1/350 DDG-95 Uss James E. Williams (Trumpeter + Pontos) Done

[Silenoz]

I'm more and more in doubt about adding the small stuff later on, after assembling, sanding and restoring the full hull. Both have pro's and contra's... Biggest contra is surely handling

[Koppalakki]

I'm more and more in doubt about adding the small stuff later on, after assembling, sanding and restoring the full hull. Both have pro's and contra's... Biggest contra is surely handling

You're right. I opted for the fact that it's easier to place those tiny details when not holding the whole ship in your hands every single time. This just those things that get harder everytime you push your limits as it usually complicates things a lot.
A lot of detailing, going for the best possible surface finnish and elaborate painting etc. etc.

We just have to manage!

[Goodwood]

Love your modern ship builds, and boy is this one looking crispy!

[LE BOSCO]

wooho Koppalakki

great job ,I like it
cheers
Nicolas

[Koppalakki]

Ok more stuff going on!

Here's some more detailing going on through out the ship!

Bow area finished and the remaining fire hose pipes added.







Life canisters fitted to the mid ship. Just the Pontos racks + kits canisters. Then some wire added.
I placed the racks separetly and got the all aligned. After this placing canisters one by one to keep them all aligned and nice. Then some wire glued and after curing the wire is pressed down with a knife along the contours.




Started to detail the mid ship part.






Then some finished unrep posts!
Just Pontos set but the lights are added to the top with some wire to splice it up!





And the nulka launchers!
Great detail by veteran models but let's add some more wires!




And the main gun finished.






And a couple of wide shots!

Here you can see how well the aft smoke stack sits. It's just dropped in place for now!

[marijn van gils]

Wow, you're fast! Especially at that quality level. Great work!

Cheers,

Marijn

[Uzun Elendil]

Great work Looking forward for the painting

[Koppalakki]

Ok here's some step by step again!

Everything is easy and simple! Don't fret!

Ok this time it's the aft funnel that's getting the treatment!

Like always, some black XF-1 to start going on. All the paints are Tamiyas thinned down to about 70/30 thinner to paint ratio.



Then base coat of XF-19 sky grey. Leave some black come through at places. Be random.



Then more white is added to the mix and using masking tape and a template from paper start making the horizontal lines.
Once again be random. It doesn't need to look uniform.



Same thing in vertical.



Overspray and fill in the rest of the parts. You can also notice the transition of colors is really subtle. This is why the Mr leveling thinner is great.
Without good thinner you end up getting splotchy grainy paintjob that will look awfull! Before going to the next steps I let the paint cure for 24 hours.
Even though it's dry to touch almost instantly I've noticed that using white spirits on top of it before the paint has fully cured will leave blemishes of the white spirit drying.
When fully cured you don't get any marks!



Next step was painting the decks dark gray by brush and adding all the decals and dry transfers.
For the decals I sprayed Alclad aqua gloss. Just a bit where the unrep decals go. Then Microsol to set them in and finished with a bit of Vallejos satin clear.
I don't use any clear cotes for this build otherwise.



After this a very thin blue filter to give a bit of a bluiesh tint. It's AKs blue for panzer thinned about 60/40.
This is applied with a wide soft brush to all of the model.



Next a wash with AK wash for decks. It's dark gray color and futher thinned down with white spirit.
Carefully applied to all the details.



And cleaned with thinner.



Then using reference all the rust marks and stains are painted with W&N oil paints. Burnt umber and sienna are used.
Blended and streaked with white spirit.



Inspired by this photo

I wanted to give some heavy weathering to the AN/SPG-62 decks.
Steps follow.
Heavy wash with brown enamel paint. Let it build up into puddles.
Same with a rust color.
And one more time with neutral gray for some sun bleached parts.
After this a heavy yellow and buff filters on top of them.
I did all of this when it was all wet and didn't let it dry.
After drying some rubble dust pigment added on top.



And the finished funnelf for now. Last step was to dry brush with light grey. Don't white it up too much and be carefull as you don't want it to turn into a frosted monster.
Subtlety is the key here. More details etc. will be added but basic painting complete.

[Jabberwock]

I almost want to reach out and touch the highs and lows of that oil-canning effect.

Magnificent!

Cheers, Jabb

[Strategos Augustus]

That is fantastic, Koppalakki.

Took a bit of a break for some real life adventures. Great to come back to your work.

I must confess that one of these days days I will have to give a set like this a try.

It looks indescribably tedious but the results are fantastic.

Curious to know: what type of paint and brush combination do you like to use for drybrushing?

[Koppalakki]

Cheers Jabb!

Working when the iron is hot!

Here's the 99% finished aft funnel!

[Koppalakki]

Curious to know: what type of paint and brush combination do you like to use for drybrushing?

I use enamels and oils. For this I used revells Grey 76 mixed with W&N white. A big fluffy brush is the best IMO.

[Strategos Augustus]

Curious to know: what type of paint and brush combination do you like to use for drybrushing?

I use enamels and oils. For this I used revells Grey 76 mixed with W&N white. A big fluffy brush is the best IMO.

That's what I do. Although I've switched to using oils to drybrush exclusively. I've become rather fond of the longer drying times and ease of cleanup and blending.

I second your views on a big fluffy brush. Although, lately, I have been using a small angle for detailing small parts.

[Silenoz]

Splendid work on the painting, and a big thanks for taking the time to explain how you do it...

[marijn van gils]

That looks fantastic!
The oil canning looks nicely subtle. Not jumping out at you, but present when you lean closer to the model, and giving a more detailed 'feel' to the model. The rest of the painting looks equally great, especially those two decks.

Maybe you can still add a couple of faint dark dirty streaks? Not dense or rusty, but just some dark brown dirt in a very transparent way?

Cheers,

Marijn

[Koppalakki]

Splendid work on the painting, and a big thanks for taking the time to explain how you do it...

And for everyone else aswell, if you want to know something just shoot your questions, I don't mind doing step by steps about stuff you want to know/see.
Like Marijn also stated, I do tend to move fast so I just might go full speed otherwise!

Maybe you can still add a couple of faint dark dirty streaks? Not dense or rusty, but just some dark brown dirt in a very transparent way?

You mean on the decks or on the superstructure?
After looking at the reference photo I posted earlier I might do some light grey streaks to give some "compartments" to the deck as when you really look at the photo you can see some distinct boxes on it. Kinda.

Also on the decks next to the CIWS I did brown, black, light grey and white streaks with a fine brush and streaked them. Also if you haven't noticed already I did decided not to do any texture on the decks and just rely on painting to bring it alive.

[Aop Aur]

Looks very nice, as always!

Regards,
Aop

[medicmike]

Holy mackerel that is amazing! Thanks for the step by step info too!

[marijn van gils]

I meant the vertical surfaces. I did notice all the effort you put in the decks, and they look great! Some compartments in the larger decks can be good idea however.

I now checked the photo's of the real ship you posted, and I have to admit there are only rusty streaks visible on the vertical surfaces of the superstructures, no dirty dark streak. So my suggestion might not be very realistic�

Cheers,

Marijn

[Koppalakki]

Yea, I kinda want to go as close to reference as possible on this one.
Such a good reference to be had and it does have quite a bit of weathering so not really need for the usual artistic license imo.