RGL

The photo of the completed mast is of a photo is from the instructions, not there yet, at least 2 days work I reckon. 

Ok, the mast on this thing is more complicated than a tall ship! At time you know when you’ve hit the level of incompetence. I think if Pontos didn’t reply on the kit mast to build upon it would have made the think possible to align at least. It’s pretty much a 4 day build, the other deck fittings and radar domes are ready for paint. 

I’ll buy in; do the bare brass. The difficulty will be hiding sins under paint like I do. Happy to see more 1/350 here. 

Eduard is fairly rubbish PE at this scale, Pontos and other Chinese vendors are lots better and a HELL of a lot cheaper 

Life rings and fire hoses added, plus some ammo boxes etc. I’ve started some weathering, in particular the back deck but I’m going to add some pastels later. 

And the back end fittings

Slow progress with so many little pieces to bend then paint. I enlarged the deck plans on a photocopier so I could place all the pieces in order for painting and placement. Once I have added them all and hand painted a few bits I can start weathering. Lots of pieces to go. The Spruance is a little different then the kit when it comes to placement of certain things. 

Welcome to the Endeavour club, great workshop mate! 

Touch up finished. 

There is a lot of detail scribed on the deck which precludes that. I think the tape I used was too strong. 

Now this brass deck is a gift that keeps giving. No matter how clean little bits keep peeling off with the masking. 

Little bits of patch up to do, then more little bits of masking to do the visible deck hatches. Once that is done, I can start on filters and washes, then the dreaded decals. 

The clear coat coat on the fire deck bleached the paint for some reason so I have to mess around with that for a bit too. 

It’s not hard to replicate, just a tad tedious; think treenailing! 

That being said, there are panels on the hull with no ribs, which I read were ‘aftermarket’ additional armour on the hull or strengthening plates. Nearly there. 

Now, to answer the question of What is oil canning? You can see the side of the hull in this photo that shows the ribs. 

part 2 of the oilcanning process, horizontal lines, then a light diluted overspray. I’ll leave it for at least 12 hours to dry then add a few ‘Hard’ panels to represent armour additions, then a filter coat. 

So, the deck is now masked, the major hull plates preshaded. Then a darker undercoat than the USAF grey as per instructions and let the oil canning begin

I’ve always seen this kit as a massive opportunity to try nearly every weathering technique there is as its soo big! I’m in. RGL

At least we can win stuff there! I hear the traffics not good? 

Never 100% happy, but there is a lot of detail to go on the piece yet plus weathering. I’m hoping that dulls down my inadequacy 

Ok, back to the drawing board, the front deck was completely stripped back and re painted. I then used the kit provided decal for the helicopter  square. I then used the kit provided red warning circle for the deck gun. Rubbish. Removed it and re painted. Then used the very sticky Pontos red decal, lightly rubbed with the end of a scalpel and IT WORKED! 

Light varnish coat. Let it set for a few days then I can finish masking. 

Ok, the Pontos rub on decals are utter rubbish. The back deck lifted a few bits of paint but that’s not a hard fix as it with be somewhat weathered. The front deck, absolute nightmare. The brass also kept lifting so I stripped it off and stripped it back. Sigh, start again and use the kit provided decals. 

Lovey here in Autumn, mid 20’s C. 

I sprayed the deck dark grey as per the painting guide. Boring. Nearly all the detail script ed into the deck disappears in bland. So, back to modulation, comes up OK. It looks a bit stark in places but, tomorrow I will put the decals on, then a satin coat. That will then allow me to mask the deck area and let me paint the rest of the hull. 

I have used about 50% of the PE. So there is an enormous amount of pE yet to be added before weathering which will blend the deck better. 

But you can’t see the bottom! 

There is some fantastic stuff on Facebook of all places for sea dioramas. It seems everyone is doing them now, but I don’t know how well they would go on a bookshelf. 

The first primer coat is on. Some sins which I thought were going to stand out like sore thumbs haven’t. There are a few gaps to fill and a few rough bits that will need a bit of sanding but overall, it OK. 

So much brass. I’ve dry fitted the stacks, but I think I’ll glue them before a primer coat, there are so many little bits that keep falling off I’d father get that done first. 

I’ve never used anything, but for the big areas I’m going to use acetone to clean it up (fingerprints) and the deck has been popping up in places. I have to remind myself it’s static, no one will ever see it.