The Ship Model Forum

Hey Bill,

Yes, I've seen the fading. It brings more life to the color, don't you think. I have not build a full hull yet, so I can not really comment on that, but I think below the waterline, the weathering is different.

Cheers
Jeroen

It's already there/here :P

Now that's what I call service! LOL. Would you please move this thread for me?

[quote="Bill Gormley"]
Do you know how to mark this build log complete so that it gets moved?
[/quote]

Merely express the will and it shall be done.

Thanks for the nice input.

Gordon - I hadn't thought of creating the prop guards out of plastic, so good tip for the future. I'm not afraid of attempting to scratch build the occasional part but I never seem to have the right plastic on hand.

Martin - I'm still trying to master the entry level DSLR that picked up recently. If I can get better photos this weekend I'll send them in for the gallery. Do you know how to mark this build log complete so that it gets moved?

Jeroen - I don't know if you can tell from the photos above, but I attempted some fading with oil paints on the port side but left the starboard side "clean" so that I could see the contrast. I used your model as an example but I believe it was waterline. Have you done this with a full hull model? I wasn't sure whether the fading should continue below the waterline.

Hey Bill, This would be a nice addition to the gallery.
Congratulations.

Cheers
Jeroen

Bill that looks most excellant in my eye's Sir :thumbs_up_1: I finished my Livermore last week and I would give it 75-80% of what you accomplished and I have been building for years but a/c. :good_one:

Well done Bill! Send some photos to the gallery as well!

Bill, great job. Congratulations on a great finish to your first ship!

Bob

HI Bill


superb "first" build :thumbs_up_1: you are far from a "rookie" :smallsmile:

regards
Nicolas

Bill, Well done. You have done a great job on your Laffey kit. I have enjoyed following along with your build.
The prop guards are a real pain to bend. I have not been able to get the kit's guards or the ones in the GMM pe to bend corectly. I usually make them out of plastic strip. The guards that come with the WEM's Fletcher Class pe are a different story, they were a snap to bent into the correct shape and look great.
I wish you the best of luck on your next build.

Well, after seven months of stop and go work, the USS Laffey is finally finished. I left off the prop guards because I couldn't get them to bend properly and I left off the rigging because I really needed to move on to something new. This was my first ship model and it came with plenty of "firsts" ... I figured it was fair to leave rigging for the second one.

The kit itself is superb - slightly over engineered, but nicely detailed - and I've already added the USS Gearing to my stash in the expectation that it will be equally good. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend the USS Laffey to a first time ship modeler. Sure, I survived it ... but there probably were easier places to start (e.g. Tamiya's Fletcher).

So here are some final photos. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Next up: Trumpeter's 1/350 Admiral Graf Spee.

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0081.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0087.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0065.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0080.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0073.jpg[/img]

Nice ship, good model and pics, thank you to share :thumbs_up_1:
To apply CA glue I use tooth pics (but I cut them to have a thinner more pionted tip) or plastic sprue. I try to give the rail the good shape before gluing it, fix it with a bit of CA and then diluted white glue. Masters share their view about this here:
[url]http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37612[/url]

Hey Bill,

Again, I'm not much help when it comes to answering your questions. I also use CA for the railings, a few tiny drops here and there with a toothpick or needle. After placing the railing, I use diluted white glue (with a small brush) to fill remaining cracks and holes. You can easely remove the excess with a wet brush.

Anyway, I'm glad you decided to continue this build, she looks really good.

Cheers
Jeroen

Martin - I live about two minutes from Rider and I remember UC well (I assume you meant Union Catholic). I dodged the Catholic school bullet and went to Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. Man, what a small world!

Well, I've continued working on my USS Laffey as I find the time and energy. I've stopped trying to follow Ed McDonald's excellent SBS build log for the USS Lansdowne so closely and gone back to the instructions. I was getting too wrapped up in detail I wasn't ready for (and some of which didn't apply to the USS Laffey). Anyway, I've now gotten the stacks, pilot house detail, masts, (more) railings, rear depth charge racks, and smoke generators done. All feedback is appreciated - and pardon the somewhat grainy, blurry photos, I'm still learning how to use my new camera.

And a few questions for anyone who might know:

1) Are there plans available that show the rigging for the destroyers Dragon has covered in 1/350 scale? I've got the USS Gearing in my stash and I'd like to attempt the rigging when I build her. Also, are there any good rigging SBS?
2) What color would have been beneath the 5-N Navy Blue and red anti-fouling paint on the sides of the hull? Grey primer?
3) I'm struggling a bit with my railings. I've been using CA because I didn't have much luck with PVA glue. I had read about using small strips of tape to hold the railings in place while you apply PVA ... but what do folks apply the glue with? I used a micro brush that didn't seem very micro and the glue went all over the place. Ultimately, I decided to deal with CA instead. Is Gator Glue somewhere in the middle in terms of its gripping strength, working time, etc.?

Thanks for any help.

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0310.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0309.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0306.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0311.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab270/BillGorm/USS%20Laffey/DSC_0301.jpg[/img]

I went to high school in Scotch Plains (UC)! I know Lawrenceville - my brother went to Rider.

Yes, I'm up by Paterson. 45 min train ride one way trip to Hoboken each morning. Good thing it I get to read a lot. Have finished 8 books since last Labor Day.

Our local IPMS club was mostly an aircraft club when I joined, but it's much more mixed now - a lot of our members do armor and ships as well. In fact, we have a large ship building contingent in our club.

Keep plugging away - your Laffey really looks good.

Hi Martin - I grew up in Scotch Plains, but live in Lawrenceville now. I commute to New York every day - 1:40 (or more) door-to-door - so modeling gets pushed to the weekend. I joined a local modeling club several years ago but it runs 45% aircraft and 45% armor with the remaining 10% a mix of figures, sci fi, cars, ships, etc. You're in northern NJ, right?

[quote="BillGorm"]The long weekend and hot weather here in New Jersey gave me a good excuse to spend some time in the basement pushing this build over the hill.[/quote]

She looks good! Bill, where are you in NJ?

Hi Bill.
Yes, I did use sponge-techniques, but only on 1/35 scale armor and on a LCM, never on 1/350 ships. For the LCM - which is in the gallery - I used a variety of grays and rust colors. You could snoop around in the gallery, there are excellent, excellent 1/350 examples there. Also, Rick E Davis posted some very nice and interesting photos in my Monssen thread.

I'm very curious to your next post!

Jeroen

Jeroen - Thanks for following along. You're ahead of me with your Monssen so I'm eager to see how you tackle the rigging. One question about how you weather your models. I'm familiar with using oil paints to achieve streaking and fading, but what about chipping? Have you ever tried using a sponge to replicate chipped paint? Any idea what color would be underneath the 5-N Navy Blue on hull sides and the red anti-fouling paint beneath the waterline?

Kevin - I hope you're right. I almost threw the model in the garbage when I screwed up my paint mixes, but now I'm thinking it won't look half bad after a flat coat, a wash or two, and some fading and chipping.