The Ship Model Forum

I have had some adhesion issues with even the acrylics. Yes, two coats. Wonder if their is a suitable optimal primer?

As to railings, some of the rail around the mounts was a removable chain type. Clearing the decks for action must have been a very organized Chinese Fire Drill. Especially forward where large sections of stanchions on the main and 01 levels were laid flat.

Cheers: Tom

BB62vet wrote:Thanks, Mark! Yea, halfway there. One thing I've found out - even the acrylic paint doesn't really adhere well to the Shapeways plastic. Two coats are a MUST - I do like the acrylics from the drying time standpoint, unlike the enamels.

Hank

Good to see things progressing, Hank!

Are you airbrushing or using a hairy stick? Just wondering if the shapeways stuff would airbrush better or not... I might wanna get some of those bad boys for my Iowa.

Looks, awesome, Hank! Really, really superb.

Regarding paint adhesion problems with Shapeways plastics, Pat Matthews recently reported that microscopic bits of uncured resin in the parts seems to be the main cause of paint adhesion problems.

If that's what you experiencing, the Sun's UV light will solve that problem. Leaving the parts in direct sunlight for a few hours before painting ensures that all the resin has fully cured.

Hope this helps.

ModelMonkey wrote:Looks, awesome, Hank! Really, really superb.

Regarding paint adhesion problems with Shapeways plastics, Pat Matthews recently reported that microscopic bits of uncured resin in the parts seems to be the main cause of paint adhesion problems.

If that's what you experiencing, the Sun's UV light will solve that problem. Leaving the parts in direct sunlight for a few hours before painting ensures that all the resin has fully cured.

Hope this helps.

Why not put the parts under a UV light after printing and before mailing as part of the production process? So far widespread painting problems has scared me away from buying 3d printed stuff despite the tempting offerings; the extra step would help to keep your stuff from getting a bad rep. Just a suggestion, anyway.

Steve doesn't have any control over the Shapeways manufactory and its production process.I imagine that with all the orders they deal with and the limited machines they have, they don't have time to do a full cure beyond the minimum necessary for the item to hold its form.

Timmy C wrote:Steve doesn't have any control over the Shapeways manufactory and its production process.I imagine that with all the orders they deal with and the limited machines they have, they don't have time to do a full cure beyond the minimum necessary for the item to hold its form.

My bad, I thought he was doing the printing and sending too.

No worries. This is a new technology and business model for all of us. It makes some wicked cool products, though.

HI Jason:

I am presently working on a 1/200 Arizona/ Pennsylvania conversion using Steve's Pennsylvania superstructure set. I "cured" it under a UV Sun lamp as the sun here in Wisconsin is on a holiday for awhile. I use Tamiya Acrylics thinned with Methyl Ethyl Ketone to good advanatge. The paint cures in a matter of minutes and there are no sticky areas or deformation of parts. Early in the build I knocked the bottom superstructure piece on the floor, breaking it, so I use that as a test bed. I tried using Testors Model Master Gunship Gray over the Tamiya acrylic figuring the Tamiya paint would act as a barrier. The Testors eventually dried, but it took quite some time. I would buy with confidence. If you use regular acrylics, I would try thinning it with Tamiya Acrylic thinner after thoroughly washing the parts after some curing. There is a powder like residue on some of the areas that I sand off using 320 grit and sanding sticks in the hard to reach places. I have also bought some 1/350 items, (Lexington Bridge and Pennsy bridge) and the stuff is as clean as a whistle and sharp as a razor. It is amazing how this stuff looks. Hope this helps.

Catch-up Reply to latest responses:

Sorry for taking so long to reply. Thanks for all the replies re. the 3D parts and painting - I'll have to look into a UV sunlamp - probably at this point worth having for just this purpose. I have two mounts left to complete, so will set in the window when I get back to the shop on Sunday and let the Sun do its thing!

One thing I've noticed with the Testor's acrylics is that they tend to dry out around the upper threads of the bottle in messy clumps a lot more than the enamels tend to do. Not a major issue, but overall a loss of paint that could otherwise be used.

Still waiting on an order from Amazon on 0.03mm drill bits - both mount housings need to be drilled for hand rungs before I can move further with their construction.

Hank

Mgunns wrote:HI Jason:

I am presently working on a 1/200 Arizona/ Pennsylvania conversion using Steve's Pennsylvania superstructure set. I "cured" it under a UV Sun lamp as the sun here in Wisconsin is on a holiday for awhile. I use Tamiya Acrylics thinned with Methyl Ethyl Ketone to good advanatge. The paint cures in a matter of minutes and there are no sticky areas or deformation of parts. Early in the build I knocked the bottom superstructure piece on the floor, breaking it, so I use that as a test bed. I tried using Testors Model Master Gunship Gray over the Tamiya acrylic figuring the Tamiya paint would act as a barrier. The Testors eventually dried, but it took quite some time. I would buy with confidence. If you use regular acrylics, I would try thinning it with Tamiya Acrylic thinner after thoroughly washing the parts after some curing. There is a powder like residue on some of the areas that I sand off using 320 grit and sanding sticks in the hard to reach places. I have also bought some 1/350 items, (Lexington Bridge and Pennsy bridge) and the stuff is as clean as a whistle and sharp as a razor. It is amazing how this stuff looks. Hope this helps.

Good to know... maybe I shouldn't knock the stuff until I try it.

