rvchima

Thanks everyone! Now I know how NASA faked the Magellan radar map of the surface of Venus.

Ha ha, only joking. I'm retired from NASA and we never fake anything.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Thanks everyone! Now I know how NASA faked the Magellan radar map of the surface of Venus.

Ha ha, only joking. I'm retired from NASA and we never fake anything.

Thanks everyone! Now I know how NASA faked the Magellan radar map of the surface of Venus.

Ha ha, only joking. I'm retired from NASA and we never fake anything.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

26 Chains for the Port Side
Some assembly required.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

Now the Copper is Green!
I experimented with high-test vinegar and ammonia, salt and Miracle grow, cleaning the foil with alcohol and, lacquer thinner. (I did not try peeing on my ship.) Nothing had much of an effect until I tried the Novacan black patina that I use for stained glass and to darken the photo etched parts. It made the foil look like a tarnished penny, dark brown, almost black. I wanted green so I took a chance on a large bottle of Jax Green patina from Amazon. It didn't do much by itself and it tended to rub off. But over top of the Novacan black - wow! The patina seemed durable but I air-brushed several coats of acrylic floor wax over it just in case.
 
Here is a photo of all the samples I tried. No point in identifying the losers, but the Novacan + Jax + acrylic is at bottom right.

Here's a shot of the chemicals.
Novacan black starts to darken immediately and unevenly, but I brushed it continuously with a stiff 1" paint brush until it evened out (15-20 minutes per side.) I rinsed the hull with a sponge and water.
Jax green patina paints on like water, one wet coat, and turns green as it dries. I let it dry overnight.
Halloway Quick Shine is an acrylic floor wax that plastic modelers use for a clear coat. I masked above the water line and applied three light coats with an a air brush.
I doubt if I used more than 1/2 ounce of anything.

Before

After


There were gaps between the stamped plates on the copper tape that I neglected to remove towards the bottom of the hull. They are pretty well camouflaged now.


The green patina is not at all what I was planning on - it's even better.


I built the cabin walls while I was waiting for chemistry experiments to react.

Now to attach the rudder.

26 Chains for the Port Side
Some assembly required.

And She's Complete - 89 days, 210 hours
 

Actually she's been complete except for the base since Dec. 5. Since my last post I added a lot of railings, a little rigging, and the rub-on transfers.
 

You can see some of the railings here.
 

The rigging is done with extremely fine metallic thread. There's no place to attach it, so it's just glued to the top of the yards and painted over with Haze Gray.
 

I expected decals but the kit came with rub-on transfers. You position them on the model and rub HARD with a blunt dowel. In fact I had to rub so hard that the solid hull was dented under the waterline numbers. The kit had multiple copies of the numbers which was lucky because several of them were ruined by the rubbing.
 

I used some nice quarter-sawn white oak for the base, and tapered the edges to resemble the angled sides of the ship. I ordered a bottomless plexiglass case just an inch bigger than the model on all sides. When I get the case I'll cut the bottom to fit and glue it up. So there's one more picture to follow.
 
 
 
 

Chains are Done, on to the Interior - Temporarily
One of the first tasks on the interior is to place 6 eye bolts around each gun port, 120 in all. As Walter says,


My curved hemostat was perfect for inserting the tiny eye bolts.

Four more bolts with tiny rings go in the floor, and a wooden ring surrounds the mizzen mast. I was getting excited about working on the cabins, but today my extra copper foil finally arrived from China. So back to the hull and rudder.

26 Chains for the Port Side
Some assembly required.

Chains are Done, on to the Interior - Temporarily
One of the first tasks on the interior is to place 6 eye bolts around each gun port, 120 in all. As Walter says,


My curved hemostat was perfect for inserting the tiny eye bolts.

Four more bolts with tiny rings go in the floor, and a wooden ring surrounds the mizzen mast. I was getting excited about working on the cabins, but today my extra copper foil finally arrived from China. So back to the hull and rudder.

External Filigree Complete, 189 Hours, 87 days
 
All the external photo-etched filigree took up most of a sheet of PE, so I masked off what wasn't supposed to be gold and painted the rest in place. That was the only way to keep track of everything. Sorry about the blurry image.

The manual recommends attaching the parts with Pledge Future acrylic floor wax. Paint the area first, let it dry, put the filigree in place, then run more polish underneath to hold the part in place. Future is no longer available but the plastic modeling sites recommend Holloway Quick Shine. I got some and tried it on the first piece. It worked, but it was hard to hold the piece in place and the polish left shiny brush marks everywhere. So that didn't work well for me. Does anyone want a quart of floor polish?
 
I ended up cutting the filigree into manageable sections, holding each piece with my double-sided tape sticks (see previous post,) and using a glue looper to wet the back with thin CA. Then I held the piece in place for a few seconds and it was done. In a few places on the starboard side my gun ports were too close to the upper rails and I had to omit some filigree. It took about 10 hours to do all the filigree.




 

My Copper Won't Turn Green!
I finished coppering the hull and rudder, and was ready to age it. In 2013 I used kitchen vinegar and salt on my Syren and it looks great. Today I made up some samples of my copper foil on wood to experiment with. I tried
6%   acetic acid kitchen vinegar with salt 20% weed killer vinegar with salt 20% vinegar with Miracle Grow ammonia with salt ammonia with Miracle Grow lightly sanding or rubbing the foil with steel wool first Nothing had any effect at all on my samples. They are just as shiny as before, and I am stumped! Does anyone have other suggestions for ageing the copper foil?
 
I just discovered that Novacan Black Patina for Solder blackens the foil almost immediately. That's not the aged green that I was looking for but it's a start.

My Copper Won't Turn Green!
I finished coppering the hull and rudder, and was ready to age it. In 2013 I used kitchen vinegar and salt on my Syren and it looks great. Today I made up some samples of my copper foil on wood to experiment with. I tried
6%   acetic acid kitchen vinegar with salt 20% weed killer vinegar with salt 20% vinegar with Miracle Grow ammonia with salt ammonia with Miracle Grow lightly sanding or rubbing the foil with steel wool first Nothing had any effect at all on my samples. They are just as shiny as before, and I am stumped! Does anyone have other suggestions for ageing the copper foil?
 
I just discovered that Novacan Black Patina for Solder blackens the foil almost immediately. That's not the aged green that I was looking for but it's a start.

26 Chains for the Port Side
Some assembly required.