HMS Spiraea and HMS Zinnia by king derelict - FINISHED - Mirage Hobby - 1/350 - PLASTIC - Flower-Class Corvettes

[king derelict]

A little more progress to report. The remaining work on Spiraea suddenly seemed to come together quite quickly. I added the railings, Carley floats, boats and guns and I think she is almost finished.

The decals were added. Pretty basic and not one of the better bits of the kit. They took a lot of soaking and were reluctant to slide into place. They also needed a lot of solution to soften and sit down. Thankfully there were only a few to place.

I need to put a matte coat on to finish it. I have the ensign to add but I am waiting to complete before doing that. In the meantime I am contemplating a couple of last items

- adding basic rigging. I am rather hamfisted at rigging and dread ruining the model trying. 

- air brushing a light coat of grey filter to merge the details together.

 

In the meantime I added some Sculptamold to the base to get the basic shape of the seascape. I wasn't going to risk using Spiraea in the wet Sculptamold so I made up the hull of HMS Pennywork and gave it a light coat of olive oil before pressing it into the base. 

 

After 24 hours of drying I was happy that the hull popped out cleanly leaving a nice impression for the hull. Pennyworts hull has been cleaned in soapy water and put back in the box for later.

The base still needs a little more time to dry and then I'll smooth it a bit by adding a mix of tissue and diluted white glue and also form the details of the waves. I need to start thinking about how to work the spray. Cotton wool seems a possibility but I need to experiment first.

 

Thanks for looking in and the likes

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Alan,    sea scapes   terrify  me  -  but  you  look  to  be  having a  hold  on it  -  keep up the great work  mate.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

On 4/16/2024 at 7:21 PM, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent work Alan,    sea scapes   terrify  me  -  but  you  look  to  be  having a  hold  on it  -  keep up the great work  mate.

 

OC.

Thank you OC. I'm still learning. I can see what I want in my head but getting it made is still a bit of an adventure. Good fun though and thats teh main thing

Alan

[king derelict]

I'm still slowly working away at this one. We have had a bit of down time on the test stand so I had a few hours during the last few mornings before work.

 

I covered the base with toilet paper soaked in diluted white glue and pushed it around with the brush to make the wake and small wave patterns on the surface. Once this had dried I gave it a coat of gesso ready for painting.

I continued with Zinnia, painting the lower hull and deck. I am working on masking the decks ready for the first coat of paint on the hull. The kit instructions call for a three colour scheme of light and dark grey with Western Approaches green. Zinnia has the early bridge configuration so I am not sure how much of the PE will be used.

 

I'm trying to decide on the base colours for the sea. I'm aiming for North Atlantic with overcast skies so I am leaning towards dark grey / green rather than blue grey. I need to go back and look at some deployment photos.

 

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and comments

 

Alan

[king derelict]

It was time to start adding colour to the seascape. I started with a mid green which actually looked quite promising as I brushed it on. But when it dried I thought it looked far too green and bright.

So I added a black wash and that was far too dark

\

Next up was a mid grey coat which left the green to show through in places. It started looking promising again. Lighter greens were added to the wave tops and blended in. It feels like this might be back on track

Then a light green added to the wave tops and wakes. White blended in and I think its starting to look quite good.

I'll let this dry and then on with the gloss medium. I was beginning to think I couldn't get this off the ground but I'm beginning to like how its working out. 

 

Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments.

 

Alan

 

[mikegr]

If you consider using cotton and gell for waves make sure the latter is of those that will not get yellowish over time.

Personally i consider cotton as an emergency solution as its white color is not white enough, just compare it to white acrylic and see the difference

Edited April 30 by mikegr

[Jack12477]

Check out Hollowneck's HMS Sphinx discussion on making sea scape for his ship diorama starting at Post #400.

Edited April 30 by Jack12477

[king derelict]

13 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Check out Hollowneck's HMS Sphinx discussion on making sea scape for his ship diorama starting at Post #400.

