Azzoun

Dee, very nice work, looking around at companionways on real sail boats and then seeing how you did yours on this boat, it's exactly the effect I kind of had in mind.  Wondering If I'm going to have to cut into the cabin to get a nice recessed look.  Little nervous about doing that. 

Dee Dee,   Couple questions,  What kind of wood did you use for the companionway slide cover?   Could you give me more detail on how you constructed the rudder?  I love the planking on the rudder, I've seen that in actual builds in the Sharpie book.  Your build really inspires me to slow down my build of the Sharpie and step up the details.   I'm very impressed. 
 
Josh

Well, it was an "Ahhhhhhhh" moment like, Oh my good, so many ideas and do i wish I knew about them prior to my build.  Your kit bashing of the keel blew me away.  It was another moment where I just hadn't considered even trying that and it gave me so much excitement.  I really liked the working companionway ideas but of course, you just added a whole other level of "craziness" to the model.  The appeal to me is that it adds an additional "surprise" to the person your showing your model to that they wouldn't initially see.  I'm not sure how much value I would get out having a working rudder other than the reward of building a true working model.  I have in my future, the desire to build an RC boat, probably a tug or battle ship, where I get to make things working with servos and motors and LIGHTS!.  Doubt I'll do sound, i know some people do, but to me it screams Walmart toy. 
 
Sharing my excitement and at the same time mild disappointment in not being to consider applying my idea in my current build to my wife, she helped remind me that this is my first wood build and it's not a bad thing to see how certain basic aspects of the build go from the instructions.  To experience the trials and tribulations.  My thoughts that followed were that your alterations were fairly aggressive and agreed with her outsider insight. 
 
Practice making crates..lol... show off     But what an incredibly thorough, clear explanation on the companionways, thank you!    While I'm considering your advice, I am wondering if the fact that I was planning on doing a wood finish for the companionways makes a difference.  Does it?    By the way, I'm posting something in general discussion here in a bit about my trip to the Naval Academy that I hope you'll check out.  Had an amazing day, can't way to tell the forum about it. 
 
As i finish writing this, I realize that your crates suggestion was probably targeted towards giving me an idea on something to physically work on while I'm researching my next build steps and what a good suggestion it is. 
 
Josh

I usually airbrush large areas.  My hands are not that steady. However one thing a club member who is also an artist said one time is that the size of your brush makes a difference as well.  He said most artists use the largest brush they have as much as possible as to eliminate or minimize overlapping and uneveness and use the smaller brushes for detail work.
David B

I can attest to the methods described by Alistair, as I also use brushing for large paint areas.  Especially what he said about not scrimping on brush quality -- they're one thing I have found that you DO get what you pay for.  Get good ones, treat them nice, and they'll serve you well for years.

Great tutorial Alistair
 
I use a very similar process but with acrylics exclusively.The biggest thing I have found with acrylics is to use Tamiya thinners.Yes they are expensive,but they include a retarder and flow enhancer,normal water doesn't.The difference with the thinners added really is 'night and day'.It is important to keep adding thinners to the paint on the palette as it starts to thicken whilst you are working.
The biggest difference is I spray the clear which is a polyurethane varnish.I use a professional automotive touch up gun with a large compressor.This enables perfect atomisation and because of the volume of material delivered eliminates the drying of the clear as it immediately touches the surface.This gives it a chance to 'flow out' and stops the grainy appearance you can get from spraying.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi
I'm a bit surprised by the very positive comments on my painting work on my Fly model. It is a quite easy process from my point of view so I thought I'd share my technique. Forgive me to all of you who know this already or do it better. My painting technique dates back to house painting in my student years, the principles are the same.
 
Brushes:
- Do not scrimp by buying cheap brushes. Get the best quality, sable hair, that you can afford.
- For painting a large area of your model use a square headed brush about 3 mm - 4mm wide with a tapered head and medium stiffness. Same as house painting but at a much smaller scale.
- Look after your brushes. Clean them in lacquer thinners, turpentine or water according to the paint you use. Do not let them soak in any of these solutions. After the first clean wash them in hot water and concentrated dish wishing liquid. The idea is to get rid of any paint residue in the brush and especially in its barrel. Always clean straight after you finished the area painted. Good brushes treated well will last for years.
- For clear finishes I use a larger, soft, round or oval head brush - these give a softer application and allow quicker application than a square head. I find clear finishes work best if they go on quickly. I use Testors Dullcote but that is just my choice.
 
Application
- Several or many thin coats are better than a few thick coats. If the wood behind is showing behind your first coat you are on the right track.
- Do not overload the brush with paint. I take the paint from the pot or bottle and lay it with the brush on to a piece of fresh paper. I then brush out the loaded brush on the paper until it is only lightly loaded with paint.
- Work in one direction from one end to the other of the ship - aft to stern or the other way round. Never start in the middle and then head aft followed by forward.
- Never go back to a perceived mistake behind you in a single application. The paint will have tacked and, especially with enamels, you will get pulling which will turn a minor mistake into a major mess. You can fix that perceived mistake on the next coat.
- Always allow the paint to fully dry. Enamels need at least six hours. Partly dried paint if processed will make a major mess. When you sand the paint should turn to dust. If it rolls into little slivers it isn't dry.
- After each coat lightly sand with 1200 grit paper. If this takes the paint back to wood it doesn't matter there is another coat to come.
 
Finish
- After your last coat of paint, leave it to fully dry and the rub it down with tissue paper. This will even out any brush strokes and colour differences.
- Apply a lacquer (or your favourite clear finish). I use Testors Dullcote. When dry, Testors can again be rubbed back with tissue paper to a dull sheen. I also do a second coat of clear and rub it back again. If you have any shiny spots 1200 grit plus a further tissue rub will get rid of them.
 
The above only applies to easily accessed surfaces. Strakes, fenders and other things in the way will make the rub off impossible. My theory is to get the base painting about right before those bits are added. I could be proved wrong...
 
Here is a picture of the upper works paint plus the wales paint. the upper works are a Humbrol enamel, the wale a Polly Scale acrylic. A little bit of grain shows through which suits me. This is more paint grain than wood grain. A too perfect finish would make the model too plastic looking (I'm not meaning to deride plastic models).
 
If any of you have better ideas I'd be keen to hear them - this works for me.
 
Cheers
Alistair