1/144 Scale USS Greenling (SSN-614) Scratch Build

NigelR32 · **Joined:** Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:27 pm **Posts:** 305

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a whole new set of modelling skills, executed to produce a beautiful model, 21st Century style!! I can only dream of having those skills... my hat is off to you.

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 10:25 pm

UPDATE 27 – 3/9/2013

Hello Everyone! And thanks Nicolas and Nigel. I appreciate the kind words!

My buddy sent a couple more pictures, and as I suspected, the wrong parts got “printed”. Somehow the guy that did the printing used the original files instead of the files with all of the detailing. Still, it looks pretty cool and my buddy said that he will make the other one too. That means I have one to play with.

The screw came out pretty nice, I think, but my buddy says they are like butter fly wings, very delicate. In fact the guy is printing some extras for me in case I break them (as well as one of the rudders that didn’t get printed).

My buddy’s kid says it could also be a rocket.

This time tomorrow, I should have the model itself. I feel like a kid before Christmas again.
CHEERS!!!

LE BOSCO · **Posted:** Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:57 am

HI Russ

he'll have to ban your WIP at least 18 years ;-)

more seriously, it is really very impressive
I think you'll make us a marvel,I look forward to see more
cheers
Nicolas

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:11 pm

UPDATE 28

Greetings All! And thanks once again Nicolas.

I finally got the parts, and even though they aren’t the detailed parts I thought that they would be, it was still really cool holding them. As you know, being fellow modelers, holding something you made is a rewarding experience.

Below are pictures I took of the model. The first picture shows all of the parts.

The next picture shows the first three segments. I really like the way the nose came out. I had to add several cross sections in addition to the ones on the plans to get the nicely rounded shape, and I am thrilled how it turned out. You can also clearly see the attachment point for the sail on the second piece and the alignment posts on the third piece.

The next picture shows the mid-section parts. Again you can see the alignment posts. You can also see that the alignment bar didn’t get printed on the first piece on the left. I don’t know how this happened. If you look at the part in Update 4, back on November 27, 2012, the bar is there. Unfortunately, I can’t check the AutoCad files because I moved on and long since deleted the older versions.

The aft sections are shown next, as are the screw, dunce cap, dive planes and one rudder. The guy that made the parts mistakenly made only one rudder. He realized his mistake and is making (or has already made) another one.

The next three pictures show the sail. Since the parts that were printed were of my initial design, the sail plane is fixed to the sail.

( The most interesting feature of the pictures, to me, is the fact that you can clearly see the layers, even though they are only 0.005” thick. The pattern it makes almost looks like grains on wood. I think this will be easily remedied with a little sanding.

Also note that the sail sides look polygonal and are not smooth. This is because I just used the cross-sections on the plans and did not add extras as I did on the nose. At first I wasn’t crazy about this, but if you look at pictures of the subs, the seams are often clearly visible.

The next image shows close up shots of the one rudder, the dive planes, the screw and dunce cap, and the following image shows an even closer shot of the screw and dunce cap. With these smaller pieces, the resolution limits of the SLA printer used to make the parts starts to become apparent. The aft end of the dive planes is jagged, I think because of the way the parts were made. I am by NO means anywhere near an expert on 3D printing, but judging by the grains, it looks like the parts were made on edge. I think if they would have been made standing up, the jagged edge wouldn’t have happened.

The feathering on the leading edge of the screw blades shows that the part is right at the limit of what the SLA can accurately print. The thickness of the blades is 0.010” and you can see that this this form results in splits occurring along the layer seams. The guy that made the parts thinks that this happened during part processing and is making (or has made) a couple of extra when he prints the rudder he forgot. If I was doing it again, I would make the blade a little bit thicker, say 0.015” – 0.020”, because even though it would be off scale, I don’t think that it would be noticeable and the extra thickness would likely eliminate the feathering. Even so, the screw, even as it is, is useable, with a little work.

An encouraging feature is the dunce cap. Note how nice and defined the point is and how round and straight the shaft is. The shaft fits neatly into the screw as planned.

