HMS Prince of Wales by Lt. Biggles - FINISHED - Tamiya - 1/350 - PLASTIC - Pontos detail up set - first ship build

[Lt. Biggles]

22 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

Looking very good!

 

Have you sorted out the deck colour yet, or are you leaving it to "percolate" in your head for a while?

Here is the deck as it is now, I added tiny bits of pigment and put some streaks on it to try break it up, which I think looks horrible... probably should have masked the area instead of just a general smudge but can’t reverse it now. I think It’s just missing something to make it blend into the ship and not look out of place... I just don’t know what though. Maybe I just leave it alone and move on with the build.

Anyone have any thoughts? 

Honesty is welcome.

 

[Louie da fly]

From the photos it doesn't look bad. Perhaps it looks worse in real life, I don't know. But we're always our own worst critics. Keep in mind that the deck furniture will break up the look of the deck,and it may cease to be a problem as you progress further into the build.

 

If you're really unhappy with it and can't do anything to change it, I suppose the best thing to do is put it down to experience. 

 

But I'd say proceed with the build and see if the glaring fault that's so obvious to you now doesn't fade into the background as you go on.

[Lt. Biggles]

I took the pictures in sunlight which seems to bring out the badness in the deck. I don’t think it’s ruined at all just a lot different than I was imagining. But I think you are right, there is a whole lot of deck furniture to add that will break the deck up... in a good way. I’ll leave it how it is and see how it looks at the end of the build. 

Thanks

 

in a few weeks I’ve a feeling I’ll be up to the final detail parts, of which there are a lot! I’m just really happy I don’t have to make 3000 anti aircraft guns! Hehe

[Old Collingwood]

Try gently dry brushing the areas where it is darkest (is that the areas you are on about?)   use the same sand-ish colour paint as the main deck, and gently  dry brush over to see  if it blends it, as long as you did it very very carefully  making sure the brush is virtually  paint free  it might help a bit.

 

Failing that you always try a  gentle stain  (Im sure you must be able to get them for model building?)  you could go either lighter or sligthy darker,  that also might work?

 

OC.

[RGL]

It’s really hard to work up a pre chewed wooden deck. I’ve had best results using Tamiya powders. Otherwise when I did Graf Zeppelin I used AK Washes dipped at the end of each plank then pencils and with my US carrier airbrushed tan 

[Lt. Biggles]

Thanks for the tips guys, I think I’ll leave it how it is and then once everything is on come back and if it stands out then try some dry brushing and perhaps get some washes but I’ll leave that for now as it’s ground the build almost to a halt waiting for it to fix itself!! 

I’ve been lacking spare time but apart from making 12 little binoculars and putting the A/A guns on I’ve completed the super structure build and just have to paint it. Everything now seems to take ages to do tiny details. Negotiated with the carpet monster... traded an hour of my time for one tiny piece of PE!

Made 6 searchlights and cut out some of the windows as I think it looks better but it’s fiddly work and had to glue some of the frames back on as the knife loved taking them clean off!

 

 

but once on looked the part.

 

 

also started on the anchor area.

so will have to research that to try get it looking right.

 

 

To add to the slow progress everything has to be made then painted away from the ship. No more sub part construction like the superstructure, which I really enjoyed.

Feels like I’m moving into the final third of the build now. Deck furniture and all the small but many details

[Lt. Biggles]

A progress update so you can see what she looks like at this stage. Hard to get a pic of the whole ship and also any details!

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Getting better and better all the time. 

 

So you have a carpet monster, too? Mine is very voracious, but it's not always the thing at fault. I dropped a piece off the workbench, looked and looked for it for a long time with no success. Swept the carpet and sorted through what I'd swept up. Looked under all the furniture - nothing. Went off and did something else to get my mind off it, hoping the aliens who'd pinched it would have returned it when I came back. Nope. Then it occurred to me - it's cold where I live and I usually wear ugg boots when I'm modelling. Yep - the piece had fallen down my boot. Fortunately it wasn't anything fragile, so it hadn't broken.

[Lt. Biggles]

It’s such a good feeling when you finally find the piece you thought was lost forever!! This afternoon I dropped the last set of 1:350 brass binoculars... gone! 

But got lots of little bits primed and undercoated

 

 

as well as dirtying up the anchor chain areas. Will just give it a hint of use as I’m sure they would have washed off all the salt water and kept the area pretty ship shape, but surly that chain would be pretty harsh on the area too!?

