The Ship Model Forum

Well, today I fitted the Oerlikons to Renown and painted the front of the shields with the adjacent camouflage colour. They look really good and much better than the flat, rather too tall PE bases. I also added about twenty crew members to two of the platforms on the superstructure.

This evening I started on the rear deckhouse and having already painted the radar office, was going to refit one or two of the legs that had fallen off and glue it in place, when I decided it looked pretty rough. It wasnt square, it had a weird texture on all the surfaces and looked a little small. I had also fitted the PE doors a bit off square but most of all, the walkway around the radar office looked much too narrow. I decided to make my own from scratch. I printed off another 700 scale plan, cut out the plan view of the radar office and glued it to a piece of 0.4mm styrene sheet. I cut it out and fitted six brass 3mm legs. This formed the raised platform. The office was a short length of square section styrene square rod of precisely the right size which I just happened to have in my stash of bits.

As you can see below, it looks a lot sharper than the original part and is the right size too... much happier



Here it is dry fitted, although I must have knocked it during the pictures as the front end lines up perfectly, normally. I will add the ladders and the railings later after I have airbrushed the platform separately and then glue the radar office itself to the platform and add it to the rear deckhouse (which looks decidedly crudely painted under this sort of magnification!) I have yet to detail the rear deckhouse... I have several grilles to add to the vents for instance, some stove pipes and so on, and that bit of ladder needs to go... (what was I thinking!!! )



Very slow progress, but not much more to do and the closer I get to completion the more ambitious I get with it... but I am really enjoying it...
(And yes Jim, I HAVE straightened the rear nearside leg on the platform once I noticed it wasnt perfectly straight when I looked at the photo on my monitor )

Bill Livingston wrote:Very slow progress, but not much more to do and the closer I get to completion the more ambitious I get with it... but I am really enjoying it

That last part is what it is all about. I sound like a broken record, but really outstanding work, Bill. After seeing everything you've done to yours, I'm afraid to take mine out of the box!

Very nice 20mm, thanks for detailed technique

Thanks for your comments again guys...

Moomoon... that was Jim Baumanns idea... he suggested it to me on the phone a day or so ago... but at least with it written out others can benefit as well as me...

Martin, again, thank you. I still see you as a 'comrade in arms' after our parallel Tiger build which was really enjoyable and kept me at it... even when I had a disaster or two, so any comment from you is always looked forward to...

You should get your Renown out and start it. At least you will benefit from my mistakes and false starts lol! But honestly, despite the fact it is a more involved build than I was perhaps ready for, it is really really enjoyable and as it gets closer and closer to completion it just looks better and better. No doubt I will feel good when it is finally finished, but I can tell you now, I have learnt more and had more fun building this kit than any other I can ever remember... I am sure you will too...

Ok... having looked at the appalling paint job on my monitor yesterday I decided to start again on the aft deckhouse. I ended up taking it all apart, masking it all, giving it a total respray and then putting it back together. It looks much sharper and cleaner than it looked before and I can now let the paint harden overnight and start adding detail and railings tomorrow. With a bit of luck I may even get to glue it in place on the hull... if that happens I will nearly be done...!

Anyway, here we go... all just dry assembled. Still got lots of detail to add and then a weathering job to do, but the new aft radio room is looking good now it is finished... surprising how small it looks once painted. Lots of railings and ladders to add yet, but just for the moment, I am very glad I repainted the whole structure and all the major parts... it was worth the effort... something else I have learned on this build... if you are not entirely happy, grit your teeth and do it again...



Bill

Edit: Just noticed I had forgotten the tiny bit of B5 camouflage on the rearmost deckhouse (281 radar office)... damn.... something else to do tomorrow...

Aaarrgghhhh!!!!

You know sometimes there is a part of the build that you just CANT get right, no matter how hard you try? Well... the aft deckhouse was that part for me! There was nothing particularly difficult, I have done much harder bits of this build with really very little problem.. but not today!

I could count the railings properly and cut them from the fret too short or two long... several times! I had about twenty attempts to get the railing shaped correctly before I gave up and did it in all small sections and then, when I thought it couldnt get any worse... the glue wouldnt stick!

Then to cap it all, I dropped my tweezers on it and bent all the railing and broke off part of the searchlight!

Finally, finally, finally, I have got most of it done... just got to replace the railing on the radio room on the port side and fit the HACS directors to the HACS tower... both of which can wait until tomorrow... It has been a frustration free build so far, well, in my terms anyway, but today was a complete dog...!

Anyway, here we are so far, complete with full repainting. Weathering and matt coat to do yet...



Bill

OK mate--that is moving up into the superlative bracket now-- excellent railings and sharp sharp!!



JIM B

Thank you Jim, a comment like that from you is very much appreciated

Ok... today I am going to replace the bit of damaged rail from the other side of the radio office and then add the HACS director aerials and some crew members and a couple of liferafts, then move ever more rearwards... the AA guns to the rear of this deckhouse is next and then I am going to move back to the hangar deck. I have a lot more detail to add in there... plus crew as well... and all will be easier without the aft deckhouse glued in place... and then on to the next level down... more railings...!

