Russian Naval Base by mikegr - 1/950 - 3D-printing - DIORAMA

[mikegr]

Why in 1/950? I will explain.

 

During my first research for 3d  printable models and parts I came up with some submarines. Among many I download and printed a freeware file of Akula Class sub. It was the first ship to be printed so some experimentanion would be needed.

After testing several pieces were complete in good detail in 1/700

scale. Or I thought so. While testing and calculating scales my mind was at Alfa Class a sub significantly smaller than Akulas. After doing some maths It was obvious that I was left with a bunch of Akulas in 1/950 scale. You can see the difference of the size in 1/700 and 1/950 in the photo

Not sure what to do with them I decide to built a diorama using at least two of them and maybe another class. The scenery would be icy. It will be my first diorama including sea and terain scape. A combo of 3d print and hand work.

 

[king derelict]

Great idea, Mike. It will be spectacular. The sun prints look very nice too

Alan

[mikegr]

1 hour ago, king derelict said:

Great idea, Mike. It will be spectacular. The sun prints look very nice too

Alan

Thanks Alan. 

By the time you get your resin printer there will be a lot of material that will take your 1/700 and 1/350 to another level.

Your filament printer also has paid off very well on your giga project.

[mikegr]

Looking at the pictures i noticed that there are many building options available.

No ice on subs, full ice on sea

Lots of ice on sea, no ice on subs

moderate amount on ice/snow on both objects

[RGL]

I’m really keen to see how you do the ice. 

[mikegr]

3 hours ago, RGL said:

I’m really keen to see how you do the ice. 

That depends on the scenery. I'm more worried about the ground effect, rocks etc

[mikegr]

A few last nice pics i found online

 

two hunters met on cold waters

A nice idea for a next diorama

 

So,

I printed the other model for display a Typhoon class submarine. The size of this giant is impressive. It was printed in 2 pieces thanks to the smaller scale, in 1/700 i would need to divide it in 3. Here is a comparison to the Akula in both 1/950 and 1/700 scale

 

                                  This model has a 2mm margin as it will sink to the resin a bit while other's dont. So i need to modify them accordingly as well as other modifications. The missile silos doors have extremely wide gaps, these should be filled and covered by snow anyway.

 

The Typhoons although were very impressive they were never the most modern submarines of their time. Their most distinctive feauture was their two hull construction side by side giving them that huge space and increased survivability in a torpedo hit.

A side by side comparison to an Ohio Class is revealing

 

The Typhoons were among the most comfort subs ever sailed even having a swimming pool and sauna. In comparison Ohios are quite crampy. But they still can carry up to 24 ICBMs instead for 20 in Typhoons. Ohios were quite problematic and expensive to be built but they have a great life expectancy, estimated to serve the fleet beyond 2030.

[Roger Pellett]

I believe that the difficulties building the Ohios had more to do with commercial problems that existed between the US Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard than with actual construction of the submarines.

 

I am in the process of rereading October Fury by Peter A. Huchthausen.  The title refers to the events at sea during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  This is a great book about Cold War Russian Submarine operations.  Huchthausen was a very junior officer aboard one of the destroyers enforcing the blockade.  He later was  a Naval Attache’ in Moscow and came to know several of the Russian Submarine officers involved.

 

Roger

[mikegr]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:02 PM, Roger Pellett said:

I believe that the difficulties building the Ohios had more to do with commercial problems that existed between the US Navy and General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard than with actual construction of the submarines.

 

I am in the process of rereading October Fury by Peter A. Huchthausen.  The title refers to the events at sea during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  This is a great book about Cold War Russian Submarine operations.  Huchthausen was a very junior officer aboard one of the destroyers enforcing the blockade.  He later was  a Naval Attache’ in Moscow and came to know several of the Russian Submarine officers involved.

 

Roger

According to "Warships of the US Navy" published in 1983, one of the problems was the welding quality.  33% of Ohio had to be rewelded from the start. At the time the book was published Navy was seriously considering to terminate the program and look for alternative, like  a lengthened 688 version.

