Mirabell61

Nils,
Congratulations on a very fine model. I can't believe I missed this blog until now.  
 
Well done, a pleasure to read the blog.
 
Dan.

Hi Nils - 
 
Just coming back to this.  AOL is having some issues with my automatic email from MSW, so I'm a bit behind the curve.  Very pretty work, as usual, since I last stopped by.  I completely agree that you have hit on a clever solution to the 'glassing' problem.  The portholes look totally realistic on the test piece.
 
As for the color separation line, here is a technique that has not been mentioned, but worked for me in a similar situation on an irregular surface:  Instead of using just tape, paint a layer of rubber cement over the line.  Cover the rivet heads and everything else with a perceptable thickness of rubber.  You may need a few coats to get that thick.  Once it has hardened, use a metal straightedge to guide a sharp blade along the line.  Do it a few times to make sure you have cut through to the hull.  Then just peel off the unwanted side of the line.    If there is some that sticks where you don't want it, rub it with a gum eraser and it will come right up.  Mask over the rubber with tape and paint as usual.   
 
Maybe that will work for you.
 
Best of success.  Getting that line crisp and clean is a major challenge, but you have repeatedly shown that your skills are up to the task.
 
Dan

Hi Nils,
 
Yes, painting can be a real challenge. Not only the choice of colors to "match" the original but the application as well.  A good paint job is all preparation and not the least is masking.  The most troublesome are around rivets and seems.  I must have painted over 50 airplanes in my career and spend many painstaking hours in making sure that all the rivets and lap seems would not allow paint to seep under the tape.  I used of course production masking tape and paint guns that supplied 17 cubit feet of paint at about 45 to 60 PSI.  
No matter what kind of paint, could be lacquer, acrylic, enamel, epoxy, I put first a thin coat of paint over the area of the masking tape at 90 degrees to the tape at low pressure and volume.  Checking again for areas where the tape came undone and pressing that doen again.
For the enamels, acrylics and epoxy paints I let this get sticky then follow-up with another thin "dust" coat of paint over the entire area to be painted.  Let this get sticky as well then a full coat.  Let this setup and follow with a final coat if needed.
For lacquer, well that's another story and method.  Hey, I painted a car once with that stuff, 18 coats!!!  Hand-subbed between the last 8.  Too labor intensive and expensive - - - for the customer.
 
I also hope that painting the finish coats on unprimed metal will be successful for you. No matter how good the "stickiness" of the paint seems to be a metal primer is chemically made to adhere to metal best AND also give the finishing paint a better medium to stick to.  But, then again, your model will not be subject to any wear and tear.
 
Cheers,
 

Hi Nils you could have fooled me. Nice touch on the glass in the portholes, both a sence of glass and some depth without looking flat.
 
Michael

Thanks so very much for all the likes and your helpful hints.
 
@ Hans: Yeah, the Spanish and Portuguese were a bother in those days of yore but with the armament on this ship she was no match for them.  It was the English whom to be watchful for 
 
@ Jan: Yup, that's a picture I can use to try and match the green.  The red eh - - I used the red paint for our front door of the house (that still needs to be painted).  Looked good at the time    I'll be going to the craft / art store tomorrow on my back from the doctor's office.  No, nothing serious, just a visit prior to my 3 month cancer check to see if it's still gone.  Now comes the fun in mixing and matching 
 
@ Nils: Thanks for dropping in and your kind words.  Temporary set-backs are part of the game and I really didn't expect the glues and cement not wanting to adhere to brass.  This morning I found one pintle popped of - - arch  .  
 
@ Amazon:  Hey Dirk, good seeing you back in my shipyard!  How have you been, I missed you my friend but often thought about you.  Yes, the round stanchions have crossed my mind several times but when I use them here then the railings don't match the rest of the railings on the ship.  Would it be noticeable?  Most likely not and it would simplify my work.  I need to sleep on it for a while before I makeup my mind what to do.  
 
 
This morning I took a second look at the railings, ready to rip them off but started to work on them with a small file and some sandpaper.  I begin to think that the closeup setting of the camera distorted the image giving me a false sense of reality.  I looked at them again as one would when just looking from arms length, then through my high-powered magnifier and they are not all that bad - - - after I worked them over.  
This doesn't mean that I'll leave them as is.  The round stanchion spindles do look attractive and is a good possibility.  So who knows.
I'll let Gwen (who doesn't want to be called Admiral) take a look at it and get her opinion on it too.
 
In the meantime I'm working on the cannon rigging, which should keep me busy for some time.
 
Cheers,
 

Hi Peter,
 
nice to hear from you, your last post was quite some time back, and thanks very much for dropping in, and for your nice comment I like....
I agree with your advice relating to the paint gloss, it somehow turned out quite bright on the appr. pic. (probably due to flashlight and fresh paint)
 
I am a little anxious to blend the color, as I probably would not be able to get / repeat the blending mixture, if I mix the color a bit lighter.
 