The final picture shows the dive planes temporarily attached to the hull section. The holes are nice and round and properly aligned or the paper clip would not have slid through as it did.

My friend assures me that he will make the detailed parts at some point, or at least make the nose and/or sail to see how it comes out. In the mean time I now get to build the model I have.

Since this is the first submarine I have ever built, I have some questions related to scribing and painting.

First, with regards to scribing… I have only very limited experience scribing and would like some suggestions. What is the best method? Is it better to scribe the plastic itself, or apply a few coats of primer, perhaps over a coat or two of Future, and scribe that?

As for painting… As much as I agree with Sub culture that the model would look pretty cool with LED lights in it, I plan on painting it, hopefully using rattle cans. I have an El Cheapo spray gun, sufficient for spraying Future, but not for painting. Does anybody have any recommendations on what brands and colors I should use to paint it?

I’ll keep you posted as I progress.

CHEERS!!!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:41 pm

UPDATE 29

Hi All!

I played with the model a little bit, and thought I would share some more pictures.
The first three pictures show the screw/dunce cap assembly dry fit onto the hull. The end fits snuggly into the hull and the screw rotates freely on it. The screw is delicate, but it isn’t as fragile as I thought it would be. In the next two images, the feathering of the screw is evident. I hope the new parts aren’t feathered as badly, but if they are, I’m thinking that I could coat them with something prior to priming.

The last two photos show the sail assembled onto the hull. At this point I haven’t sanded the base of the sail. Doing so would allow it to sit more flush with the surface, but even as it is, a little sanding on the top would do the job.

If anyone has any advice on scribing, painting, or any other facet of the build, I would love to hear it.

CHEERS!!!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Sun Mar 24, 2013 5:09 pm

UPDATE 30

Greetings Everyone,

I put the hull together this weekend and decided against making it into a light, so I gave it a coat and a half of primer. The half coat is due to the fact that even though I think there is still primer in the can, there is no pressure. I tried cleaning the nozzle, but this only improved things slightly, and so, I guess I need to go buy another can.

In any case, I think it looks pretty cool in the primer, but I clearly have some work to do to fill the gaps. My current thought is to use “White Putty” from Squadron Products to do this, but I am open to suggestions if anybody has one.

I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I am still deciding whether or not I want to try my hand at scribing some details, but at the moment I’m leaning toward following the KISS principle on this one and just building it as it is, perhaps attempt scratch-building the sonar fairings, the mushroom anchor, and some of the periscopes/masts. If I knew for sure that my detailed model was going to be built, I would just finish putting it together paint it and call it good without any detailing, knowing that the detailed version would be next. But I’m not 100% sure that my buddy is going to be able to make it for me. He feels bad that he had his guy make the wrong one, but he was being very generous to make anything, and I don’t want to push him at the moment. He has made the rudder he forgot, and 3 extra screws, but I have not received them yet.

I’ll keep you posted.

CHEERS!!!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:53 am

UPDATE 31

Hello Again Everybody!

After nearly a month, I finally made some progress on Greenling. I haven’t been in a big hurry because I don’t even have all of the parts yet. They have been made, my buddy just hasn’t shipped them, and since I’m going to St. Louis in a couple of weeks, I’m just going to bring them back with me. My obsession with my latest Autocad model, Batfish (http://www.subcommittee.com/phpBB3/view ... 35&t=11415), has contributed to the lack of work as well. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and get the hull prepared, so using advice I received on the SubCommittee forum, I bought some Bondo Glazing Putty to fill the seams. I was also advised to mask off the areas around the seams with masking tape, so that’s what I did, including the seams around the sail.

I then applied the glazing putty using the thick end of a chop stick.

After letting it dry a day, I removed the masking tape.

After I removed the masking tape I sanded it during free moments over the last week, using 100, 150, and 220 grade sand paper, because that is what I had available. It was recommended that I wet sand it, but since I have never done that, I just dry sanded it.

The Tamiya light gray primer I had was not spraying properly, and even though I cleaned the nozzle, it still wasn’t spraying right, so I had to buy more. Rather than go with Tamiya again, I decided to try something different, so I went to Lowes’ and bought a can of Rust-Oleum automobile primer. I applied one coat the day before yesterday and another coat yesterday afternoon. I must say that I really like the way the Rust-Oleum goes on, and in the future will use this over Tamiya every time.