In this book also there is a report for the upcoming DDG 51.  The plans were looked like this

Thanks the members for the comments so far and their opinions.

I printed the last ship, its a tug boat. I actually printed two designs, the one proved too fragile, the other looked ok, most probably can be used in 1/700 scale with some enlargement.

I considering also a crane although in this scale it could bring my printer to its limits with its delicate construction. It took 4 prints to get the tugboat but didnt took long 1-1,30 hour each try

[mikegr]

Just recovered from a covid isolation in my house at a nearby island. Not much of an issue time to do some other activities, spearfishing, mountain walk etc.

 

I finish painting the two tugboats. Used 5/0 and 10/0 brushes. 

I then managed to put some extra details, a mini mast and bit or railing

[ccoyle]

So, are lionfish good eating? I know they are considered invasive in the Western Atlantic/Caribbean.

[mikegr]

2 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

So, are lionfish good eating? I know they are considered invasive in the Western Atlantic/Caribbean.

Yes they are quite tender, I like them fried

They are invaded Mediterranean cause of warmer waters and it is said that occupy areas quite fast.

My favorite fish is Mediterranean white grouper by far. It was also served when Obama visited Athens.

[mikegr]

A warped model is used as a test bed  for weathering experiment.  Used some initial airbrush spray but in this scale I found that extra brush details should be added. With thin brushes I worked making vertical stripes with different shades of grey, then black then again grey sometimes before the previous paint gets dry, making an interested result. Added very few drips or rust, some chipwork on bow and gave a wet effect applying one ingredient resin, locally. I need to work harder to form the vertical stripes with thinner brushes and of course on color consistency.

Edited October 9, 2022 by mikegr

[mikegr]

I did some research and found that most model companies recommend a dark grey/flat black color for Russian subs. Wasn't sure what to do so I gave it an airbrush paint with black and dark grey in 1:1 proportion to both test and proper model

then I added  some heavy weathering with tiny brush with more concentration this time. For wet areas I used Tamiya glue, quick drying and very glossy effect as I like

The one with the raised antennas is the freshly arrived on harbor, so there will be no snow effect on it. I will proceed to the other Akula , the stationed one with less weathering and in icy condition

[mikegr]

Spend quite a lot of time on the 2nd sub. Gray black color sprayed, then I added some lighter shades. Using cotton swab a fade effect was achieved

However it will be of little importance. I sprayed white but airbrush was spitting paint creating a mess. Had to experiment with color thickness, cleaning the nidle many times and testing paints specialized for airbrush.

So after many layers, chipping and brush weathering I managed to get a decent result. Or perhaps I felt convenient with it because I got tired.

Tomorrow  a closer look may change my mind.

 

A comparison photo with both model subs and two test models

[mikegr]

No update for 3 weeks depsite 3 weeks of daily work from half an hour to whole evening. 

Typhoon was a different story. First I had to fit extra bulges around the tower area like in the real sub

Then I tried for a snow effect. But those large areas actually gives the optical illusion of a larger scale so more detailed job should be considered. For my bad luck I didn't want to give an easy flat snow finish, something more challenging caught my attention

After few failed attempts I noticed that engraved details, particularly the cover of missile silos have gone. It was time to not only reprint the front hull part but to interfere in the file and make the lines more clean. With the right modification this was successful.

Painting failures went on for several evenings. Finding the right thickness on white paint to spray over large black area was a disaster. From, say 30 hours of work, 29,5 was spend on paint testing and airbrush cleaning. I even suffered a break down but thanks to online information airbrush was repaired quick without need of wasting time ordering spare parts online.

The missile silo hatch missing is due to a file problem. After a not so good scratch built attempt and new paint failures it was time for a re print. And as usual,  further design modifications were necessary. This time were also more extended. New tactics were used, a home made snow paste was used and some chalk powder. After several tests I scored a result that prompts me at least to proceed to the next stage

Perhaps the hull leftovers can be  modified to shelters or bunkers😁

 

[mikegr]

I made the dockyard. The second taller one is for 1/700 scale. It was a success, easy to design and print. A few rubber fenders also made in 1/700 and 1/350 just for fun. Design took 8+ hours but results are good. Still improving it a bit though.

