Albertic by michael mott - FINISHED - Scale 1:100 - RESTORATION - Bassett-Lowke Model

[mtaylor]

Michael,

 

It's great to see you back.  I seem to be just as fascinated by your tooling methods as by the work itself.   Beautiful work.

[michael mott]

Thanks to all for the likes and comments.

I finished the assembly of the short stairs from the lifeboat deck to the upper deck, and also re attached the forward funnel tower.

 

 

The short boom which is hanging off the side with the block and tackle leading up to the small roof was in the pile of debris the fall line was tied to the central mullion between the openings on the port side. which seemed strange to me the starboard side is similar.  It does not seem to be a proper way but I am not familiar with these practices, or what this particular boom would be for.

 

 

The funnel base was attached with a single screw through a brass plate that was soldered inside and at the base of the funnel. I will be adopting a different method I will glue in about an inch of hardwood dowel which will get attached in the same screw hole. All the stays will add additional strength. I am quite pleased with the overall colour matching on the tower which had a few heavy dings in it. I did not want to redo those grills.

 

Michael

 

 

[SJSoane]

Michael,

 

Looking great! What are those short railings along the lower deck? Is it more obvious once the lifeboats are installed?

 

Mark

[BANYAN]

Great to see you back at the model workbench Michael.  A masterful repair to the ladder and other bits; the customer will be very happy with the level and quality of your restoration.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

p.s  some further ideas for clamps for the third hand

[michael mott]

Hi Mark

The short sections of the railings fit between the lifeboats on the passenger side of the deck.

In this picture that I took during the examination you can just see on the Starboard side the short railing between the two lifeboats. Obviously a child could easily get around this arrangement so it was probably not normally accessible to the passengers.  

 

 

The lifeboats on the fore deck were just dumped there by the folk who picked up the pieces, you can also see the fall line from the boom tackle is attached to the mullion.

 

Thanks for the kind comment Pat

 

Michael

[colinmaclock]

The short boom with block and tackle leading up to the small roof could be for lowering and stabilizing the ladder over on the side of the hull in an opposite direction because of wind and wave change. Maybe?

 

[Mirabell61]

Super restoration Michael,

decks and superstructure looking better than ever....

those outside doors and stairs down to the waterline look great..

 

Nils

[michael mott]

I passed another milestone today. I turned up the wood inserts for attaching the funnels, these are made of Cherry, and the tops will be painted Black.

 

 

 

 

Also did a little more matching of the bottom paint.

 

 

michael

[SJSoane]

Your loving restoration is really showing the beauty of the model!

 

Mark

[colinmaclock]

Mott old boy, matching the paint and finish below the waterline will be a challenge indeed. You are doing a magnificent job, glad to see you back at it again. 

[popeye the sailor]

glad to see an update Michael......I know full well how life can get in the way.   you've made some great progress......really looking super   

[michael mott]

On 3/30/2018 at 1:15 AM, colinmaclock said:

Mott old boy, matching the paint and finish below the waterline will be a challenge indeed.

Hi Colin you can say that again.

 

Thanks for all the positive comments they are much appreciated.

 

I have been working away at the colour matching slowly adding some gloss to the mix to bring up the lustre, this picture shows some improvement and the centre section is getting quite close.

 

The black still needs more work as well. The photographs can be brutal but they do help to keep one humble.

 

Here is where it started.

 

Michael

[colinmaclock]

Hi Michael,

It is hard to determine weather the original paint on the hull is lacquer based or enamel. To apply a final clear or semi-gloss finish over your paint may help blend in the luster. Caution though, do a small isolated test area in case of a reaction causing blistering. This occurs sometimes when using different brands with different bases. I found that using an old piece of nylon stocking to burnish a finish to match old and new painted areas can work as long as the new paint has had enough time to cure hard.

Cheers,

Colin

[colinmaclock]

Michael,

Do you have a colour wheel or chart? sometimes the oddest combinations of primary, tertiary and secondary colours work out what you want. Choosing the right base colour to start with is the work half done. Most importantly, in your type of work, use natural light to do you paint matches! Do no trust indoor lighting, even if it is colour balanced.

