ScottRC

Great work Rob and I'm glad the arm is doing better.  All detail and research on the stunsail booms is very interesting.

Scott

Man Rob, I hope things get better, they do say that working the areas that hurt helps with recovery, so maybe trying to work on the GR will speed up your healing.  

Try your local auto parts store and ask for a flexible mechanical parts retriever.  They come in two types, one is magnetic, the other has a set of claws you work with your thumb.  Some even have lights.  I have one that is 1/4" in diameter that I have used many time in retrieving stuff I dropped into tight, enclosed areas.

The crimping tubes are great.  I learned of them when rigging the control wires on a 1/32 WW1 biplane.  Saved me a lot of pain and frustration.  

Welcome back Vivian and congrats on the marriage.  I'm excited to see how these sails turn out.  They are looking very nice.  

Scott

Hi Rob,

My mother, who got me into ship modeling, bought a Scientific Sea Witch back around 1976 and never built it.  I now have it and really think it would be a good candidate to try some small scale scratch building. It computes to 1/158th.  I just need to get two other projects completed and then I can start the Sea Witch.  

Scott

Hi Rob,

Your documentation of your rigging process is going to be invaluable for me since I am interested in working in the smaller scale.  Everything is looking very refined.

Scott

Your deck coloring is spot on, good job!

1 hour ago, Canute said:

The Trucolor paints are acetone based, so mask up and glove up. They do have a slew of colors. This is the rejuvenated Accu-paint line of many years ago.

 

Model building experts amongst the model RR fraternity recommend priming under this paint. It doesn't adhere to resins and some plastics. So I'd recommend a priming taping test on the plastic. Spray your primer on one half of your test piece, let dry, lay some masking tape across the primer and the bare plastic. Spray or brush your color and let dry. Remove the tape and see what gets pulled off.

I agree about priming under just about any paint. I build a lot in 1/700 and use acrylics. I will do a light base coat primer, usually Krylon flat white or Tamiya gray primer, then will either brush or airbrush light coats of thinned base color.  It's important to keep the coats light and thinned because it's so easy to get the paint thickness to appear out of scale and cover up details.  Priming does a number of positive things; it brings out any blemishes that can be corrected, it gives a good biting surface for the paint to adhere to, and it allows you to adjust your base color hue from light to dark.

Your idea using cardboard and making a cover is making me wonder why I didn't think of that.  I have a 1/96 Constitution on my workshop shelf that is 98% complete and waiting for funds to build a case for it.  I will put our idea to work this weekend.  

Many years ago, I took a class in fly tying and acquired the tools. To this day, I have tied maybe six flies, but the vise, thread bobbin, and head cement has been excellent for seizing and threading on small parts.  The bobbin is a must to keep the thread manageable.  

Smart move on laying down good primer coat, it will make your overall finish much more easier.  About the decks, I chose to fill and sand the gaps, and then re-scribed the deck lines with a small strait edge and . If I was to do it again, I would probably re-plank the decks with a thin veneer.

Scott

Nice tutorial on how you did your netting Jesse.  

I also completed a 1/700 CV2 Lexington this year, and for Christmas, received a 1/700 CV16 in WW2.  So now my goal is to have a model of all the ships called Lexington. Here is a pic of all three.

Scott

Its been almost four years ago and I forgot about this build log.  I did finish the Lex and hopefully get a display cabinet built in the future for it and all my Dad's certificates and burial flag.  Here are the completed pictures.  I hope I can say that I actually completed my first build log. 

Those boats look much better, very scale.  Great work!

Scott

 I have had the same problems with painting copper over gloss surfaces and vise versa until I was taught the following technique:

 - Spray a coat of matte clear over the entire model, including your topcoat, this will seal the topcoat and give both the tape and bottom paint a textured surface to "bite" into.

 - Lay your mask down, as was said, the Tamiya range of masking tape is the best.  They now make tape that fits contours.

 - Spray a coat of clear over the mask at your demarcation line, this will add an additional seal.

 -  Then spray your next color and let sit for at least a full 24 hours if its enamel.  It takes a long time for this to cure.  If not fully cured, it will peel off in sheets.

 - De-mask, inspect, wipe clean all mask residue with a mild solvent, then spray on a few light coats of clear gloss, let sit and enjoy the finish.

Scott

 This is an interesting subject you are building.  I will want to follow along.  Ironically, I grew up near Fort Benton MT and now live south of Kansas City. I someday would like to pursue building a model of a Missouri river packet someday.

Scott

Etubino,

I will be following your build log as well, I am trying to start a Scientific Sea Witch.   

Scott

Jim,

When I read you first post, it sounded like you just took up painting as a hobby for retirement, then I saw your work and thought man, you didn't retire, your on a career.  You have all the chemistry for good nautical illustration than so many professional illustrators seem to struggle with.  Most important, you have mastered perspective, depth of field, and scale.  That is very hard for a lot of illustrators to do, for out of scale features stick out and throw the scene off balance.  

I really like your work.

Scott

Maybe only cover a small section of each wing, fuse, and tail?  It would be a challenge, especially masking and painting the markings and adding the pinking so everything lines up and then the transition from the covered section to the exposed section looks balanced.  

 Good to hear that the ailerons actuate for its really looks great.  Balsa USA will probably the kit I go with, they have a great reputation and support.  In building for RC, I cheat go go with servos for I do not trust my rigging skills. At present I am building a 1/32 scale plastic SE5, my first one, and find that rigging a bipe is much more complicated than I thought as compared to a square rigged ship.  

Hi John,

Sorry about your father, I lost mine a few years back and he was like yours in that he support me both through my hobby and my career. 

I have been following your detailed build log  because I have love of bi planes and am planning on building possibly a 1/4 or 1/6 scale Sopwith in a few years.  I see you share your workshop with a set of Ludwigs. I also share mine with a Ludwig Standard and just purchased a complete set of Pearl Sessions.

To your build, I am amazed how strait everything came out without the use of jigs.  Since all the rigging is so detailed, maybe I missed it, but do the ailerons operate?

I am glad you are doing this build log and would like to say that you are coming along very well and addressing some issues that I have been coming across as well with solid hull kits.  hopefully, I can get back to some ship modeling and to a solid hull of the Sea Witch.  I think it was wise of you to go with the primer on the hull.  Gloss lacquers or enamels do not work well with adhesives, so you end up either sanding the gloss finish or using a primer to create a surface the adhesive can "bite" into.

Best regards,

Scott

 Hello Nenad,

I have been away for a few months, and have enjoyed catching up with your posts and the nice work you have been doing on the ships boats and life in Serbia.  

Cheers,

Scott