Parts of it look really good, but as you can see in some of the pictures below, I have more work to do, especially on the underside. I think that a little more putty, sanding and a couple more coats of primer will do the trick.

I still haven’t decided If I am going to do any scribing, but I’ve been thinking that I could use thick tape, to define the lines I want to scribe, like the anti-skid line and then use this to guide placement of steel templates for scribing the lines with a sharp exacto blade.

Also, I have been wondering how I could make the obvious protrusions from the hull including the fairings and mushroom anchor, and it occurred to me that perhaps Shapeways could make them. I haven’t had any luck yet with Shapeways, but these parts aren’t nearly as detailed, nor as small as the parts that I have tried to have them print before. You can select different materials and I chose “Frosted Ultra Detail”.

I will let you know if they can print them, and keep you posted on any further progress. In the meantime, if anybody has suggestions on what colors and brands of paint I should use, I would appreciate hearing them. I would prefer to use rattle cans, but can brush it on if that’s the form that the best color choice comes in.

CHEERS!!!

Plastic Habit · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:16 am

Hi Rdutnell. This site may be of some help to you. The best color choices will always come from mixing different paints to the color of your liking. You can make your own unique colors and also darken/lighten base colors for shading. You mentioned rattle cans and brushing. I understand and remember the days I used those to do my models, especially rattles for large pieces. But a friendly observation, think about investing in an airbrush. It is a worthwhile investment and will be one of the most important tools you have in your model building arsenal.
http://www.paint4models.com/paintchart/paintconversionchart20100101d.htm#

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 3:47 am

Thanks PH! This is good nfo and I bookmarked it.

Just a little research and I found I need Red oxide and flat black, both of which are sold in spray cans by Rustoleum.
Perhaps later on the air brush. I bought an el cheapo for doing the future finish, but it's not good enough to paint with I don't think. If I get a better one, it won't be any time soon.

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Tue May 14, 2013 6:38 pm

UPDATE 32

Good Evening Everybody!

The news from Photobucket was not very good. They were only able to print the Mushroom Anchor. The two fairings were evidently too small to print. The good news though is that the anchor printed nicely, with good detail.

I had made the mushroom anchor part with a stud on the underside for attaching to the hull, but decided that I didn’t want to drill a hole in the hull, so instead, I sanded the stud off, and sprayed it with primer.

I have also done more on the hull, essentially redoing what I previously did, starting with masking off the areas I was going to apply putty. I intentionally left some areas unmasked so that I could see the difference between the two methods. Bondo Glazing Putty was then applied as needed along the joints.

Note that I also applied putty to the top of the sail and sail planes to remove the “wood grain” effect resulting from the printing process.

I then removed the tape…

…Wet sanded with 400 grain sand paper, and gave it two more coats of Rust-Oleum grey primer, lightly sanding again between the two coats.

The putty did the trick removing the graininess left by the printer, but I still have some learning to do using putty because there are some uneven spots that I am going to have to touch up.

My trip to St. Louis was a blast and it was great to spend time with my buddy. I got to see the shop and machine that the model was printed on, but unfortunately I didn’t get to see it running, nor did I get to meet the guy that printed the parts. I did pick up the missing rudder and the 2 extra screws that he made for me, so when I got home I sprayed the parts with primer.

I then applied putty to the dive planes, again to remove the grains and decided to see if I could fix one of the screws with the putty.

The results were pretty encouraging although I probably should have suspended the dive planes when I sprayed them, because they fell over and it kind of messed up the primer.

The screw came out pretty good and was less flimsy than I feared it would be. Although I couldn’t apply a lot of pressure, I was able to sand it without breaking it. I think at this point, if I add a couple of more coats of primer, wet sanding after each coat, it will be ready for painting.

I think next I’m going to glue the Mushroom Anchor in place.

CHEERS!!!

SSNJim · **Joined:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:05 pm **Posts:** 50

Rdutnell wrote:

What is this piece?

