The Ship Model Forum

Hi everybody,
back to HMS Rodney after some plastic kits and summer activities... Good progress so far on the three main turrets, guns, rivets, details, etc. More details and guns to be added...
Of course turret "C" will bear the iconic Walrus catapult, and I'm looking forward building the intricate structure and all eye catching details around !
The 1/72 scale will obviously allow using a trade plastic kit of the Walrus...
Again some artistic licence on the turrets equipment, I'm just taking inspiration of all photos I've got of the real thing, and reproduce all the details and features I find "interesting" visually speaking.
Cheers from Omaha Beach !

Happy New Year 2019 to you all fellow modellers from all over the planet !
A perfect grey and overcast day here in Normandy for spending some quiet and relaxing time on HMS Rodney...
Whatever the scale, the technique, the initial motivation and final goal, enjoy our favourite hobby all along the year : always fascinating and interesting to witness all the personal and different ways of doing the same activity, building model ships !
My own personal 2018 prize to Song and its most original and personal wood craftsmanship... and the speed of its progress ! He could hold the whole forum activity by himself for sure...

Very nice work,Spottier Happy New Year!

Scott

Hi from wet and cold Normandy, although I won't complain when some of you are suffering +50�C and others -40�C ! Between 0�C and 10�C seems very light punishment indeed...
Five centimeters of snow in Paris occupied most of the news today in France (in January !) : something is really going wrong somewhere down here...
So let's talk about something really serious : ship modelling progress.
The rear part of the main superstructure has seen its main volumes built up these last days. Still quite a lot of detailing to do but the whole shape of the ship is now more or less visible.
A fair bit of work as well on all the sides and floor panels, as on the real ships I try to keep all surfaces "busy" with details, vents, ladders, hooks, electrical cabinets, gutters, electrical wiring, etc.
I like to post this just after two 1/700 posts : how funny and interesting to jump from 1/72 to 1/700, from a few centimeters to my three meters Rodney !
Again all my consideration to you guys with your tiny wonderful models, clearly not to everyone's reach, me first of them all...
Enjoy your hobby the way you like !

Hello Spottier60,
I am really enjoying your build - beautiful crisp, clear lines, amazing work, I can only dream of building as you do,
Cheers, Will

Thanks Will (my name is Stephane POTTIER born in 1960, hence the spottier60 codename !).
I just hope your own fine model is not melting right now with the heatwave in NSW...
And yes, a large part of my own personal pleasure if from dead straight lines, clean and crisps angles and volumes... more than historical accuracy, no doubt !
Yet again - as you know better - it's far easier when working with big scales as we both do, hence my huge respect for those who achieve that working at 1/350 or even 1/700 scales, although I suspect some of these guys to be around 10 cm tall with matching hands !
Cheers, Stephane.

I totally agree Stephane, I have a 1/350 scale HMS Warspite and a V and W Class Destroyer sitting on the shelf, unopened, and I am trying to find the patience to start them. And yes I also take my hat off to those building even smaller scales, their work is unbelievable. I think that is why I am building in 1/35 scale - it may be I am feeling a little lazy.
.
Yes very hot here, we have had numerous bush fires started by lightening strikes, but nothing too near the village. All the best,
Will

Hi everyone,
am I alone to just HATE doing the "other side of things" ? Doing one new thing on one side of a part or a sub-assembly is great fun, but I always felt boring having to duplicate the same work on the other side ! I better understand people who are into the traditional art of "half hulls" stuck on a board hanging from the wall : just a clever trick to avoid having to duplicate the other half...
I've just got a lot of time to think about this, having now undertaken the planking of the other side of my 3 meters long Rodney hull (OK then, I must assume sometimes working at 1/72 scale)...
So again many hours of carefully cutting alternate 0.5 and 1 mm plasticard sheets in two layers, plus additional work at both ends for bending them to fit the curves, and compensating for the geometrical increase of dimensions due to the hull curvature...
Plus points of the job are improving the quality regarding the first side, and the very mentally relaxing nature of the task (isn't it the main goal of it all ?)...
After planking will have been completed, many hours again for the degaussing system (see photos of the first side earlier on this post), plugs all along and of course the portholes...
Golbal aim is to be ready for painting outside in the now not-so-far spring !

For those interested by the planking technique I used, a few more photos.
Two layers of alternate 0.5 and 1 mm plastic cards are carefully measured and cut, individual and separate stripes being bonded side by side as to deal with the hull curvature at the front and back tapered areas : full-width sheets would never apply properly to the three-dimensional shape.
The first base layer (not visible anymore after completion, you can still see it on some photos below) is roughly cut and bonded with CA glue to the wood base shell. It gives the necessary stepped look between the successive stripes by using 0.5 and 1 mm thicknesses.
Afterwards the second and visible layer, all in 1 mm thick, is bonded with liquid Tamiya glue : having the base layers below allow a stronger bond to this visible layer, that probably couldn't be achieved by bonding directly the visible layer to the base hull with CA glue.
1 mm thick is used universally for the visible layer, as 0.5 mm is too thin for the purpose and would follow and show any tiny shape imperfection. The relative stiffness of 1 mm sheets effectively smooths the final shape and irons out small surface defaults.
I think that the key to a fine finish is the time spent to individually shape in 3D all stripes as to really follow the hull curvature in all three dimensions : styrene sheet until 1 mm thick is quite easily shaped with fingers or bits of drainage pipe as a guide. Heating to soften the material is not necessary, 1 mm being again the right compromise between inherent stiffness and flexibility for 3D shaping.
The trick is that I don't rely on the liquid glue to force the stripes to 3D shape : I shape and bend the stripes until they rest naturally at their place without any constraint. Liquid glue is applied and spreads naturally in the gaps, without need for any force, hence a smooth and flowing finish.
Of course the middle, flat, and strictly two dimensional section of the hull is more straightforward to achieve in this respect : just measure carefully twice... and cut once !

