Rattlesnake by JPett - Model Shipways - Scale 1/64th - Kit #MS2028

[RiverRat]

Hey JP, it's Mark's BIRTHDAY! Fullfill his wishes!

 

(Happy BD Mark!!)

 

Brian

[hopeful]

Beautifully done, JP!!!!

[JPett]

Ahoy Mates 

 

This is where I am as of this morning.

 

 The wales have been taped off and painted but I am not finished with the weathering. I laid down 3 coats of Testors Classic Black enamel. I wet sanded between each coat with 600 grade sandpaper and then went to a finer grade on the finish coat. Now I am applying watered down coats of Tamiya acrylic flat black which I  alternate with Tamiya regular black. After that I will borrow Ben's trick of burnishing it with a cloth. My hope is to create a less uniform color on the wale to eliminate the effect a solid color like black tends to have on models.  

 

I have also Photoshoped the background to add more contrast. The original was just too bright and overpowered the image of the hull.  Sorry about that. I should have just taken another pic.

 

I will finish the wales and make a determination on whether I will add any more paint to the hull. The wales have toned down the speckled look of the treenails which was a good thing. As I am still undecided on how much more paint I will add your comments would be very much appreciated. Alternative points of view are very welcome here.  

 

PS: I am very happy with how fudging the line on the wale came out. If you look you can see how the line runs into a treenail or two near the bow. Tapering these planks was a mistake I made right from the start but I guess that is a part of the process. I also see now that they are a little low overall. If I am correct they should follow the top of the deck which they do not. I'm learning "I think .

 

Deduct another scale point "lol" I have plenty of them to use for this build.

Edited July 5, 2013 by JPett

[augie]

OK.....I can't take it anymore    .  A nice natural golden finish below the wales would be perfect.  SIMPLY MUCH TOO NICE TO COVER!

[Blue Ensign]

I agree with Augie JP, a natural finish would set her off a treat

B.E.

[popeye the sailor]

I vote to keep it as well..........you've put too much into the hull.   a clear coat would definitely make her shine!

[Martin W]

No fooling -- wood is always attractive to look at, and the variation in the wood shade in the hull planking really make this eye-appealing.  The black wales adds a nice contrast and framing for the wood below. 

 

Just my thoughts,

 

Martin

[Ferit]

Ahoy J.Pett 

You had written a symphony...

The nails are the notes... The strips are the stave... Where is the treble clef? Beakhead?...

Crescendo...

Edited July 5, 2013 by ashiponthehorizon

[sonicmcdude]

Pett just catching up with your build and you have the best looking hull ever, PLEASE DON'T USE  PAINT  :mellow:

Edited July 5, 2013 by sonicmcdude

[Trussben]

Hi JP,

 

The sheer of the wales is a little off but damn it looks good to me!!

I think you may have a munity in your hands if you paint the hull, I really think you should wait to make that decision until you get the bulwark planking on, you may change your mind when you see it in its overall state, just a thought.

 

Ben

[md1400cs]

JP,

 

No No No Don't paint. It will make many of us go into mourning. Your hull, planking, treenails are all so stunning.

 

Regards,

 

Michael

[sport29652]

I agree with everyone else, to

Pretty to cover. Can u take a pic of the stern ? I would

Like to see how you planked it.

[JPett]

Ahoy Eric

 

Sorry she isn't all cleaned up. Holiday weekend and all. She likes to party

Edited July 6, 2013 by JPett

[sport29652]

The dark brown wood on the transom, I think you called it your cheat ? Was that to help cover the gap that forms? I have a gap there and will have to cheat to fill/fix it. Thanks for the pics

[JPett]

Ahoy Eric

 

Kind of : My cheat was because I over sanded too much on one side and it would have left a gap. If you look at the darker wood (which BTW is Model Shipways Mahogany) the two sides are not symmetrical. I fudged the transom to cover this mistake. As for the wood, I did plan to use it there from the start  but did not plan on it being so difficult to work with. It falls apart if you look at it wrong, weeps glue and is near impossible to cut. The remainder of the transom will be another project.

 

As for the gap, Post a pic in your log. I made a temporary counter/transom and then planked to that. Removed it and then put in the Mahogany. I also found it much easier to plank both ends first (stem, stern), then fill in the middle. This allowed me make multiple attempts (mistakes) to fit these pieces. Being able to remove and reinstall the temporary transom was extremely helpful for fitting the pieces in the stern. I mitered the angles on both the planks and the transom (including the temp), It took many attempts before I got them right.  As I said before, I burned through a lot of wood planking my hull. The Ents were pissed.

 

If it helps I made a paste out of wood dust to fill gaps. I had a few tricks but for bigger ones I started with 80 grit sandpaper to make dust from scrap planking, it left some fibers in tack. Mixed it with very diluted PVA glue and "carefully" filled the holes. Excess filler must be removed or the PVA in the mixture will cause a problem on any untreated/exposed wood around the gap. Most of my gaps ( I think all) required multiple applications with me using finer sandpaper to make the dust on each successive layer. One of my fillings actually fell out too . I don't think their cool until you seal them with a clear coat. Well that's what I am selling myself on my repairs.

 

Good Luck

Edited July 8, 2013 by JPett

[mtaylor]

Sweet JP.  Really sweet work on the wales.  I re-looked and I still don't see the "mistake"..... 

[augie]

Sweet JP.  Really sweet work on the wales.  I re-looked and I still don't see the "mistake"..... 

This 'mistake' has bothered me as well.  Try as I may, I don't see it.