Nice build so far. I've been watching with a lot of interest.

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Thu May 16, 2013 2:00 am

UPDATE 33

Thanks SSNJim!

The part you show is the GNATS Sonar Jammer Fairing (I believe). It is shown in the picture below.

Like the mushroom anchor and the aft sonar fairing, I included the GNATS sonar jammer fairing on my detailed model, as can be seen in the image below.

Unfortunately, as I’ve said, the un-detailed model was mistakenly printed, so none of the detailing I did is on the current model. Because the mushroom anchor and the two fairings are such prominent features on the ship, I wanted to add them to the undetailed model I’m now building. So far though, the only part of the three that I have been able to get printed is the mushroom anchor, which Shapeways was able to print for me.

The mushroom anchor incidentally, has been glued to the hull and I am happy with the way it looks.

After I attached the mushroom anchor, I decided to start painting the hull. The bottom half of the hull is oxide red and the only oxide red I could find locally is a Sandable Primer made by Dupli-Color. Because it is a sandable primer, and because the top half of the hull is flat black, which will easily paint over the lighter red oxide, I decided to paint the entire hull with the oxide red. I started with two coats, wet sanding with 400 grain sand paper between coats.

It kind of amazed me how seam lines that weren’t visible with the gray primer became apparent when I sprayed the red oxide on. I gave it two more coats with the second coat focusing primarily on the lower half, and that seemed to do the trick.

At this time, I also sprayed the rudders and dive planes with a couple of coats of red oxide…

…And the screw with a couple of more coats of the gray primer.

I then sanded both the screw and the dunce cap and painted them using Testor’s Metallic Gold Enamel.

I am pretty happy with the way the screw turned out, but some of the ends look a little bulbous. I think I can live with it, but if I decide I can’t, I still have 2 spares to play with. Just for the heck of it, I dry fit the screw and dunce cap to the hull to get an idea of what it will look like when completed.

The effect is somewhat diminished by the masking tape I have applied in preparation for painting the top half tomorrow (um, later today).

I should perhaps say that I am proceeding with painting the model even though I have not completely ruled out the possibility of doing some scribing. I am somewhat hesitant to scribe it though, because I have only limited experience doing it and I am afraid that I would mess it up beyond repair. So, right now I am kind of thinking that this model will be my 1st generation 3D printed model, and I will make it as it is, with a few possible additions. I’m checking another source to see if they can print the two fairings mentioned earlier and possibly the periscopes, antennas and snorkel inductor. If I can get them printed, I will include them. If not, I will have to decide whether to try to scratch build them or make it 100% 3D printed and keep it basic.

Another thing I was wondering is if I could use either Rust-Oleum’s “Hammered Paint” or “Stone Spray” for the anti-skid surfaces, or if that would be overkill. Does anybody know what is typically done to distinguish the paint difference between the two zones, if anything?

I have also been giving some thought to how I’m going to present it. My original idea was to use two cylindrical, candlestick like posts, but it is so much fun to hold it and turn it to different positions in your hands, I don’t think I want it fixed, so I am thinking that I might just make a cradle for it so that it can be easily removed and handled. We’ll see.

SSNJim · **Joined:** Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:05 pm **Posts:** 50

Thanks for the info. That's what I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. Lots of good progress this update.

LE BOSCO · **Posted:** Fri May 17, 2013 11:26 am

HI Russ

I'm glad to see progressions on your "cigar" :smallsmile:

may be a little effort on finishing the propeller ,and it would be perfect :thumbs_up_1:

but you have to be fed up of sand down?? :whistle:

cheers
nicolas

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Fri May 17, 2013 4:06 pm

UPDATE 34

Hi Guys,

I’ve made more progress on the model, on multiple fronts.

To begin with, I applied a coat of Rust-Oleum flat black Flat Protective Enamel to the hull, one of the rudders, and the tops of the dive planes.

At this point, it was looking pretty good, but as you can see from close-ups, I still had work to do, especially on top of the sail and sail planes, and on the hull around the base of the sail.