[mikegr]

Done painting  the dock.

Epoxy primer, grey paint, (red brown road), dark weathering, light weathering, black wash. Finally put the cable holding the rubber fenders. I may add some green at the base were dock meets the water. And some light rust streaks  at the base of those black things that ships are using to tie the ropes which I can't recall the name and I am too lazy to google it

[Roger Pellett]

Bollards

[mikegr]

Snowy dockyard is finished.

I worked on the base and made a drawing of the layout

Edited November 16, 2022 by mikegr

[mikegr]

After experimentation and research i found out that the mini compressor is not working good enough with acrylics. They need to be thinned a lot for a proper flow. That means extra thin white is quite hard to cover dark surfaces. In my next diorama i will be using  a new compressor which I hate because of the size and noise.

So finally I did it

I turned the two quartet hulls into warehouse, bunker, shelter, call it whatever you like it. Space for land construction is reduced in favor of more sea and faster progress. Need to speed up a bit

[Old Collingwood]

Great work  of a  fascinating subject.

 

OC.

[mikegr]

Thanks for comments and likes

Instead of using  problematic white I used a spray can to paint the dock. Then I will use shades of gray, gradually to erase the snow. So basically its the opposite technique comparing to submarine painting. Let's see of this works well.

Doors on shelters replaced with other type. Light were added. I need to extend the dock because the truck can't turn and the buildings won't fit

[mikegr]

While working at the dock I printed another closed truck with great accuracy. Painting was painful as usual but it came out nice

[mikegr]

Progress has  paused  because I decided to have some education about ice and snow. At large surfaces even in that small scale I find that it takes more that paint job, no matter how perfect will be.

I got some extra materials on hand. Ready made snow paste, ice paste and micro balloons. I added some more usual staff like heavy gel, PVA and paint.

From left to right

-Ice paste

-Ice paste with microballoons

-snow paste

-snow and ice paste

-heavy gel and ice paste

-heavy gel and snow paste

-heavy gel, paint and microballoons sprinkle on top

 

-Heavy gel and microballoons

-heavy gel and microballoons sprinkle

-paint, PVA and microballoons

--paint, PVA and microballoons sprinkle

-heavy gel and white glitters.

Ice paste gives a good shiny transparency but big colorful glitters reduce realism. This is an artcraft paste not a modeling one.

Microballoons proved a fantastic material. White and shiny like crystal because its actually crystal powder.  Gives a nice effect when sprinkled on other pastes but even if added alone.

Tomorrow I will post more pics on day light.

[mikegr]

Some pics on daylight.

I added some gel and microballoons at the middle of the dockyard to create an ice effect. At the edges I poured microballoons over paste to represent snow accumulation. A small amount of white glitters added for extra shine effect. Extra snow added on Akula as well.

For the roof top microballoons plus few glitters over paint did the job.

I will restart the base, with less snow and more icy surfaces. Typhoon needs to be re worked also.

Note on Akula, resin has warped already.

Edited December 17, 2022 by mikegr

[robert952]

Quite a build log.  I see why this is an interesting project.  Nice work.  
Thanks for sharing your experiments with snow and such.  

[king derelict]

The snow and ice effects look really good on the models. Thank your for sharing your experience.

Alan

[mikegr]

Thanks for the encouraging comments and likes. I need to experiment a lot because it is the same materials that will be used for making sea waves.

I decided to add some motion but figures at that scale is out of question. So I added some vehicles. A light coat of gel was given, then microballoons sprinkled over , thicker in some places, less in other. A bit of white glitters added, I like the shinny effect on light.

Some putty on the base to fill a gap.

Gel is not dried yet but I couldn't wait for tomorrow pics were taken today.

[mikegr]

Those night time pics looks awful.

I take some on daylight tomorrow.

The hangar roofs needs to be smoothen as nobody steps on there.