The black ought to be a dull black, no gloss at all, and the red is more a silk finish, when dry. For the black overwater hull section I have now found a suitable dull black oven paint. I am pleased with the black so far.
The little dummy here is the second trial, I have also added 3 dummy portholes, they turn out as I had intended, inserts flush wih the skin, and the "glassing" standing back a wee bit in the insert- tube. The inserts are from copper with galvanizesd tin surface and the ends that connect to the hull skin are tapered to the outside.
 
For taping and painting over the riveted skin areas, I shall be following Dirk`s reccomendation, when the Tamiya masking tape arrives
 
Nils
 

 
Dummy section for trial...
 
the black is nostalgic dull steel hull kook, the portholes (3 mm) are quite small in diameter, but doing them larger would be out of scale

little update..
 
- a look into the hull
- a trial for painting the hull
- the "riveting" of the bowpost
- "glassing" the porthhole inserts (procedure)
 
Nils
 
 
 
 

 
here a dive deep down into the ship`s belly
 

 
aft section with the two drive shafts coming to the inside
 
 

 
this is the tape I intend to use for taping the painting borderline (not pleased with it yet), will have to improve the technique. Also the black color should be more dull, will do next trial with dull black oven-paint. The critical part is to get a good tape contact over the rivet rows, so that the paint does`nt creep under the tape.
The red paint is RAL 3000, silk-surface glaze, when drying
 
 

 
 

 
bowpost "riveting" is done around the bend
 
 

 
Am quite pleased with the result....
 
 

 
here using trimming line for grass-cutter for the "glassing" of the portholes
 
 

 
Cutting off a length
 
 

 
ready for final trimming
 
 

 
cut off directly at the porthole insert. "Glass" surface will be sunk in appr. 0,6 mm afterwards into the tube

Build log part 23
 
 
little update
 
not much this time, but it keeps the wheel turning...
 
Nils
 
 

 
in this lower deck area there are the bulwark doors for the kay gangways
 
 

mended two misalignment portholes with wooden dowels and drilled new...
 
 

 
upper forecasle side-rail, and aft forecastle-deck bulwark
 
 

 
 
 
 

Thank you Jeff and Omega,
 
please feel free to to click ( in my signiture) into my "Gorch Fock" build log if you have interest for that tallship.....
 
Nils

Hi Peter,
 
thanks again for your Input here...
 
yes you are so right...., I believe there are at least three aspects of the paint Job, one is the paint-type itself with choise of color, then the way of applying it, and just as important, the way of following tips and tricks (provided These are known) to achieve a good looking result.
I have for myself not gained enough experience with the painting in order to avoid unnecessary risks with the paint Job.
 
Nils

Hi Dimitris,
 
Thanks for your appreciation,
 
I noted that you had ordered portholes from RB for your AV, I used to Mount RB portholes with flanges as well before...., how is your experience with those, I remember that it was not so easy to fit the "glassings" in, in  order that they stay there and do`nt fall out, resp. into the hull afterwards
 
Nils

Thank you very much Nigel,
 
unfortunately the "silver" ca`nt be left as is....., I`m even thinking of leaving away the bonding primer spray coat, as the paint is adhesive enough without...
 
Nils

Hi Peter,
 
nice to hear from you, your last post was quite some time back, and thanks very much for dropping in, and for your nice comment I like....
I agree with your advice relating to the paint gloss, it somehow turned out quite bright on the appr. pic. (probably due to flashlight and fresh paint)
 
I am a little anxious to blend the color, as I probably would not be able to get / repeat the blending mixture, if I mix the color a bit lighter.
 
The black ought to be a dull black, no gloss at all, and the red is more a silk finish, when dry. For the black overwater hull section I have now found a suitable dull black oven paint. I am pleased with the black so far.
The little dummy here is the second trial, I have also added 3 dummy portholes, they turn out as I had intended, inserts flush wih the skin, and the "glassing" standing back a wee bit in the insert- tube. The inserts are from copper with galvanizesd tin surface and the ends that connect to the hull skin are tapered to the outside.
 
For taping and painting over the riveted skin areas, I shall be following Dirk`s reccomendation, when the Tamiya masking tape arrives
 
Nils
 

 
Dummy section for trial...
 
the black is nostalgic dull steel hull kook, the portholes (3 mm) are quite small in diameter, but doing them larger would be out of scale

Hi Dirk,
 
thank you so much for that super advise, which is very much appreciated ...."with the masked Color" once over the masked border....  , , I`ve never tried it before, but will try it now straight away
I also found a nice deep black and dull oven paint at Obi-Market this morning, exactly what I was searching for
 
NIls

Hi Piet,
 
just read your log and can feel with you how you went through ups and downs as from the fastening of the gunport doors hinges omwards. But congrats here, you are well  managing a good solution every time, and the "Surabaya" is looking better with every update. The deck pic in aft direction Looks great
 
Nils

Hi Peter,
 
nice to hear from you, your last post was quite some time back, and thanks very much for dropping in, and for your nice comment I like....
I agree with your advice relating to the paint gloss, it somehow turned out quite bright on the appr. pic. (probably due to flashlight and fresh paint)
 
I am a little anxious to blend the color, as I probably would not be able to get / repeat the blending mixture, if I mix the color a bit lighter.
 
