Jolly Roger Pirate Ship by Kimberley - FINISHED - Lindberg - PLASTIC - 1:130

[Kimberley]

Go ahead and laugh.  I like pirate ships.    After doing the Revell U.S.S. Constitution as my first ship, I decided to tone it down with a level 2 ship.  I have to admit this one looks tough too.  The pieces are so tiny.  Oh well, I enjoy a challenge.  I am excited to have my first build log.  

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2013 by Kimberley

[russ]

Kimberley:

This kit can be made into a very nice looking model. The model is based on an actual French frigate named Vestale, from the mid 1750s.

 

Here is a brief Wikipedia article, although it has no references, so it is entirely open to question. However, check out the photo.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Vestale_(1756)

 

Good luck with your build.

 

Russ

Edited October 11, 2013 by russ

[Kimberley]

Thank you so much Russ.  I am so happy to hear it is based on a real ship.  Everyone has such serious names on their ships.  I was afraid you guys might think my new ship was dumb, but I like it.  Plus, it does not look as easy as the name suggests.  It has quite a lot of pieces, and they are very small.  I am going to start painting it tomorrow.  Which type of paint is usually the best for plastic ships?  Plus, how do you guys keep your lines straight and sharp when you paint on the hull, etc.?  When I tried to paint on the hull of my last ship, the paint looked really sloppy. 

[kscadman]

Hi Kimberley. I would suggest using Testors spray paint for the larger pieces and parts like the cannons. Then for the smaller parts you can use the Testors paint in the bottle. That kit should give you a list of suggested colors. There was probably a stand where you bought your model. I've used Humbrol paints on plastic models, but I've had to order them on line. Just make sure you get the "matte" or "flat" paints.

 

As far as getting a straight line, I use the scotch blue painters tape and cut it to size. It doesn't pull the paint when I remove it.

 

Richard

[Kimberley]

Thanks Richard.  I will get some of the tape you suggested.  Which brushes work best?  The soft tipped ones or the hard tipped ones?  I have a ton of brushes.  I did buy one of the paint pens to see if they work well for detailed areas.  Also, do you have any tricks for when you do mess up to get the paint off?

[Jim Lad]

Kimberley,

 

Please be assured that we don't think that any model is 'dumb'.  It's your model and your choice of just what you want to build.  We're just happy to come along for the ride.

 

John

[realworkingsailor]

We finally get to see your work!

 

As everyone else has said, there's no such thing as a "dumb" model.

 

Another alternative paint is to go with acrylic. Polyscale is a great brand from Testors that they've discontinued, but there's still a fair supply on the market. You can clean up with water, and there's little to no smell. Either which way, I do recommend washing the kit parts in a mild dish soap solution. Let it dry thoroughly and apply a primer. I'm a personal fan of Tamiya spray primer, works with just about any type of paint, acrylic, enamel or lacquer.

 

Looking forward to following your progress.

 

Andy

[mobbsie]

Morning Kimberley,

 

NO DUMB MODELS.

 

Some good sound advice there, the paint I use is both Revell's Aqua Colour and Admiralty, they are both water based paints and the clean up is very easy.

 

With regard to brushes I generally use Synthetic Hair Artist brushes, you can buy them in sets which have flat as well as round tips, they are also a soft brush, I find a hard brush tends to flick paint which is not desirable.

 

Good Luck

 

mobbsie

[Richard Griffith]

Hi Kimberly, prior suggestions on paint are all good.  Be sure to wash off all release oils before painting (warm water and a little dish soap). 

Should you have to remove dryed paint, dip the item into power steering fluid until the paint falls off.  Really.  The fluid does not harm the plastic but eats the paint. 

As for straight edges when brushing or spraying, Tamyia sells a high quality masking tape. Blue painters tape should work too but may not sit down tight over raised detail as well. 

No dumb models.

Have fun.

