WIP: 1/350 Zvezda Z-17 Dieter Von Roeder

[Devin]

Looking outstanding!

[hypno7]

Very beautiful and clean build! It is interesting to see the different destroyer designs.

[MartinJQuinn]

Thanks guys - much appreciated!

[MartinJQuinn]

Airbrushed a few coats of flat over the weekend, then put her in a "seascape" of Acrylic Gel Medium tonight. I'm letting her sit in her case - time to let the gel dry for several days so it can be painted. Here are tonight's photos:

Once the seascape is painted, etc., it's onto the rigging and final dullcoat. I want to have her done to enter at the MarauderCon Show in Baltimore on 11/15/14.

[Littorio]

Martin nice work, I completed mine last month but not to your standard.

However I found a photo of Z-17 and the kit is missing a searchlight, the little flat platform on the aft funnel should have a searchlight and railing, I didn't find it until after mine was finished although adding the searchlight shouldn't be to difficult, hopefully its not too late for you.

[Apophysis]

Amazing job Martin! Congrats!!


Dirk

[MartinJQuinn]

Thank you for the comments guys.

Martin nice work, I completed mine last month but not to your standard.
However I found a photo of Z-17 and the kit is missing a searchlight, the little flat platform on the aft funnel should have a searchlight and railing, I didn't find it until after mine was finished although adding the searchlight shouldn't be to difficult, hopefully its not too late for you.

I am sure yours looks great. Yeah, I was looking at that platform, and wondering if it should have railings. I may add them before I go ahead and rig her. I also discovered that I somehow forgot to add the four sets of bollards on the stern of the ship. I think I tossed the sprues in the recycling, because I thought I was done. Duh.

[NCMac]

I think I tossed the sprues in the recycling, because I thought I was done.

So I'm not the only one... Lately, I've been cutting small sprue sections that have parts remaining and discarding the rest. Then I discover the discarded sections always seem to include the letter designator so I spend twice as long trying to find the parts I need.

Terrific build regardless. Whatever their operational difficulties, those German destroyers were certainly good looking ships. Always a pleasure to see your work.

Regards,

Mac

[MartinJQuinn]

Last night I decided to remedy the bollard issue by making my own. I took the model off the shelf and took the case off. I was surprised to find that not only was the gel not drying, but the model had popped out of the seascape at the bow. I ended up getting some clamps out and clamping her down, then leaving her overnight to dry. The gel dried more in one night with the over off than it had in the previous 3 days! This is how it looks today:

The other thing I noticed was that the flat coat had frosted in some places. How this happened is a mystery to me - it wasn't like that when I had put the model into the seascape and then covered it. Maybe the moisture in the acrylic gel?

It's not really bad, so I think I can work around it, but it's a little disappointing - I was so happy with how this model was coming out. Once the gel is completely dry I'll tackle the missing bollards.

[Angeliccypher]

Despite the issues you have just encountered, she still looks great!

[Dan K]

Uh, oh......looks like evil Transformers are about to crush the ship into splinters.....oh, wait, that's a different thread.

Great job, M.

[MartinJQuinn]

Uh, oh......looks like evil Transformers are about to crush the ship into splinters.....oh, wait, that's a different thread.

LOL

[Devin]

I'd say that the gel not drying means that your display case is airtight. That'd keep it from curing, and the moisture from that would cause the frosting.

Even once completed and fully dried and cured and all the other things that paints and glues and such do, you still probably don't want a fully airtight case. I'd drill a few tiny holes in the cover, on the back at the base level, so you don't see them, but you still get a little air turnover.

[MartinJQuinn]

the moisture from that would cause the frosting.

Damn! I'm loathe to try and drill holes in the plastic. My luck...CRACK!

[sgtryan13]

How about installing just a thin piece of adhesive felt ( I use the stuff for putting on furniture to prevent scuffing the floors) on each corner of the back of the base, that will give you a mm gap and allow your airflow without risking cracking the plexi. The cracking would concern me as well.

[MartinJQuinn]

Good idea! I'll have to try that. Thanks.

[MartinJQuinn]

The frosting is worse than I thought, when masking the base the other night, I noticed the hull has significant frosting by the bow. Then, I noticed that the base has started to warp, and there is a pronounced bow right in the middle of the ship. What else can go wrong?! This has completely taken the wind out of my sails.

I did manage to add some bollards to the aft end of the ship - that parts that I somehow missed during the build.

I have to paint these, then I'm going to attempt to airbrush future back over the model to eliminate the frosting - a technique which has worked for others.

In this photo, you can see the bow in the center of the base (the masking tape hides it a bit). Not sure how I'm going to fix this...

I've given up trying to finish her for next weeks show in Baltimore, these dual frosting and warping issues have set me back considerably.

[Elvis965]

Hi Martin,

I had the reverse warp on the base for my Lex. I fixed it by putting some bricks under the middle and putting a full paint can on each end and leaving it sit for a few weeks, and it eventually flattened out. But then I didn't have the ship in it or the base finished when I did that.

Only thing I can think to do is screw a couple eyelets in the middle of the bottom of the base, feed some wire through them and hang some weight off it for a few weeks. Make sure the weight is barely off the floor so you don't get a big spring effect if the weight were to come free of the base. It should eventually flatten itself out.

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

Thanks Bob, but it's an acrylic base that probably couldn't stand the strain. I'm going to get a piece of wood, cut it to the size of the acrylic base, and screw the latter into the former.

[Elvis965]

Ahhh, crap. Sorry Martin. I though it was wood. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't try that with an acrylic base!

Bob