HMS Warspite by Old Collingwood - FINISHED - Academy - 1/350 scale - PLASTIC

[Old Collingwood]

Nice photos of the old lady,I did not see her then as not born untill 1943 but do remmeber  seeing her in  the erly 50s.I was taken by my step father a Navy man who had served on the Hood among others .Evan as a boy one could not help but be moved by this grait stranded lavathon, a fallorn  and pathetic yet thing yet .some how proud and strong. I allso remeamber seeing the How and some others mothballd in plymouth. one was some how evan so yung instinktivly awar of the passing of some thing, some thing of importance yet some thing of so brife a time that looking back was in histor just a fliker.I shall look forward to how she continus as in your model . robin b

Hi Robin,

 

Those are great memories that stir up my blood as i have always had a love affair with all things nautical,  i too took the path over to St Michaels Mount  just yards away from what became just a bottom hull reaf, but with the frquent washing up of small bits of metalwork from her fragile skeleton that was left,  i have reserched her with a passion and will continue to.  I have also visted Plymouth many times watching the warships of different navies and sizes, sitting on the bemches near to west hoe next to the metal model ships on the sea wall, my imagination used to wonder as if i was a kid during the wars with Hood. Rodney, Howe etc sailing past  with their engines making that  "chug-chug-chug-chug sound".

With exception to Victory the only other warships i have had the immense pleasure to look over are - Belfast in London  and HMS Bristol a type 23 Destroyer in Pompy,   great times in deed :)

 

Oh  foregot to add my interests from the past in drawing and some painting helps with my model making.

 

 

OC

Edited April 24, 2015 by Old Collingwood

[Old Collingwood]

Greetings O

Re Glenn. I will have a word with him tomorrow, I do need to see him about something. DAVID

Many thanks for that David.

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

More work on the center deck section concentrating on the 4inch mount shields, thinning them and sanding the deck planks down a bit as they are a bit over scale with the caulking depth a bit to deep, even with using my magnifier and small tools and small slivers of sanding sticks, a small amount of build up still gathers in the corners, this will need even finer cleaning work

 

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

I want to ask folks - does any have any advice on the coloring the planking to make it look as authentic as possible at this scale?  i have read a lot of ideas on the subject but dont know the best way to go, its a different vall game to just staining and bleaching real wood planking strips as i did in my other wood build...

 

OC

[hexnut]

I want to ask folks - does any have any advice on the coloring the planking to make it look as authentic as possible at this scale?

I believe that Artwox, Pontos and KA all make laser-scribed wooden decks for this model, in my opinion well worth it. 

 

I recently got a deck set for another model I'm working on, and now I don't think I'll ever go back to painting...

[Old Collingwood]

I want to ask folks - does any have any advice on the coloring the planking to make it look as authentic as possible at this scale?  i have read a lot of ideas on the subject but dont know the best way to go, its a different vall game to just staining and bleaching real wood planking strips as i did in my other wood build...

 

OC

Interesting,   i have read that the scake thickness can be a bit of a problem with the wood deck obscuring some of the deck details,  would it be possible to sand the back down a bit to reduce the thickness(i know there is a sticking back on it)  or perhaps gently sanding down the the top and re scribing gently to restore the plank joints, or perhaps sanding off the plastic deck plank details on the actual model, that would reduce the thickness a bit i guess, and also make the deck details stand a little higher for when the wood deck is fitted.

 

 

OC

[foxy]

No need for that OC it will fit around any raised detail.

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of the artwox decking.

The raised areas just pop out with the deck fitting perfect.

 

As you see it fits very well, this is my build of the Warspite.

 

Frank.

Edited April 27, 2015 by foxy

[Old Collingwood]

No need for that OC it will fit around any raised detail.

 

 

 

 

This is a picture of the artwox decking.

The raised areas just pop out with the deck fitting perfect.

 

As you see it fits very well, this is my build of the Warspite.

 

Frank.

Looks very good ,  is it easy enough to detail - say the bleaching affect from holy stoning? when i did this with a light mix of bleach and iron scrubbing pads in my wood build, it gave the planks an almost grey look just how wood goes when it is weathered.

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

Right then - i have to report a great get to gether, the meeting of two fantastic subjects - my port and starboard hull sides    i started by instaling the hull supports using a mixture of poly cement and super glue, after they had set after a few hours i brought both sides together then fitted a clamp and taped the sides, i then poored poly cement along the inside seem  but for extra strength i have added a thin wood strip that my  wood build box has lent me and set to super gluing it along the inside seem pushing it down with a piece of dowel, and afer bonding it is sat on the table setting

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

Here is a couple of pictures of the hull matting process

 

OC

[foxy]

Great work OC.

