Lexingtons last battle, 1//700

[MartinJQuinn]

This is becoming the best thing I have seen in 1:700

Yeah, that about sums it up. Stunning work. Simply stunning.

[marijn van gils]

Many thanks!

This is becoming the best thing I have seen in 1:700
Mike

That's a very big expectation to live up to, especially coming from you!
I'll do my best...

Question: Now that there are 1/700 scale 3D and resin figures, do you think those would have worked for you, or did you need so many custom poses that the pre-made ones wouldn't have worked?

I wish those were available earlier, as I would have certainly used those! I'm sure I would have applied some surgery to some of them, but only for very specific poses. In total, it would still have saved me a lot of time with equal or better results... I certainly plan on using them on the next project, but luckily that won't require nearly as many.

My own series of small brushes arrived today and the lining-in has begun in a pathetic attempt to get similar results!

Great, enjoy!!! Maybe now you think you can never get the same results, but maybe after some years and severeal models you'll surpass it and I will be able to learn from your painting again!

Cheers,

Marijn

[Neptune]

Ge zijt zot. Lijkt een beetje op een Van Haasteren puzzel met al die ventjes.

Fantastic job nonetheless. Your attention span is a lot longer and sustains a lot more strain than most of ours. The result is simply stunning. Something difficult to match. Will you enter this in some competition?

[Angeliccypher]

There is a book called "the Lexington Goes Down". By A.A. Hoehling. It does discuss the evacuation process in depth and gives some interesting details about situations like the wounded I mentioned before.

[marijn van gils]

Thanks/bedankt!

Will you enter this in some competition?

Probably, at any show I manage to visit. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I will be able to make it to the show in Heiden (Germany) at the end of march, which I'm looking forward to already. I'm not sure the dio will be complete by that time, but in that case I will put it on our clubstand. And I really hope to be able to go to Telford in november. That will be it for international shows this year, but I'll probably be at some Belgian shows too (Leopoldsburg maybe, Mol and Lier almost certainly).

There is a book called "the Lexington Goes Down". By A.A. Hoehling. It does discuss the evacuation process in depth and gives some interesting details about situations like the wounded I mentioned before.

�*�%*�%!!! Of course I only find out about this at the end of a project... I'll try to find myself a copy, even if it will be too late to use it for reference. Luckily the action report also provided a lot of details, and there is a good amount of photo's showing what it looked like in general.

Cheers,

Marijn

[Angeliccypher]

It is a very short read if you find it.

[potchip]

Wow, shading on 1/700 figures! Beautifully done! Do you use particular brand of PE figures (for easier pose-ability?) I find Eduard figures not easy to 'bend' to natural motions particularly around hip/shoulder.

[marijn van gils]

It is a very short read if you find it.

Thanks! I'm lazy, so that certainly does provide extra motivation!

Wow, shading on 1/700 figures! Beautifully done! Do you use particular brand of PE figures (for easier pose-ability?) I find Eduard figures not easy to 'bend' to natural motions particularly around hip/shoulder.

Thanks! I find the shading and highlighting actually very important to emphasize the 3D-look of the figures, just like any other element of a model. It also makes it possible to make their colours "pop" much more without it looking unnatural, as the lightest and most saturated colours are limited to the highlights.

I bought a couple of brands (Tom's modelworks, Lionroar and Eduard), and only used Eduard in the end.
They can be a bit harder to bend indeed, but nothing impossible with good tweezers. I am happy though with the general proportions of the figures and most importantly the spacing of legs. In an attempt to include more detail, the spacing of the legs can sometimes be less natural looking with other brands, which is very difficult or impossible to rectify. But it is so small I guess this doesn't matter too much, and I could have used most figures of the other brands too. The other brands were a tad bigger though, which is the reason why I didn't mix them with the Eduard figures.

I was also happy with the mix of poses on the Eduard sets I used (at least for shaping into different poses, and for having lots of figures "standing around"). The other sets do have more detail on the figures, but this is irrelevant if you thicken them. I like that you get 400+ figures on the larger sets of Eduard, which makes it pretty cheap.
If I could have, I still would have used the Northstar figures though.

Cheers,

Marijn

[marijn van gils]

And a couple of figures extra:


















Morris was also in need of quite a lot of extra figures, so I added these too:




I also added a net to the hull. Other swimmers will board Morris by ropes, but I will only add these after fixing Morris to the seascape.


I also finally got round to some corrections which were kindly suggested by fellow forum members: I replaced the incorrect radar antenna by the correct SC antenna (thanks Rick!), and subdued the overly bright hallyards with some brown paint to make them appear a bit thinner (thansk Jim!):


Cheers,

Marijn

[Devin]

I know it's bad form to swear on this forum, but holy :censored_2: is that amazing!

[PetrolGator]

Holy. This sets a new bar with what can be done in 1/700. I've never seen anything like this. Anything.

[hypno7]

aah... What the previous posters said. Just incredible!

Interesting the detail of the figures standing upright, when the ship is listing... (or am I imagining things?)

It makes me want to throw away my 1/700 stash!

[EJFoeth]

Looks like great fun to do

[marijn van gils]

Many thanks guys!

Interesting the detail of the figures standing upright, when the ship is listing... (or am I imagining things?)

You are not imagining things.
This is why I first fixed Lexington in the seascape, and only after that attached the figures! Otherwise I would never be able to get their pose correct.

I grab them each figure with fine tweezers (usually by their head; they don't complain), dab their feet in gel superglue, and place them on the deck. While the glue sets, I gently push the figure with the tweezers into a balanced stable position (unless it is running, then I pose it a bit out of balance).
This takes very extra little effort (often glue doesn't set quickly enough and you have to push the figures anyway to prevent them falling over before the glue sets) but it is very important for getting a realistic feel to the figures.
After doing a bunch, I dab some matt varnish around their feet.

Looks like great fun to do

Yes it certainly is!
But first you have to make and paint all those figures...

Cheers,

Marijn

[Apophysis]

Absolutely stunning!!!!!
Congrats to this outstanding job!




Best regards!
Dirk

[jensel1964]

I am trying to close my mouth again....it'll take some time....

This is by far the best 1:700-scale model i've ever seen.
You are an real artist.

Jens

[Goodwood]

Absolutely stunning!!!!!
Congrats to this outstanding job!




Best regards!
Dirk

This image about sums up my feelings on your dio...seriously dude, you deserve an effing Nobel Prize for Modelling.

[Bangor lad]

Outstanding work in so many ways! Thank you for sharing!

[aaube]

Holy s...!! My hat's off to you!

Alain

[Quincy]

Lost for words!




Bob Pink!