Half Moon by popeye the sailor - Billing Boats - 1:40 scale kit

[jct]

I really like that open VOC...Corel's is a thick cast metal piece that I think is gonna look clunky no mater what.  Have you ever had issues applying decals to wood, excessive silvering or lifting because of the porosity??  I'm assuming you have to use a gloss clear to apply then a matte finish over top?

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Patrick......still a bit more to go in the R&D dept....I'll have them on soon    

 

thanks for the good word Sjors and John 

 

thanks J!  yes....they are made from that weird plastic.   they looked good enough,  so I'll use them.  there has been some stuff that was too ridiculous to use {in other kits}......some I scratch and then chuck 'em........some I kept.  thanks for the good word! 

[popeye the sailor]

decals aren't too bad J,  they react pretty much the same way on wood,  as plastic.   big case in point....they don't stick to surfaces painted with flats......for that,  a clear coat must be applied.   the upper part of the stern has the blue,  which is a gloss,  but the areas that the diamonds are to be applied,  is done in flat paint.   I will need to brush on some clear coat before I do them.   then when the hull is clear coated,  I'll spray the whole thing.   in this case,  the hull has been sanded,  so most of the grain pits are gone......and painting fills the rest of them in.

 

everyone seem mixed on the plastic and metal parts found in kits.   I use them,  but only up to a point.   if that metal is soft,  perhaps it can be shaved or filed down in areas to make it look less chunky.   I guess this is another  'preference' between these two kits.  Billing's seems to favor the plastic,  over metal.   in some kits I've had,  they even supplied plastic blocks.   I kept them and went with wooden blocks.....I will use them in a build that better suits them...........they have some detail to them,  so they are not totally useless

[riverboat]

Nice Popeye ,real nice.... the transom looks great.. the decals really bring that ship to life!!

[edmay]

Excellent thoughts and workmanship,very neat.Edwin

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Frank   they're not on there yet.......I'll do them after I get the transom in order.   I still need to play a little with the circles

 

thanks for the good word

 

 

hello Ed......good to see you......thank you for the nice comment!

Edited April 2, 2014 by popeye the sailor

[gerty]

Terrific work Popeye !

[captainbob]

All the color really makes it pop.  Good job.

 

Bob

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Lawrence.........you'll like this next update then........the decals are on!  came out better than I expected   unexpected events made me put the Holiday Harbor boats in the closet for the time being.......got a lot of sanding to do,  and I can't do it in the house {I almost got hung by the admiral}.  weather is getting better,  so I might be able to work in the garage.  I can't work in the cellar anymore......it's off limits.

 thanks for the good word!

 

thanks Gerty for the good word.......pleased to have yas visit me log....hopes yas follows along!

 

thanks bob!..........yepper!  I can imagine what the other sailors were saying............."  well,  there goes Hudson an' that crazy boat 'o his!  them pirates will pick'em off fer sure!" :D   I'm going by the pictures I have........hoping I can get real close to it   thanks for the good word......I really appreciate it 

[popeye the sailor]

I'm glad your all enjoying this.......I'm having a good time with this as well.   I'm a bit off the mark with the Gothenborg.......so it's really neat that I have another shot at this.  I was going to carry on with the transom today,  but I had other ideas.   I couldn't get the circle thingies out of my head,  so I installed the paint shop 10 program,  and checked it out.  I had a couple of strikes against me........

 

1:  it's already an image.....I couldn't alter it,  much less figure out all the new functions in the time I was giving myself.

 

2:  I couldn't change the boldness of the image {see reason #1}

 

3:  I couldn't change the color either!  {see reason #1}

 

for that feeble reason........I went back to the decal maker.   I had scanned off single rows of the diamonds and the circle image I created,  and imported these back in.  then they were copied and pasted.......and then sized down yet again.  I was able to change the color of the circle image.....I did it in red,  like it is supposed to be,  according to the Half Moon picture.  after uttering that famous Dutch word a couple of times {the admiral thought I was having an attack},  I ran them off.  they got spray coated with the bonder to seal them up.

