The Ship Model Forum

Hi Tim,
I have retired just south of Sidney on Vancouver Island and like you, I haven't done much modeling for a very long time. I bought the new Tamiya Yamato and the Mk1 PE. I have learned since that the Lionroar PE is the preferred way to go. Before starting I built what I thought was going to be an easy weathered Willy's Jeep to get a bit of practice - especially with airbrushing which I had absolutely no experience with. Plastic models have changed a lot over the last 50 or 60 years and the added complexity coupled with Parkinson's makes placing some of the small parts interesting to say the least. After reading as much as I can on Airbrushing and what other folks have done, I've decided to try modest weathering on my Yamato. Did you follow the Tamiya paint recommendations and did you attempt to apply washes after clearcoat to bring out the rivets/construction lines etc.? I'm really having difficulty with determining what paint and when because it seems like everyone does it differently. Any advice you can provide would be much appreciated.

Bob Thornborough

[quote="robertmelvin"]Ray, mouse pads, the thin, cheapie kind, also work great for rolling PE. Thats what I use.

Bob[/quote]

Bob, I work in a shop that sells them, so I will give it a try! we do some cheapies. It could also be a new phrase in our training:-
Q:- What are you going to do with your new PC?
A:- Use it to store pictures of my models on
Q:- What, kits or people?
A:- Kits of course, Airfix you know...
Q:- Ahh, right. Do you add extra detail?
A:- Oh yes, I put allsorts of etch on my stuff
Q:- Have you seen our mousemats? very useful...

Good job I only work in the warehouse!

Thanks for the advice,

Regards, Ray

Ray, mouse pads, the thin, cheapie kind, also work great for rolling PE. Thats what I use.

Bob

Tim, a great explanation, thank you so much. I have a White Ensign Abdiel to do, and it had some etch which needs to be rolled into a circle, so that advice will be really useful. I will practice on something else first though, and buy a cutting mat too!

Keep up the good work, and giving me inspiration!

Regards, Ray

Hi Ray! For rolling pe curves, I have a standard rolling kit

http://thesmallshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=12&zenid=4bcf0e410e4aed879d49cc78e7bc9a52

but I seldom use it to tell you the truth, although it does work great. I do 90% of my rolls by placing the pe part directly on a Tamiya cutting mat and using slight pressure, roll the part with either -one of the steel dowels that come in the above kit -or, more often, I'll just use a drill bit of about the right diameter. The cutting mat seems to have the right amount of "sponginess" for this, if you know what I mean.

a couple of things I've learned: I take care to keep my roller 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the pe peice while rolling (no "spirals") with even pressure across both ends of the roller. I start with about the same size diameter dowel or bit as the curve I want, and when the brass bounces back a bit (I don't anneal), I take the next smaller roller and repeat and usually I'm pretty close by then. Try to use a light, but consistant downward force (across both ends of the dowel) during a roll if you want an even curve, press slightly harder for more curve, easier for less. Varying pressure will result in uneven roll of course. The rolling kit is awesome though for those who don't want to do it by hand. Pressure is certainly less of an issue using the kit. I recommend them anyway :) for whatever thats worth

Thanks for asking! -Tim

[quote="HalseysBeard"]I use a 4" Hold N Fold (The Small Shop) and acrylic polymer glue. And thanks for the nice words![/quote]

Tim, another question (please!). How do you get such an equally even curve on so many guns? Do you use a tool for that too? When I have done any curvature on etch, I have always smoothed it round a cylindrical object (pen, paint pot, file etc) but it always seems to produce a different curve. Superglue then lock it reasonably close, but I get a series of different shape in the end! I have tried rolling the etch with the cylindrical object, but I never seem to get it straight, it gets twisted into a short spiral if you know what I mean.

Regards, Ray

I use a 4" Hold N Fold (The Small Shop) and acrylic polymer glue. And thanks for the nice words!

