RN Steam Picket boat (1900) 1/48th Scale

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Photos of officers of this period show that their jackets were double breasted and long (see picture below). I therefore modified the existing jacket on the figure by lengthening it.
For this I used "Milliput" epoxy putty, fantastic stuff, but I'm not sure if it is readily available outside the UK. I use this in my "day job" restoring antiques and fine art so know how it works. The pictures show the "super fine white" but it is available in other colours. Mixing the two parts produced a sticky malleable clay like medium which can be worked and spread with tools and fingers. Adding a little water to the surface makes it possible to smooth it out. It cures slowly over about 6 hours to a density that can easily be carved with a craft knife. Left another 6 hours and it's rock hard and can be sanded.
I also re positioned the figures head and removed the modern collar and tie which will be replaced with a Victorian stiff collar.

[roy allen]

Although not plastic or resin these white metal figures are very easy to work with.
They need work to convert but are another option

Roy

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks Roy

These are nice figures and are modelled in a quite "human" pose. Some cheap figures tend to look like they have been run over by a steam roller, possibly as this makes them easier to mass produce.
I shall have to try hard to get my figures to look as good as this.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Having previously removed the top of the figures head, I now needed to give him an officers hat. Using a hole punch I cut out a small disc of 1mm plastic card, followed by another disc slightly larger but the same thickness. The smaller disc was the same diameter as the figures head. These discs were glued, with solvent weld, to the top of the officers head, small disc first.
Punching out a hole, followed by another, larger but off set created a tiny crescent which was glued in place to create the peak of the hat. When the glue had set this hat was tidied up and gently sanded.
The epoxy putty was used to create the beard and mustache and also to make the trousers slightly more baggy. It's a little difficult to see the detail as everything is white but it will show up much better when the figure is primed.

[johnny canuck]

Hello,

Keep it coming, I love this build and the figure looks great. I am thinking of converting some rail way figures for my 1/72 project and am watching what you are doing with great interest.

Thanks.

[PICKETBOAT]

James

I found working on these figures a slow but very rewarding task. Working on 1/72 scale figures would be a challenge (merely the small size) and a good magnifier would be essential. I also discovered that working on the figures in short bursts was much easier. Coming back to them after a break gave the epoxy putty time to harden and you also look at the work with fresh eyes and see errors and flaws you had overlooked.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

I had decided to model two officers with different poses. The second was to be standing on the (open) bridge of another model, holding the stanchion rails. I therefore needed to re position both arms. Having removed the moulded in plastic arms I drilled a 3mm hole in the shoulders to ensure the new arms (formed from epoxy putty) had a strong key.

The epoxy putty was rolled between the fingers very roughly to shape, and pressed into the shoulder forcing it into the pre-drilled hole. The arm was bent and positioned. I then set it aside for about 6 hours. Gently pulling on the arm when the epoxy had set, removed it and then I was able to CA glue it back in place. This gave a much stronger bond than just the putty/plastic and keyed the new arm into the hole in the shoulder. You need a strong bond if you are going to carve the putty without pulling the arm off.

The tools used for shaping the figure were just a sharp scalpel, fine files, dental probes and a selection of wooden coffee stirring sticks with various grades of abrasive paper stuck on the end with CA. The latter are very handy little tools and leaving the sticks full length makes them easy to hold and use, and good for reaching into difficult spots.

[sandy]

Hi Steve,

Sorry I missed you on your visit.

Eduard do some 48th scale figures which are quite nice. Gloxinia is going to be crewed by US Navy aviation mechanics and Luftwaffe aircrew

All the best
Sandy

P.S. Nice mods on the figure too....

Phil

Your are correct and I had some how forgotten this fact. I think O gauge is 1/43rd scale (not wanting to be pedantic) but quite acceptable size wise. I found some nice little O gauge white metal figures at a UK model rail show a few years back. No sailors but a reasonable selection of overall clad workmen, drivers and canal boat skippers proved very use-able with minor modifications, however they were heavy, and I had to be quite careful not to over populate the deck of small, slim, shallow drafted sailing models for fear of compromising stability.
Light weight plastic figures are most suitable and easiest to modify and I'm always on the look out for additional sources of 1/48th or 1/43rd scale figures. Thanks for flagging this up Phil, I shall hunt through possible US sources. In the mean time keep watching to see my crew members take shape after the initial "dismembering" stage.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Thanks Sandy. I shall follow up your tip regarding the Eduard figures.

The next stage with these figures was to alter the cut of the trousers. Again epoxy putty was used to make the officers trousers slightly more baggy and to add to a distinct "bell bottom" to the seamen's trousers. Some of the seamen had their feet altered (shoes carved away) as I wanted some to be bare foot.

Self adhesive aluminium foil tape is very handy for adding detail to the clothing and here I used it to add a stiff Victorian collar to the officer and also for adding the distinctive Navy collar to the seamen's uniform. Because is stays where it's put, it is very easy to use for jobs like this, much better than using thin plastic or paper strip which springs out of place. You can even add draped cloth or overcoats with care as you can work in the creases. Belts are very easy.