The black ought to be a dull black, no gloss at all, and the red is more a silk finish, when dry. For the black overwater hull section I have now found a suitable dull black oven paint. I am pleased with the black so far.
The little dummy here is the second trial, I have also added 3 dummy portholes, they turn out as I had intended, inserts flush wih the skin, and the "glassing" standing back a wee bit in the insert- tube. The inserts are from copper with galvanizesd tin surface and the ends that connect to the hull skin are tapered to the outside.
 
For taping and painting over the riveted skin areas, I shall be following Dirk`s reccomendation, when the Tamiya masking tape arrives
 
Nils
 

 
Dummy section for trial...
 
the black is nostalgic dull steel hull kook, the portholes (3 mm) are quite small in diameter, but doing them larger would be out of scale

Hi Piet,
 
just read your log and can feel with you how you went through ups and downs as from the fastening of the gunport doors hinges omwards. But congrats here, you are well  managing a good solution every time, and the "Surabaya" is looking better with every update. The deck pic in aft direction Looks great
 
Nils

Hello Christian,
 
your Cutter "Alert" Project is very inspiring and I follow with great interest
 
I have a question though,.......
the construction waterline (upper green line) in the enclosed Picture is not shown horizontal,   well that is not the Problem, but if it were horizontal, the Frames would not be perpentdicular to the waterline, so to say in the normal Floating Position of the ship.
 
Does this mean that the actual ship has all Frames at an angle to the waterline, whereby the Frames are rather perpendicular to the keel ?
The keel of course is at an angle, due to the deeper draft at the stern
Normaly I construct models with the Frames perpendicular to the waterline and regardless to the keel-line
 
Nils

Hi Piet,
 
just read your log and can feel with you how you went through ups and downs as from the fastening of the gunport doors hinges omwards. But congrats here, you are well  managing a good solution every time, and the "Surabaya" is looking better with every update. The deck pic in aft direction Looks great
 
Nils

Hi Peter,
 
thanks again for your Input here...
 
yes you are so right...., I believe there are at least three aspects of the paint Job, one is the paint-type itself with choise of color, then the way of applying it, and just as important, the way of following tips and tricks (provided These are known) to achieve a good looking result.
I have for myself not gained enough experience with the painting in order to avoid unnecessary risks with the paint Job.
 
Nils

Very nice and neat work Mike,
 
the standing treenails remind me of the fresh harvested cornfields (Maisfelder)  I saw, when walking the dog this morning
 
Nils

Hi Piet,
 
just read your log and can feel with you how you went through ups and downs as from the fastening of the gunport doors hinges omwards. But congrats here, you are well  managing a good solution every time, and the "Surabaya" is looking better with every update. The deck pic in aft direction Looks great
 
Nils

Thanks Frank for your very kind comment and thanks to all for the likes, it's all very much appreciated.
 
Well, I turned the ship around on the bench and without any mishaps too.  Looked at the gunport hinges and yes, they are kinda big but not bad looking.  Doubt krept in whether to yank tem off or leave well enough alone.  Oh well, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and make new 0.5 mm hinges.  Not looking forward to it.
 
I'll cement the upper deck gun hardware in the bulwark first on the port side.  I couldn't get to them before but now that the ship is turned around they are easily accessible.
 
Cheers,

Hello everyone and thanks for your comments and likes, it's always much appreciated.
 
Thanks Gunther, my wife is of the same opinion 
 
@ Mark T. Thank you as well and rusty is good - I think    I had a wild idea to file the round brass wire flat to simulate wrought iron straps but where do I end detailing this thing to the nth degree   I'll dunk it back in the straight stuff to darken it some more.  However, I plan on ordering some of the other solutions and see if they work better.
 
Thanks Patrick, All the comments from everyone is very encouraging - - - as you know.
 
Hey Popeye, good to hear from you again. Yeah, I should have had my head examined making the gunport lids workable.  Once they are on and the model is in it's glass house it's a moot point.  But - - - it was a challenge to me to see if it can be done at this scale.  In retrospect it was more trouble then worth the effort.
 
Okay, I have been able to install all but one of the lids and even painted tem flat black.  Could not do the blackening in-situ because of contamination of glue.  Perhaps should have done the blackening before cementing them on - - hind side again.   I had trouble with the CA and even the 2 part epoxy to secure the gudgeons to the lids.  I have no idea why they gave me such a headache but in the end they stayed put with the epoxy cement.  
The one lid I need to remake the pintles and go through the whole process again.  That'll have to wait for another day - - - I need to calm my nerves
 
I took a photo of the port side for yuns to see and comment on.  There is still a lot of clean-up and touch-up work to do including repainting the green to a more authentic color from the mid 17th century. Yeah Hans, I haven't forgotten.
 

 
Cheers,
 
 

Hi Peter,
 
thanks again for your Input here...
 
yes you are so right...., I believe there are at least three aspects of the paint Job, one is the paint-type itself with choise of color, then the way of applying it, and just as important, the way of following tips and tricks (provided These are known) to achieve a good looking result.
I have for myself not gained enough experience with the painting in order to avoid unnecessary risks with the paint Job.
 
Nils