king derelict

The revised waterline makes me quite a bit happier so I have moved onto the light blue sections. The first element was masked up. I decided to break the painting into two parts to keep the masking a bit simpler. As usual with this build a it was a puzzle to lay out the camouflage on the hull. I used the IWM photos and a painting done by one of the crew along with the Campanula drawing in the Lambert / Brown book. I think I fell foul of the generic nature of the model because relative to a lot of the modified Flowers the kit has the forecastle extended ever further although it still seems to line up roughly with the funnel. Maybe I put the hull sections together in the wrong order 😄 So my initial plan of scaling off the photos and prints had to be modified a little especially at the sternwards section which is largely placed "by eye". The edges of the masks were sealed again; it seems to be effective. I switched to using a matte sealer now that the masks touch multiple colours. I used Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue and I think its a reasonable look. The masks were removed and after a pause for teh paint to harden I will mask the final sections. Compared to my usual 1/700 world the consumption of material for this is impressive. The ball of used tape is an example. I doubt if I used twelve inches for a 1/700 destroyer but that's the different between four inches and forty-eight inches. Thanks for looking in Alan

They are tough critics so its always good if they approve. Alan

Hi Mike Sorry for the slow reply; I've been a bit all over the place in the last few days. I used an acrylic cement to build the display case. Its a solvent that welds the parts together and has no adhesive properties in its own right so its easy to clean up - it just evaporates with no apparent residue. The only downside is it will mar the acrylic sheets if there is a drop accidently spilt on it. Like plastic cement. Its very low viscosity so its applied letting capillary action draw it into the joint. Joining pieces need to be well fitting as it can't cope with gaps. It can be applied by running a hypodermic full of the cement along the joint but I find it don't have enough control and I would rather run a paint brush along the seam and work a bit slower. Alan

Thank you Popeye; I think I'm getting better at masking up the subjects. Alan

Thank you Edward. These are great little kits, unusual and a lot of detail in a small build. Nice for between bigger projects. Alan

Thank you Patrick Alan

Thank you for the kind words Egilman. I've toned down the rust a little on the tracks. Alan

The seqts look really nice OC. Great detail Alan

The decals were added. I used a brown and a black wash to help the details. I used the rust brown overall for the tracks and used the Mig Oilbrushers Steel in very small amounts on the raised parts of the tracks and a few places where I though there might be wear like handles and hatches. I put a little light corrosion on the exhaust but otherwise left the hull alone. Egilman warns in earlier posts that these tanks were well maintained and kept very clean so I held back from any real weathering and damage. Thank you for the helpful comments and information. I find that due to overenthusiasm I have another box of two more FT17s so maybe I'll do a Polish one next. I hope everyone has a great weekend Alan

Patrick Thank you for posting the photo. Those are great models and really interesting subjects. The Saint Chamond is especially interesting. Its huge. Alan

Thank you Mark. The case will also keep fingers away from the PE mast arrays. Alan

Thank you for the kind comments OC. It was an enjoyable build and I like the sea base. She now resides on my book case; well lit and next to my reading spot. Alan

I added some rust around the bow area , anchor and anchor chains and I think that is the model complete. I used the Vallejo Foam Effect water texture sparingly on a few of the wave caps and the bow wave. I tried to avoid the temptation to go wild with the stuff. Its not really foamy more like a thick white paint. I used a cocktail stick to apply it. Than it was time to cat proof the whole thing and put it in its case I need to work more on sea scapes and dioramas in general but I really enjoy doing then. Thanks to everyone who contributed with tips and information. Thanks for looking in Alan

Well, I stared at this for a couple of days and looked at more photos of the real Flowers and decided that the hull red doesn't extend far enough up the hull at the midships and is a touch low at the bow. I re-masked the hull and I think this is better; its more in keeping with the photos I have checked against. I've painted the masking tape line with white to seal the tape down and once dry I can spray the hull red - again. Its probably easier than going the other way and trying to lower the height of the red paint. Thanks for looking Alan

Looks like a real sewn cloth seat belt. Terrific work Alan

Great looking figures Alan

I couldn't find a 1/73 Mark V but I did find this With a crew of 17 that might fit the bill. Alan

Thank you Patrick I found some Emhar Mark IVs that might work.

Wow; that has a whole lot more "presence" than my Renaults. Looks great; just the right amount of dust and grime. Alan

Thank you OC I think I need to work up teh courage to try to paint a couple of figures to show how small these little tanks are. Or build a Tiger for comparison Alan

Today a package arrived from the nice people at Spruebrothers. The most important item in it was a bottle of Tamiya Hull Red. Figuring that the USPS had probably already done a good job of shaking the paint I loaded up the airbrush and laid the last coat on the hull. I was then able after two weeks of anticipation able to peel off the masking tape. Given the rough surface of the hull along with the panel lines I was highly nervous of this step but I was pleasantly surprised. I have a couple of very minor spots at the stern where the paint got under the tape a little but generally I am very happy. I think sealing the edge of the tape with the base colour really helped. Sorry about the dubious photos; this one is a bit bit to give the usual photo treatment to. Now I can start masking for the WA blue bits. I have two bottles waiting to be used so no problems there but I did start shimming the decsk to match up with each other and the hull and found I need a lot more plastic strips so another package is on teh way from Spruebrothers. I'm still getting used to the industrial level of logistics here Thanks for stopping by Alan

Somehow it was decided that it was time to pressure wash the patio and the job spread to include the walkways and driveway. That rather cut into the day. However the running gear was installed in the tracks and the assemblies were added to the hull. Some detail painting and light weathering is next. One piece of PE, a box and a few decals and thats it. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thanks Egilman. That lets me off the hook. Your knowledge is greatly appreciated. Alan

I love watching this build progress Alan

Very intrigued and hoping to learn if I may Alan