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DelF

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Everything posted by DelF

  1. DelF
    I’m grateful to Bob for raising this topic. Being new to airbrushing myself I’m finding this discussion very interesting and valuable. There certainly seems to be a steep learning curve for beginners, but my experience so far (less than a week!) is that the results you can achieve make the effort well worthwhile. One bonus for me is that I’ve found I can airbrush shellac - my preferred finish for bare wood. Derek
  2. DelF
    👍
  3. DelF
    Had my first serious go at airbrushing today, starting with priming the anchors: The unpainted bits on the shanks are where I held the anchors - that part will be covered by the stocks. I then sprayed the hatch covers, the swivel guns and finally the anchor top coat.: Once I'd realised that you need to control the paint flow quite carefully - a light misting being preferred to a heavy coat - I was able to paint the swivels far more quickly than I'd have managed with a brush, and with a much smoother coating that doesn't hide any details. You'll have to take my word for that as I can't take a decent closeup with my iphone! The anchors went well, although to be honest a brush would probably have been as easy. Similarly, I tried airbrushing the pearwood channels but the result wasn't noticeably better than brushing. However the gratings were much easier with the airbrush, although I noticed when they dried that they're not quite evenly coated. Another quick go should sort that. Cleaning the airbrush after use is a pain and took me about ten minutes, but like anything I expect it will get easier with practice. Overall I'm quite pleased. Derek
  4. DelF
    I'm sure you will. The provided deck is great for beginners - which you are not. Derek
  5. DelF
    Very neat work!
  6. DelF
    Ground Tackle Still waiting for paint to arrive so I've had a go at the anchors. The cast metal parts are OK - the pattern and proportions look correct, and it only needed a small amount of fettling to get rid of any casting marks. However I felt the anchor stocks were slightly under-sized, and they only tapered in one dimension rather than two. So, out with some spare pear wood left over from another build. I decided to follow full-scale practice and construct each stock in two halves, which resulted in eight pieces, each 60 X 5 X 2.5 mm for the four anchors. I used the trusty Proxxon mill to taper the pieces to the correct angle: The front face and the bottom of the stock had to be cut at slightly different angles. In each case I prepared a piece of wood to support the stock at the required angle: Once the mill was set at the correct depth for the first angle all pieces were milled without further adjustment. Then the setup was changed for the second angle and the process repeated. Making the stock in two halves ensured it was easy to mill a square hole for the shank: I used a dull point pressed in the stock to simulate bolts then used shrink wrap tube for the iron bands: Trying the anchor for size: Quite happy with that. The good news is, some paint was delivered while I was working on the anchors this morning so I should be able to get on with airbrushing. Yippeee! Derek
  7. DelF
    It's looking great! I see Admiral Cochrane is supervising construction from the windowsill - I'm sure he approves. Derek
  8. DelF
    Those decorations really bring her to life - beautiful.
  9. DelF
    Looking really good!
  10. DelF
    Whilst waiting for paints and primer to arrive for the new airbrush I decided to have another look at chemical blackening. I've used this successfully in the past, including with the small photo etched parts for Speedy's pumps, but I came unstuck when I tried to blacken the ringbolts and cap squares for Speedy's cannon. The problem was I had been trying to treat some 70 tiny components in one go, and I simply couldn't agitate the fluid enough to blacken them evenly. I'm sure the solution will be obvious to more experienced folk, but the lightbulb moment didn't come for me until I re-read the Brass Black instructions and found you don't need to submerge your components in the liquid - you can just brush it on. So, I realised I could treat PE parts before separating them from the sheet. In most cases, for example with ringbolts, the untreated metal revealed when you remove them from the sheet will be hidden. Otherwise, there will just be a minor touch up required. Here's my first attempt, with half a dozen ringbolts. I started by running a very fine sanding stick over the parts then wiping them with acetone to remove any remaining grease, then applied the Brass Black with the green applicator in the picture. This applies a tiny amount of liquid, but it proved sufficient for the job. It took two applications to get the depth of black shown here. I'm in two minds whether to rely just on Brass Black, or to use the blackening as a primer for airbrushing. I'll experiment a bit more when I get the airbrush paint. Derek
  11. DelF
    Hi Glenn I was impressed when I saw Lady Nelson in the gallery. I'm even more impressed now - a really beautiful little ship - and it's great that you've retrieved your log from the dark side. Sorry Glenn, I can't resist picking up your typos. This one is even better than the wench you're building on Cheerful! You'll have the animal cruelty people on your case 🐇🐇 Derek
  12. DelF
    I hope that's a typo! Or are you secretly into a different sort of model building 🤪??
  13. DelF
    Hi Edward I'll let you know. I'm just waiting for some supplies of paint and thinners then I'll get started in earnest. So far I'm going through the usual stages in the learning curve starting with unconscious ignorance (I really didn't realise how much I didn't know) and I'm now floundering in conscious ignorance - starting to realise just how much there is I don't know! Being an impatient sort I cut through the confusion by simply buying an airbrush and compressor that had attracted a couple of good recommendations, plugging it in and trying it. So it was with some relief today that I found that it worked and seemed to work quite well. I'm sure I've got a lot still to learn, but I'm going to have fun getting to grips with a new skill. Derek