So, I wet sanded it some more using 400 grain sand paper, and gave it another coat. The stand is from the 1//350 USS Essex kit and is close to the type of base I’m thinking about.

It’s looking better, but it’s still not quite there yet, as you can see in the close-up shots, below.

So, last night I sanded it yet again, and was planning to spray another coat on it this morning, but a slight drizzle prevented it. I just now painted it and will check on it in 30 minutes of so.

Since I couldn’t work on the hull, and I really didn’t like the propeller on my “cigar” :-D

, that Nicolas correctly and so politely pointed out seriously needed more work, I switched fronts and decided to have another go at it. I started by dry sanding the heck out of it with 400 grain sand paper (because I didn’t know how Testor’s would take wet sanding). You can tell that it was desperately needed by the hodge-podge of colors that sanding revealed.

I then applied another coat of the Testor’s Metallic Gold enamel. You can see in the pictures below that it looks a lot better than it did, but I think it needs one more go round.

The final front that I made progress on was the “printing” phase. 3delivered has provided me a quote to print some parts for me, and even though it seems high to me, it is reasonable enough that I’ve confirmed the order at the risk of a slight chewing out by the CiC. They are making 10 parts for me. Two of the parts, the aft sonar fairing, and the GNATS Sonar Jammer Fairing will be used on this 1st generation (for me) 3D printed model.

The remaining 8 parts are the parts needed to make the second generation sail, including the sail, sail planes, attack and search periscopes, BRA-21 antenna, BRD-6-ECM and snorkel inductor See below). In 2-3 weeks I will finally find out if 3D printing can provide the detail needed to reproduce the detailing I put on the detailed (it’s all in the details) version of Greenling, and am currently doing with USS Batfish (SS310). I will finally learn whether I can actually make the models I am designing or if I will have just had fun making the CAD models and will never get to actually build them.

It’s going to be a long 2-3 weeks!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Sun May 19, 2013 11:06 am

UPDATE 35

Greetings all!

I have had a productive last couple of days, making progress on Greenling, and as Nicolas foretold, it was mostly spent sanding, painting and re-sanding. After 5 coats of the flat black, with wet sanding in between coats, I finally removed (most of) the unevenness. As you can see in the close-ups of the sail there are a few areas that could be better, but with the naked eye it looks good, so I think I’m going to go with it, at least for now. I always reserve the right to change my mind later.

The screw took 3 rounds of painting and sanding, and like the hull isn’t perfectly smooth, but I like it and think that the irregularities make it look more like it was cast, than if it were perfectly smooth. OK, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Although I may have to spray portions of the top again, when I attach the fairings being printed, I had to see what it looked like, so I took off the masking tape. I then dry fit the screw and dunce cap and took some pictures of it. Overall, I am thrilled with it. It’s not perfect, but considering that my modeling experience is rather limited, it exceeds my expectations so far. The paint job is good, but not great, and you can see some areas that seem slightly lighter or darker than the rest of it. In the third picture below for example, it appears that there are finger smudges on it from when I took the masking tape off. My hands were clean and the paint was dry, so I don’t know how I could have avoided this. Nor do I know how it can be corrected, short of applying another coat.

During this process I was thinking about how I might add the draft numbers on the hull and rudder. I pulled out the only number decals that I really have, tail numbers for 1/350 scale WW2 aircraft, and to my good fortune, they appeared to be the perfect size, so I pulled out the plans, and applied the appropriate numbers on the starboard side of the rudder.
It came out pretty good, except that at some angles the decals shine making the numbers difficult to see, and even when you can see them good, the outlines of the decals can be seen. Perhaps the clear coat will fix that, or perhaps I should have clear coat it before I applied the decals. I don’t know, but I’m not going to take them off.

CHEERS!!!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Sun May 19, 2013 8:43 pm

UPDATE 36

Hello Everybody!