I am also going to scratchbuild a new balsa raft, the one I did earlier is basically a copy of the kit one and now I have found a good drawing of what it actually looks like, I realise neither the kit one nor my scratchbuilt copy looks anything like the real thing! I will also add ammo bins to all the gun tubs... only tiny details but will add a lot to what is becoming an already very busy build

Lots of tiny bits of detail and paint re-touching going on at the moment... although there looks like progress, all this work doesnt really change much except it looks much 'busier', certainly in real life, not sure it is so obvious in photo's...

Managed to add some detail to the hangar deck and moved the Walrus to the same position as in the photograph of the ship underway in Ensign 8. There are about thirty crew members in place now (looks like about 10 in these photo's!!!!) but need to finish off the railings on the superstructure and add the 0.5MG's and then steps and stuff. Anyway, here are a couple of photo's to show what she looks like at the moment...

(Still havent got the searchlight on the funnel square though...!).



Bill

... and a few more. Just redoing a couple of bits... I can see a bit of railing has detached itself towards the rear of the hangar deck, but have replaced and tidied up quite a bit after seeing the first photo's... at 700 scale, I cant see the errors in 'real life'!

I think I need a lot more figures in the hangar deck and anyone know how to make it look a lot more realistic...? I have bent out the odd arm, but most of the time the crew just look like they are just standing there doing nothing, which doesnt look particularly realistic. I have tried to animate one or two by splitting legs and trying to put them into a walking position... but doesnt really work. Any ideas?

Anyway... here we go... dont forget this is 700 scale very highly magnified!





















The railing was attached with white glue and then diluted white glue was used as a filler to blend in the bottom of the railings to the sides of the superstructure. Works perfectly and requires no filler. I then handpaint the white glue once it has set and the railings look like one piece... The dark glossy MS1 paint on the hull sides was handpainted after the railings were fitted on the hangar deck... the edge here was quite rounded and the paint dried glossy. It is now filled and a blast of Future over the whole lot, and then atouch of a wash and other weathering on the 'new' bits followed by a couple of coats of matt will even everything up... (and get rid of any glue 'shine')...

Anyway, comments and suggestions welcome... especially about how to make the crew look a lot better... smaller groups? closer together...?

Bill

PS... Yes, I know I have broken the barrels off the stern most HA gun... replacements on the way from WEM right now... Another reason why its worth buying the WEM kits... not only do they have great kits, the service is second to none!!!

Outstanding. As usual Bill, every built of yours is a lesson in advance ship modelling. As with the rest of your builts, I copy/paste the whole text with the accompanying photos into word, then print it and finally binding it with spiral so I have a real walkthough when I decide to built the same ship. Please keep building and posting

Incredible work Bill! I've been following this post and have really enjoyed seeing y our progress.

Regards,

Jon

Bill... Model looks very good indeed--and a few figures do liven up a scene--and hide a multitude of sins also--I know!

Ref animation...
splitting legs -- works well--I assume you are using the GMM...?-- however do try also twisting the torso thru 90 ddegrees and the head into the dame plane as the legs-- fill in the flattness with white glue--especially the head.

Also--to add variety--try using some of the Eduard figures--pre-painted or not ( I take them painted--then at least there is a base colour-works a bit like primer! )

http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/cgi-bi ... 2#aED17502


I have not yet tried the foldable versions....

They have a longer spigot on the feet--can be usefully used when making figures ascending stairs for example.

I always run a permanent marker and or a rotring pen across the feet- neater than paint.

Having the figures in off-duty groups is fine- but I also like to have the AA crews manning a pompom or two - just in case... lookouts manning binoculars officers in beige duffle coats on the bridge - aircraft mechanics in whie overalls( ?)

Lots of possibilities

JB

Thank you Skiper and Jon for your comments... most appreciated...

Jim: I have added some crew and tried to get a couple of crew members walking... I also painted a couple of officers wearing duffle coats and a few aircraft handing crew wearing white or khaki boilersuits. Looks a lot more interesting and 'busy', although not as apparant in the photo's as on the actual model. Thanks Jim, def an improvement...

OK... this evening I will finish off the AA fit... Have found some pictures and drawing so I can get the tubs right for the 0.5" Quad MG...





Once again Jim, thanks for your help... it doesnt look much when you do it... or even in photo's, but it adds to overall feel and has taken this build to a much higher level of detail than I have managed before, so really, thanks a lot, really appreciated

Bill

(Flippin 'eck! It look ropey at this sort of magnification!!!)

Ok... another bit of detail added... AA guns at the stern...

There are two tubs cast into the resin hull... but they are quite thick castings and maybe next time I would remove them and replace them with scratchbuilt ones from rolled brass sheet... But given I had already painted everything I wasnt going to go back and start again... Next time...!

