1/144 DD-451 USS Chevalier

[Douglas]

Glad to hear you are doing ok Douglas. And I'm looking forward to seeing more photos of your work. Mine is coming along too. Am currently waiting for a set of 40mm barrels from BK to put on the WEM dual 40mm mounts.

PB

Thank you PB. I am still in one piece, though there are some scratches.

I would be happy to see your work too !! It would be fun having more people on the same topic, so we could admire the work of others, get inspiration, and make improvement. I meant I learnt a lot from you guys, so post and keep posting.

Regards,

Douglas

[Douglas]

Guys, here are two photos of the smoke screen generators. The cylinders are Revell kit parts. Photo etched parts are from Nautulus.

Regards,

Douglas

[Douglas]

Another is the depth charge rack. I have here the Nautilus, Eduards, and Revell for comparison. The Nautilus set is very difficult to made. The angle is almost impossible to fold as the part is too thick and stiff. I used Evergreen 1.5mm angle instead, a bit too thick of course, bad that this is the best replacement I could find. Also the parts are difficult to be fitted square for the assemble to sit level. I personally like the Eduards set and I will try to make it a better looking one with more details.

Regards,

Douglas

[Red Devil Squadron]

Douglas,

Great to see you back on this project, your recent progress photos look very good. My Chevalier project has really stalled, I got distracted with too many other things. Perhaps I can take some inspiration from your work and get started again.

Cheers,

Bill

[Douglas]

Douglas,

Great to see you back on this project, your recent progress photos look very good. My Chevalier project has really stalled, I got distracted with too many other things. Perhaps I can take some inspiration from your work and get started again.

Cheers,

Bill

Haha, Bill, I was like you, being attracted by some other things. No problem, I take the lead, I know you guys are with me. Hope to see your progress soon.

Regards,

Douglas

[bountyjumper]

Ok, I've got to stop working on this project and wait until you post more photos of your work. Every time you post a photo I smack my forehead with the palm of my hand and think, "Dang! Why didn't I do it that way?!!!" You've given me tons of great ideas.

I've been working on the kit converting it to a 1944 configuration (USS Halford circa October 1944 - Surgaio Strait) and it's been a challenge. There have been many inaccuracies I've had to let pass in the name of time and money since someone else is paying for it and I have a deadline to meet.

I hesitate to post any images becasue your work is so superior to mine but, for better or worse, here are some photos of my project:



I added the dual 40mm mounts forward and midships, 20mm mounts on the fantail and the searchlight platform on the forward stack. The railings are stretched sprue. The PE is from the Eduard set.






One challenge was the cartoon mascot on the after torpedo mount. I colored a black and white image, scanned it, shrunk it down and printed it on decal paper. The result isn't perfect but passable in this scale I think.

That being said, I have a question for everyone; I want to repoduce this scoreboard on the bridge wing:



The only problem is I can't print white on decal paper. I tried a stencil and it's just too small. I'm wide open to any suggestions.

Cheers!

Pat

P.S. I'm using the 20mm and dual 40mm mounts from WEM and they are absolutely fantastic. The 5" barrels and 40mm barrels are from BMK and they are top notch too.

[M�LDERS]

@bountyjumper
I considered at least 5 minutes about this issue.
The flags aint the problem...but the ships/planes...
How about printing the very brightest brown on the decal paper?
Some sort of very bright deck-tan-like color?
Or bright grey?

because: In contrast to the very dark background it could be a reasonable alternative.
One will have to break up the white for scale effect anyway, using brownish or greyish filters for example.

Just my two cents....

@douglas
beautiful and clean modeling!
Very nice done so far!

Sorry for interfering unasked. I just found the problem to be so interesting.

[Shaun Carter]

Not sure this will work, but a thought. I know that they have white decal film. The carrier film is white, not clear. So my thought is to print the decal to match the house paint with the symbols outlined leaving the white areas blank. Not sure you can get a good match, but might be worth a try.
By the way, I am glad to see you back Douglas. I have enjoyed your build. I am sorry to hear about your difficulties, but glad to hear you are doing better.
Shaun

[les]

Paint the model white under the decal. I did that on a U-boat build that was much smaller. Worked just fine.