 

As for bleaching deck, again there's no need, it tones down after awhile.

 

Take second picture of the bow end, starts to bleach lighter its self.

 

 

I hope your convinced by the pictures to the way the deck behaves.

 

Like Hexnut, once you have tried this, you will not turn back from another.

 

Have fun.

 

Frank

[Old Collingwood]

The hull bonded well and has turned out nice and taught, i gave it a gentle wet and dry sanding,   my next move will be to create some hull interlocking plates starting from the keel plate and possibly fitting another two each side of that towards the bilge keel, this will be a bit of artistic merit as i am going from the hull plate drawing of HMS Hood, that shows eight interlocking plates in a - up,down,up,down step set up, only subtle but visible,  i will make this from paper strips attached with white glue.

 

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

I started work on the hull plates today using 5mm wide paper strips that represents a scale widthe of between 5 and 6 feet, i am spacing them with an equal gap and started from the keel plate and working towards the torpedo bulge, on the kit there are two graved lines for and aft that i assume represent the finish of the plates.

I diluted a mix of PVA glue and stuck them down with this applying a smear over them to lock them in abit, when dry i hope to sand them lightly to blend the whols thing in.

 

Here is just the two pctures.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Carried on working on the bottom hull with the paper hull plates, i have slightly ran over the torpedo bulge but this will be trimmed around it as the T-bulge would have fitted over the plates,  after the strips were fitted i washed an amount of PVA over the whole area to help lock the paper in place, after fitting a few strips higher up on the hull sides forward and aft, i will let it dry a good few days then sand it very very gently before adding a few coats of Acrylic primer.

I just hope the PVA fitted paper will stay in place and not peel off

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

More work today on the ol girl,   i had to reinforce the paper strips under the hull with poly cement as the PVA was coming away(as expected)   i used a hairdryer thanks to mrs collingwood   after i decided to work on the upper hull plates one either side at the bow and the same at the stern, and also a small area near to the front masthead.

 

Hers are the update pics...

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

I need to do abit more dtailing to the front between the howser pipes and the masthead, by trimming some of the sheet away then sanding in the plates abit to blend them in.

 

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

I have decided today to continue further down the hull sides both fore and aft with the plating, as i have seen photos showing these plates fitted originaly in a set pattern similar to the hull bottom,  these look a bit rough at the moment as they need more sanding and blending to make the plates just noticable and not stand out like slabs.

 

Here;s some more pictures...

 

OC.

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Just an update folks minus pics,  i am up still at silly - o - clock  as my health makes my sleeping very hit and miss and all over the place,  anyway - earlier i have been continuing with the old girls hull plates fore and aft, trying to get a decent blended but noticable profile, this i have been doing by applying a smear of poly - contacta glue with my finger over the area i have worked on, with the aid of mrs c's hairdryer it dries shinny and even quite quick, i then leawnve it a few hours more then sand it with extra fine sanding sticks to balance the profile.

This has been a progressive stage and getting there slowly as i want these plates to be seen very slightly,  i used  printer paper as i thought this would be a good scale thickness compared to plastic card, and with poly cement washes that soak into the paper- just as good at sanding down, just more carefully.

 

Anyway thats the stage i am at till i attend my build at the table again later today :o :rolleyes:

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Another update folks that does not warant photos as they have been posted before,  the hull is just about ready for its primer(this will be a test of my hand painting abilities)   i am just waiting on a  section to re glue and some light sanding and it will be ready,  in the mean time i have been working on fashioning a scraping tool  for the 4inch gun area splinter guards,   i had to remove a ridge on a metal fine chisel that will allow me to sit it on its side flat and square and scrape away to reduce the thickness of these guards, because on the real ship i think they were about 2inches thick.  I  was able to do this  but it was tedious work and heavy on my eyes,  as i had to do the work under my magnifier stand

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

Right then - Primer time   because i am hand painting the whole kit because i do not have a sprayer or ever used one,  i decided to mask off a section to paint in one go, this i did by masking off the lip of the bilge keel and fore/aft towards the plates i built from paper.

This went slowly as i was hand drying after each layer of paint, then a light sand with the rough side of a washing spong(the little multi colored ones we use when washing dishes) the problem i had was a slight nervious approach at first as i was worried about brush marks,  and also i was getting a fair amount of brush hairs but i was able to sand these off after.