 

[RGL]

I love watching this build. Trumpeter is allegedly bring out Dido class destroyers and a Nelson ( both of which I just have to build.). These ships had such a heavy workload in WW2 I can weather the hell out of them. 

[Lt. Biggles]

I’ve been following your French battleship build and you make it look like it’s more difficult to boil the kettle than build a ship haha! You build yours so fast and so much extra details! Looks really good! Won’t take you long to get those 2 ships underway once out, weathering them would be great fun! Some of those ships really worked hard!

Meanwhile I spend a full afternoon Working on mine and hardly any visible progress made. 

[Lt. Biggles]

Did manage to complete all the life rafts which is a good bit of progress.

 

 

 

 

hard to find much practical info on them and in the background of a few odd photos... seems at the time no one thought anyone would be interested all these years later in all the odd details like that. So took a few liberties, if anyone knows I’m way out then do let me know and I’ll remove them, but I used some of my newly arrived EZ line to tie them to the deck. Would have been secured somehow.

 

 

Also been working on my base, may be abit ambitious but running lots of tests and experiments to see if it’s possible. It’s quite a different branch of art than model building so it’s been a nice break when over PE or painting and weathering. Haven’t committed to it yet but here is a sneak peak of what I’ve managed to come up with so far in my tests...

 

 

thoughts? 

[Peregrine2386]

Hi All,

 

New to this site and ship building.  Been hunkering down here in Houston waiting for the hurricane to pass so I’ve had time to look at all of these builds.  Y’all do some really amazing work!  Especially the PE work.

 

I’ve always like ships from the IJN.  I’ve got some things in the mail and should start maybe the Tone shortly.  
 

Thanks for all the great inspiration!

[Lt. Biggles]

10 hours ago, Peregrine2386 said:

Hi All,

 

New to this site and ship building.  Been hunkering down here in Houston waiting for the hurricane to pass so I’ve had time to look at all of these builds.  Y’all do some really amazing work!  Especially the PE work.

 

I’ve always like ships from the IJN.  I’ve got some things in the mail and should start maybe the Tone shortly.  
 

Thanks for all the great inspiration!

Hey mate,

Welcome aboard! The IJN have some good looking ships! Hopefully you start a build log on here too so we can follow along!

The PE does make a huge difference, hard to imagine doing a ship build without it now. 

There is a really good bunch of people on this site with tonnes of knowledge and experience so easy to get some tips which is great!

[mtaylor]

12 hours ago, Peregrine2386 said:

Hi All,

 

New to this site and ship building.  Been hunkering down here in Houston waiting for the hurricane to pass so I’ve had time to look at all of these builds.  Y’all do some really amazing work!  Especially the PE work.

 

I’ve always like ships from the IJN.  I’ve got some things in the mail and should start maybe the Tone shortly.  
 

Thanks for all the great inspiration!

 

Hi Peregrine2386.  I suggest you go here and introduce yourself to the forum: https://modelshipworld.com/forum/3-new-member-introductions/

[Lt. Biggles]

5 hours ago, mtaylor said:

 

Hi Peregrine2386.  I suggest you go here and introduce yourself to the forum: https://modelshipworld.com/forum/3-new-member-introductions/

Ah I didn’t even know that there was a new member introduction page!

[Lt. Biggles]

Weathering on the superstructure is almost complete. Under different light sources it looks very different. So I almost over do it under my strong lamp light and under softer light and sun light it looks about right I think. 

As for the ocean base, I’ve started my second test with changes I picked up from the first test. It’s getting close to what I’m after and water is quite tricky to look natural!

 

[Tigerdvr]

IMHO, you have a very good water texture with a swell pushing along but not quite breaking to white water. Some folks seem to build a nice model, create a good sea base and then screw it up with a wake that looks like rows of soldiers coming off the hull at a constant 45 degree angle. I certainly doubt that will be the case with your build as you show a good grasp of how water works. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Enjoy, Harley

[Louie da fly]

Looking really good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the ocean and the weathering.

[Lt. Biggles]

 

I will try my best to do the ocean as good as I can. My plan is to have her cruising at about 10 kts and is a pretty calm sea. A 4-5 ft swell at 1:350 scale equals about 4-5mm which is very subtle.

Ive been reading a lot about Kelvin’s theory and other bits about ships wake behaviour, I seem to learn the most from drawings and diagrams. So no wakes in straight lines at 45 degrees! In fact it seems 19.5 degrees is the magic angle.

