Robert Taylor

13 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Thanks again Robert. Again looking at your Man O War it is obvious that large portions would have to be hand painted. Impossible to airbrush unless you did a crazy amount of masking and unmasking. I really appreciate your thoughts and advice. It is fascinating reading the building blogs of different highly talented builders and seeing how each feel very strongly about their preferred way of doing things.  As I am honing my skills my mind is fully open to all techniques and methods. I will be making my own sails for my Cutty Sark. This will be my first attempt. I like your cloth sails and I like Ron’s (Great Republic) paper sails. Going to experiment with both methods to see which, if either, I can pull off convincingly. 

Nice one Bill, key is just to take your time, no rush mate.

Any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Btw The Cutty Sark and I think the Victory are two kits I haven't built.

I kinda prefer more period Elizabethan galleons, even Carracks and some of the Heller kits are cracking.

3 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Robert do use acrylics or enamels, or a combination of both?

 

Bill

Enamels all the time, while Acrylics are to a certain extent easier to work with, they are brittle and easily scratched unless you want to double or triple your work by putting a clear gloss or lacquer finish o  top.

To me Enamels incorporate all of this in one go, ok slightly longer drying time, but long term made to last.

I try and use Matt enamels all the time as gloss ones are the worst for drying and mixing sometimes, so where I can, i try and substitute one for the other as long as it doesn't take away that original look.

Hope this helps Bill 👍

3 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Robert I just keep looking back at your build log. I am so impressed with your work. It is making me want to get to my Man O War build. I still have a ways to go on my Cutty Sark and need to be patient. I have so many questions and I hope you won’t mind me asking. If you do, please say. In the first part of the log you show all the hand made cloth sails. Are those the same ones you show later on the ship?  Also was the ship painting a combination of airbrush and hand painting?  I saw you holding a brush in one photo and I expect some areas are so detailed it has to be hand painted. Other areas look so smooth and even it looks like airbrush. 

Hi Bill, 

That's ok, i don't mind you asking questions.

Yes the sails in my first log is the same ones I will be rigging up for this kit.

I also inserted 3mm modelling/jewelry wire in the sides only before sewing them up, so I can bend/mould them so that it makes the sails billow out. A lot less time consuming and less messier that pva glue on cloth etc..

The Kit is all hand painted, it's all I have ever done, as usually Galleons is all i ever build and with these kits you can't really airbrush much, the time you do take to set up paint &airbrush then mask pieces off, you could have painted by hand. I also don't own an airbrush, which is kinda weird as I was a spray painter for 10yrs. 

Everyone has their own opinion on airbrushing regard finish etc.. but for me i think its lazy. I guess it just depends on what Kit and size your making too.

Hope this helps Bill 👍

19 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Good morning Robert. I just received this Ravell kit as a very pleasant surprise. Will be starting it in the Fall. Currently working on the Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark. I guarantee I will be referring to your build log as I tackle the project. Excellent job!  I am curious about your sails. What technique did you use? Are they cloth or paper?  Very realistic. Paint color scheme is fantastic as well. 

Hi Bill 

I made my own sails using a cream coloured pillow case, just a mix betwee cotton and linen, using the plastic sails with the kit  as templates, then hand sowed everything.

Also the paint colour scheme I thought long and hard about as I definitely thought it needed changing from the kit instructions,  took me a lot longer than I thought. I knew what I wanted to do with the hull, and a little of the galleries but most decisions were done stage by stage per the instructions. Sometimes you can have a vision in your head but it's not till it's in front of you that you can decide for definite sometimes. I also done a little rengraving of the architecture on the galleries too.

Like any model though you can paint it whatever way you think suits.

20 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Has anyone on this site built the Ravell 1/96 British Man O War?  I recently received the model kit as a surprise gift. It is unopened and setting on a shelf right now as I continue working on my Cutty Sark. I searched this site for any build logs for the Man O War but have had no luck. My ship research indicates it/was not an actual historic ship, but more a artist’s rendering of a Spanish gallion? Don’t know if this is true or not. Would love to find someone’s build log if there is one. 

Yes that's more or less true,  I found the kit is an actual mix of both English and Spanish Galleons, it is of course the same kit as the Spanish Galleon but for a few alterations, and the Spanish Galleon kit came out before the English one. 

It's not an actual model of a particular English Galleon, only in parts.

 Progress update on my English Man O'war 1:96 Revell. Slight change in plan, rather than doing all the ratlines first, I decided to do the standing rigging as per mast, then the ratlines for that appropriate mast, a lot easier to work inside to outside of the ship albeit it is still a long process.