Even though I will not be able to complete the model until the fairings being printed get here, I decided to go ahead and assemble what I could. I started with the diving planes and rudders, which were connected using parts of two paperclips, the only non 3D printed items that will be included on the model. The fit on the dive planes is tight enough that I didn’t even need to glue the paper clip in place, and the planes are moveable as planned. The rudders were also tight, perhaps too tight. Because of the way they are attached, they had to be glued (Super Glue). And even though I took great pains to not glue them to the posts, they are difficult to move and when I tried to turn one, it came unglued from the paperclip. I simply reglued it, and I suppose that I could try to take it apart and sand the posts and bases a bit more to get it to be moveable. Or, I could just leave them the way they are. For now, I’m doing the latter.

Attaching the rudders took longer than it should have, because TWICE I grabbed the upper rudder incorrectly with slightly sweaty fingers, and guess what? I had decals on my fingers. Fortunately they were still stuck together, so I simply put a small drop of water on the rudder and touched my finger to it and the decals stayed. I then just realigned them. The 2nd time was somewhat frustrating, but was again easily repaired. After this, I dry fit the screw and dunce cap in place, because I don’t want to attach it until the end to avoid damaging it. I then took her outside for some pictures. I hope you like them.

I couldn’t be happier with the project at this point. When I started the “Calling All Thresher/Permit Class SSN Fans” back in November in an attempt to get information on the class so that I could possibly make a model of USS Greenling I had no idea where it would lead. Then Tom D. sent me detailed plans for USS Permit, and my world literally changed. I wondered if I could use the plans to create a 3D model in AutoCad, so I started tracing the plan hull sections to make the 3D model. Little did I know at the time that my buddy would be able to “print” the model for me on a 3D printer. I became obsessed with the project and by late November completed the plans that became the model that you see here (except for the Mushroom anchor which came later). Even at this point though, I never dreamed that I would end up with a model that would be entirely “printed” on a 3D printer (with the exception of the paper clips that aren’t visible).

And what a lot of fun it has been!

Although, as I said earlier, I can’t complete the model until the fairings being printed arrive, there are a few things that I can do. One of the major things left to do is to demarcate the anti-skid coating area. I’m not sure how best to do that though. I was thinking that I could either use Rust-Oleum’s “Hammered Paint” or “Stone Spray”, or a dark, dark gray. I also read a recommendation to use Floquil Weathered Black. How do you guys do it? Any suggestions?

I also want to put the ship number (614) on the sides of the sail, even though they weren’t actually painted on, as we have discovered. This I could do before I get the fairings, and probably will. Unfortunately, I do not have any decals this size (0.25”) and since they are white, making my own decals isn’t feasible, so I have printed out the numbers and plan to tape them to the back side of 3M masking tape and then cut out the numbers to make a template that I will use to paint them on the sail. Of course, I will practice on some scrap before I try it on the model itself, but it seems like it should work. If not, I guess I could always look on-line for decals, but my guess is that even if they are available I would have to buy a complete set for 6 digits, and I hate to do that.

I could also apply the draft numbers on the bow before the parts arrive, because they aren’t too close to the location where the GNATS sonar jammer fairing will be attached, and if I end up needing to spray the area around the fairing, I can mask the numbers off with newspaper. However, I want to complete the anti-skid area before I do this.

I also have a few places I can touch up with paint, especially around the rudder bases and on the ends of the dive planes. I was thinking that I could spray some of the paint into a small jar and brush it on. Are there any problems with doing this that I am unaware of, besides potential brush strokes?

If you see something I am missing or if there is something that I should do to make the model better, please don’t hold back. Let me know.

CHEERS!!!

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Wed May 22, 2013 8:03 am

UPDATE 37

Greetings Everybody!

It was a hectic day here in central Oklahoma Monday, but fortunately the tornado that caused all of the damage you have probably seen or heard about was about 6 miles away from us. It also missed my parents by a mile to the south and my brother by a mere half mile to the north. He watched it go by and said that there is debris all over his house and yard and that he has some clean-up to do, but suffered no damage. As he said when I was talking to him, when it was beginning to look like it was going to miss him, he dodged a bullet. Unfortunately, many people did not, and my heart goes out to them. The damage it did is incredible.
In the morning, before all hell broke loose, I was able to spend some time playing with the model. I decided to make templates for the anti-skid outline, even though at the time I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to do it. To make the templates, I started by printing the plan view of the hull from the plans to scale. I then applied a piece of 3M “EdgeLock” masking tape to a metal bar and, starting with the forward section, taped the copied plans over the masking tape using scotch tape.

