Base livery applied. Now moving into painting all the smaller details such as the pennant numbers, plimsoll line, boats, liferings, SATCOM domes and then general touch up.
A few tips on painting for new modellers (for anyone interested).
One big lesson I've learned on this project is that really pays dividends to do a lot of research and testing (and to be patient) when selecting final colours for a ship and when matching them. Especially when you don't have access to the real thing and are relying on third party sources such as photos that may old, faded, under-exposed, over-exposed or some combination these. This can make things very difficult when trying to work out the final colour palette for a ship.
In my case my primary colour reference for FRUNZE is photos (of varying quality) of her and/or other Soviet ships in the 1980s, usually taken by people hanging out of helicopters at sea. In addition to this, Russian ships of any era (including today) can be almost any shade of grey to green to blue and the distinctive red lead paint used on the decks can be anything from a deep red to bright orange depending on how it has weathered. This makes life very interesting when you're trying to work out what's what.
After a lot of effort I've got the three primary colours just about right. But not before I thoroughly pissed off the paint shop guy at Bunnings. It was worth it though, because they've come up nicely.
It's amazing the impact that the different the properties of paint can have. These include:
1. How the colour changes under different light. The red lead colour I've used for FRUNZE's deck looks like a deep blood orange colour under natural light (which is what I wanted) but under the artificial lights in my garage, it has a fluorescent quality. The grey/green used on the superstructure is the same as I used on the Krivak frigate I built about 10 years ago - but it too changes depending on the light. What's the point? Before you commit to a paint for a model (and buying paint in bulk), do some tests under different lights to make sure it all looks right.
2. Experiment with paint type, thickness and application. Some paints are more opaque than others, meaning you may have to build up several coats before you get to the colour and texture you're after. I've used opaque acrylic paints with the same base across all the colours and have tried to apply it as evenly as possible to try and get a consistent finish over the model. It seems to have worked. I also tried a much thinner water based enamel, which was a nightmare.
3. Good surface preparation and primer is your best friend. I painted the ship all over in a flat light grey auto primer before I started on the top coats, and I'm glad I did. It makes for a much more even and consistent top coat and helps the ship to look 'real'.
4. Have a plan. Painting a model of any size is a process, so have a think about how you're going to go about it - and then stick to it. The more colours you have, the more you need to plan.
5. Put some soothing music, an audio book or movie on in the background. I've found that I paint a lot more carefully and accurately when I've got a chick flick on as opposed to an action film.
Cheers
Login
Register
FAQ
She's a very impressive ship,well done! 
