The Ship Model Forum

Hi to all scratchbuilders,

I am new to this forum - and to modelling - and I have just finished all parts of my first ever model, a scratchbuilt model of French WWII battleship Richelieu in scale 1:200.
All the parts and the hull are now primed and ready to be painted before being assembled.

I have decided on the ship's 1950 paint scheme, and the following RAL colours: 7045 (light grey), 7047 (dark grey), and 8012 (red-brown).

Since I have no prior experience with modelling of any kind, this of course includes the painting, I wonder if some of you could guide me if such a model should be painted with a mat or a satin finish?

Having spent the last 2� years working on this model, I really don't want to make a mistake now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Since nobody seems to know, I'll flip a coin

Head: I'll use satin paint
Tail: It will be mat paint

Head came up, so question answered and satin it will be

Hello,

I think satin would be the best choice. Real warship paint (from my experiance with modern Canadian ships) is not flat like on army equipment(far more experiance with this stuff) For my 1/72 Assiniboine, it will be painted in satin gray. The only flat painted parts will be the anti slip sections.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Johnny,

Bought the satin paint this morning and painted the red-brown bottom of the hull today.
Then the black waterline tomorrow, and hopefully the two grey shades over the weekend.

Poul

Well, in terms of rely, scratchbuilding really isn't the best section for a paint question.

You choice for matt paints is correct for the most part; gloss finish is better if you have decals to put on, but this can be achieved with matt paints and a gloss coat over the top afterwards before applying the decals (after which you apply a matt coat). In general I prefer matt paints as they are a bit more opaque and don't need as many coats to cover, but I have used gloss colors in the past when it was all that was available.

It amazes me why we put up full builds in scratch build for people not to read them, names like Bill Waldorf, Dave Woolly and myself and a few others, we all discribe painting and finishes,

Dunno, maybe because the natural inclination for most people with a forum is to ask rather than search?

Poul,

I didn't see this post until now, or I would have given my response.

I think one thing to start with is why the choice between Satin and Matt? Most model paints come in Flat(matt) or gloss (at least the military ones do). Satin is a degree of flatness that most naval modelers won't bother to differentiate between. (I'm generalizing, as I know some do!) Are you using household paints to finish your model? If so, I would stick to model paints. Or are you using artists/craft paints?

The best way to approach the subject is to realize that most full size modern ships use gloss paint. This helps the paint to be more durable. Some WWII paints had a flat finish of varying flatness (Matt/Satin etc), but I believe these faded and discoloured rather quickly.

Model finishes are flattened because most will observe that they have a birds eye view of a model and their perception of it represents a scale distance of several yards to several hundred yards or more. This distance tends to make things look faded and flat. So a glossy model will appear out of scale and toy like. The 'degree of flatness' and 'whitening' of the paint/finish is totally up to the modeler and his/her desired affect.

Personally,I use flat/matt paints when painting because I get better finishes with them, then I gloss coat for decals and then I dull coat to flatten and even out the finish of my ship models as much as possible. But that's for 1/350 scale models. For 1/96, I would flatten the finish less, but I doubt I would go as light as a satin finish.

HTH's

Thanks a lot to the people who have tried to help me out with good advice. Very much appreciated.

As I mentioned in my question, I have never built a model of any kind before so every step on the way is a huge decision for me, especially since I am scratch building this - my first - model.

Tracy White wrote:Well, in terms of rely, scratchbuilding really isn't the best section for a paint question.

With my limited experience in modelling, my experience using modelling forums is similarly limited.
I just thought that this was the logical place to post such a question since my scratch build doesn't come with any kind of paint recommendations.
Please accept my inexperience as an explanation and let me know where else such a question should be posted.

ARH wrote:It amazes me why we put up full builds in scratch build for people not to read them, names like Bill Waldorf, Dave Woolly and myself and a few others, we all discribe painting and finishes,

Obviously I have looked in the wrong sections/threads before I posted my question.

By the way, I have read the complete thread "Scratchbuilding the USS Indianapolis 1945 in 1/96" (50 pages) by Bill Waldorf, and I still haven't been able to find any painting and finishes descriptions as referred to. So I don't really know where to look for it, or do I have to read all the scratch build threads?

Poul

Hi Poul. French paints aren't my specialty. I talked to Randy Short of ShipCamouflage.com and he questioned your choice of colors. He suggested you contact Jacques from L'Arsenal to get his take.

Thanks Tracy,

A French friend of mine in Paris helped me with the colours for Richeleiu's paint scheme 1948-52, (he himself has made a model of Richelieu), and I have then slightly corrected for a 1:200 scale model viewed from a distance of about 1.5-2m. (Dark colours a bit lighter, and light colours a bit darker)

But, I am sure there are probably as many opinions about colours as there are people.

I am now through a third of my painting, and I am pretty happy with it so far. Actually, it looks great.
The satin finish turned out to be pretty close to mat paint, but just has this tiny extra bit - not even a shine - so the model doesn't look dull.

Poul

Giood choice of ship-- big!!

any photos...?

WELCOME to Modelwarships.com!


Jim Baumann

Thanks Jim,

I have already posted a few pictures in the thread "Calling all MN Richelieu & Jean Bart fans" on page 9 and 10 (before starting my paint job), so please have a look there to see what I have done so far.

Quite a learning curve to start off with a scratch build as a first model. No purchased parts, inc. PE, are used except for the props and gun barrels.

Poul

JIM BAUMANN wrote:Giood choice of ship-- big!!

any photos...?

Hi Jim,

Here are some photos of the hull.

It is now fully painted and I have started painting all the other bits and pieces.
The parts on top of the hull are the ones ready to be painted (arranged in no particular order )



Here is a close up of the front



The mid section (starboard side)



The rear



and the mid section (port side)



Don't worry, I have not had a cockatoo invasion - it's a statue behind the ship

Cheers .... Poul

Thanks for all your answers to my paint question. To someone completely new to modelling, it was a great help.

JIM BAUMANN wrote:any photos...?

I finished my Richelieu model yesterday, and this is how she turned out in the end.

(I don't know where to show her, and I am probably using a wrong section again, so my apologies in advance)













It has taken 2 years, 9 months, and about 7,600 handmade parts to complete this, my first ever model.

Wow! That's absolutely beautiful, nevermind just for your first model!

You can post more pictures in the Completed Models section of Picture Post or if you had a build thread in Scratchbuilt Projects, you could have put them in there.

Superbe

EXCELLENT MODEL!-
As it is your first model-- simply SUPERB!!



Jim Baumann

Thank you all for your very kind comments

Unfortunately, I have a sad announcement to make:

Due to an unforeseeable amount of images in my Photobucket account, I will have to reorganise them all into proper sections.

So please be aware, that all my posted pictures in this thread, as well as my pictures posted in other threads, will most likely have disappeared after the 1st of January 2010

Hi,

Poulw, would you be so kind to tell me what was the technique you implemented to get those razor - straight and clear black waterline strips on a long hull? Some sticky film or any other method?

Regards