Duffer

[popeye the sailor]

hello Kimberly,

 

I have the same kit.......I am a big fan of the old lindberg {lindberg line} brand of models.   when I began working with wood,  the admiral told me....{with much opposition,  because I have the Revell United States}....that I was to build  "no more plastic kits".  we were in a craft store and I was looking around in the model dept {sad to see how few wood kits there are},  when the admiral stumbled onto this one.  I knew it was a plastic kit......didn't say anything.  she as well, loves the old pirate ships,  and she wanted to get it.  I just left it as   "OK...but remember who wanted it" :D }.

 

yes,  the sad truth.....it's from the old Pyro molds.  what I have uncovered,  I will not post,  because it comes from another site.  the ship went by many names..............

La Vestal

Flora

La Flore

La reconnaissance

.....there's a few more in the mix somewhere.   sunk......raised......scuttled......raised........she had her ups and downs.  the ship does have all the bones to be a pirate ship......from looking at Cracker's ship,  some rigging has been ommitted.  I did read that there is one problem with fitting a deck.........I'll look back in the info I found {maybe do a test fit for you,  to see if this is true},  and let you know what I have found.   by all means.......I will be very interested in seeing what you do with this kit......I won't be building it any time soon.   your build may give me some really cool ideas.   are you going to replace those plastic shrouds?    I hope to see more 

 

 

are you sure you don't mean  "brake fluid"  Duffer.   that's what I use,  and it even removes chrome. 

Edited October 11, 2013 by popeye the sailor

[kscadman]

Hi Kimberley, as you can see there are so many helpful members, and with each comes a different style or technique. That's what I enjoy about MSW.

 

 

Personally I use the soft brushes, round and flat tipped, I find that it gives me more control. I tend to lightly sand areas where the paint "bleeds" or use a new #11 blade to carefully scrape the area if its small. Hope all these tips help.

 

Richard

[augie]

She's not a dumb ship, she's your ship.  Thanks for starting a log so we can follow.  I think you have an idea now of the way suggestions can come in.

 

Be cautious.....you will almost always get several suggestions, all of them good.  You need to find what works for you.  So never be afraid to experiment..off ship.... before you dive in.  Do a 'mock up' on some spare material and you'll see where you're going.  Excellent suggestions on washing the plastic first BTW to remove any residuals that might interfere with your paint later.  Blue tape or Tamiya.....I use them both

 

Always remember .... you are the Captain so all final decisions are yours alone.

 

Bon Voyage !!

Edited October 11, 2013 by Augie

[michaele]

_Kimberley:

 

_{Here are links to two build logs for this kit which should inspire you:}

 

_{http://www.modellboard.net/index.php?topic=28657.0}

 

_{http://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/thread.php?postid=169945}

 

 

_Enjoy!

 

_{Mike E.}

[popeye the sailor]

I agree with Crackers...........it's your ship    there is absolutely nothing  'dumb'  about any kit.  I haven't had the chance to do any research on this vessel {kit}..........I an SO glad you brought this kit to light!   now that I've had the chance to see some information on it,  I see it as a kit with a lot of potential.........it can be done in a number of ways.   I can't wait to see what direction you take with it     

[BareHook]

Or create a ficticious story as to what happened.

 

"The captain of the French frigate was a brutal tyrant and fell victim to mutiny when his first mate and the crew took the law in their own hands and went on to become the scourge of the Carribean..."

 

Ken

[popeye the sailor]

now that's a thought..........do a search on this vessel.   I remember seeing a dioramma of the part in the movie where he sails the ship through the desert.............I wish I still had the site book marked     curses!  foiled again by my own house cleaning!

[Sjors]

Hoi Kimberly,

 

I would say welcome to the wonderful world of MSW.

Say something and you get all the advice that you need.

Even when you are talking about a dump ship 

If MSW has a dictionary, that word will be removed !

I'm not into the plastic build but a ship with jolly in the mast, have my attention…

I have build the Corsair ( wood ) and that one has also a jolly in the top of the mast.