Thank you for the link Jack. There are some very useful techniques being shown there.

wow his sea is so good it’s almost depressing me. I think I might burn my seascapes 

Seriously that’s marvelous 

Alan

[king derelict]

These 2pm to 2am shifts are really beating me up so not much else is getting done at the moment. Hopefully only another week and then back to something a bit more reasonable

I have been using the limited spare time available to experiment with ideas for spray and wave tops. 

I played with clear silicone sealant but it didn't really dry clear and was hard to work. I had read that it could be diluted to a jelly consistency with IPA but mine didn't seem to do that. I tried Lexel clear sealant which does dry crystal clear and glossy but didn't really provide any better options for the seascape.

Next up was gloss medium mixed with micro balloons. The micro balloons gave the medium a white colouring and stiffness to create dimensional wave tops. Curiously it dried matt. Initially I thought this might be the way forward but looking at the results for a few days I am not so sure.

Then I tried cotton wool teased apart and coated with dilute white glue. This provides something that can be worked with a brush into approximate shapes and further moulded by hand as it dries. I think it might be possible to make candidate shapes on a temporary base and transfer to the diorama for final shaping and installation when dry. That would avoid getting medium all over places it shouldn't be. The following photos show the micro ballons and medium, cotton wool spray and Lexel sealant.

More cotton wool experiments looking at creating the skeins of bubbles seen in turbulent water and more spray

 

I like the surface bubble effects. The spray looks promising. Not all results are good but they are quick to create and working off model means the best can be picked.

 

I got some polyester cotton wool material used for stuffing teddy bears and tried that. It is a little stiffer than cotton wool so the results have more depth which I like. It is whiter than the cotton wool and it has a bit of a sparkle to it. I tried spray, bubbles and wave caps and I think with a bit more work they may be the best option

 

Thanks for looking in and likes and comments.

 

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

You  have more  guts  than me  for  having a go  at  water spray  etc  - I think  its really difficult to  get right.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

42 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

You  have more  guts  than me  for  having a go  at  water spray  etc  - I think  its really difficult to  get right.

 

OC.

OC, you are right. Smoke, explosions, water spray are all exceptionally difficult - at least to me. So far I like this polyester material, it has a bit more strength to the fibres so it can be used in thinner more diaphanous (oooh errr) pieces which helps with the illusion. Its also not so "hairy". If I have time this weekend I plan to start the webs of bubbles and wave tops and see how it goes. In the worst case ..... I can always stuff a teddy

Alan

[mikegr]

Making a very rough sea in 1/350 takes serious skills.

[king derelict]

On 5/4/2024 at 10:46 AM, mikegr said:

Making a very rough sea in 1/350 takes serious skills.

Mike

You are so right. I'm not sure I am up to it but I want to give it a try. At least the corvette is a manageable size to mess about with.

Alan

[king derelict]

So after the experimentation its time to get the nerve up and start putting some or the results onto the seascape. I used the teddy bear material and worked it into the wave crests and wakes using diluted white glue. It seemed to work better than gloss medium.

This is the first pass. It looks a bit overdone but thats becuase the glue is still drying and makes everything look whiter

After drying it tones down a bit 

 

And with long suffering Zinnia

 

This will be tidied up and then the bursting wave will be added. So far it looks as if I can do most of the seascape without irretrievably installing the ship which will help with morale.

So far I am happy with the progress and no teddy bears have been hurt in the process

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and comments

Alan

 

 

[chadwijm6]

That looks very realistic, teddy would be proud!

[Old Collingwood]

Looking good Alan,   so hard  to  pull  these sea scapes  off, and we thought  land scenery  is tough, looking forward  to seeing how  this  finishes.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

On 5/5/2024 at 3:14 PM, chadwijm6 said:

That looks very realistic, teddy would be proud!

Thank you James, Its not a (teddy bears) picnic

Alan

[king derelict]

On 5/5/2024 at 3:45 PM, Old Collingwood said:

Looking good Alan,   so hard  to  pull  these sea scapes  off, and we thought  land scenery  is tough, looking forward  to seeing how  this  finishes.

 

OC.

