air White (71.001) at about 15psi. The first coat was left for about two hours (I had to go out) and then a second coat applied. About 30 minutes later I removed the masking and voila! I’ll leave this to fully cure overnight and then apply another clear coat before starting on the artwork.

What a great thing to do with your daughter Mike! Kit looks great - especially for the price. I'm pulling up a chair for this one. Don't forget to get your daughter to make some posts herself so we can all say hello and give her some encouragement.

Thanks again for all the encouraging comments and "likes". Progress seems to have been slow, but that's because I've spent a lot of time waiting for resin and/or paint to dry!. A minor update tonight: After a third coat of resin, the hull was wet-sanded with 120, 240 and 360 grit sandpaper and is now ready for finish coats. That left me with something of a chicken and egg dilemma. Should I apply the colour to the bottom of the hull before commencing clear coating, or should I clear coat the top/sides to a finished state before applying the bottom colour? I’ve seen it done both ways, so I figured it didn’t make a critical difference in the end. I decided that my approach would be: Apply bottom colour Apply one clear coat over everything (mainly to protect the bottom colour from lifting with the masking for the next stage) Apply waterline boot-topping stripe Apply graphics Apply remainder of clear coats (to a total of five coats) I decided on a copper bottom colour as this is fairly typical for these boats. I marked the waterline as indicated in the plans and then used Tamiya masking tape to define the “wet edge”. Regular painters tape and some scrap paper completed the masking job and I was away. I started with two coats of white automotive primer, with a very light sand afterwards, and then applied three coats of Krylon “Premium Copper Brilliance” from a rattle can (as per my earlier trials), with a light wet sanding with 360 grit after the first coat and 600 grit after the second coat. I decided that I was happy with the result and unmasked her this evening. There is a little bit of fairing required to remove the raised edge along the ‘wet edge”, but otherwise it looks okay – certainly a big improvement on the white plastic! The photo shows the sanded resin with a whitish appearance. This will disappear with the application of the clear coat. Here’s a couple more shots to show overall progress. Next I will apply a coat of clear over the entire boat before re-masking for the boot-topping. This painting lark is a slow process….

That's great news indeed Jerry. Bluenose is looking splendid - but from the sound of it, you don't need us to tell you that any longer!

Dumas do sell some three-bladed brass props of varying sizes. I'm not certain, but I think they may be Raboesch ones. I bought one for my Chris Craft and am happy with it. I think M.A.C.K. Products also offer a range of brass props.

Nice haul Mike. Are you going go with the plastic propellers or replace them with brass ones? (Hint, hint )

Hi Joop Ham, I made my own blocks following Chuck's method, with some minor mods of my own. You can see my methodology in my HMS Victory build log, starting from post #374 on pg 19. Here is a link to that page. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/163-hms-victory-by-gjdale-finished-mamoli-scale-190/page-19 I must say, the method works really well and I now make all my own blocks this way.

Congratulations on the book deal Ken. I'm sure the second edition will be a sell-out as well.

Just stunning Nils. Such a treat to see the "overall" photos too.

Nice to see you back at the bench Andy. Looking forward to following your progress again.

Congratulations on a fine model Mike.

At last count Mike, 10 people (including me) liked your boats. So I guess you have at least 10 friends........

Great to have you back in business Jerry!

Looks great Rusty. Looking forward to seeing resumption of play.