Rebuilding the fleet by mikegr - 1/700 - restoring old plastic models

[plankncaulk]

Mike-

You're doing beautiful work. I thought 1/72 details were tough! I also like your sea displays- add me to the people who would like to see more of your technique for creating them.

Tim

[mikegr]

Done adding few details. Ready to pour resin

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by mikegr

[mikegr]

So I poured the resin. The intention was to form a light-medium wave. I used a hair dryer to form the waves. It was a bit early and resin wasnt thick yet so I spilled some, making a mess on the base. After some time using the gun up and down I let it rest. I repeated the process until the epoxy has thickened to the point that was stable even when i used the dryer almost touching the base.

Next morning I discovered that epoxy was back 90% in the original form.  Even looked solid while blowing it probably the slow curing time prevent it from holding its shape😕.  Having no other option I used medium gel to make a bit rough sea. I have used it in the past and concluded that this reduces the resin transparency, which I don't like.

So while I was satisfied with the model built regarding the time spent, the sea base was just a repeat of a previous attempt with nothing new to offer. 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by mikegr

[lmagna]

While the sea state did not work out like you intended  I still think it looks quite nice and realistic. Many of the pictures of ships in the South Pacific especially in the Dutch East Indies look very much the same, (Except they are in black and white of course).

[mikegr]

I finished the model by making a plexiglass case as usual. For conviniency roof will be made with 0.5mm PVC. They do great job protecting the model from dust but they occupy more space. Seems I am having problem already with about 25 more to rebuild plus  some dozens to build from the start.

Last month I received a message from a silent follower. He had some spare parts for 1/700 ships and instead of selling them on eBay for a few bucks he offered to ship them overseas to my door. To unfamiliar persons this looks like a scrap pile but for us may be a little treasure. And a boost for my effort.  A big thanks for the follower.

[mikegr]

Νext Project: Hikawa Maru by Hasewaga.

Before i go on, a small correction: Previous model IJN Taiyo was by Aoshima not Tamiya.

 

Both Taiyo and Hikawa Maru share the same hull design. The latter has an interesting story, built as a cruise liner, Japanese liners were not that famous as western builds. She was converted to a hospital ship. I was suprised to find out that she is a museum ship i n Yokohama.

 

Now the model. At the time was built i had in mind to convert her in seaplane carrier thus the AA armament. There was a rear deck made by an expired credit card (!), cranes and seaplanes but they are missing. After some consideration i decided to built it as it looks today, a liner museum ship since there is good amount of pictures and plans available unlike Taiyo

[mikegr]

As I was searching some plans I noticed the bow was quite different than it should be. I considered it as a model fault so I cut it and tried to make a new one shaping some wood. Then while a friend called and ask some info on painting a Fletcher, I researched my instruction sheets which I have kept for years. To my surprise I found out that the kit was not Hikawa Maru but Yawata Maru by Aoshima, a cargo liner converted to Unyo, the sister ship of previous built, Taiyo.

Under these circumstances a conversion would be out of question. I put it aside for experimental purposes and proceed with a more classic built, HMS Rodney by Tamiya.

[mikegr]

I was thinking that this is one of the least damaged models while an accidentall fall caused some breaks.

The paint  is in great condition the challenge would be to match the color with the added parts so I skip repaint.

The PE parts are for the "Nelson Class" which means they include 40mm aa guns which Rodney never received. J will use some of them, railings and whatever I could find on my spare parts stash.

[mikegr]

 

Ι scratch built the upper part of the rear mast. Since I don't have soldering skills yet I made it in 3 parts. At the 2 joints,  the vertical masts are glued. This, will offer some extra strength required for the rigging tension. As extra precaution I will use stretched sprue instead of elastic thread.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by mikegr

[mikegr]

I did some work on the upper deck. Weathering,boat upgrade, rails and added the rear mast-crane set.

 

[mikegr]

I have started upgrading the bridge. Did some scratch built, added PE and replaced some moulded aa guns with separate ones. I lost two rangefinder antennas during process so no PE set for the rear ones. I think I will start assembly my next model on the floor.

I found an easier way of bending PE precisely. I draw the lines of the piece on a paper then I bent the part according to the line. Wherever this is applicable though.

[king derelict]

Drawing the profile on paper or making a card profile is a great way of getting complicated railing runs to work nicely.

Alan

[mikegr]

Done weathering the deck and scratch building metal barrels.

