realworkingsailor

So decals done, a bit of weathering to go plus props etc etc 

Kurt,
 
Great tip about the yellow ochre and anti-flux.
 
Andy,
 
Thanks for posting those photos. I have seen many brass locomotives but have never seen inside to see how they were made.

Thanks Mike!
 
Yeah, it’s really nice that Airfix does stand behind their products. Gives me confidence in buying their products in the future.

I can now stop staring at the mailbox hoping that maybe something might show up, and start staring at the mailbox knowing that maybe something might show up! 🤪
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

Beginning the assembly and painting of the engines, trunking, and wheel wells. Nice details are molded in. Will pop once it gets some detail paint and a wash. All dry fitting so far shows a clean trouble-free fit with little to none seams showing up. This seems to be the best fitting Airfix kit I have worked on to date.
 

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

If I may, one of my other hobbies is collecting brass model locomotives, so I may be able to provide some insight. Pretty much all brass model trains available are hand assembled, even commercially made ones. Generally the production runs are very small (a few hundred units of a given type), so the industry does not lend itself to expensive tooling and mechanization. The only fundamental difference between a brass locomotive kit (or scratch build), and a "factory" assembled model is the box it comes in.
 

 
Pretty much all of the solder joints are located in areas that are largely invisible, so that a causal observer wouldn't see them. (There is a little tarnish and staining on this model as its previous owner suffered a house fire and the model was subject to the liberal application of water that fire departments are rightfully well known for), it's otherwise in good mechanical condition. The model was built by Samhongsa in Korea and imported by Van Hobbies (who had a working relationship with Pacific Fast Mail).
 

 
After removing the three screws that hold the shell to the frame, you can see the underside, and interior is quite mottled with solder joints.
 

 
Adding to an earlier post about soldering multiple details, in most brass train models, multiple different solders are used with different melt temperatures. Starting with the highest temperature solder and working down to the lowest (although it's worth noting that in the above model, none of the solder will melt with your typical OTC hardware store soldering iron. To perform any repairs, generally a resistance soldering iron is needed, at the very least.
 
Andy
 

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

If I may, one of my other hobbies is collecting brass model locomotives, so I may be able to provide some insight. Pretty much all brass model trains available are hand assembled, even commercially made ones. Generally the production runs are very small (a few hundred units of a given type), so the industry does not lend itself to expensive tooling and mechanization. The only fundamental difference between a brass locomotive kit (or scratch build), and a "factory" assembled model is the box it comes in.
 

 
Pretty much all of the solder joints are located in areas that are largely invisible, so that a causal observer wouldn't see them. (There is a little tarnish and staining on this model as its previous owner suffered a house fire and the model was subject to the liberal application of water that fire departments are rightfully well known for), it's otherwise in good mechanical condition. The model was built by Samhongsa in Korea and imported by Van Hobbies (who had a working relationship with Pacific Fast Mail).
 

 
After removing the three screws that hold the shell to the frame, you can see the underside, and interior is quite mottled with solder joints.
 

 
Adding to an earlier post about soldering multiple details, in most brass train models, multiple different solders are used with different melt temperatures. Starting with the highest temperature solder and working down to the lowest (although it's worth noting that in the above model, none of the solder will melt with your typical OTC hardware store soldering iron. To perform any repairs, generally a resistance soldering iron is needed, at the very least.
 
Andy
 

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

The other issue I have with decals for things like stripes and belly bands is that there are times when you have to paint similar colors elsewhere on the model which don't have decals, so you are forced to try and match the paint job with the decal sections which isn't very easy and almost looks worse if you have two colors that are close but not identical.
 
Anyway, great job Andy!

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

A minor setback, and a lesson learned.
 
Yesterday afternoon I was all ready to begin applying the decals and lettering. My intention was to first start with the sky coloured band at the tail. Well, I was not at all happy with the kit supplied decal, firstly because it had to be cut free from the invasion stripes portion, and secondly, because it simply refused to wrap neatly around the tail. It was like playing wrinkle whack-a-mole. There was no amount of setting solution that would ever make that decal comply with the instructions is was being given. So rather than get overly frustrated I decided to go with plan "B": mask off the area and paint it. Properly.
 

 
And boy, am I glad I went that route. Lesson learned, don't waste time with large stripe decals if you have the option to paint instead. This also reinforced my earlier decision to paint the invasion stripes.
 
One thing I've found with Cartograf decals, while their printing is nice, the decal film can vary in thickness considerably. On my Wellington build, the decal film was thicker, so the decals were fairly robust, and didn't distort when applied. The film for the decals supplied with my Typhoon kit is considerably thinner. This isn't normal a problem for smaller decals, but for larger ones this can be a problem, as the decals will be easier to tear or distort or some miserable combination of the two. The supplied decals for my Hurricane build also had very thin film (hence the issue with the registration number balling up into a mess). For my Defiant build, the film thickness was somewhere in the middle, not as thick as the Wellington decals, but slightly thicker than for the Hurricane, or Typhoon. 
 
I should add that since my little detour, I've resumed applying the lettering and have not run into any further issues or, at least, I'm ready for any issues that my crop up and I can plan ahead for dealing with them. 
 
Andy

Thanks Mike!
 
Yeah, it’s really nice that Airfix does stand behind their products. Gives me confidence in buying their products in the future.

I can now stop staring at the mailbox hoping that maybe something might show up, and start staring at the mailbox knowing that maybe something might show up! 🤪
 
Andy

Thanks! I’ll have a look at his work. I’m sure I’ve already stumbled across a video or two of his (YouTube rabbit holes), I’ll pay closer attention.
 
I think there’s also a factor of scale to consider as well, when it comes to painting or decalling markings. I think if I was working in 1:48 or larger, I’d definitely give it a shot.
Although there’s still no guarantee that the paint I might be using is the correct colour either! 😜
 
Andy

Post Twelve.
 
Hull fairing - Day 0ne
Considering this is one of my least favourite aspects of ship modelling, the day went well.
The support board held the hull securely, and the ‘Mouse’ sander performed well.

0580
I started with the hull upright and sanded the topsides down to gundeck level.
I started with vertical strokes  on the  gunport side timbers, and followed on using a long sanding stick along the hull.

0577

0578
The hull was then inverted and the ‘mouse’ brought into play. I used P80 sanding sheets.
I am grateful to Jim and Chris for the heads up on this little tool.

0584

0583
This is the state after around three hours work.
 
Time now to test the plank lay.

0587
The 1mm thick lime strips bend easily around the bow without any need for pre-bending, but I will pre-bend when I start planking to take the resistance out of the wood.
 
I am particularly interested in the run of the planks up to the lower transom.

0588
To this end a test plank is pre-bent using hot water and heat.

0590

0591

0592

0593

0594

0595
Looking ok so far, I hate to see any hint of a sharp angle in the plank runs in this area, they should have a smooth and even curve.
 
That’s enough for one day, I’ll look at it again tomorrow with a fresh eye.
 
B.E.
24/03/23