  14. DelF
    Thanks Vane. Looking at youtube I was surprised to see how popular plastic modelling still is - probably more so than wood. It's just a pity that so many of the presenters are long-winded and haven't a clue how to make good videos. There are some good ones and some of the awful ones are still worth watching as they may contain useful information, but it can be quite hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. Derek
  15. DelF
    Bear in mind I've just watched a few youtube videos and cleaned my airbrush once, so I'm no expert! Based on that limited knowledge, it takes less than a minute to do a quick clean between different coloured paints and 5 to 10 minutes to do a more thorough clean after you've finished a session. Not onerous but apparently essential to avoid problems with clogging, especially as nozzles are so fine. Typically 0.2 to 0.5mm. Vane says in the previous post that it takes time to get used to using an airbrush, so I aim to get as much practice in as I can. I already think I made the right decision though, to try airbrushing. Derek
  16. DelF
    Well, so far so good with the new airbrush. In the end I went for this cheap(ish) airbrush/compressor combo from Amazon. I started off with zero knowledge and the best of intentions (go ultra cheap and don't buy a compressor first off) but soon got seduced by all the shiny expensive gear you can get - £200 airbrushes and compressors with big tanks and so on. Fortunately I was brought back to earth through watching and reading a lot on the web, much of it from plastic modelling fora. In the end the much more modest gear I went for got reasonable reviews and I took the plunge: In use, the compressor tucks away on a shelf beneath my workbench, and the hose is plenty long enough to use comfortably on the bench. The machine is much quieter than I expected, and the airbrush itself seems well-made and comfortable to hold. Here's my first attempt - one of Speedy's swivel guns: I was so keen to get started I used ordinary black not dull metal black, so I may have to redo. Nevertheless I was quite pleased for a first attempt. Now I'll just have to resist the temptation to start plastic kit modelling like Vane and so many other forum members! Derek
  17. DelF
    Simple but clever. Thanks Glenn and Rusty.
  18. DelF
    Coming along nicely! What paint do you use? I find Admiralty acrylics cover well with one or at most two coats. Derek
  19. DelF
    Just don't get your builds mixed up or else you might end up with Lady Speedy or Speedy Isabella. Now there's a thought... Derek
  20. DelF
    Oh no! I feel your pain. I'm just glad you've been able to get back beyond the point when disaster struck on the first hull. Btw, your fairing looks very smooth - I'd like to learn more about the marking jig. Can you point me to any info on the forum? Thanks Derek
  21. DelF
    Thanks! My airbrush arrived today and I’m looking forward to trying it out tomorrow. No doubt I’ll be coming to the forum for tips and advice 🤔
  22. DelF
    I started my Royal Caroline before I joined MSW. I have learned so much from this forum I'm sure my model would have been better if I'd joined earlier. I'm sure your model will be better as well.
  23. DelF
    Hi Messis Sorry, I've only just seen this. I didn't do a log as I started my build before I joined the forum. However I did put some pictures in the gallery when I completed it last year. Here's the link. Derek
  24. DelF
    More diversions Having finished the deck and looking ahead in the manual, I realised there are literally hundreds more components needed to complete the hull - ring bolts, pin racks, swivel guns and so on. I'd already concluded after trying to blacken the PE components on the cannon that there are too many small items to use treatments like Brass Black with any success. Unless you do them in very small batches which would take forever. Which leaves painting. Using a brush either puts too much paint on or takes a long time or both, so I've decided to have a go at airbrushing. I've never used an airbrush, but looking at other people's logs it's clearly a useful technique to have. I've been researching on the forum and the Web more generally, and I've decided to go cheap initially, at least until I've learnt the basics. In another topic I saw that Glenn uses a Badger airbrush, a brand that seems to get good reviews so I'll probably go for that, together with a decent compressor. Watch this space. The belaying pin racks are laser cut from 1.5mm pearwood, and in the manual they're shown painted red to match the bulwarks. I thought I'd go off piste again and make my own out of spare boxwood. Cutting them out and drilling the holes probably took little longer than sanding the laser char and painting the supplied racks. I'm mentioning it partly because it's a good way to illustrate another useful feature of milling machines - the ability to drill very accurate, precisely positioned holes. The drill bit here is 0.6mm and the holes exactly 3.4mm apart: Here's the first one fitted: Back to the garden for a spot of sunbathing, I think. Derek
  25. DelF
    Entirely self-taught Glenn - plus as many youtube videos as I could get my hands on and a lot of practice. I could point you at a few if you decide to take the plunge. I should have mentioned that the x-y-z movements on the Proxxon are accurate to 0.01mm/0.0004". It really is a quality, precision tool. And when the blasted virus is history you are more than welcome to visit - provided you bring your camera and I'll trade milling lessons for photography tips. You'll have seen I'm sadly lacking in the latter! Derek

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