A dedicated sticker for this class would be good because the engraved deck lines are very thin and are invisible after the initial thick brushed paint.

[CDW]

It must be a tricky proposition removing the glued on superstructure pieces from the decks after all these years. Nice work!

Don't see this class of ship modeled too often.

[mikegr]

On 2/14/2022 at 6:41 PM, CDW said:

It must be a tricky proposition removing the glued on superstructure pieces from the decks after all these years. Nice work!

Don't see this class of ship modeled too often.

Indeed not much building info about it online, even its an old but decent for the price, kit.

 

I have finished the replacement of barrels. I drilled anchor chain holes and replaced davits, some from my stash, some scratch built by copper wire

[mikegr]

I have added some details. Ladders, drilled holes,doors, remake the crane wirring. Also from my newly refreshed stash I put some extra life rafts with good detail. Paint them was tricky I hold them with one pin in place while paint them with a single brush hair.

Finally I may need some extra hull for my heavy seas display so I made one from polystyrene. It is not perfect but its more than enough as most of it will remain hidden

[mikegr]

At last a day pic even with cloudy sky.

Main deck rails, weathering and rigging need to be added.

Using a small sand paper I made parallel (almost) lines of worn on weathered deck. Looks convincing I think

[mikegr]

I have finished the rigging job

It is not extended much apart the rear mast but its kinda complicated and concentrated. In the real ship its even more complicated.

[mikegr]

The finished model with light to medium weathering plus light chipping. The A turret has a paint peel off on the roof. This caused by accidentally using a nitro based thinner. I left it as it is, I kinda like it. Next base will be the sea base

[mikegr]

I built the base. Styrofoam glued on MDF to eliminate warp. I cut waves then added few layers of toilet paper and diluted PVA glue. Then I decided to use plaster to smooth the surface. First attempt this way. I formed the wakes with acrylic putty applied with gun. Then filled the space between wakes and hull with gel to give a rougher surface.

Tomorrow I try airbrush paint and apply medium gel before going for final details

[Veszett Roka]

Hi Mike,

 

please be aware, the wavefronts must be straight even on light sea:

 

[mikegr]

So I gave it a color of dark ocean blue, then air sprayed with white. I use thick acrylic for painting so I need to expertise a lot about how to thinner it and enable for a regular paint flow. Then I used sponge shocked in white to paint the "nerves" between the two waves

Then disaster strikes. Obviously paper layers and glue have covered the area cutted, which resulted in hull misfitting. So I need to cut further aft. Fortunately I had some free space but it just that stern moved too much behind at the end of the base. I could dig in a bit forward but then waves should be reformed to align with the bow so I rejected this option.

Next steps:

Fitting hull and closing the gap with material.

Apply cotton to form water foam

Applylight coat of medium gel to give a rougher texture

Minor painting jobs

Apply body car varnish for a super glossy effect.

 

[mikegr]

On 3/24/2022 at 11:39 AM, Veszett Roka said:

Hi Mike,

 

please be aware, the wavefronts must be straight even on light sea:

 

Thanks for the comment . I am trying to built a base similar to this but with a bit rougher sea

[mikegr]

I have  finished the gel apply. When dry I will form some bow wave and varnish. The airbrush blown some fragile rigging so I have to re work it after completion. Or find a lazy title for my model like "HMS Rodney after typhoon hit" lol.

[mikegr]

I have finished the project minus rigging and some other minor repair

[mikegr]

Rodney had main mast replaced by a soldered one and new rigging. It set sail to Atlantic

Next project

IJN Kiso by Tamiya

[mikegr]

I don't have specific PE parts for this but only general PE for IJN ships. I will present camouflage scheme, as it appeared during Aleutians invasion. The ship participated in this non famous mission. Finally it was sunk in Philippine Sea after she was attacked by 350 aircrafts

[mikegr]

A small update. I glued the funnels and coat them with metal/plastic primer.

This is a solid built model wish I knew the glue I used lol. I had to use dremel tool to remove some parts while others were too fragile to be removed by force

[Canute]

Might try putting it inside your freezer (with the Admiral's permission, of course). The cold stresses the plastic glue and CA joints. I've done this to a few model freight cars I needed to disassemble. The mods I needed to make required the partial tear-down.

[lmagna]

6 hours ago, Canute said:

(with the Admiral's permission, of course)

I can just see her opening the freezer door and seeing a freight car or two sitting there. My wife would just figure I had slipped another cog and go about her business figuring all was pretty much normal.