Halsey which PE folding device are you using on this,....yes and what type glue are you bonding with? I second what P-J said about the "clean" assembly.





Mark

wow.....the PE is absolutely fabulous!
what kind of glue do you use for this? mine never gets this clean!

keep up the work!

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0760.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0761.jpg[/img]

[quote="D-Boy"]
This painting and sealing on the wood deck did not cause any warpage or deformaties? [/quote]

Indeed, the edges wanted to roll up. But what I did was after paint was dry to the touch... placed the deck peices in a large, heavy book and closed it up and there they sat for a week or so until I was ready to install. Deck came out of the book (actually, it was a large photo album with plastic pages) flat and true.

as a short adjunct to the thread, here's a mini build log on one of the AA guns

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0710.jpg[/img]
parts cut off sheet

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0717.jpg[/img]
rolled and folded

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0721.jpg[/img]
two main barrels added (toothpick is to set barrels parrellel as glue sets)

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0724.jpg[/img]
4 (are these recoil cylinders?) added

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0670.jpg[/img]
elevation gear added underneath

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0684.jpg[/img]
hehe camera made the parts look like copper :) maybe its the dirty mat :)

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0706.jpg[/img]
side parts, loaders installed

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0728.jpg[/img]
needs adjusting

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0737.jpg[/img]
completed. 22 parts/ 3 hrs = one AA gun (i think i'm nuts s0metimes. well, more than sometimes....I guess its pretty much 24/7 :)




Comments and suggestion most welcome. Thank-you for viewing my post. Cheers! -Tim

[quote="robertmelvin"]Brother, you either have a God give gift, the patience of Job, or both! Even to pick Yamato with a full PE dress up set for your first model is "gutsy" to say the least. And, you have done an outstanding job on her. I've been back in the hobby for over 3 years now and your work so far eclipses mine that I'm an just utterly blown away. You sir are a steely eyed ship model building man! Congratulations on a job very, very well done. Keep this up and you'll be one of the top modelers here, and that is definitely saying something, considering the talent around this place.

Bob[/quote]

Thank-you very much Bob, appreciate the kind words. Indeed, there are many astonishing builders (Baumann et.al.) on modelwarships.com ...and this site and the folks on it have provided an invaluable source for tips and inspiration for me.

I am starting Nagato this month...this one will be special ;) Look for an update... in about a year! :)

Cheers to all!

Brother, you either have a God give gift, the patience of Job, or both! Even to pick Yamato with a full PE dress up set for your first model is "gutsy" to say the least. And, you have done an outstanding job on her. I've been back in the hobby for over 3 years now and your work so far eclipses mine that I'm an just utterly blown away. You sir are a steely eyed ship model building man! Congratulations on a job very, very well done. Keep this up and you'll be one of the top modelers here, and that is definitely saying something, considering the talent around this place.

Bob

[quote="HalseysBeard"]Deck was airbrushed with Vallejo deck yellow, then a light over-spray using hull red was added, followed by sealing with vallejo matt varnish. I need to add some light weathering and wear marks on mine to finish it properly I think, looks a little too clean..but the cost of the deck (around $50) is worthwhile IMO.[/quote]

This painting and sealing on the wood deck did not cause any warpage or deformaties? I'm reluctant to wet up my 1:700 scale decks. Been thinking of pastels for shading and color variation instead.

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0594.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0596.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0600.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0601.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0602.jpg[/img]

Deck was airbrushed with Vallejo deck yellow, then a light over-spray using hull red was added, followed by sealing with vallejo matt varnish. I need to add some light weathering and wear marks on mine to finish it properly I think, looks a little too clean..but the cost of the deck (around $50) is worthwhile IMO.

Did you modify the color of the MD deck or is that the stock color?

I like the texture the deck has....

Hi Senkan, I used:

[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/woodeck.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o169/annietim/IMG_0545.jpg[/img]
Thanks for your comments and questions! -Tim

Sweet build!

What did you use for the deck?