Queen Anne Style Royal Barge by Chuck - FINISHED - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:24

[Pheasant]

Just finished CHEERFUL...Much fun and a great model.

 

I'm in for your next one!

 

Terry

[gjdale]

Count me in for two Chuck! (One for me and one for my Dad).

[Trussben]

What a beautiful kit you are developing Chuck.

 

Ben

[Chuck]

Thanks Ben,  

 

I hope you are doing well.

 

I actually made a good deal of progress on the benches for the barge.  Just finished painting the bench details.  So far,  everything except for the molding along the shear has been laser cut for this kit.  Some etched details Include the panels on the bench armrests....and beading along the bench seat tops.  

 

Next up will be planking inboard with the risers and adding the thwarts...Its a very quick build in comparison to other projects.  The last photo shows just how large the model is.  It is not a small model.   A bit longer than 18".

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rustyj]

Hi Chuck. That is a really sweet looking model and of course your workmanship is great as usual.

[dvm27]

Chuck, your work is impeccable as usual. Could you describe your painting technique and brand of paint? A flawless finish such as you achieve doesn't happen by slapping a coat of paint on bare wood.

[Chuck]

Its so hard to explain in writing.  When I was in art school,  there was a whole semester class on how to use a paint brush effectively and what shaped brush to use.  Its counter to what most would think as well.  I have a 1/2 hour tech session on describing the techniques developed because its something you must see to really get.  Even better still,  it is best to hand out brushes to those watching and have them try it as you go.  Surprisingly there is a lot to point out even though you wouldnt expect that to be the case.

 

This class at Parsons was about color theory but also about brush handling.  We had to draw small square swatches, 1" x 1" and paint them to create our own swatch book of color theory.   The color theory aside,  the teacher was vigilant in demanding these swatches be painted by hand with a brush and you stay in the lines.  That each swatch be perfectly flat with not a trace of brush strokes.  If there were any....you would get a really poor grade.  It wasnt until a decade after I took that class that I recognized how important it was for our hobby purposes.  

 

I will try and put together something with photos to describe the techniques.   Just for starters...I dont have any flat brushes in my shop at all.  They are worthless for painting smooth areas you dont want brush strokes to appear on.  I also have no small brushes in workshop at all.  I have only medium and large round brushes.   They are soft and medium soft.  More suited for water colors than for oils or acrylic.   This is because even though I am using acrylic paint, they are used more like water colors.  

 

To understand why,  the lightbulbs always go off when folks see me use a flat brush in the traditional way and I describe how it is wrong for our purposes and show what happens when you use them.  Everyone uses flat brushes....throw them away except for maybe using them as dust brushes.

 

Then I describe how to effectively use a round brush that most would think is way too large for our purposes.  But after showing how to paint in the right direction and pull the brush as I am cutting a straight line,  they are converted pretty quick into believers.  This usually starts with drawing a square box on a piece of soft basswood 1" x 1".  It is very possibly if not easier to paint this square swatch perfectly flat with no brush strokes evident afterwards.... and cut in the lines around the perimeter so you have a sharp clean box freehand with a round brush.  No taping or masking required.

 

But again.....better to see it than describe it.  And then there is the surface prep and crack filling before you even start painting.  AND...very important....PINKY's up.   How to use your pinky finger as a control.  Resting your pinky finger on the surface to steady your hand and gain lots of control. If by chance there is no good place to rest my pinky in a certain part of the model,  the painting clearly doesnt go as well.  Its very important to learn what to do with your hands and how to hold the brush.

 

I have showed quite a few people in my shop how to do this and maybe they are better with their words and can explain it better.  But I will attempt to take some pictures as I paint on some basswood.  A notoriously bad wood to paint and expect to get a good finish on.  If you are using better wood like box or in my case cherry its even more of a pleasure to do.

 

I used Galleria Windsor and Newton Brand acrylic paint from a tube.  BUT...the paint as of late is slipping in quality so I have switched to Grumbacher brand and like it very much.  But for some odd reason I decided to use the Windsor and Newton on this model.  The color is Crimson...straight from the tube.

[druxey]

I agree with almost of what you've written, Chuck. However, I smiled as we all have different tastes in brush choice! I think everyone should experiment to see what round, flat and filbert brushes can or cannot do.

 

One additional point: not only use your pinky for control, but control your breathing as well when 'cutting in' to an edge.

[Chuck]

And I almost forgot.....use the paint very thin.   Dont use is too thick.  I use it the consistency of watercolor.  As if I was building up countless layers of thin washes of paint.  Slowly working towards an opaque surface.  After about the tenth coat I sand with 320 grit paper and apply another ten coats.  But I only lightly sand the paint......without removing it using a very light touch.