0.03mm drill bits are on hand. So, the final (2) 5" mounts will be worked on next week. Then, on to the hull work - I will not post individual posts, but one long one that describes my modification method from start to finish (if successful ). If not, I'm Croatia bound

Good luck, Hank. I'll be waiting for the pics!

Thanks, Larry! It'll be a different way, for sure. But, if it works, then I hope others will be able to copy it.

Hank

Fantastic work Hank. Finished reading this thread and I have bookmarked several pages. It has answered many questions I had especially the boot dimensions, answered every question and even gave the actual measurements. Now on to measuring, masking and painting.

Scott,

Thanks so much for the kind remarks - sorry it took so long to reply but I'm blocked from this site at work and only have access from home on weekends. Whatever you need on your build, let me know if I can help you out.

Hank

Well, while I'm still working on the after hull reshaping (more procrastinating than grinding ), I've been working on the 16" main battery. Here are some shots of Turret #2: I hope the press-on numerals arrive this weekend so I can apply the "62" next week. I also have some touch up on the paint and some flat white to add to various items, as well. All the turret accessories on the top are scratch built as these were not part of her WWII config.

Next week I'll get the main deck out and put things in order with Turret #1. Turret #3 will start construction next week and more grinding on the hull....sigh....

Hank

OhMyGosh Hank, that turret is nothing short of awesome. I'll be happy if mine turns out half that good. If you don't mind, I do have a couple questions.

1) What did you do to the boots (Bloomers) to make them look like real rubber? They almost look like they'd move when you pressed them.

2) What color did you use on the recoil portion of the gun barrels? I like the effect you have there.

Again - great work, My Friend. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Lar

Thanks Larry for the nice comments!!!

Larry wrote:

1) What did you do to the boots (Bloomers) to make them look like real rubber? They almost look like they'd move when you pressed them.

2) What color did you use on the recoil portion of the gun barrels? I like the effect you have there.

A1 - The bloomers were the Pontos version, not the kit supplied ones. I simply sprayed them with rattle can Testors Flat Black, that's it! I also did touch up with Testors Flat Black enamel. It could be the flash from the camera or simply that the resin parts turn out differently than styrene when sprayed. Can't give you any further reason.

A2 - The barrels are also the Pontos brass barrels, not the kit plastic parts. I had earlier purchased the Bluejacket Shipcrafters Pree Kleen (PN0057) to clean them with and their Brass Black (PN0052) metal toner to tarnish the brass where the recoil section of the barrel is visible. I taped off the barrel where it should remain bright and then used the toner on the base end of the barrel. I did not dilute the solution but used it straight out of the bottle with a Q-Tip and let it sit overnight. That did about a 95% job of darkening it; I dabbed some toner on the lighter spots to get them all the same shade and it pretty well worked. Note - finger prints are hard to remove (degrease) from the metal so handling carefully (not touching with bare fingers) is important. The rest of the barrel was brush painted with Testors Light Ghost Grey enamel using a very soft straight brush with 1/2" long bristles giving me a nice smooth finish.

One other detail is that I also purchased the Trumpeter BB-63 Upgrade Detail Set and used the 16" plastic barrel bases rather than attempting to cut off the base part from the kit barrels. Also using Squadron White Putty, I filled the opening of the barrel base with putty and then mated the brass barrel to it letting it set up overnight to harden. Then, carefully twisting the barrel to remove it from the base, I then added some Cryo glue and put the barrel back in place and let it set up. This step is necessary as the base of the Pontos barrel does not match the opening the Trumpeter plastic barrel base. I didn't trust my ability to cut off the kit barrel base and drill a 3mm hole in the CENTER of the base, so this was a viable alternative.

Here's what you need to do all this:
Pontos Brass barrels (they come with your Pontos set)
Trumpeter BB-63 Upgrade Detail Set
1 tube Squadron Shop White Putty
Bluejacket Shipcrafters Pree Kleen
Bluejacket Shipcrafters Brass Black
and last, but not least...1/5 Wild Turkey neet!

Painting depends on what you are using, not what I'm using.

I did notice that the way Trumpy puts their barrels/turrets together is rather haphazard in that the spiral rod for inserting thru all three barrel bases is not an exact way to locate the barrels. I think I could have come up with a better way to do it. Once again, minimum parts rather than a better model IMHO.

One further comment - It is hard to see, but I did use the Pontos brass parts for the base of the bloomers (the oval shaped part with little bolt heads) and the round barrel end brass part (fits up against the small end of the bloomer). These were also washed in the Brass Black (same procedure) prior to installing. While minor, they do add a bit of hard to see detail that I would recommend using in spite of the headache you'll get trying to install them.

Hope this helps!

Hank

Hank:

Turret looks quite nice! Especially the recoil sleeves. I do remember a stock build of the Trumpy Missouri, nice executed, where the builder used some sort of paint mixture for this. Your's look very nice, but my Alaska's are Aluminum such that I can't use the same method.

Keep up the great progress!

Cheers: Tom

Thanks, Tom!!!

On your ALASKA, are you saying that the barrels are aluminum? Is there some sort of chemical agent on the market that works with aluminum? The products we've all used are basically solutions to "rust" or "corrode" the metal to a certain shade, tone, color. or patina. I've not worked with aluminum on models so I can't comment on what works or doesn't work.

Hank