Hi,
even if, like most of you probably, I use the "model in the model" technique to stay motivated, I can't resist sometimes to gather all sub-assemblies to get a look of the thing in progress...
Takes a bit of motivation of course due to the size and weight of the beast ! Even if I tried to keep weight down, the hull must something like 25 kgs.
Main volumes are here then, and, well, it looks like HMS Rodney indeed, as my self-assumed "artistic licence" mainly applies to details : I want to remain faithful to the main profile and proportions that has kept me fascinated for more than 50 years now.
I think I must be somewhere mid-way of the whole job, as thousands of details everywhere are still to be built and integrated.
I'm thinking as well about some light "weathering" of the whole lot, as I do on other smaller kits : this would bring out nicely all the details that are somewhat killed by uniform painting.
Some trial on some guinea-pig sub-assembly will help making a decision, to see whether it worths or not undertaking the hefty job...

Wow, beautiful ship and impressive size

Jorge

Thanks Jorge !
I'm following your fine build and your work makes me thinking about weathering, to enhance details and bring a more realistic look altogether...

Hi Spottier. I think that is a question of preferences, but in my opini�n, weathering is the way models come to life.

Jorge

Hi Jorge,
I totally agree, and funnily enough I'm well into weathering on 1/35 armour kits I'm building alongside big scale warships !
I think my hesitation goes back very far, to my fascination as a kid with Paris naval museum big scale models, that were never weathered...
Just have to break that mental link and move ahead.
Stephane

It's beautiful!!

HI Spottier
im a newby on this forum an I have been looking through your build an I think you are a fanstastic builder on the Rodney though I just wish she was made to sail on the wet stuff.But that's up to you if you enjoy doin a water line model that's great as that's what this hobby is about great work an its given me quite a lot of enjoyment just looking at your builds . But a question if I may where did you purchase your 1/72 scale port holes ? an have they got glass fitted in them ?


as i build fairly big model R/C model warships i am soon to start building HMS TIGER converted into a helicopter carrier in year 1978 in 1/72 scale i have just bought the plans on 6 sheets to scratchbuild her as i have never seen anyone else build her so it should be one of a kind.Anyway back to your build i'll be following your build as i really enjoy it happy building

chris

Hi Chris,
thanks for the comments and please bring on HMS TIGER soon !
I'm really into static models hence the waterline choice, and my own personal feeling is that the real view of any ship is on the water : I don't feel comfortable with full hull models... out of the water ! Feels wrong to me, yet again my very personal feeling.
I've got a project of R/C ship but it will be a 1/10 scale ELCO 80 or German S-Boote, in the future though.
Ah, the 1/72 portholes ! Good question... I love the fact of keeping cost of scratchbuilding close to zero (building out of nothing, if you prefer), hence my permanent quest of free plywood off-cuts and the like, or wandering in DIY shops just looking at bits and pieces and trying to imagine what they could figure at 1/72 scale : as an example the mushroom vents are dead cheap CHC screws with just the head smoothed with filler.
Similarly the hull portholes are... shoelaces eyelets, again bought very cheaply by hundreds on the web or specialized shops.
No glass of course, but personally I'm not bothered about that.
On the upper structures, I use small sections of aluminium tubing set into drilled holes, plus a small gutter above, from bended 0.5 mm brass wiring.
Please don't ask "why different portholes" between hull and upper structures : couldn't explain the fact myself !!!!

Well, let's go then for weathering, here only on the main tower to start with !
I'm quite familiar with the techniques on 1/35 armour models I'm building alongside for years, I was just a bit fearing the size of the task ahead for a 1/72 HMS Rodney.
I'm keeping it light though, the aim being just to make the surface detail stand out, and avoid the unrealistic bland "new" look.
Technique is dead simple : artist oil colours heavily diluted with "White Spirit", as we call it here in France. General "wash" to break the visually surfaces, and of course natural accumulation in corners and along stripes, as in reality.
Two successive coats (allow a bit of time to dry between both), the first one in black, the second and lighter one with orange for rust.
Application of the "rust" is not the same, and will be only applied on corners, and bits like in reality naturally attract rust.
A general rule is to apply large vertical strokes with an almost dry wide brush, again duplicating reality.
All these techniques are very widely described everywhere for 1/35 armour weathering, with incredible levels of realism, plus of course added mud and the like, that not apply here.
It's really essential to avoid the "heavy hand" effect at that stage as it can really ruin the whole thing.
I'm satisfied with the result so far, and won't go any further : a coat of Tamiya matt varnish will smooth and protect the whole finish.
The challenge will now be to keep the weathering finish reasonably even and consistent all along the three meters model, hull included !

Hi, more than 20�C in Normandy today... in February !
I won't complain, a great day to spray big components outside (and so increasing climatic disorders in the process...) : Tamiya spraycans for those who want to know, a bit pricey due to the model size but a guaranteed spotless finish.
A great week-end in French main Mediterranean naval base of Toulon to visit real warships before my midship son leaves for five months across the seas : BPC Tonnerre on the left, and yes, our sole nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on the right, days before it leaves after an extensive two years mid-life reconditioning.
All that's above freely accessible information on the web, so I'm not spoiling any classified information here !

Looking amazing!!, your post on the 10th of Feb gave me a laugh - I was just looking at my ship and bemoaning the fact I had to duplicate what I had done on one side, to the other. But I don't think a half hull would float very well....
cheers, Will