 

 

 

 

notice the blotch on the diamonds sheet........never lay the sheet on wet bonder.  as I was spraying the other sheet,  the diamond sheet was creeping over to it,  so I moved it......not a good move.  now all the decals in that blotch will be adhered to the paper...rendered useless.   not a big deal though.......I think there are enough diamonds there for me to do the whole job.   while these were drying,  I did a bit more work on the gun port lids.

 

 

 

the sand color that the diamonds are to be located, is a flat paint.   so,  I painted the areas with a semi gloss lacquer.   it sealed up the paint and gave it a good surface to work with.

 

 

the fore deck outer bulwark has a larger surface,  so I left some large enough to fit it.

 

 

 

the stern area was next.....

 

 

 

of course,  making them this small,  meant that this area had to be done in sections.  I stated to do the same on the port side.

 

 

 

 

then the fore deck outer bulwark was done.......that's it for the diamonds.   since I used the kit supplied trail boards,  I didn't do this to the bow.

[popeye the sailor]

one word of caution with this decal program......be sure to let the sheets sit for a while before you apply the bonder.  it's best to give the ink plenty of time to dry.  there was a bit of an issue with the circle sheet,  but not that bad,  that I couldn't use them.  they also need to lay as flat as possible,  or there will be some color bleed.  these are to go on the blue border.......I'm hoping that with new ink cartridges,  the transparency issue will not be a factor.  when cutting them out,  you must get as close to the image as possible.....remember,  the entire paper is embossed with film.

 

 

this is clear decal paper........you will see no white,  when the decal is applied.  they do have a white decal paper.......it works to your advantage,  when the image your using has white in it,  or the decal is being applied to a white background.   there are many variables,  but it does have it's limitations.  this is actually two layers......the foreground and the background.  I did these to a white background......but the actual background color is blue.   I could have changed the background to blue......but trying to match color would drive me nuts!  it can be done.......but you'd have to know the spectral numbers that make up the color your looking for......too much for this simple mind to follow     I was so surprised,  when I applied the decal,  and it showed up as good as it did!

 

 

it could use one more circle,  so I clipped one from one of the other images.

 

 

...and added it to the existing decal

 

 

I did the other side the same way

 

 

 

now I can get back to the transom in peace........no more little voice in my head about these pfffffffff decals!  {you gotta teach me more word Sjors........I sound like a surfacing whale!}

 

"Thar she Blows!!!! 

[Jim Lad]

Well done, Popeye, that looks really first class!

 

John

[themadchemist]

Nicely done, I'm assuming you ate your spinach before tackling that job.

Now I can't wait to see that stern finished, Isn't it fun seeing them transform before your eyes like that, and knowing YOU did it. Excellent detailing my fat fore-armed friend.

 

I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a half moon today......

[popeye the sailor]

thanks John......I really need to play around more with this,  than I do.  I'm going to get the updated program.....hopefully soon.  the admiral gave me a good idea about this......she mentioned using typing paper first.  I never gave this a thought.......better to blow a buck's worth of paper,  than the twelve dollars for a package of decal paper!   I can practice a little before I commit    thanks for the good word......it really came out better than I thought it would    thank you!

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Keith     I've been wanting to move on to one of the other builds........but this one has become addictive!  it's been a while since I ran two build together........I have two tables.  it's the way I used to do it.......I may have to do just that!  yes.......I do find it amazing........I guess having eight builds in the wings,  is my case in point    the admiral sent me a new picture today.........her sense of humor boggles my mind.

 

 

 

thanks for the good word......from your fat forearmed friend    I'll have the transom done tomorrow

 

 

[jct]

looks good

[DORIS]

What a nice decoration and paintings. You make a great job on the model. I really enjoyed the pics.
Have a great time and keep up the work.
Best regards
Doris

[popeye the sailor]

thanks J ! 

 

thanks Doris......I really appreciate your kind comment 

 

....and thanks to everyone who hit the like button....it means a lot!