[Cliffy B]

Paint the model white under the decal. I did that on a U-boat build that was much smaller. Worked just fine.

Another option would be to get a pack of blank white decal sheets used for printing custom decals. Cut out a small square and then put the red one on top. Either way will work. Both have worked really well for aircraft modeler's in the past.

[M�LDERS]

Paint the model white under the decal. I did that on a U-boat build that was much smaller. Worked just fine.

Another option would be to get a pack of blank white decal sheets used for printing custom decals. Cut out a small square and then put the red one on top. Either way will work. Both have worked really well for aircraft modeler's in the past.

I dont get how this should work for the ship/aircraft-shaped decals.
Please bright me up.

Another question is:
There are aircraft, merchants/transporters and warships on the score board.
Whats the very left?

[Cliffy B]

I don't get how this should work for the ship/aircraft-shaped decals.
Please bright me up.

Well those will be a bit harder! You can try your hand and painting them freehand with some tape and a small brush although they're probably so small that that would be pointless and would wind up taking away from the crispness of the rest of the ship. You could print them on the white decal sheet and add a colored square behind the ship/aircraft outline. That would give you a clear idea where to cut. Again though I don't know the size so either option might be screwed from the start here. Option 3 is always find someone with an ALPS printer (only printer that can print white) and have them make you some. That's all I can think of right now. Guys?


Edit: You can try making the symbols a very light gray and printing them straight onto clear decal paper but in my experience, ink jets wind up messing that up. They can't mix the gray completely and you get a grayish color with dots of the red, blue, and yellow mixed in that are highly visible. You can try messing around with that as light gray would be a viable option given scale effect and the like. See how your printer handles the gray(s) and if you like the results I say run with it man!

[Douglas]

Tonight I added some angles and strips onto the Eduard depth charge rack. I like this one way better the Nautilus one. The Eduard one is easy to build square as it requires several fold only.

Regards,

Douglas

[Secondo]

Another question is:
There are aircraft, merchants/transporters and warships on the score board.
Whats the very left?

I think those are the shore bombardement marks

[carr]

Just thinking out loud, here, about the decal issue. What about printing a reverse image black image on white decal paper? In other words, you print a decal which is a black rectangle with "missing" areas for the white items. Cut out the rectangle and apply, and the white will appear to be the decal images. Just a thought.

Regards,
Bob

[M�LDERS]

Another question is:
There are aircraft, merchants/transporters and warships on the score board.
Whats the very left?

I think those are the shore bombardement marks

Awesome! Thanks for that! Sounds very plausible indeed!

@douglas
again, great work on your recent update!
Sorry for hijacking the thread, btw.
I hope you feel ok the way it is.
If you like, i will request for a outsourcing @mod/admin

[Douglas]

Ok, I've got to stop working on this project and wait until you post more photos of your work. Every time you post a photo I smack my forehead with the palm of my hand and think, "Dang! Why didn't I do it that way?!!!" You've given me tons of great ideas.

I hesitate to post any images becasue your work is so superior to mine but, for better or worse, here are some photos of my project:

No no no, Pat, there is nothing as better or worse. Build your model to your likings, and enjoy building it. We are all here to share, not to complete. And I say yours looks good too. There might be items I built better, but sure there are items you did better. That cartoon mark on the torpedo launcher is a perfect example. Keep building and posting.

Regards,

Douglas

[Douglas]

[quote="M�LDERS@douglas
beautiful and clean modeling!
Very nice done so far!
[/quote]

Thank you M�LDERS.

Regards,

Douglas

[Douglas]

By the way, I am glad to see you back Douglas. I have enjoyed your build. I am sorry to hear about your difficulties, but glad to hear you are doing better.
Shaun

Thank you Shaun.

Regards,

Douglas

[Douglas]

@douglas
again, great work on your recent update!
Sorry for hijacking the thread, btw.
I hope you feel ok the way it is.
If you like, i will request for a outsourcing @mod/admin

Haha, of course no problem. It is fun to have so many people in a post.

Regards,

Douglas