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

[mikegr]

Thanks for the comments. It is the small scale actually that helps me to make these as in 1/350 or higher, more detail would be needed which I cannot design at the moment.

Back to the building, I sanded the PE parts and sprayed them with epoxy primer. Crane was assembled but a mast was needed as well. So I scratch built one copying the Pontos model.

[mikegr]

 I installed PE, mostly nets and few others. Rigging time. A combination on melted sprue and elastic thread for longer pieces. The way I handle sprue fibers is with the tip of a file sometimes bit wet for extra grip. I do not use sharp tweezers as it can bent the pieces. At the end of the file a needle is attached were I use to deep into PVA or CA glue if I want a quick dry.

After rigging work is almost done, time to deal with air crew. Note that this is my first extra modified kit with addition of resin self design parts so some fittings problems occurred. Buy I need to move on.

[mikegr]

I am building the air group.

First wave is a six pack of SB2c. I added some PE work and paint them a 3 color camouflage with brush. Some weathering, oil brushing and mat varnish.  In my new builds I will use high detailed 3d printed ones. There is not much space for improvement on these oldies

[mikegr]

Airgroup is done. With 4 Hellcats and 2 Devastators. Its the first time I use all the PE upgrade parts, canopy, propeller, landing gear, even rear single gear. Added some weathering and put on deck. A few minor work tomorrow and I will proceed to the water base

[mikegr]

So I did a lot of research before starting the base. As always I will try a new method.

What is very essential in a water layout is the texture.I have long time quited the random pattern created by foil sheet and create mine. Today an artist paper will be used with wavy rough surface which still need some modification.

So I cut the paper and glued it on a 2cm Styrofoam piece.

Next, I gave it a couple of thick primer coats with brush to smoothen it up a bit. The result was mediocre so process was repeated with heavy gel instead of acrylic. This also gave me the chance of reshaping the surface in some areas by creating waves in the same direction of the preformed ones.

Then i took a few hours off to research about bow waves. My target is a higher speed ship on a light - moderate weather. Curling  a semi dried piece of gel glue I managed to get a desired shape.

Next phase was an initial layer of dark blue acrylic and take a photo while its still wet to appear a temporary glossy effect

 

[mikegr]

I went to a friend with proper compressor and i managed to preshade the wakes. Next the buffles were created by acrylic putty formed with pin and small fork. To eliminate the "gap" between strong white and prepainted faded area I sprinkled some microballoons.

Next step was to place the ship. Waterline gap was covered with snow paste and a bit of PVA glue. I used a pin to spread it while I had a wet brush stand by to clear the hull from excess white paint.

[mikegr]

I filled the gap on the waterline.

Next, was to whiten the space between the two long wakes. It was easy because the sea  texture, the first step, was completed successfully. I shaped the bow wave with silicone. Finally, gave a couple of coats with high quality gloss and will still sticky I sprinkled few glitters on white surfaces to give  a reflective effect under light.

Overall after many attempts I feel like this was not a repeated work but an improved one over the previous. Therefore I feel more happy than pleased. The surrounding balsa wrap is ugly but it ok with it, last time I use it on a Styrofoam base

 

[mikegr]

After the big project  a small one.

i400 submarine by Aoshima

 

 

[mikegr]

Was looking at the hull only to find out that some details like side vents are not very visible. Also the wooden deck on not incorporated into main body, instead its a ridiculously separate thick piece on top of it.

While browsing online I found good information, drawings and plans as well a 3d file of the sub. After some modifications and test I printed the hull in two pieces ,as it was too big to fit on my smallbplate,  with good and accurate detail. Not sure if I restore the old kit, maybe use it as a guide for a new kit, it will be my first attempt in a fully printed kit

Hull was glued and gap was filled with CA. Tomorrow will prime it and move on

[mikegr]

After priming and painting the wood like sticker deck was attached.I had to add it in pieces. Used tiny bits of putty to fill the gaps then painted with tan color. I used the same color for oil washing along with some black.I will do the same for the hull will working on the bridge part

 

[mikegr]

I printed the the part after the 3rd attempt. I painted it, added some chipping effect and oil washes. Test fitted on the boat relatively well.

Next step is the add of periscopes, guns, crane, planes and railings

[mikegr]

Time to add the final details

 The plane, the crane. The armament and bit rigging. The Japs are 3d printed. Everything except the massive rear gun. I will work a bit more on the model and make it available for anyone wish to download

First I will need a sea for this 

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by mikegr

[mikegr]

Resin preparation.

Surface leleved and raised. Underneath some paper to avoid spill accidents. 

Resin preparation in accurate proportions. A bit of Tamiya clear blue paint is added. This will add depth to the resin without loosing transparency. On thin layers like this however won't play significant role, mostly  on thicker resin layers.

After pourung the mixture the model was placed. Some material was displaced. Ancient physics.