[JPett]

Ahoy Mates

 

If you follow the paint line there are two places that I see right away "lol". Isn't that always the truth

 

They look like the paint bled under the tape a tiny bit. It didn't. it is where the paint comes over line between planks and runs through a treenail on the forth strake (Wales are only three). It is minor issue and doesn't bother me especially considering the alternative. Had I followed the planks; the taper in the wales which themselves are very prominent would have started much further back then then do now. This would have been very obvious.

 

If you want to see where the paint actually did bled that would be the white dust by the curve in the stern in the pics I posted for Eric. I see I did not clean up the residue from wet sanding that area.

Edited July 8, 2013 by JPett

[augie]

AHA! .  Yes, there it is.......the infamous 'white dust'.  How could I have missed THAT!!!!!!!  Glad you clarified.

 

Now, what we're really all waiting for is the big decision.........

[Salty Sea Dog]

AHA! . 

Now, what we're really all waiting for is the big decision.........

Step away from the paint JP! My last post was just to offer help when you realized the error of your painting ways!

[Martin W]

JPett -- It is a pretty hull, and the nice thing about wood is that it will mellow over the years -- unless it's painted. 

 

And I looked pretty hard to see your "mistake," and didn't see anything that made me gasp.  If you look at my hull, you'll see some of those gaspable spots where, following Bob Hunt's suggestion, I'd blackened the edges of the holly planking, only to find that blacking bleeds into the glue.  Sometimes you can sand the blight away, sometimes you just have to avoid looking.

 

But really, it's a nice Ratt. 

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[popeye the sailor]

I find it hard to see as well........guess I'm too  'tuned'  into looking at the big picture    place a finger over your lips and repeat after me:

 

"if I do not speak......they will not hear.........if they cannont hear.......they will not look.........if they will not look.......they will not see" 

 

or........if you like the old addage:

 

" seek,  and ye shall find........if you don't,  then never mind."   I still say you did a splendid job

[JPett]

Ahoy Mates

 

Please note that these small discrepancies do not bother me either.

 

It is only reported in my log so that anyone following who may have tapered their wales a bit too much knows to lower the position on these treenails should they have a temporary loss of sanity and then decide to add 3500 of them

 

All kidding aside, Things like this remind me that I can still build a good kit with mistakes (both big and small). When I finish this build, I hope that if anything my log demonstrates this more then anything else.

 

Some will remember that there were some whoppers back in MSW1.0 and "NO" I will not be ripping these planks out either "lol"

 

As for the gun ports that I have already done twice. "Yes" those will be going..............

Edited July 10, 2013 by JPett

[Martin W]

Hey, third time lucky, right?

 

And maybe it's your willingness to redo the details that make your build so handsome.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin (fellow Ratter)

[Ferit]

Ahoy J.Pett,

You could build two Rattlesnakes in the same period... Doing, undoing, redoing... You can even save the time of undoing...

 

I envy you the patience and the determination you have...

[JPett]

Ahoy Ferit

 

 My key to patience is not having the priority on finishing but only having a nice time while I play in the shipyard. I just call the redo's "practice".

 

I would also prefer to start the Berlin with a decent skillset and accomplish something similar to what you and some others have done with their builds when that time comes.

[Ferit]

It was just a humor J.Pett, don't take me seriously... Me too, I move two steps forward, one step backward...

Edited July 10, 2013 by ashiponthehorizon

[augie]

It was just a humor J.Pett, don't take me seriously... Me too, I move two steps forward, one step backward...

Only one step backward.  Heck, I can go back at least 3 at a time!  

[JPett]

_{Ahoy Mates}

 

_{Mark: I can see it just fine with my Optivisor}

 

_{Augie: I am with you. Its two steps back on a good day}

 

_{Ferit: Fear not, I take very little seriously. Even less here}

 

_{Back to the build}  

 

_{I am posting a pic of my painting technic which I learned here on MSW (TYVM)}

 

_{The wood already has three coats of Wipe on Poly. I used Tamiya tape in varying widths to get my line. It does drop in towards the bow but not into any treenails. Some are very close. If I don't like it I will re-tape that area and hit it with some more paint. I used some cheaper yellow painters tape to catch any "oops". Next I sanded down the tape line and then applied a thinned coat of WOP, same as I used on the hull. That will dry for 24 hours when I will sand the area with some 400 grade and then apply a 50/50 coat of Testors Classic Black. The first side needed three coats with 24 hours intervals, wet sanding each one and I see no reason this side will not need the same. This will be followed with the acrylic flat black (I nixed the other black (for now))  My plan is to work on the gun ports and at the end of my session do the painting. I am also coating the inside of the hull with PVA. I do not thin it much, just enough to move around. It has added some needed strength to the single planked basswood.}

 

_Next:

 

_{I have a question:}    

 

_{As you can see I have already removed all my gun ports, oar ports and those flimsy upper deck supports. I want to now add one or two strakes on the gunwales. My concern is the black wales. I have noticed the WOP will reactivate the black paint and could drag some into gunwales. I am sure I could tape off the Wales but should I also consider pretreating the wood before applying it. Comments welcome}

 

_{PS: I replaced the kit supplied wood with some Boxwood for the Gunwales and holly for the deck. The Lumberyard took very good care of me. There will be very little basswood upstairs}

Edited July 10, 2013 by JPett

[russ]

On the paint issue, could you paint the wales black, then put on a clear coat, and then add the upper planking? Then when you put your clear treatment on the upper planking, the black on the wales is already under a clear coat.

 

Russ