 

Yes steady control of breathing is very important....a somewhat steady hand also helps.  And keep your workstation clean...no dust,  absolutely no dust.  Use clean fresh water to thin the paint on your pallet. 

 

Chuck

[Mirabell61]

Chuck,

 

your last pics on the Royal Barge says it all......

 

Wow !

 

Nils

[Chuck Seiler]

You will be giving the Painting Tech Session at the 2016 NRG Conference, correct?   <plz plz plz>

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Chuck,

 

                Just found this thread, beautiful work and I even learned something...

 

      Will keep watching,      

                                     Keith

[Chuck]

Thanks.

 

Unfortunately I wont be going to the Conference this year.  My niece is getting married that same Friday night and it looks like a weekend gig.  We will be in Philly for the wedding all weekend.

 

I cant wiggle out of this one.  I hope I still fit into my leisure suit!!!!

[Chuck Seiler]

DOH!!!!!  How about a video?  Hold the wedding in San Diego?  Change the date of the NRG Conference?

[Chuck]

Today I didnt feel like working.  So instead I took a crack at carving the monogram of Queen Anne that will appear on the inside of the flying transom.  These will be boxwood in the kit probably but the before and after examples pictures are actually cherry.   The blanks like the one on the left are just 1/32" thick.  

 

I basically used four easy beginner carving techniques.   Lots of stop cuts.   But they are at a micro level.  Its hardly woodcarving and more like chip carving in my opinion.  This is the first wood carved decoration I have made in 25 years.  I usually prefer to sculpt as you know.  So this was a really fun learning experience.  I am far far from being any kind of expert and consider myself an absolute beginner.  The whole thing was carved with a number eleven blade in my hobby knife.  It is far from anything noteworthy but I am happy with it and excited about doing more carving.  Which is the whole point.

 

It was mounted/glued to a thick base for carving as you can see.   It worked great.  After I was done,  I literally soaked it in a cup of 90% rubbing alcohol.  1 hour later this carving literally fell off the baseboard.  This was just a test for me and I will be carving another in boxwood for the model.

 

 

 

This is the piece I wanted to use as a group tech session here as an intro to carving.  Not a class of any kind because I really dont know what I am doing.  But just a cheap way for folks to get together and exchange techniques.   Learning from each other.  This piece and the few others for this kit would make a great tech session build.  I am planning on getting my whole club together in my workshop next month.  We will all be practicing on this and talking about it as a group......lunch included.  I think it will be a blast and I hope other clubs might consider it as well.

 

 

[dvm27]

Very nice, Chuck. Looks like you made good use of the grain pattern in your planning.

[GuntherMT]

Thanks.

 

Unfortunately I wont be going to the Conference this year.  My niece is getting married that same Friday night and it looks like a weekend gig.  We will be in Philly for the wedding all weekend.

 

I cant wiggle out of this one.  I hope I still fit into my leisure suit!!!!

 

Kind of bummed, I was looking forward to meeting you Chuck.  Hope you have a good time at the wedding.

[Chuck]

Boxwood carving for the barge in progress.  Using a #11 blade.   Its half done.   Left side shows the laser cut blank while the right side is almost there.   The blanks are glued to a piece of scrap with elmers glue.  In this case I just used a glue stick.  Make sure its really glued down good.  Especially the ends of the thin parts that are susceptible to breakage.  I sandwich the glued up piece with another scrap sheet and clamp them together so the piece stays flat and doesnt curl up. The blanks are just 1/32" thick and sandwiching keeps them flat so all the surfaces glue up nicely.   Leave them overnight to dry really good.....now you are ready to carve.

 

The finished carving is removed from the base by just dumping it face-first into a bath of 90% rubbing alcohol for 5 or 6 hours.  They usually just fall right off the base.   Let them air dry and you are good to go.

 

 

When you dont have lots of time to spend on the model its good to keep these carving blanks around the shop.  You can easily spend a half hour or 45 minutes doing a little at a time.  There are nine such pieces in this kit that will need to be carved.  But dont worry .....a resin casting kit will be available for those who dont want to carve them or give this a try.  But I urge to to do so...its a lot of fun and addicting.   The guys in the club cant get enough of them to play around with.

 

Chuck

[mikiek]

I've made a few comments already in this thread, but I will say again - this is so exciting Chuck!!   I've never seen a kit developed before. When I open up the box I'll feel like I already know the boat.

[allanyed]

Two weeks plus late, but what the heck.  Chuck, you mentioned dust.  Here is another one to keep in mind.  Don't wear a sweater when applying paint or other finishes.  Druxey related a story to me a number of years ago about trying to figure out what the heck happened to the finish on a model he was working on.  His workshop is extremely clean but he had problems with something getting on the finish and could not figure out why.  Turns out it was tiny fuzzies from the sweater he was wearing if I remember correctly.  