 

This is the stage with this area after about 10 layers that where diluted 50/50 with distilled water(ex  kettle water from many cups of tea and coffee)

 

OC

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

More coats of primer went on yesterday in the best manner my hand painting would allow   its not easy and thank goodness its just the primer and can be gently rubbed down a bit to smooth it out,  i have been telling myself that one day i will make the jump into the  Spraying world and save my pennies to get one

I will be continuing to prime in controled stages and attack the more complex area of the hull,  where there is a lot of obstructions that will stop me getting a smooth brush flow last,  next stage will be to mask of for the top edge of the boot line and paint the red lower hull in the closest color i have to hand - Admiralty Paints  Red Ochre, i understand this is close to Red Oxide and close to RN Anti Fouling Red

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

I have a cupple of quiries folks -

 

1)  Warspite had 4-5 external armour plates running from fore to aft  each roughly 5 feet thick  going by  the information i have been able to find on the net.

2)  These paltes were fitted at the time she was constructed.

3)  She had a torpedo armored bulge fitted  over the top of the middle to bottom section of plates later as part of updating her protection.

 

Yet some pictures i have seen have shown these plates following the normal lines as when built, but on the outside of the added torpedo bulges, (how can this be)?

 

Does anyone have any deffiante info on this folkes - or anything else concrete regarding her look in her later life 1944 onwards.

 

Thanks for reading folks.

 

OC.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Old Collingwood

[Old Collingwood]

I carried on yesterday with the hull priming and boy was it a slog i was hand applying a section then into the kitchen to use  the hairdryer to speed up the drying process, then back to the table for another layer, this took about 15 trips back and forth, but to be honest i am not all that impressed with the finnish of even the primer at this stage   i tried to gently blend in by sanding some primer work from the previous day but i found that instead of the primer sanding fine in stages it just peeled away leaving a line :o.

I dont understand why it has done this - unless 15hrs or so was not long enough for Acrylic primer to harden for sanding?,   anyway i carried on regardless and primed the whole of one side.

 

This has shown up the plates a little to detailed so i have been trying to blend these in with thicknesses of primer, and when set(properly) i will sand these to blend them.

 

OC.

[hexnut]

My personal advice on primer is Tamiya rattle cans--the gray primer right out of the can puts out a very nice, easily-controlled finish.  

 

It is a water-borne lacquer, so it sticks and covers nicely, but won't damage plastic.  I'm not a big fan of brush painting acrylic over large areas of plastic...

[Old Collingwood]

My personal advice on primer is Tamiya rattle cans--the gray primer right out of the can puts out a very nice, easily-controlled finish.  

 

It is a water-borne lacquer, so it sticks and covers nicely, but won't damage plastic.  I'm not a big fan of brush painting acrylic over large areas of plastic...

I am discovering the difficulties in hand painting larger areas,  some off it has worked ok, the Vallejo Primer is very tight and does seem to hide brush marks, its just a hard job,  i am trying to hard bake the paint on remembering back to my cycle days when bike frames were hot painted on with enamel paints, this made the harder.

 

I dont think i left the Acrylic long enough before sanding though - 15 hours?  it was peeling off not sanding smooth even though i washed the plastic with detergent first.

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

By hard bake - i mean heat up with a hairdryer to dry the paint after painting, it seems to help the paint flow aswell.

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

I am also painting in a sensitive area - the living room with my wife a few feet away so paint fumes or over spray is a deffinate no no,  thats why i am applying the acrylic by hand and going a few feet into the kitchen to use the dryer, its abit inconvenient but its the way i have to do it.

It will be easier when the hull is finished its prep work, as everything else will be in smaller areas even the camo on the hull,  and the superstructer should be easy to paint due to smaller size.

 

OC

[mtaylor]

Did you sand the hull first?  From my plastic car days, I recall we had to take some 400 grit paper to the body to give some 'tooth'.  Otherwise the paint, even primer, flaked off.

[clearway]

i use humbrol acrylic primer from a rattle can- however if spray painting i either do it outdoors or in the shed never in the house- the admiral would prolly scrap the fleet if i did  - even though i now have a purpose built workshop.

[Old Collingwood]

Did you sand the hull first?  From my plastic car days, I recall we had to take some 400 grit paper to the body to give some 'tooth'.  Otherwise the paint, even primer, flaked off.

Hi Mark,

 

Sorry i didn't reply earlier, i thought i gave them enough of a key for the primer, but in hindsight i had put a layer of PVA Glue down that was supposed to seal in my paper strips, could that have affected it by stopping the primer from attaching well?

 

I have sanded key areas well back now and used the last of my Vallejo surface primer, till i order some more, it has settled down a bit better now and sanded ok before my final bit of primer,   i will give it a good day to harden then sand it a bit more with 1200 grade.

 

OC