Conte di Cavour by rumbeard - GPM - 1:200 - CARD

[rumbeard]

So I mentioned on another build thread or gallery that I wanted to revamp my garage and add a workbench to start converting to a man-cave.  I bought the bench yesterday and put it together today.  The first four pics are that with the old ship I screwed up (bad masking job and bad putty job).  Guess what arrives on my doorstep?  The replacement kit.  Enjoy as I start to construct like a patient madman.

[rumbeard]

Coating all the sheets including the laser cut sheets with Micador Satin picture varnish on both sides

 

The first gluing. Trying Roket Card Glue. I'll use the Zap I think for laminating and smaller parts as the Roket gives almost zero time to move after you place the object. Roket seems good for the laser forms, though.

[rumbeard]

More framing.  New technique with the Roket: If one has enough space around the rib hold bottle horizontal or -5 degrees downward (tip pointing up).  Bead down the crevice.  If not enough space place 1 cm blob in crevice center and take a q-tip and paint up and down the crevice.

[rumbeard]

Vertical framing done, horizontal tomorrow followed by balsa deck lamination and fitting.

[Joe100]

An excellent start indeed. I finished a scratch build of Giulio Cesare just last year, and I can highly recommend the new Bagnasco book on the class.

[SteveLarsen]

Italian ships are very handsome subjects.  Your model is huge!  Have popcorn in hand.

[rumbeard]

So I'm not an expert with this method yet and my balsa was a little non-flat so I tried two strategies. (Thanks PAPERFAN). First one was to do copy paper on both sides and I messed around with spreading. I ended up just putting the paper down eventually and letting the thinnest CA soak through. I don't have glass handy but lots of wax paper. It's not pretty but I glued the deck pieces to it and it will do the trick.

 

[rumbeard]

While that was going I did my bulkhead reinforcements ala Dan Vadas with some shortcuts by me resulting in higher strength. (instead of .5 mm card, used 1mm card, stopped trimming out middle after first two, and added secondary stringers out of left-over laser cut material)

[rumbeard]

The other balsa deck I tried contact adhesive for the copy paper which results in a much cleaner look but it doesn't seem to stick hard. (still semi-peelable). Once I stick the decks as I have done here, it seems good.

Last pic shows them side by side

[rumbeard]

So it looks like technique two wins. I might do Roket Card next time for the copy paper and then CA for the decks.

[rumbeard]

Some wall reinforcements, deck part 1, and adding portholes with the punch n' die set and scrap plastic from my 5 year old's toy boxes.

[rumbeard]

So things are coming along, but I have resigned myself to the fact that I will need to paint, putty, and touch up the hull as well as several other tiny spots.  One of the hull panels didn't fit so well and required trimming.  As I move forwards from the stern, however, the panels do fit better.  The one thing that makes me less hesitant this time to do touch up is if I match the colors well, my new airbrush should allow me to add very tiny streams with low flow and blend into the paper look.

 

[rumbeard]

Also the phone cameras make that hull look a lot lumpier than it is.  It's smooth, there are just white worn edges and a gap or two along a seam.  The panels do sit perfectly flat against the formers.  No starving cow yet.

[rumbeard]

Even more fun issues today.  Noticed hull plates not quite straight... trimmed and fit one.  Then the other side had a gap.  Made a wedge out of the trimmed scrap.  Fun times.  I think I can just do a very careful putty when done and sand/airbrush the seams at a minimum.

[rumbeard]

To align these I'm using the alignment ticks down the keel and gluing keel first then adhering sides.

[rumbeard]

So the hull is skinned.  Next stop fairing the seams with sand paper, applying the bare minimum of putty, and sanding that.  In between I'll decide how much of the rudder and screw mounts to apply or if I want to paint them separately.  Masking will be done and I've decided per input on the other forum to change the hull colour to anti-fouling green from the Lifecolor Italian WWII set.

 

 

[rumbeard]

First post fairing of seams.

 

[rumbeard]

Post putty.  Going to sand it tomorrow

 

[Joe100]

Since you’re getting to the painting stage, just remember the Italians used green anti-fouling paint. 
 

can’t wait to see more!

