1/700 USS Belleau Wood CVL-24

[hypno7]

It almost seems as if you know what you are doing.

Hehehe, well Marijn... as you said it, it -seems-, it doesn't mean I really do.

So I had some time to work on the flight deck. After cleaning up more, I sprayed a layer of brown/tan on the deck and then the 20-B on it. After drying, I started the masking process. The decals are included in the kit, but I want to try some weathering on it and I think it is better if all markings are painted.

There is too much contrast between the colors now. I am going to try first an old technique from my airplane days. With a soft toothbrush and normal plain toothpaste, I will polish it to bring out the brown/tan color from underneath a bit, also, bring out the 20-B under the white and black markings. This -should- give the appearance of fading.

If you have any suggestions, I would certainly like to have them! Also comments and critique welcomed!

[Angeliccypher]

Toothpaste and a toothbrush? Okay now I am curious! Pictures please?

[hypno7]

Hi Gabriel,

Well, it is nothing special. Toothpaste is a very fine abrasive (the normal white kind). It works like sanding or scuffing but it is a lot more gradual and subtle for this scale. What I do is take some toothpaste, wet a soft toothbrush and then brush perpendicular to the planks. Here are some pictures of the deck after brushing/scrubbing.

What I like about that is that it very gentle and it doesn't leave scratches. Also it polishes the paint and removes texture. The 20-B stays on the receded areas and the brown/tan shows through the 20-B and the 20-B shows through the white and black markings. And finally, you get a minty fresh flight deck.

In 1/48 airplanes it is specially nice on leading edges and very large panels.

I am still planning on playing with oils (washes and other techniques). If anyone has suggestions, I will be very grateful!

[JimVarnellABH2USN]

Loving the camo paint work, really looks excellent, your work is pretty impressive to say the least, following this build with great interest.

[marijn van gils]

Very nice effect Erick!
I'l have to try that one too!

If you want to tone the markings down further, you can also paint filters (very diluted enamel or other paint) over them with the deck colour, or you could carefully drybrush over them with the deck colour. But this is certainly not necessary as it looks good the way it is.

If you want to give the markings a more damaged look, you can also add some "chipping" to them with the deck colour on a fine paintbrush. The trick here is to do it with as much finesse as possible, and to keep it random looking.
This is also not necessary, only if you want to go for a more heavily weathered look.

For getting some "effect" out of the deck, I would advice to filter and wash with light dusty colours. The deck colour is very dark, so washing with dark colours will only emphasize detail in a limited way, and will darken it even more. Using light dusty colours will on the contrary lighten the overall colour, blend the markings some more (because darker colours will look a bit lighter)
make the planking detail pop beautifully, and give a nice dusty used weathered look.

I like to use Humbroll flesh 61 and Light radome tan 148, both pure and mixed (but not too much 148 as it is very light), but this is purely personal preference. You can also do it with oil paints if you want.
The trick is to keep the effect very uneven and random looking. After you apply the thinned paint, wait untill it is just dry to the touch, and then blend any harsh transitions with a clean brush dampened with white spirit. Work in small sections at a time (4-5cm of the deck), switching between applying paint and blending it, but try to do the entire deck in one session. Try to have a general idea of the look you want before you start: where do you want to have more "dust" and where less?
You can stay pretty subtle if you wish. The end results doesn't need to look like "a dusty ship".

Afterwards, if you wish you can emphasize some planking detail even more by drybrushing it carefully with the basic deck colour.

Some things can still be shaded with dark paint, like the seams between elevators and the rest of the deck.

Happy painting!

Marijn

[hypno7]

Thank you for the kind words Jim! I appreciate it a lot

-Marijn,

Thank you a lot for sharing! Just one question... about the wash with light and dusty colors, do you mean that the receded parts (the engraved lines) will be lighter, and the raised parts will be darker? or the other way around? Sorry for asking, but I am new to weathering (in larger scale airplanes is easier, the less the better), and maybe someone else can use it. In case you meant the first option, this is breaking all my preconceptions of what washing means!

I will tone down the white markings (should have used a light gray instead of white) and will try it with a filter.

I want to keep it very subtle, since is not a diorama (one day I will try). The hull will have some streaking and some rust and I want to keep it consistent.

Thanks again for the information, I will be trying different things (the kit came with two flight decks, so I can try several things)

EDIT: see viewtopic.php?f=59&t=155672&p=651333#p651028. I found the answer to my question here.

[LE BOSCO]

a very convincing flight deck Erick!!I like
cheers
Nicolas

[Sbouba]

Great job so far and I will follow your build closely so as not to do too many mistakes. Best regards from France!