The epoxy putty still looks a bit rough at this stage and will need careful sanding to get a smooth finish and remove the evidence of carving. Small patches of fine abrasive on foam backing follows the contours well.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Another feature noticeable on the old photos of RN sailors was the lanyard around the sailors necks. I'm pretty sure they usually had a clasp knife on the end of these, and they were all tucked into their breast pocket. I modeled the lanyard using very fine lead wire. This is very useful stuff available from the fishing tackle shop and normally used for making fishing flies. It's easy to manipulate and sticks well with CA.

The figure at this stage is "getting there" but still needs some fine sanding before being sprayed with primer. This fills the remaining fine scratches, but I had to be careful as too many coats will fill up the detail and take away any crisp edges. As with other work I found the red coloured primer made it easier to see blemishes and errors.

You are probably asking why all the figures have walking sticks! No my models are not going to be crewed by aged sailors. I had previously decided to use these figures as masters to cast figures for some of my other models so the "walking sticks" are to allow air bubbles to escape from the silicon rubber moulds during the casting process. That's the plan anyway we shall have to see if it works in practice.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all


Here are some of the other figures also at the primer stage.

Again "walking sticks" have been added to allow air bubbles to escape easily from out stretched arms during the resin casting process.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

The individual figures, on their bases, were then grouped on a larger plastic card base which will carry the walls for retaining the moulding silicon rubber.

[Folgore]

Hello PICKETBOAT!

Wow, you have posted some very interesting updates since
my latest visit. I wish I could spend more time with my models
And Man, you've made a very good job on your small vessel!
Now I am really curious about the further build up process of
your sailors. But besides that, do you know nordic/pole walking ?

Thank you for posting!

Regards

Chrischan

[dabber56]

This thread is an education...many thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing the end result Steve.

Hopefully I'll have my picket boat (not up to your standard though) ready for sea trials at the NWW in Glasgow.

Take care
Gary

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks Gary thanks Chrischan

You are right a bit like Nordic pole/walking.

The next stage however makes the figures look a little like they are all waiting in a bus shelter!

Three of the walls have been installed which will contain the RTV silicon rubber to form the mould. These are made from plastic card off cuts and glued with solvent weld adhesive. The inside of the mould and the figures are then coated with release agent. The advantage of priming the figures with flat red primer is that it clearly shows where the release agent has been applied so there is less chance of missing a section. Leaving off one side makes it easier to apply the release agent. A soft clean artist brush was used and I bent the aluminium ferrule with pliers to make it easier to reach difficult spots. The last side of the mould retaining walls was then added and held in place with tape. I used tape to seal all the joints so the RTV silicon did not leak out. The inner surface of the last side was then coated with release agent.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

The next stage was to fill the plastic card box with RTV silicon rubber, carefully measured and catalysed in this case with slow (blue) catalyst. This had previously been de gassed in a vacuum chamber to 18 inches of mercury. The whole mould was then put into a pressure chamber and left overnight at 50 psi. The following day the walls of the mould were removed.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

It was at this point I did a little calculation and figured I had spent about as much time working on the seven figures as I had making up pretty much all of the picket boat model !!!!!!!!

The next stage was to remove the figures (masters) from their entombment within the RTV silicon rubber. This is a little tricky and needs a sharp scalpel, a steady hand and a good light.

I started at one end and making an incision along the mid line, making repeated cuts, until I met approximately the side line of the figures, then continuing along to the next figure. Pulling the mould apart as I went along was a bit difficult (you sort of need three hands for this) but eventually I went all the way along and half the mould came away. The figures were still captivated by their out stretched arms and "walking sticks" so secondary incisions were made at 90 degrees until I came to the "walking sticks" . The figures were then carefully removed. The mould was checked and fitted back together and secured with three small rubber bands.

I was now ready for casting.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Here you can see the secondary incisions into to RTV mould (at 90 degrees), which make it possible to extract the figures with out-stretched arms and "walking sticks". Next I pour resin.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Well this is the moment of truth. You never really know how well these moulds work until you try them out.

I poured the resin and increased the pressure pot internal pressure to 50 psi.

Not bad results in the end. OK so it's not exactly "Games Workshop" quality but for home produced figures they are not too bad. There was a small amount of very thin, and thus easily removed, flash along the mould seam. The "walking sticks were very easily removed with small side cutters. These served their purpose very well and there was no loss of limbs.

Beards and chins are a slight problem with small air bubbles trapped under the figures chins on some de moulds. A fine incision in the RTV mould,vertically under the chin allowed the bubble out. The resulting "web" under the chin was easily removed on the de moulded figure.

[Folgore]

Hi Picketboat!

That's a great result. These figures will definately add
a decent amount of �liveliness� to your boat.

Regards

Chrischan