[rumbeard]

Masking and painting. (First two coats, will need a last one after all is dry)

I learned that after sanding I really should have re-sealed it. There is a slight skin sag but I think it will turn out OK.

 

[rumbeard]

Last coat before varnish. I like how it turned out. This paint is also a tiny bit scratchy (might need a bit more of a wipe down next time) but this makes it seem more real.

 

 

[Joe100]

Looks excellent!

 

I was emailing Mario Ghiglino a while back, and he’s probably the world’s leading expert on RN camouflage. He said the paint seems to have been a reddish orange, more red than orange. It quickly turned green in seawater. That’s the leading theory anyway. 

[rumbeard]

From this: Quite a few early 20th-century anti-fouling paint used iron oxide, thus the red color. The Italians used 'Italian Moravian' which had copper sulphate, thus the green. I figure it's just convenience, since the Italian used their 'Italian Moravian' while other countries continued to tinker with their paint.

 

Also they had the first layer red but the final layer green.

Tashkent's Keel: Why Green? - Battleship Era - World of Warships official forum

[rumbeard]

Moravia Boya ve Kimya San. Tic. Ltd. Şti. (moraviapaint.com) - Still in business.  Started in the 1860's in Trieste

[rumbeard]

And the thing that tipped me over the edge was a note from a papermodelers forum member pointing at the really cool site: Forums - Betasom - XI Atlantic Submarine Group which has a lot of history on it.

[rumbeard]

Made the stand and then remade it using Roket card instead of CA (the first one).  I like how it turned out.  Also cut out hull skins.  I'll need to colour match this grey in acrylic and then paint my first PE parts (doors) and add the portholes after punching them out.
 

[rumbeard]

Punch & Die tool making 220 porthole windows from a scrap from a Paw Patrol toy package. Also trying to match the grey paint which is not the same as the grey in my RN Lifecolor kit. I ended up getting super close but the grey was too warm (yellow greenish which I could see in bright sunlight). I bought some Azure Blue and added 1 ml, so the total mix is Silber Grau (Lifecolor Kriegsmarine set) 10 ml, 19ml Lifecolor flat white, 1 ml Azure blue

Hull coming along. I messed up the other side of the fantail because I glued a PE door too low, so it will need touch up and it's slightly wavy but I think I can fix this OK.

[rumbeard]

So I'm looking for some input here. I've reached the stage where I'm going to finish the hull and start on the super-structure. Some things are obvious that I need to do (e.g. sand one hull seam and re-paint, add the chines, props and rudders and paint, putty the stern crack and bow above the waterline and touch up. I spent two weeks and 3 bottles of white paint trying to color match the grey and I think I'm very close. I need just a touch more white. You see this in one of the photos. The main thing not sitting right with me is some slightly sloppy glue work where either a porthole is sitting on a bulkhead and I have wavyness at the stern or one wave at the bow because there's a bow in the plate. Suggestions on how to fix or reduce the look? Also would like suggestions on if there's a mostly transparent darkening wash people would use for weathering that would hide grey touch up even better?

 

[rumbeard]

Finishing up hull bits

---

Here are a bunch of the greebles for the hull: Rudders, prop shafts, props, bilge keels, etc. Once attached (the other side), I'll remove the prop shafts and mask and touch up the green. Then mask and do the black waterline. Finally I'll work some more on my gray and do small blends with the airbrush (this will be trickier). I will also need to touch up the deck zebra stripes as I did a bit of sanding where the side hull joined the deck.

 

 

[rumbeard]

So many learning experiences. After all hope was almost lost I hit on a close-enough match for the grey. Here I post finishing prop #2, re-doing green, using this amazing product Mr. Mask Sol (a paintable rubber that rubs off with a finger pad) for portholes, touch-up including overspray mistakes, and more. The UA617 Italian Anti-vegetativo Verde Scuro is a new bottle. I notice black is a component of this paint as it settles. I tried touch up with a brush and either the new bottle is slightly different in color or it was the thickness of the green when I thinned it for airbrush as it showed a different color streak where I touched up. I tossed the old airbrush green and mixed up a fresh thicker batch and applied it for great success. Lastly I've started touching up the candy cane deck.