I have also painted and rigged the rest of the Bowsprit as well as the Figurehead so that is more or less finished now, just rigging up the ratlines for the foremast.

Next stage is the main mast.

Yes these are the rigging instructions from revell, and I think a lot of them are OTT. Sadly I do not have access to accurate rigging instructions(if anyone has accurate details at all of any ships from this period) I will just have to go with the flow and try and adapt the more OTT instructions.

I would also say this kit is not based on any whole English ship, only in parts. 

The kit is probably more based towards the "Spanish Galleon" kit from Revell as this came out first, this is essentially the same kit apart from a number of altered parts, so I would assume they have not changed the rigging instructions either.

English Man O'war Revell 1:96 update. Foremast, Main mast, Mizzen mast & Bonaventure mast all reinforced built and painted, in place and rigged to stage. Now rigging the deadeyes for the ratlines that will be rigged before moving on to the 2nd level.

6 hours ago, historyguysteve said:

Hi So far great job on this kit- I have this in my stash so I'm really happy to see a build log on this. 

    A piece of advice; use the plastic masts/yards as templates for wooden ones. Just replace the plastic with wood. The reason why (ask me how I know) the plastic is already 20-30 years old and will get really brittle and positively will fail and at the WORST possible time. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤔Also consider this; by the time you reinforce the masts/spars, sand them to get rid of the seams and paint them and place them you could have used a dowel, shaped it and have a MUCH better outcome long term. Wooden masting and sparring will absolutely look light years better and will be soooooo much more resilient. I tell you plainly- replacing the masts/spars with wood is a win win- you will save time, the ship will look better, and it will last muuuuch longer.

    thanks- just friendly advice based on experience😃😃😃

   historyguysteve

Hi Steve, 

I would love to do that, and move on to wooden kits, but I dont have enough space to set up a lathe etc.. I am using the kitchen table atm as this is the only space I have, no spare room or Shed/workshop. This is my only option unless i make them by hand with the aid of Rasps and Files. 

Regards 

Robert.

Hi Bill

As I decided to change the colour scheme I scoured lots of different colours and makes, this one stuck out for me, its...

Revell Matt 84 "Leather Brown" 

Regards 

Robert.

1 hour ago, Bill Morrison said:

Beautiful paint job!  What shade of brown did you use on the hull?

 

Bill

Revell 1:96 "English Man O'war" update.. Sanding preparation, Reinforcing, building, painting & Rigging of the Bowsprit.

⚓⚓⚓🤺🤺🤺

6 hours ago, Jeff T said:

I like the colors!

Thanks Jeff, took me ages to decide on the colour scheme, stop, start, stop, start, abandon, start, stop, start.... 

Never thought it would take as long, guess I was just used to going along with kit colours or minor changes.

Update on the Progress of my take on Revell's 1:96 "English Man O'war"

Its been a long 2 weeks or so since my last post because of various other factors and problems outwith my control.

I have now Improvised the Colour scheme which took longer than I thought to decide on piece by piece, as well as doing improvising on some re-engraving of the design on the sides. Gallery sides and balconies all done and fitted with the stern. Also doors, windows, bayling pins, ladders all painted and fitted as well as the shroud stantions. Will be leaving the Anchor, Long boat and Rudder which are painted to near the end before fitting.

Next up will be dealing with the Masts and part rigging, but since they seem to be done on a cheaper plastic, I will have to at least sand them down(maybe reinforce them inside as they are in 2 parts) before I can apply paint properly to the part.

All in all its been along 2 weeks outwith this kit, just glad to get bk on it and getting the buzz again. Happy Modelling everyone Take care and #staysafe ⚓⚓⚓🤺🤺🤺

15 minutes ago, Jeff T said:

Looks great, Robert!  Lots of progress here.👍

Thanks Jeff mate, long way to go, I've got a vision of how I want it to look so hopefully it will all come together.

Hi Folks

First update on my take on my English Man O'war in a while.

I've decided to change most of the colour scheme on this model as I feel Revell's doesnt have the feel of any Authenticity about it, so hopefully I can do it justice. 

Cannons assembled with tie backs, Decking and Hull painted and all assembled thus far, still a long way to go, with Colour scheme to be decided for the sides of the Quarterdeck and Poopdeck respectively.