But i have to give you a warning…….all my ships are shooting cotton cannonballs and Augie is shooting paper cannonballs…..      

Good luck and a lot of fun with the build.

( next time please go build a wooden kit    )

 

Edited October 11, 2013 by Sjors

[Kimberley]

Thank you so much everyone for your tips, information, and ideas.  I just now got all the pieces washed like you said to do.  As a matter of fact, I do have something I can test the paints on and practice on.  It is a tiny, cheap, junk ship kit that a sales person suggested I try.  I have some Testors paints.  I even have 2 bottles of acrylic paints that a hobby sales person said he liked to use, and he wanted me to try.  I have plenty of brushes already.  I have sand paper.  It pays to have been doing arts and crafts for several years, because I already have some of the tools I need.    I need to get the tape and primer.  Do I spray paint the sails?

 

I am going to pull all the pieces off and lay them out with their number next to them.  Then I am going to paint them before starting to build the ship.  Does that sound like a good plan?  You guys should see the tiny little pirate men this kit came with.

 

I like Ken's fictitious story about the ship.       

[AndyMech]

Please be aware, if you paint everything first, that using a plastic cement to glue them together later will require scraping the paint off where the cement needs to be applied.

 

If you don't use a plastic cement, then that scraping may not be necessary - but the plastic cement melts the plastic and when it dries it reforms.  Paint gets in the way of that.  I did just that when I built this model (or one just like it) years ago - painted everything, then glued.  The paint melts into a goopy mess and the glue bond isn't nearly as strong.

 

For my Constitution, done later, much better results were had by making sure each bond was plastic-to-plastic.  Also, use very little plastic cement, applied with a needle or pin.  The prevents puddles of glue messing up your nice paint job.

 

Andy.

[Kimberley]

By the way, here are pictures of the first ship I just completed.  This is the Revell U.S.S. Constitution 1:196 scale.  It is the small one.  I did not paint it much.  I focused more on putting it together.  As you can see, I had problems with my ties (forgot what those are called) for the sails.  Plus, I did not put as many ties the instructions said to on some of the sails.  I have no idea how they thought I could fit that many holes and ties on some of those sails. 

 

My top cannons kind of all cockeyed, but I think I can do my next ones correctly now that I know about the tweezers.  I did figure out that if something does not fit in a hole then you have to get creative to make it fit, such as dig out the hole to be bigger or thin down the piece that is going into the hole to make it fit.  Basically, I really winged it on this ship, since I did not have any help yet.  I sure am thankful I will help with this next one. 

 

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

Nice first ship

 

I would leave the parts on the plastic trees for painting. Makes a nice, safe handle to hold onto. You can do any touch-ups later after assembly.

 

Andy

[popeye the sailor]

I do the same thing.........never take them off the sprues until you use them.   I do like to clean up my parts though,  if there is a lot of flash.

    for this,  I stick pins into them,  or hold them with clothes pins......you'll develope your own technique.   flats will be your friend,  as for sails,  it up to what you want to do.........if they look too shiny and white,  dull them down with some flat light gray......or you can mix equal parts of flat white and flat tan.  experiment with your hobby.......you'll be surprised with what you can come up with 

[Ulises Victoria]

Kimberley. Your Connie looks very nice. You will see that you learn and improve with every new ship you attempt. I would suggest you put more attention in learning the art of painting your models. Your goal is to leave no single part unpainted. Then you will learn how to apply "weathering" and a whole universe will open for you.

Your pirate ship is an excellent choice. Dont Rush! (See my signature )

[Kimberley]

I think I totally messed this up guys.  I took the parts off and put them in separate marked baggies.  I just could not read the numbers for most of the parts on the trees.  I used a magnifying glass.  They are just not marked well.  You can't read a lot of the numbers.  I had to guess on many of them.  I ended up with doubled numbers.  Nothing seems be matching the parts.  I can not believe how tiny some of the parts are.  I have no idea why they would need things that tiny.  This is not a level 2 ship!  The directions are not as good as the Revell.  Sorry guys, but I may have to put this one aside for awhile and get another Revell to work on.  I think this one is over my head for right now.  I think I am going to order a Revell level 2 ship.