[hypno7]

Thank you Nicolas! I continue trying to get it better.

Thanks for the kind words Sbouba, my model has many errors, when it bothers me too much, I try to hide them.

So, talking about errors, after looking at plans and other builds (like Sbouba's), I realized that the hangar deck in this kit is way to low. Funny how I always realize errors when it is fix and painted. I took care about the lower hull and stern, but this error is also too big to ignore. So I scribed a new hangar deck and set it at the correct level. I also reworked some of the details as I was anyways not happy with it. I plan to put some planes in it so something can be seen from the outside.

I am also starting with some subtle weathering, as always comments and critique welcomed!

[Sbouba]

Well, that's what I call a real Modeler! Sure who will have noticed that imperfection? None of us but you and you are the one that count, right! So my hats of to you because your reaction is the essence of our hobby and, in those troubled days it is a pleasant sight! Keep it up my friend, and steady! Cheers!

[hypno7]

Thank you for the kind comment Sbouba! It really motivates me to keep on it. I am just trying to get it somewhat right. This kind of "corrections" are what makes the hobby fun for me.

[hypno7]

Hello everyone,

I started experimenting with weathering after seeing very good builds in this forum. This is one of my first try using oils and enamels. It is difficult to see in the pictures, but the lower hull has also some streaking in a lighter color. I wanted to keep it very subtle, but I realized that is the hard part of it, keeping it minimal.

I also made some decals for the hangar deck, this took me some time as the hard part is trying to match the color of the deck (too many variables... light, monitor, printer, paper, level of cleanliness of printer heads, etc). I am more or less satisfied with the results. With the pictures, I noticed how dusty the model is, and also, the awful unclean painted parts. At normal viewing distance, it somewhat looks ok.

The flight deck is also at a point where I should stop. I tried using many of the techniques shared by others (thanks Marijn!) but I think I still need practice more.

Here is a shot for fun of all together.

Now on to the airplanes (the fun part! ). I am still studying pictures and searching for information on the air wing for this time period.

Comments and criticisms as always welcomed!

[blacman]

Great job
Always nice to learn... Thanks for toothpaste trick
Following with big interest to the final!

[Sbouba]

She starts to look sexy like a carrier of her class! Neat and precise job! Thanks for sharing.

[JimVarnellABH2USN]

Erick,
Again very VERY VERY impressive, I have never heard of the tooth paste trick and I also will give it a try, I can see the subtle hints of the weathering and it is looking very good.

[Angeliccypher]

Looking great Hypno. I love the touch with the hangar decals.

[hypno7]

Thank you all for your comments! It keeps me motivated!

Small update. I have been working for over a month on the airwing, I think I have all the planes I want. This is supposed to be VF-21 and VT-21.

The planes are from Trumpeter (I am saving the Dragon ones for another project). The paint is from Gunze Sangyo (a nice little kit of colors for the USN) and the decals are a mix of Trumpeter and Dragon. The identification circle is printed white decal, cut out with a sharpened brass tube. The cockpit frames and landing gear are PE parts from Flyhawk. I used also crystal clear to simulate the transparent parts of the cockpits.

A shot for fun on how they look on the flight deck.

I still have to add the wheel chocks. Right now I am on the process of building/modifying the island. This kit is proving to be a real challenge!

Comments, critique and suggestions welcomed!

[Angeliccypher]

Keep going Hypno! Looking great! I really like the idea of using the canopy frames. That would have helped fixed my issues with the 1/350 planes on my Hornet..... How easy are those frames to use and do they even make a 1/350 version? If not I guess I could make an attempt at making my own using .2mm wire I have.

[hypno7]

Thanks a lot Gabriel!

The canopy frames are relatively easy to use, you just have to find a rod more or less the diameter of the curvature of the canopy and bend it with your preferred tool (in this case, my fingers). I glued them with Gator Glue (very impressed, I got some recently) and they are very robust.

I have not seen them in 1/350, and a quick search did not yield any results. What you can do is what I did for the B-25's in my Hornet build with somewhat successful results. What I did is get some transparent decal paper (for inkjet or laser printers) and airbrush a thick layer of the color you are using for your planes (no color matching on a computer). Then cut very thin strips and you can vary the thickness if the canopy has that feature. Then just transfer them over your clear canopy following the pattern. Finally trim the lines where the canopy meets the fuselage with the sharpest knife you can find. It will be as much work as brushing them, but with the advantage that on one pass you have full opacity, and perfectly straight lines.

The wire idea is something I will try next time if there is no available PE. Maybe flatten it first or something like that. I found a very nice 0.05mm copper wire the other day.

[PetrolGator]

Nice! Those aircraft are gems.