 

 

She was over 220m long so most of the disturbed water looks quite close to the ship in photos. (This picture is of HMS King George V, close enough to use as reference I’m sure most would agree)

 

 

I’ve looked at so many pictures of all types of ships and their wake that they have all started to look fake and unrealistic haha!!

 

 

[Lt. Biggles]

Initially I thought I’d make the sea base out of resin, so did a few projects to see how it would go. Made a 1:350 scale uboat and did a 1.5ltr deep resin pour, it’s quite a pedantic medium so quickly learns it was too big of a risk as it’s easy to mess up with bubbles so I made a Rimu base (New Zealand native timber) fitted with leds and now it’s my lamp.

 

 

 

Also made a crashed 1:72 scale zero that I was going to cover with resin too but don’t trust the resin now. So it just sits in the corner. 

 

 

 

so that’s why I’m doing the base the way I am, so if I ruin it then I can just do it again without having to make another ship from the beginning also!

 

 

I’m doing one last test with wake that will be covered with the ocean surface texture  and painted, if it looks right I can get the real base going.

 

 

I needed a break from all the PE and had a few mishaps with bits falling and breaking so more repairs than progress on the ship this week.

[Lt. Biggles]

So found some time over the last few days been enjoying my little break from working only on the ship itself, just deck furniture to do and a few other bits, slow but steady. As for the base I covered it with oat bran.

 

 

then paper towel soaked in medium covered that

 

 

then did a base coat of blue so now I can check the surface and remove any unocean looking blobs and points. 

 

 

 

once thats all done ill paint the ocean surface and complete the rest of the surface.

the option is always there to ripe the surface off and do it again if it doesn’t look right. I’ll see how it progresses

 

[Lt. Biggles]

Ah the last 2 weeks of the build summed up in one picture!

 

 

will be the 3rd time rebuilding this funnel. Will give this one a few days before I even look at it again haha took a few hours to find all the parts as I absolutely had to find all of them. Still missing a few pieces from one of the Pom poms that broke a week ago! On the bright side both of the masts haven’t taken any damage at all so I’m happy about that. The sea base is coming along well, quite enjoying that and it’s crazy how small she ship seems now with 2/3 of the hull invisible under the waterline!

I’ll regroup and in a few days continue the build!!

[RGL]

I have broken off that many masts repositioning my ships it beggars belief, as they are always already rigged and need CA and a quick set solution.

[popeye the sailor]

I can't seem to put a like to that last picture...........done too much of that stuff myself      at the moment,  I'm on the lookout for an engine mount for a B 25 project that I started...........can't for the life of me figure out where it got off to......the part is big enough!  amazing work your doing with this project........really nice PE detail!  your idea of the water diorama look super.......to be honest.....it looks great just the way it is.............will look even better with the break waters    

 

keep it up....your doing great!  

[dragzz]

vary nice work indeed keep up the great work

[Lt. Biggles]

So the broken funnel has still not been touched and done a few bits on the ship but once in the right zone I think the rest will be done pretty quick. I thought I’d be finished around the end of the year so it’s gone lots faster than I expected.

the sea base got a few layers of oils to get the textures I wanted of a deep pretty calm water and a ship speed of about 10 knots.

 

 

and a few coats of high gloss varnish. 

The white water is the last step now. The white water is just on one side and just sitting there not glued down as it’s quite tricky and haven’t got it worked out on my test pieces yet. But it gives a good idea of what it will be like. It adds a nice sense of motion compared to no white water which I quite like.

 

 

 

Having the light behind the ship really really brings the water to life but my phone’s camera can’t capture it

[RGL]

I look at all the IWM photos of the RN Ships from WW2, they have that fantastic black and white crispness I’d live to see in colour. 

[Lt. Biggles]

On 9/20/2020 at 8:25 PM, RGL said:

I look at all the IWM photos of the RN Ships from WW2, they have that fantastic black and white crispness I’d live to see in colour. 

There are some great shots! Would have been quite the sight to have been there and seen them sail past 

[Lt. Biggles]

So Finally I bit the bullet and started on the deck vents and bits.

 

 

I like how the reflection shows the vents...

 

 

Took me a lot of time to to find out which vents face which way... but worked them out. Starting at the back and working my way forward. 

Once they are down I’ll be able to glue the life rafts down once I know how much room I’ve got to play with!