[riverboat]

Nice job Popeye.... looks great!!

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Frank! 

[captainbob]

Popeye, 

 

I can just imagine a gaff head sailboat with that new picture from your wife painted on the sail.

 

Great stuff.

 

Bob

Edited April 3, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[Børge]

One word Popeye "Perfetto".

 

Just wonderful work my friend.., this will be verynice to watch as she goes along...

 

Børge

[newbuilder101]

Great job Popeye! She's really coming along now.

[Shazmira]

Wow, step away for a week and see I missed  ton of stuff, have to remember to keep up with your build more frequently! beautiful job on everything, I love the paint scheme; I really love how it is so different from the normal plain scheme! You have to give me the info on this decal maker you are using....I think that could come in handy for a plethora of things.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Bob........but don't give me ideas.......they are just sooooo dangerous for a mind like mine :D   just for you though,  I told the admiral that I posted the picture,  and told her what you said.   she liked the idea!     ohhhhhhh,  I'm going to burn for it.......I just know it!

   I'll keep it in mind........no......on second thought,  I think I'll do it!!!!  she told me that I can start no more builds until I'm caught up.....and it will just fry her eggs to know that she OK'd #9!!!!!!   :D :D :D    thanks for the good word!

 

thank you very much Borge.......always good to see you here      this kit is very nice.......it has it's flaws,  but overall,  it's very good.  I myself,  am surprised with what I've done with it......it's turned out to be an interesting project.   there aren't too many parts left....but I still have much more to add,  before the rigging.   thanks for the good word.

 

thanks Robbyn.......I'm just going by the pictures that I have of her.  there are a few goofs,  but they were things that I missed.  it began with the cap rails......and I guess it snowballed from there.  I just keep seeing things.   thanks for the good word! as for the decal maker, it's called the  'Sure Thing Decal Maker - standard edition'...Testor's puts it out.    the basic kit won't allow you to import your own designs,  but if you go to  www.decalgear.com     you can get the standard edition,  so you can import images.  I just found out that there is an update for the software.......it will cost me an extra $15.00.   with what I've done with it so far....it's more than paid for itself.  the new update will be download supported only any will need to have the standard edition to run it {sounds to me like it's more of an expansion pack} 

 

Testors

 

this is the basic kit........all the detail are there as well.  if you get it and need more info.....give me a holler 

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Lawrence 

[popeye the sailor]

now that the decal work is done......time to move back to the transom.   the gun port lids were painted and stained......then the edges were painted flat black.   hemp thread was used to make the water shed gaskets,  and stained with the mahogany.   they were the first parts cemented in place.

 

 

 

these are the parts that will fill in the upper and lower fields.  included are the stars that I bought  at Hobby Lobby.  I still haven't gotten those other stars yet.....as mentioned,  when I do,  I will show them to you.

 

 

this fills out the lower field......I think I'm a bit off on the 'A'

 

 

now I know I am!

 

 

the moon was cemented in place.  in as the moon is a raised decoration......so were the stars.  what Billing's idea of the stars were,  was to paint the heads of a bunch of brads and insert them in the field around the moon........I like my idea better.

 

drilling the hole for the first star......sorry for the extreme light,  it was the moon's fault!

 

 

and with them all in place.......I was going to use six stars......but four were enough

 

 

 

add the rudder,  which I will need to make the gungeons and pintles,  the stern will be complete.

 

 

[Jim Lad]

That looks the ant's pyjamas, Popeye!

 

John

[DSiemens]

Beautifully done Popeye! This really is quite the ship. I like the lines colors and carvings. Great work.

[Walter Biles]

Popeye,  Wonderful job on the color and decoration scheme!  I think I have figured out why they made such a bunch of colors, patterns and such. 

 

An approaching ship seeing that scheme is so awestruck and anxious to see all of it, they are within pistol shot range before they are too close to the opened gunports to see their danger!!!  Like a moth to a flame!!. 

 

Seriously though.  Great job!!!!!