king derelict

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

I use cocktail sticks and beeswax. The beeswax is a bit stickier than the candle wax so you just need to roll the tip of the toothpick / cocktail stick on the surface of the beeswax and that is usually enough to pick up and hold the PE but let it go when it is in contact with the glue. If I am feeling creative I mark the non=sticky end of the stick with a felt tip of paint and then I can keep that clean so I can reverse the stick and have a poking end to adjust the part with no danger of lifting it back off. Alan

Thanks OC The gloss medium really makes it work Alan

Thanks Mark Yep; its time that Lynx got off the back deck and went home. Alan

Thanks Craig. I want to try a few more sea scapes. Alan

The sand colour was applied to the hull and running gear. After 24 hours for the paint to harden I masked up for the next part Then sprayed the green and again waited for twenty four hours before the last masks were applied. The curved scissors are great for cutting and trimming delicate bits of mask. Then the final coat of brown and the masks were removed. It came out quite well with no bleeding under the masks and although the geometry of the camouflage scheme is not exact I think it is in the general spirit of the scheme. Some of the images of the French tanks show a black delineation line between the colours. At 1/72 that might be a challenge that I would rather side step. I sprayed a light rust onto the tracks and once the paint has hardened the subassemblies can be put together and the detail painting started. A couple of PE brackets and a box to add completes the parts count. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thanks Craig, Modelling the sea is a whole new skill to learn. I would like to do more seascapes for the models but then I have to find somewhere to put them instead of just sticking them in one of the display cases. Alan

An interesting opportunity for anyone visiting London soon. Benno's Figures Forum • Waterloo Remodelled (bennosfiguresforum.com) OC; I like your LHS much better. It has more life and detail Alan

I reduced some of the light blue areas and added some white dry brushed onto the wave peaks and into the wake. I put a coat of gloss medium over it all. The ship is placed temporarily just to assess the look I need to work on the bow wave next but I think its coming together. I think the foil under the toilet paper worked well; there are nno dead flat places on the sea surface. Thanks Craig. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thank you Craig. The sea scape is an interesting exercise. Alan

beautiful. The PE on the masts is very sharp Alan

I'm resurrecting the Renault thread as I start the second of the two models included in the kit. The Montrose base paint is drying and the corvette is on hold awaiting supplies. FedEx finally coughed up the package of paints after giving it a tour of the South East and when I opened it there was no hull red; the most critical paint needed. Apparently it was out of stock. Sigh. So another order was sent to the nice people at Spruebrothers and while I wait I decided to try another Renault light tank. The basic assemblies have been completed and the primer has been sprayed on. These Flyhawk kits are really very nice light relief between the bigger efforts although the paint schemes are challenging. I had planned to use the French Tigre scheme but I'm looking at the FTs in Polish service too. This one will have the 37mm gun and the early wheels. A nice touch; Flyhawk moulded the gun barrel with a hollow in the business end. Thanks for looking Alan

I returned to the base and added several layers of toilet paper soaked in diluted white glue. I pushed the resulting pulp around to form some waves with a bit of direction and a start of a bow wave and wake. This was allowed to dry overnight, This morning I started to add the basic colours. I used craft acrylics in light blue, peacock blue, navy blue and black. I put lines of teh light blue on the high points of the base and then laid the darker colours as stripes in between. With a wet brush I merged the colours together and stippled the light blue to reduce its presence. I'll let this dry before dry brushing white onto the wave caps, the wake and adding to the bow waves. Its a bit more boisterous than I originally planned but I quite like how its developing so I'll stick with it. The trick will be in deciding when enough is enough! Thanks for looking in Alan

Another great set of figures OC . The guy on the left reaching into his pouch is extra good. Alan

The masts look terrific. Good ideas with the toothpicks. I struggle to find good ways to secure parts for painting and I hate picking blue tack residue off the parts. Thanks Alan Alan

UPS brought a package from TAP Plastics. Several pieces of cut to order acrylic sheet to make a display case for Montrose and another case for general waterline models. As always great service and fast turn round. It worked out abouyt $30 for the Montrose case and $55 for the larger one. I put together the Montrose case And it fits the base! I built up the other case which will be empty for a while. I'm not sure its the most intelligent way to display the models but I can't find a spot for a dedicated cabinet so these cases stack and hold a reasonable number as long as I don't develop pretensions to 1/350 or 1/35 armour I added the wheels and decals to the Lynx. The safety netting was finished on the ship and decals were added after some touch up painting - although I now see I need to go round again. I now need to get serious with the sea base. The corvette is not going to intrude for a while. My FedEx package with the paints needed for the hull is wandering aimlessly around North Carolina at present with the FedEx website stating "Delivery Pending" as the status. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thanks Mike That looks really good Alan

That ship is just packed with detail. You did a beautiful job Alan

Slowly making progress in between reading up on corvettes. I built the Lynx helicopters. Two are provided in the kit and have the option of rotors folded or in flight mode. I built one with the rotors folded to go in the hanger. The models are not that impressive and I dislike the clear plastic that they are moulded in. The undercarriage and sponsons are two pieces and its almost impossible to work out how they are put together. Starting again I would look for some after market ones I think. For the second one i removed the moulded tail rotor and added the WE PE one along with the WE PE main rotor. The PE wheels will get added after the decals as its all getting a bit fragile. Primer and light grey coats were added. A dark grey wash has been added to the "show" Lynx and the timid one has been stuck in the hanger. My references suggests that the helos should really be Merlins but I'll stick with the Lynx. I found a lot of small details on the WE PE fret that could be added, antenna, approach light array for the hanger and other small items. I added the roll bars to the RIBs and put them on the side deck. I didn't like the plain black of the RIB tubes so I used a dark grey wash to add a bit of depth. I added the helo pad decals and the funnel and main gun decals because its going to be hard to reach those areas when the railings are in place. Then it was time to move onto the railings. More work today and the railings are in place. The WE PE fret provides plenty of railings and shaped ones for the foredeck. I chose to cut them into shorter runs and used Gators Grip glue which gave me a bit more time for adjustment and easier clean up. I had to add a short piece to the foredeck railings; Trumpeter and WE seem to have different ideas about hull length and width - or maybe Type 23s vary. The Dukes crown was added from the PE fret rather than the Trumpeter decal and a bit of weathering has been added to the helo pad The Lynx was poked into the hanger before adding the aft safely nets The aft safety nets are too wide for the Trumpeter hull but luckily the nets are made up of several sections of different widths so I was able to choose an appropriate piece to cut out. The remainder should hopefully fit. In the end I used more of the WE PE than I thought. The two frets are shown together at the end of teh build. The Trumpeter fret is on the left A few more decals and weathering; touch up and tidying and more time on teh sea scape. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thanks Greg Its an interesting change building a contemporary ship and being able to find lots of colour photos out there Alan