 

Allan

[druxey]

Yup, Allan is right. It was a repeated exercise in frustration until I figured out where the particles were coming from!

 

When I glue up thin pieces, I usually dampen the top surface before gluing to even out the moisture content in the wood; it prevents curling. Clamping the assembly is still a good idea!

[Chuck]

No sweaters for me.

 

The agony.....besides my toothache.....its whether to gild or not???

 

I am leaning towards no gilding.  I do like it but its  just me.  It also shows every last surface pimple and carving screw up.   But it is a royal barge.

 

I think I like the way the carvings look with just WOP applied.   Which means I must carve another queen Anne cipher.   Oh well!!  The close-ups are also brutal....the smaller image looks more like the gilded example in reality.  It looks rather nasty in that large photo.

 

Chuck

 

 

 

 

[BANYAN]

The non-gilded looks great Chuck - your choice but I would be happy with the raw finish as it looks great against that red.

 

This will be one sweet model boat!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Chuck]

Thanks Pat.       Yes I agree,  I think I am going to go natural.   One of the guys in my club said if I was going to the trouble to carve the boxwood rather than use castings I might as well show folks that its a delicate hand carved piece by not covering it up.  I agree with him and will now move ahead with the others over pieces when time permits.  

[Jaxboat]

Love the discussion on paint. Grumbacher was once my customer for acrylic vehicles in the  early seventies. I sold them 55 gal drums of the same acrylic vehicle as I was selling to clients making exterior house paint. One must remember that acrylic paint is not a all inclusive monolithic term like alkyd paint . "Acrylic" is a type of chemistry . In the water borne paint area a it encompasses everything from 100% emulsions (i.e. no water solubility at all) to partially solubilized vehicles. Additives also have a huge impact on rheology and flow. Frequent applications with water reduced (or alcohol reduced) solids will result in excellent flow and leveling but if you dilute too much you will have problems.

I was very interested in your comments on brushes. I am well aware of Druxey's preferences. Most acrylic vehicles give non-Newtonian flow and are thixotropic. The brush not only puts paint on the surface but the act of brushing generates energy which results in improved flow. In essence the energy applied breaks down bonds temporally which results in a temporary reduction in viscosity which allows for improved flow and leveling. Not sure why a flat brush would give you differing results but it is an interesting question.

[druxey]

Your comments on paint flow are interesting Jaxboat. Can you explain why the energy imparted from the brush converts into better flow characteristics?

[allanyed]

Druxey, 

 

Sorry to jump in on Jaxboats detailed explanation.  My understanding from WAYYYY back when I worked in the paint industry, the paint referenced above is thixatropic.  If it is agitated, sheared or otherwise stressed, the viscosity drops temporarily.   It will thicken up again when at rest and of course it will dry if left exposed to air so the vehicle (water and other solvents) evaporate.   The brush is shearing the paint which is causing it the thin, thus flows more readily.  This is a rather basic explanation, I am sure there is a lot more detail that can explain how and why the physical properties change temporarily.   I THINK some or perhaps most modeling clays are thixatropic.  As they are kneaded they are more easily worked, at least in my experience. 

 

Allan

[druxey]

Thanks, Allan. I understood the term thixotropic, but wondered why energy imparted by brush action temporarily caused easier flow. I imagine it is something at the molecular bond level, but what? Enquiring minds....

[Jaxboat]

You are correct, Druxey. The energy imparted by the brushing or spraying breaks the temporary hydrogen bonds that form when no energy is being applied. When the energy is no longer being applied the hydrogen bonds reform and give a higher apparent viscosity

Best

Jaxboat

Edited September 2, 2016 by Jaxboat

[Jaxboat]

Some of you have been subjected to my frequent harping that ship modelers refer to "acrylics" as if it  was an all inclusive term, So I found the perfect example today to show it isn't. Many of us use floor polish polymers to provide a removable coating or smooth coating for placing decals. The solution is fairly clear because the acrylic polymers employed are actually water soluble under basic (high pH) conditions because they are low molecular weight and have hydroxyl and acid functional acrylic monomers in them which promote water solubility. Once upon a time, these type of floor polishes also contained a soluble zinc salt which would complex with the functional groups as the polish dried and provide a more durable finish that could only be stripped off using a very basic ammonia solution to resolublize  the Zn. The EPA put a stop to that when they realized how much soluble (toxic) Zn was being discharged into rivers and streams. I am only making the point that acrylics vary widely in composition and molecular weight which give them very differing capabilities. It is a very versatile chemistry.