Anyway, the tubs were quite deep, and looking at both An Chu and Jim Baumanns model of Renown I noticed they both had built a platform flush with the top of the tub and added railing... in other words the 0.5" guns do not fit inside the gun tubs. A quick call to Jim, where he mentioned Ensign 8 (Repulse and Renown) which I happen to have, gave me the details I needed to correct the kit and add the guns according to photo's and drawings... Here are the steps...



Two plastic discs punched out and glued to top of tubs... You may notice that each disc was a fraction smaller than the tub which allowed me to leave a lip into which I fitted the railing so it ended up flush with the sides...



Railings fitted



Vickers 0.5" MG assembled from WEM PE. I added tiny punched styrene discs to represent the magazines... the PE parts where too thin. The MG on the left was built earlier and had slightly larger discs fitted and was handpainted. The paint filled all the detail in the tiny assembly so I airbrushed the new ones in 507C. Originally I had thought the 0.5" quads were painted black, but having looked at many more photo's I can see the support trunnion assembly was light grey and the barrels and magazines were black... so again, the one on the left is both inaccurate and crude in comparison.



A close up of one... Not perfect, but good enough for 700 scale!



Fitted onto the gun positions



And again... they need weathering with a very thin wash and then the magazines painted black... but look very fine. I may replace the other two on the forward superstructure now I know they are the wrong colour... and quite crude in comparison to the ones I made today...

She just keeps getting better and better with each photo Bill!

Thanks Martin

Started on the railings... these are the third set of railings I have tried on Renown... I started with the GMM ultra fine railings which looked really good but were almost impossible to use in the small intricate areas I was using them for. They were fine if you just folded around corners or on pure straight runs... very easy, but if you wanted a stanchion on each corner or when the railings angled in one way or another, cutting them and re-aligning them proved to be a nightmare.

I tried the standard WEM railings, which were pretty fine, but nowhere as near as fine as the GMM. They were easy to work with however, so I decided to use them. Then Jim B told me about the WEM Ultra fine railings, which were new. As fine as the GMM but a little stiffer, so finesse and ease of use combined. Sounded too good to be true but I had a sample sent and they were excellent. I would recommend them to anyone looking at working in 700 scale and wanting something fine but easy to work with, cant recommend them highly enough

Here is a picture. The softer standard railings are on the hangar deck and around the quarter deck ladders (nightmare area!). The Ultrafine, but very much stiffer railings are around the rear HA guns... Very easy to use and so, so thin... I am probably going to change the Quarterdeck ladder area to WEM Ultrafine too...



Obviously this still needs a lot more doing to it and a gloss and matt coat and washes to tone everything down to the same level... getting there though, even though I am even slower than usual...

Bill,
Going back a few posts, how did you make the H-stacks on the aft deck house? I'm at the same stage just now, but I can't figure out how you did it so cleanly...

Hi... very easy actually. Another tip over the phone from Jim Baumann...





Hope this helps.

Just a quick update on the crane supports on the aft deckhouse.

I spent ages looking for photo's of how this worked because I didnt think it likely that the ned of the crane boom would just rest on the deckhouse just behind the HACS director pylons... Too heavy and dangerous to be left loose! lol! Anyway, it was obviously it would be fixed somehow and the block and hook would need to be kept of the deck and probably within a guard. But could I find anything? Nope... Quick call to Jim B and he sent me some pictures of crane supports from QE in 1943. Not identical, but close enough. There appears to be a sort of open frame triangular support that the end of the boom and block fit inside. On some pictures it looks solid however, so I spent a few days trying to work out what to do. In the end I decided to make a tiny open frame support. It didnt have to be entirely accurate, just feasible... and something to look at if you follow the end of the crane down to the deck... Whatever I did it would be better than an obvious blob of glue!

Anyway, here is what it should look like... more or less...



Obviously, at 700 scale this is frame would be about 3 or 4mm long, far too small for me to make a lattice and custom PE is just not in my armoury at the moment... So, looking at some spare PE frets I found a spare crane jib...



There was obviously plenty of scope for some imaginative cutting, leaving me with something that was tiny, looked reasonably feasible as a support bracket and most importantly at this scale, complex and repeatable!



Final step...



A dab of CA and attached to the support platform and the HACS supports, it really looks the part. Very very small, but it all adds to the 'busyness' of the model and means it will stand a little bit of close inspection. The surface finish of the resin is pretty apparent in this photo though... especially the inside surfaces of the hangar deck walls... at this scale the magnification is so large its hard to do anything about it.. especially as the brass and cleaner mouldings look smooth and sharp due to the airbrushed finish. Ah well, nothing I can do about it and at normal size with mark 1 eyeball it looks absolutely fine



I want to rig the crane jibs properly (that is going to be a nightmare!), so I am not going to add them at this stage... the picture below is just them resting in place But comments welcome...

Those supports definitely look the part there Bill! Great bit of ingenuity