Cheers,

Colin

 

[michael mott]

Hi Colin I took the photo in natural light, and I only mix colour in natural light. One of the things is the wait time in between the mixes in order to see how it buffs out. I like using the Humbrol Paints, the pigment grind is quite fine. In this particular case though i am also mixing humbrol with Testors  The particular colours are Humbrol Chestnut brown base with flat grapefruit red and gloss tangerine from Testors  I am confident that the three base colours that am using now are going to work. as you say sometimes the oddest colours work. When i learned how to match colours back in England using the national Standards colour charts the only colours that the boss had were the three primaries and black and white, I spent many hours matching up the oddest colours for various models using those spec sheets. 

 

Michael 

[colinmaclock]

Great Michael, sounds like you know this process well. Keep in mind those three colours you are using are already blends of pigments. Bring in some others as well, lets say another orange or yellow, mix tiny amounts in with what you have plus a very tiny bit of black and see what transpires.

Cheers,

Colin

 

[druxey]

Differing surface reflectance can throw one as well. If one can spray paint, blending between old and new also helps.

[Chasseur]

Well Michael I know you’re the machine Meister and judging from Colin’s response it sounds like he is the paint Meister here on MSW. I am sure you’ll do a great restoration of the paint.

[michael mott]

It is good to be back in the shipyard.

I set up the new spry booth to do the work.

 

 

Time to get the funnels painted the masking of the brass bands was set up with some yellow Tamiya masking tape.

 

 

I used a sand coloured Vallejo primer but for some reason the paint spattered so I stripped off the paint and started over. began by filtering the primer and diluting it a little.

 

 

This time I also used the white masking especially designed for curves, it was much better on the bands.

 

 

I also set the forward funnel into the glass of lacquer thinner to remove the old paint.

 

 

Needs a bit more so I will leave it overnight.

It will be a major milestone once these are painted.

 

Michael

 

 

[cog]

Michael,

 

Lately I've been building with a lot of PE, and found out that Vallejo primers do not stick/hold well, neither on bare plastic, nor on bare brass. I would advise you to use the Tamiya rattle cans to start the ground work, and work from there, after the base priming you can pretty much use any type of paint .

 

Lovely job on the funnel though.

[BANYAN]

Welcome back to the fray Michael; great to see you back.  The funnel looks great.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

Great to see you back working on her, Michael.

 

John

[colinmaclock]

Nice spray booth set-up Michael, can't wait to see those funnels back on the ship.

 

Colin

[druxey]

Welcome back, Michael. And about time, too!  We've missed you.

Edited June 27, 2018 by druxey

[michael mott]

Carl, Pat, John, Colin, and Druxey thank you all for the warm greetings. Carl, your concern about the Vallejo paint is a little worrying, I had heard good things about the primer.

Has anyone else had issues with this brand of paint?

I am not generally a fan of rattle cans unless it's on a large item outside.

 

Michael

[thibaultron]

Generally the Vallejo paints need a completely oil free surface, being water based paint. So washing well beforehand is needed. You generaly neeed to let them set at least 24 hours, for the primer to fully set. For a metal surface, maybe several days.

 

The Badger Stynalres(sp) is supposed to set much faster, but I don't know about how well it adheres to metal. Did you etch the brass to give it some tooth?

[michael mott]

Ron, I did not do anything to the surface other than keep it clean, one of the issues is that the brass bands have some ageing patina and I am working to keep it that way. I was looking for some Polly scale zinc chromate originally, but the chap in the model shop was positive about the Vallejo primer and it came in a reasonable size so thought it was worth trying.

 

Michael.

 

[Jack12477]

Michael, I think Tamiya makes primer that comes in small bottles that would be suitable for airbrush use instead of the rattle cans. I haven't used my airbrush in years - I'm still trying to convert from Floquiil paints. I have some Valeljo but not their primer so no experience to offer you on that brand other than brush on work.

[cog]

Michael,

Greg (RGL) has had some problems too with Vallejo primer on brass and plastic. He pointed me towards the Tamiya, as it dries very quickly and you can spray immediately after if needs be. Naturally it's better to let it cure for a day. Although, I have been quite impatient with priming, and the results are good.with my neglected curing period. It is better to spray outside or a ventilated room with a fan to suck the vapours out. I have an attick above the garage where I have my spray booth, so I won't get the stench into the house.

With Vallejo I could pull whole sheets of primer of and lay bare the brass again, even after a month curing ...

Edited June 27, 2018 by cog

[popeye the sailor]

good to see your back at the table Michael     have you tried to buff the funnels with steel wool?