I think so far the most time consuming thing apart from the Sails which I previously spent 2 weeks hand sewing, has been deciding which colours to use and which are going to blend in, instead of it looking like 2 halves of ships stuck together like Revell's original plan.

I have a few surprises to add Decoratively after painting, well that's the plan lol... we'll see what happens and where this ship takes me. 

⚓⚓⚓⚓🤺🤺🤺🤺

Happy Modelling everyone 

#staysafe 

I don't  build wooden models for the simple reason I have nowhere near enough space to have a workshop etc

I've been looking at wooden kits in particular "The Revenge" which if I could would have plumped for the "Occre" Revenge, but that's just my option.

That said i will be following the progress with adoration. This ship and the Golden hind are 2 Airfix kits I've built before, and they bring back very fond memories, the Golden Hind in fact I have just recently built again and posted on here.

Anyway Keep up the great work Johnathan, really looking forward to future posts ⚓⚓🤺🤺

11 minutes ago, Jeff T said:

Nice work on the sails!

 

I am building the Revell 1/96 Spanish Galleon and doing a lot of modifications (slower than molasses) so this is very interesting to me.   (The Spanish Galleon is essentially the “sister ship” to the English Man O’ War as they use many of the same molds.)

 

 

 

 

Hi Jeff 

I also have the Spanish Galleon in my stash.

Like you I think I will be doing a lot of improvisations too, notably the paintwork, especially the Hull, where in the English Man O'war kit it supposed to be painted with a semi gloss brown which just doesn't look right against a matt ochre waterline which could also be changed.

Will be nice to see how yours turns out as well.

3 hours ago, Backer said:

Painting :

 

See page 15 of the PDF.

There is a lot of variation in this time period. If you don't exaggerate, you can do little wrong.

 

Steere-MA2004.pdf 11.17 MB · 1 download

Thanks for the pdf link loved reading that, very informative 👍

54 minutes ago, Jim Rogers said:

Look at it as a Spanish Galleon captured by the Brits and re-named. Something that happened throughout British Naval History.

 

I will do Jim, whatever happens I'll do my best by this. I am looking at making a few alterations anyway, notably the paintwork as I dont like the colour scheme, i think that needs developing for definite.

9 minutes ago, Backer said:

An English Galleon
Always a nice build to follow.

I actually think this more of a Spanish Galleon with the 4 masts and high decking. Revell didn't do much I think in the way of historical accuracy for this kit as they reproduced it with a few alterations from their original 1:96 Spanish Galleon kit.

Finally ready to start this New Project in earnest, after 2 weeks or so making and  Hand sewing Sails for this kit.

This is my biggest project to date and will hopefully stand me in good stead for bigger or better things.

There will be a lot of improvisations along the way, most notably the colour scheme of which I feel definitely needs developing.

Any relevant help and info anyone can give is much appreciated.

Thanks ⚓⚓⚓⚓🤺🤺🤺🤺👍

5 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Well done finishing her  - the sails really brought the kit to life.

 

Whats next?

 

OC.

Next on the Horizon will be my biggest ship to date already in dry dock ⚓⚓⚓🤺🤺🤺

Finally finished Drake and the Golden Hind sailing off into the Sunset and home after circumnavigating the the Globe. It's been a true Love and enjoyment building this kit again after 40yrs, a few delays here and there, but now homeward bound🤺🤺🤺🤺⚓⚓⚓⚓

Progress on my Airfix 1:72 Golden Hind. Ratlines done and Rigging almost complete to instructions, just to Rig the Sails, Anchors and Flags. Any relevant info would be welcome.

Hi  Everyone 

I am looking for a bit of advice, help or spare part if possible. 

I have not long purchased this model 2 weeks ago from Model Hobbies shop on ebay.

To my dismay when I opened the Brand New  kit up I was confronted with 2 left hand side Hulls and obviously No Right hand side Hull, so obviously I cannot build this model.

Someone on an Fb page suggested  a half build and mount it in a frame, but that doesn't impress me, when you buy a kit for £40+ you expect it to have all the parts especially the Hulls and be able to build it relatively trouble free.

I have contacted the seller to which he replied he would contact their Heller distributor to request the new part needed, which I was happy with. 

But since i have had no further feedback from him i have emailed him twice to see if there is any information or follow up to the Heller distributors answer or position on this, to which worryingly I have had no reply no from the seller.

I have also emailed Heller themselves regards this to which I have not had a reply either.

Has anyone else had a problem like this from this seller or Heller themselves ? 

I have enclosed 2 photos of the kit when I opened it.

Regards

Robert.