I Checked for air bubbles and placed a fiberglass cover. Will rest over night this is a normal drying time, material

 

[mikegr]

What's the point of using crystal clear resin if the material above its not transparent enough? I did some test with materials on hand. Over a nylon ruler case I layered the materials and tried to see how the clear the numbers look underneath

Splash effect on the left, PVA and cheap PVA on the right

 

Water splash and cheap PVA gave the clearest effect. Heavy gel on the other wasn't that clear. 

While trying to configure the materials used, I simply sealed the hull with acrylic putty

 

 

[mikegr]

I applied the water splash effect gel and have it 48 hours to dry. Not all of it became transparent, maybe for the thicker areas more time is needed, the weather is humid also.

Next I formed the waves by adding snow paste like previous time. A bit of glitter on the white foamy areas to give a bit shiny effect and its over

 

 

[mikegr]

Next. Admiral Graf Spee from Matchbox. I'm not fan of German ships but I got a PE set for a dollar so I decided to give it a shot

[mikegr]

First job was to drill the portholes. Though they were premarked it was a tricky process and few were misaligned so i filled them with putty instead.

To make the tiny holes more visible I sprayed the inside with black, thus creating a contrast. New anchors installed and the embled in front of them was deleted as it will be replaced by decal. Finally as I don't have a bottom, support frames added to increase the gluing strength. These plastics are quite old they are as flexible as potato chips. Finishing with grey color

 

[mikegr]

Next I start work on the quarter deck only to find out that it was glued upside down 30 years ago. I removed the torpedo tubes and layered a wood sticker. New 3d printed torpedo tubed added and some other details like bollards.

I realized that the easiest way to cover wood film on the main deck is to scratch build a new one and to add after the application the main pieces along with the smaller ones like anchor chain, bollards etc. Then I will work my way upwards to the bridge and masts

Edited December 9, 2023 by mikegr

[mikegr]

Deck day today. I covered it with wood sticker and test fitted  the old parts to see If there are any gaps..

 

[Canute]

Your decks look good, Mike.

[mikegr]

3 hours ago, Canute said:

Your decks look good, Mike.

Thanx

Working on small pieces was tricky especially while trying to remove the rear film before gluing. But it worthed the effort. You can see the part on the original form and how looked after the wood treatment upside down

 

[mikegr]

Working on the rear section i printed the housing for the area that quarterdeck meets the main deck.

Then I test fitted only to see that there are quite a few issues. People complain about fiitng problems on kits but when comes to scratch built things are more challenging.

I made a second piece 1mm lower and manage to fill the gap with a small 0.5 mm thick plastic piece. Some weathering on deck to cover the joining points. 

Next was to sand and fit the new deck. The two long side  hull pieces were miss aligned by 1mm when glued with CA. So I had to apply putty and sand both at the bow and stern until they would join properly. Work on quarterdeck is done only rails left to be added.  Main guns glued, i only put some tiny  rails on rear sides. Overall a not easy job to match together these old parts

 

[Old Collingwood]

Lovely work Mike  -  thats  some great  improvements  going on there,  I  once built  the  Airfix  600 scale  Graf Spee  many many years  ago.

 

OC.

[mikegr]

On 12/17/2023 at 8:36 PM, Old Collingwood said:

Lovely work Mike  -  thats  some great  improvements  going on there,  I  once built  the  Airfix  600 scale  Graf Spee  many many years  ago.

 

OC.

Thank you for the encouraging comments.

I worked on the smaller part in the same way. Portholes, doors and wooden deck added. 

I didnt like the detail of the conning tower. After long confusing research o designed my own along with rails to avoid messy work. The antenna is from the older part. Secondary guns are also test printed

 

[mikegr]

Move on to the front area. Added some side skirts to correct the shape. Paravanes were designed and printed because those on my stash were too big. Portholes, doors and paint. Wooden deck added and glued.

I decided to weather the deck. This film however absorbs oil washes too quick, was quite hard to remove excess  quantity even with the use of nitro thinner. So I tried to correct it with light tan wash color using dry brush method and careful brush movement.

With a new airbrush I have the hull sides a darker grey tone. Some imperfections but will be covered during weathering procedure.

 

[mikegr]

Another day with lot of work but small progress. I worked on the boat area behind the superstructure. Lots of tiny pe parts had to glued together. I lost a couple, one was replaceable the other was not. So after one hour or searching it was found. 

[mikegr]

I tried to fit tiny PE pieces to the funnel. The smaller ones were hard to glued on and job became messy. Also, because of the wrong shape of search lights platform, supports didnt fit well.

So I designed and printed my own funnel with corrections including details. I only added the hand rails and the funnel cap from the model

 

[mikegr]

I printed searchlights. Like rings. I filled them with silicone to look transparent like glass. Then added PE grills. The back side was painted grey

[mikegr]

I printed a new superstructure more correct. But it was hard so I had work around it a bit. PE added. New front tower also ahead of it, just behind the triple main turret

[mikegr]

I completed the bridge with some modifications. It was glued in place and added the mast.