The Ship Model Forum

Hello all!

I've been away for a while and I'm looking to get back on the saddle again, hopefully this time to get something finished aswell. The PoW underconstruction will stay that way for now.

So I've decided to get this new tool Yamato from Tamiya (still don't have the kit, sounds familiar...) with some relaxed building.
I got the Pontos advanced set and only a couple of glances and all I can say it's far from relaxed

The set is absolute madness! In a good way ofcourse.

I got the set already and going through the planning and looking for reference project atm while building some of the etchings.

Here's a finished triple 25mm gun with its base:



Easily takes upto 3 hours to even finish one, and there's plenty of those. The kit has the shields for the crew but examining the Kure model it doesn't look like they were on.
I'm up for suggestions but I think I'm going to cut them all out and proceed like this.

And the mandatory testing of the new ideas for weathering on this poor discarded Gearing hull:



And yes it's gonna look mighty beat up when finished!

And like always if people are intrested for some more detailed step by step guide for the painting and weathering I might be up for it.

But by the looks of it this beast is gonna take some time to finish and I'll try to keep it going little by little with many updates! (hopefully)



Cheers

Koppalakki

Nice to see this one being built. Hope you are going to post a helluva lot more photos ^^

How were your 460mm barrels? Mine were drilled out off center, but I'm getting replacements

Ok, sign me up for a weathering step-by-step!

And good luck on that Yamato project!

Marijn

marijn van gils wrote:Ok, sign me up for a weathering step-by-step!

And good luck on that Yamato project!

Marijn

Yes, please take us to school just as Marijn did with Lexington.

GewoonWouter wrote: How were your 460mm barrels? Mine were drilled out off center, but I'm getting replacements

I believe this set is from the brand new batch as the barrels are perfect. Also everything else is just top notch.

I am very happy that you are back on the saddle, Koppalakki!! What are you going to do with the PoW? I really do hope you will finish her! Anyway I will follow this thread with great interest! You see that Gearing hull as a discarded one? I see it as an invaluable piece of weathering master piece!

Aop

Hey Aop!

PoW will be finished someday that's for sure! This will be just "easier" because you just paint it grey!
All the camo schemes etc. on PoW is just a bit overwhelming to get back on after a break so it will just bide it's time!

Here's one high angle 12.7 finished!

marijn van gils wrote:Ok, sign me up for a weathering step-by-step!

me too please....


this thread already booked into my favourites !

blacman wrote:

marijn van gils wrote:Ok, sign me up for a weathering step-by-step!

me too please....


this thread already booked into my favourites !

Me as well! Full step-by-step pictures plus explanations would be just perfect! It will help me a lot!

well that 12.7 looks top notch, well done!

So I managed to destroy one of the catapults pretty badly. I emailed pontos if I'm able to get a replacement PE fret so let's see what happens. Or I just need to order the add-on set completly.
Which I rather not.

Well here's a couple of pics of the catapult that survived the horros of getting launched into space.











The catapults themselve are just marvelous. They are built up from over 50 parts and are a bit of mini kits themself.
The instructions are a bit unclear of some of the steps, and the 2nd one I build was just perfect, that is before it launched at speed of sound and disintegrated into oblivion.
I've never had so bad luck before as to render pieces so badly mangeld they can't be used. I guess a first for everything.

I agree that the Pontos instructions aren't the most clear ones from time to time. Catapult looks good, hope you get the replacement.

Btw, which paint did you use?

I'm using Gunzes acrylic line when I airbrush. I'll be making a small step by step for painting the small parts and also a detailed guide for weathering the hull aswell.
I'll try to finish some more AA guns later tonight for a bit of a break down how to assemble the small 25mm guns and finish another 12.7cm gun with the painting guide.

Ok here's the first part of the painting small things step by step:

Assembled gun





On such small parts I usually don't use any particular primer. Instead I laid a nice even coat of Gunzes H1 black.
All the Gunzes acrylics are gloss or semigloss so pay that in mind, I like it as it gives nice good base for further weathering with oil based products.



Next step to dial your airbrush to super fine and get that PSIs down, I usually airbrush at 9 or 10 PSI with Gunzes paints.
Also make sure to thin them properly so all the transitions between colors are nice.
Next coat was H69 RLM75 Gray. Be sure to leave black underneath to show at corners etc.



3rd coat was H69 mixed with H325 Gray FS26440 for the next pass. Make sure to add even more thinner.
Focus on the centers and highlights.



And then the last coat of even more H325 added to the mix. At this point I think the limitations of my mobile phones camera is starting to show as it really can't capture
all the different shades and just looks... gray. In the future you can see the effect much better on the hull as it's larger surface and the camera can cope with it better



I'll let the piece dry a bit and continue the weathering process later with washes filters and stuff!

Well, if this build is half as good as your previous ones gonna be spectacular. I'm looking forward for new updates.

Btw, that test Gearing hull is one of the best heavy weathered hull I have seen. Definately a good study to try imitate for my own builds. Maybe a bit too much for ships in duty but certainly not much for decomissioned ships or all those workhorses civilian vessels out there

And some triple 25mm etching!

Best to assembly the guns first



After that fitting it to the base



And finally adding the small details like seats sights etc.
I opted to cut the shields out and they look pretty nice without them tbh.

Nice work. And great SBS. I assembled one of the 12.7's myself the other day and all went quite ok, the only thing I found a tad hard is to get the gun barrels alligned properly.

Yea, I suggest you push the barrels in to their mounts, align them, then use thin super glue around the edge so it seeps into the mount gluing it instantly. I use 2 types of glues from ZAP,
the thin as I mentioned and thick one where you want to hold something and then manipulate before it sets.

And part 2

I started with a black wash using AKs wash for nato tanks. Using a small brush I dipped into the wash then used a papertowel to get the excess off and carefully went around the details





After it had dried for few minutes I went to clean it with white spirit. The same as applying, I dipped the brush into the white spirit, then used a papertowel to get the excess off and started cleaning and blending the wash in.





After that I applied a filter using AKs neutral gray filter. Carefully going through the whole piece.



Some carefull drybrushing topped everything off. I concentrated on highlighting all the details, but you don't want to overdo the effect.
I used humbrols enamels mixed with some white oil colors.





Tomorrow it will be finished with a satin coat and some metals for the barrels.