[Sjors]

Sorry to hear that Kimberly.

 

Maybe it is better to put her on hold and finish it later.

You will not be the first one, doing that.

But again plastic ?

Why don't you try a wooden one?

There are so many wooden kits for sale.

But do not try a level 5 build 

Ask around on this forum and you will found something.

 

[patrickmil]

Kimberly, I was hoping to see some success with this kit. I had started a build log for this exact same kit and my experience ended in frustration. I do agree that some of the parts are over simplified and some of the parts are ridiculously tiny. Your Constitution is built really well and I think you may find some satisfaction in trying the larger version of her. It is a skill level 3 but given the scale it's really easier to work on. Just my two cents....

[silverfoxes]

Kimberly,

 

One of the best aspects of model building is that it allows our imaginations to run free.  Just as a painter can place any scene they desire on their canvas, we can express our artistic visions as we desire with wood or plastic.

 

Case in point:  I took an old rather mundane 1/200 scale Spanish Galleon (Airfix?) and turned it into my vision of the Black Pearl from the Pirates Of the Caribbean movie series.   Was it an absolutely perfect rendition of the movie ship?  Heck no!  But I had a ball creating it and making it my own interpretation of the ship.   If a person isn't enjoying themselves doing this hobby, then it ain't really worth doing at all.    I fully realize that there are certain projects that don't allow for much "free form interpretation".   Historical accuracy and such (like the USS Constitution for example).  Fine and dandy, I like doing that also.  However, modeling also permits us at times to be quite creative and imaginative.

 

For this reason, I love to build dioramas.   And as the late artist Bob Ross used to emphasize,  in "our world that we are painting/building/creating, we get to decide what belongs and what doesn't".   Don't forget, model building is an art - and as artists we have the latitude to create what we desire.   The important thing is to satisfy the creative urge that is in all of us.    So have fun.  You obviously have that creative talent and will get much enjoyment out of this hobby.    

Edited October 14, 2013 by silverfoxes

[JPett]

Ahoy Kimberly

 

First and foremost "Congratz" on completing your first ship. That is an accomplishment you should be proud of

 

Second: I support your feelings regarding your latest endeavor. If this kit overwhelms you "which kits can do" put it away for another day. Come back to it when you feel ready or use it for practice. Your log will still be here, well provided MSW doesn't hit another iceberg.

 

Third: If you want tips on painting start a thread here on MSW. Something simple like "Looking for painting tips for plastic model ships" here

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/forum/21-painting-finishing-and-weathering-products-and-techniques/

 

Many of us are plastic or ex plastic modelers who would love to share their knowledge with others. Painting plastic can be very simple or extremely complex. I recommend starting with simple.  I for one could bog down your entire build log with tips on painting plastic; which I would prefer not to do. There are also hundreds of YouTube videos on plastic model painting.

 

Lastly. I would consider a super easy kit to just develop your painting skills. You could finish it in a few days but the knowledge you will acquire will only make your next kit that much better.

 

Painting plastic model kits is an easy skill to learn but one that can take years to master. 

Edited October 15, 2013 by JPett

[gulfmedic1]

wooo hoooo pirate ship

Edited October 15, 2013 by gulfmedic1

[popeye the sailor]

I'm sorry to hear the news..........yea,  taking the parts off the sprue can sometimes be as bad as losing the instructions.   tell you what......when your ready to build this one,  I will pull mine out and do it as well.....right along with you!   I'll make it as easy as possible for you to be able to identify the parts,  so you won't have a tough time of it.  color and all!   when your ready to begin.......you let me know.