I then cut out the outline of the anti-skid area…

I did the same for the aft end…

…And then carefully removed the scotch tape and drawing from the masking tape. The masking tape templates were then removed from the bar and applied to the proper locations on the hull. Straight pieces of the 3M”Edgelock” were then added between the end pieces on either side of the hull to join the end templates.

At this point I went to the local hobby store, and after looking at various shades of black, decided to try Model Master Acrylic “Aircraft Interior Black”. When I got back home, I applied two coats of it to the hull and tops of the sail planes, which I had also masked off, but failed to photograph.

After an hour or so, I peeled off the masking tape, and I must say that overall I am pretty pleased with it. It is subtle, like I was wanting. There are a couple of areas that I am not happy with, due to the fact that the paint bled under the masking tape, even though 3M”Edgelock” is supposed to prevent that. I blame it on dishonest paint reasoning that if locks just keep honest people honest, perhaps “EdgeLock” only works with honest paint. Seriously though, I do have some touchups to make and I am not certain the best way to go about it without damaging the original paint job.

Putting the touch-ups off for a bit, I decided to make a template for the ship number. Using the same method as I used to make the anti-skid outline templates, I cut out the 614 in the 3M “EdgeLock” masking tape.

I decided to try it on a test piece before trying it on the model, so I stuck the template on the test piece and painted a coat of Tamiya clear acrylic over it to try to prevent the paint running under the template.

I decided to try the paper with scotch tape too, so I taped it down and gave it a layer of clear as well.

When the clear coat dried(?), I gave it two coats of Testor’s white enamel (it is the only white paint I have).

After letting it almost dry (I got impatient), I first peeled off the paper template, and it was horrible. The paint bled all under it.

I then peeled off the masking tape, and the results are encouraging.

It is almost passable as is and I did a piss poor job on it. I didn’t let it dry completely before removing the tape and I very clumsily removed the center cutouts scratching the white paint in the process. I think if I am more careful I can do a better job. So unless someone knows where I can find white decals of this style that are between 0.2” and 0.25” tall, I think I will use this method to apply the numbers to the sail.

I’m not sure when I will get to it though, because the weather that brought the deadly tornado to Moore, also brought much needed rain to our watershed and I am finally being able to collect the data I need for my research.

CHEERS!

sgtryan13 · **Posted:** Wed May 22, 2013 8:48 am

WOW! Looking great my friend! Very nice job designing and building her!

One critique if I may- I know you said you don't want to, but I would strongly recommend you remove the draft # decals, and spray a gloss coat then re apply the #'s. I think if you leave them as is, you will regret it, as the paint job is great, the shiny decals and visible clear film will stick out like a sore thumb and drive you nuts. If you are out of the # decals, I am pretty sure I have those in my stash and could send em to ya, or if I don't have em I am sure someone on the forum could part with them.

Rdutnell · **Posted:** Thu May 23, 2013 8:58 am

Thanks a lot Ryan!

I always appreciate compliments. And I appreciate critique even more, which is really the primary reason I post. There are so many knowledgeable and skilled people out there, such as yourself, who are willing to share that as a Green-Blue (to use skiing jargon) modeler, it seems that it would be foolish of me not to seek and take the advice of those more experienced than I am. The decals will be removed the next time I get a chance, which may not be any time soon, because it is raining now, and there is rain in the forecast for the next few days, and I am going to be measuring flows and collecting suspended sediment samples.

Oh, and by the way, I think I have my ship number issue resolved. Tom D sent me a link on the SubCommittee.com forum to some decals. They weren’t quite right, but it led me to the Woodland Scenic site that has just what I need (or pretty darn close): http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics. ... 747/page/1
I was going to order them but I think I am going to see if my local hobby shop will order them and let them eat the shipping charge. If not I will order them and eat it myself because they will look much better and save me a lot of time over painting.

The Ship Model Forum

1/144 Scale USS Greenling (SSN-614) Scratch Build

Who is online