Thank you OC. The last and most difficult bit coming up - the bursting wave. I think I am going to retreat a bit and get the two Flowers moved along a bit first. I think one of them will need to be fixed in place for the final bits. So far its turning out better than I hoped and I am continuing to learn

Alan

[mikegr]

16 hours ago, king derelict said:

Thank you OC. The last and most difficult bit coming up - the bursting wave. I think I am going to retreat a bit and get the two Flowers moved along a bit first. I think one of them will need to be fixed in place for the final bits. So far its turning out better than I hoped and I am continuing to learn

Alan

You may consider using snow paste. Ready mix or home made. I use ready one since I bought it but hand made is superior because you can adjust the texture from coarse (usually on waves top) to smooth(wave base and around)by adjusting the portion of baking soda. When dry, you can add silicone bits with a toothpaste to increase the water splash effect.

On the right wave I used hair blower on hot so the wave get more foamy because of the baking soda

 

Regardless the chosen method you should lightly airbrush white around areas where foam will sit, to make smoother the transition from white to dark ocean color

Edited May 7 by mikegr

[king derelict]

11 hours ago, mikegr said:

You may consider using snow paste.

Hi Mike

Curiously I had reached the same conclusion and ordered some Woodlands Scenic snow powder. I think I need to boost the white on the wave caps and spray and I want something a bit more dimensional than paint. I have the Vallejo Foam and snow stuff but (I'm probably using it wrong) that just seems like fairly thick white paint.

Thanks for the tip about adding white to the areas around the foam. I think with guidance, I'm getting somewhere.

Alan

[king derelict]

A minor update without pictures today.

I tinkered with the seascape and after badmouthing the stuff yesterday I used the Vallejo foam / snow stuff to add white to the wave caps and foam. This time I knew what to expect - thick white paint and I dry brushed it where I wanted high lights. I'll see how it looks tomorrow and decide whether to try the snow powder or more foam / snow - or leave well alone.

 

I finished masking Zinnia for the second hull colour, the grey green and then fell into the usual rabbit hole of what colour its supposed to be. Mirage call out RN colour G20 which is a mid grey / green. Their pictures show a green more like the IJN grey green I used for Spiraea in a different paint scheme. Its definitely not Western Approaches Green which is a whole other paint scheme too.

Zinnia was only in service for about four months in 1941 which restricts the options and as best I can tell it should be MS3 (mid grey / green) which is very similar to G20 but an earlier rendition. I'll be using that along with 507A and 507C for the dark and light greys.

 

By the time I had decided this and dug out the relevant paint it was time to strap on the safety boots and head for the test stand. So hopefully tomorrow 

 

Thanks for looking in

Alan

[king derelict]

This is hardly a progress report today.

 

I sprayed the relevant sections of Zinnia with the AK MS3 paint and found it was hardly distinguishable from the light grey already in place and nothing like the colour chip I have for MS3. I mixed up a blend of IJN grey / green and dark green from Tamiya and used that. I liked the result a lot better so went ahead and added the dark grey.

Today, a day later, I stripped the masking and found that the light grey had bled all over the red lower hull and over the dark grey deck. The dark grey had bled all over the grey / green and the light green. Its far too extensive to touch up.

I haven't had anything as bad as this before. 

The grey green didn't seep anywhere. i think the problem was the AK acrylics which are water based and had to be diluted with water. They sprayed on very wet and I think that resulted in the seeping. The grey / green is Tamiya which I think has an alcohol base and dried fast.

Sorry no pictures I was too disgusted. Its going to need to be stripped down and redone. I need to see if I can use something other than water with the AK paints - or dump them and use all Tamiya ones.

Another day, another lesson learnt

Alan

[king derelict]

As a postscript to the above I hauled out my stock of thinners and experimented. Reading around the internet a lot of people were claiming great results from Mr Color leveling thinners with AK paint. Mind you there were also people claiming great things about using Tamika acrylic thinner which at least for me is a guaranteed way to block the airbrush solid. 
I just learned that Mr Color leveling thinner causes the AK paint to congeal. Tamika lacquer thinner does the same.

