Rainbow by Markus16 - FINISHED - Amati - 1/80 - J-Class

[Markus16]

Dear forum members,

I‘m a newbie both in this forum and in building models as well. I‘d like to tell you about my first approaches as well as asking for some tipps.

When my wife had the idea that two sailboats would be a nice decoration I bought a ready assembled model of a J Class Yacht and was totally disappointed about the poor quality. So I found the kits of Amati‘s Rainbow with a resin hull and Endeavour with a wooden hull. With a first glance at the pieces I began to foresee on which adventure I had embarked.

I hope you don‘t say „oh no, not another Amati J Class kit“!

Since I wanted t o have a good edging of the deck, I built a bow and stern on my own and painted it in white together with the outer deck planks. After that the further planking with a scalpel and 600 sandpaper. Unfortunately I was not able to fit it together absolutely mirror-inverted.

[Markus16]

After finishing the deck I wanted to glue the deck on the hull but had to realize that it had warped significantly. The only explanation for this seemed to me that I used wood glue.

So I first glued the stern and after complete drying the bow, fixing each with elastic band. As it still didn‘t fit properly I compensated it with epoxy resin, so called microballons (don’t know if this is the right term in english) and lots of sanding.

Probably some of you might give me a note what the reasons for the warp could have been.

[Nirvana]

I don't know about the bubbles you got from the epoxy.

This might be a heat/resin related problem (epoxy do generate heat) and the topcoat of the resin is separating.

As for the deck I don't see any warp, please show us a picture of this.

However, what I see regarding this build I like it very much.
What I understand this is a fairy fast quick build and you are doing very well.

From a personal point of view I would have painted the hull before attaching the deck.

[Markus16]

Hi, Nirvana,

thanks for your reply. I‘m sorry you got me wrong. There are no bubbles in the epoxy. I used „microballons“, which is a filler to thicken the epoxy. That‘s what the guy at my model store advised me to use.

The warp is already compensated, I didn‘t take any pictures, but it was somewhere between 5-10mm.

I was also thinking about painting the hull first, but at least I didn‘t want to have any visible transition between hull and deck and  I knew I would have to fill and sand the transition.

[Markus16]

Lots of time to carry on at this weekend! Amati suggested to build a sort of stand with an attached pencil to draw the waterline, but this really didn‘t work. So I took a spirit level with a laser and pulled it along the hull. 

It took me quite a while to think up how to paint the thin decorative stripes and so I took a „Revell“ masking tape which was quite ok, but not optimal. I had to correct the stripes several times. I think next time I‘ll try „frogtape“.

Choosing the right color for the hull also wasn‘t easy. Of course I would have preferred mohagony for the lower part, but on the one hand the original Rainbow had a metal hull and on the other hand painting some color that just „looks like mohagony“ on a resin hull was not acceptable for me. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any color fotos of the original Rainbow and so I took crimson red (RAL 3002). After several layers with a smooth brush and a finish with transparent varnish it worked out fine.

What really annoyed me was that you can still see fine lines from the brush and despite sanding it several times with 400 and 600 grit I couldn‘t really remove the grooves.

I‘d like to know if someone of you has a good advice how to achieve a really smooth varnish. Would a spray color be a better option?

 

 

[Markus16]

The enclosed stand for the ship really looked low-quality and so I build my own one with brass pipe, threaded rod, cherry wood and black felt pad.

[Nirvana]

That's a sweet stand, and yes the included one are not the best.

[Markus16]

Dear forum members,

just finished the deck. I didn‘t like the silver color of the enclosed cleats and so I tried to paint them in a brass color. The Revell brass color looked more like copper and so I used gold.

For the deck structure like the cabin house I used cherry stain instead of mohagony.

[Markus16]

Just finished the mast and boom and now the Rainbow is waiting to be rigged completely and the sails to be set.

[Markus16]

Finished!

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Superb model. Congratulations.

 

Yves

[Markus16]

Thank you very much!

[Nirvana]

Markus. 

All she need is a crew and she can go sailing. 

Beautiful done!

[Eurus]

Very beautiful indeed. Great job!

[Markus16]

Thanks!

[Sal M]

Markus - Looks great - I am @ the point where I am attaching sails to the mast/boom.  I have read it is easier to attach(sew) them on before stepping the mast - seems you were successful after - Did you prep the sails in anyway eg putting holes in to make it easier to sew ?

 

Thanks

Sal

[NH Old Man]

Markus, Great job! Your model looks fabulous. I started Rainbow recently and you have provided a valuable resource for me and an example to which I might aspire.

Best, Tom

[Markus16]

@Sal: I just marked the positions for the holes with a ruler and a pencil to have the holes evenly spaced.

@ Tom: Thank you very much. I hope you‘ll enjoy building the Rainbow as much as I did. Send me a PM if there‘s something I can help you with. I have just started to build the Endevour. Since the keel was twisted I ordered another one from Amati which arrived a couple of days before. 
Best wishes,

Markus

[bobandlucy]

Nice!