As a last shot I tried Mig Ammo acrylic thinner and it thinned nicely. 
Yet curiously MiG Ammo acrylics thin with Tamiya acrylic thinners too. 
 

so it looks like I can avoid using water as a thinner 

 

Onwards 

 

Alan

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:10 AM, king derelict said:

As a postscript to the above I hauled out my stock of thinners and experimented. Reading around the internet a lot of people were claiming great results from Mr Color leveling thinners with AK paint. Mind you there were also people claiming great things about using Tamika acrylic thinner which at least for me is a guaranteed way to block the airbrush solid. 
I just learned that Mr Color leveling thinner causes the AK paint to congeal. Tamika lacquer thinner does the same.

As a last shot I tried Mig Ammo acrylic thinner and it thinned nicely. 
Yet curiously MiG Ammo acrylics thin with Tamiya acrylic thinners too. 
 

so it looks like I can avoid using water as a thinner 

 

Onwards 

 

Alan

 

 

 

Alan  I  have used  the  LifeColour  Acrylic  range   for  my  HMS Warspite   -  they  come   in matched  colour  ranges  and  are  really  good  on plastic,  before  I had  an Airbrush  I even  brush  painted  them  and got very good results.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

On 5/15/2024 at 8:59 PM, Old Collingwood said:

Alan  I  have used  the  LifeColour  Acrylic  range   for  my  HMS Warspite   -  they  come   in matched  colour  ranges  and  are  really  good  on plastic,  before  I had  an Airbrush  I even  brush  painted  them  and got very good results.

 

OC.

Thanks OC. I bought the Life Colour RN Eastern Approaches set which has all three colors I need. Great suggestion.

alan

[Old Collingwood]

44 minutes ago, king derelict said:

Thanks OC. I bought the Life Colour RN Eastern Approaches set which has all three colors I need. Great suggestion.

alan

They are very nice  paints  even brush  painted  well  last time I used them.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

After an interlude in the real world I'm back working on my Flowers. Not a lot to show. After the paint / masking disaster I stripped the paint off and resprayed the black primer. I took advantage of the rework to paint the lower hull black which seems to be correct for Zinnia rather than the hull red I used initially. I have sprayed the decks dark grey, masked and sprayed the light grey and grey / green. Now I need to mask and add the dark grey.

Not much to show really - still getting back to the furthest point.

 

This caught my eye. Some very interesting pieces up for auction if you have an interest in things Royal Navy. A lot of famous names there. The estimated prices suggest bidding might be a bit fierce

Trinity Marine (irostrum.com)

 

Thanks for looking in

 

Alan

 

[AJohnson]

Hi Alan, playing catch-up on thread after being away from MSW too long, your seascape looks great, hope the redo on the paint work goes okay. 

[king derelict]

11 hours ago, AJohnson said:

Hi Alan, playing catch-up on thread after being away from MSW too long, your seascape looks great, hope the redo on the paint work goes okay. 

Hi Andrew. I hope all is well with you. I always enjoy your build logs. I'm gathering enthusiasm to finish this build

 

Alan

[king derelict]

Well after the usual expenditure of money and effort I seem to have beaten the real world back into its rightful place in the background of life. Doubtless it will be back at some point.

 

I completed the masking and air brushing of the three colour camouflage and with great nervousness removed the tape. A few spots to touch up and I am happy with it. The mid grey / green doesn't quite have the contrast I wanted but I think I will live with it.

 

The Life Color paints worked well and diluted with Tamiya acrylic thinner very nicely although I had to lift the airbrush pressure a tad relative to what I use for Tamiya acrylics. I don't think my masking was very different from the first attempt so I think the disaster resulted from using water to thin the AK paints. i think the longer drying time allowed the thinned paint to penetrate under the masks before drying. It was also colder in the garage then which also extended the drying time Thank you @Old Collingwood for the helpful tip regarding Life Color acrylics

 

So forward at last and I can start adding the mix of details from the kit and the WE PE.

 

Thanks for looking in and likes and comments

 

Alan