Airfix 1/72 scale "E" boat.

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Looking so good. Nice going on your work around for the stanchions, as they look fantastic. 

For hand painting I've pretty much settled on using both Tamiya acrylics thinned with X-20A and Model Air, straight from the bottle. I try to avoid using my good brushes with lacquer paints as they destroy the bristles and tips. As I get ready to start the Lancaster, I've purchased new brushes and there is an incredible amount of detailing painting to be done. 

 

[GazzaS]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:49 PM, PanzerWomble said:

It's coming together really well. 

On my Revell one I used Al foil to represent the canvases with which they covered the railings , however would seem a shame to cover those nicer in scale ones up . 

I have thought of putting up the wind breaks or whatever they're called.  Canvas dodgers?  But in this scale I would have to represent whatever held them to the railings...  and that would be a PITA to get right.

[GazzaS]

11 hours ago, DocRob said:

Great work on the stanchions. These slide fit brass tubes are a gift for modelling. The result looks very convincing. I have to look, if my mini mitre also provides a plastic length adjusting stop. At least mine worked without moving.

Cheers Rob

How did you avoid the saw teeth from grabbing and jerking the tube around?

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

How did you avoid the saw teeth from grabbing and jerking the tube around?

I put my finger on the tube and made very gentle moves with the saw. Try to relax and feel the flow of the saw, it's so easy to jam it, due to the narrow slit in the mitre. Uh, sounds a bit raunchy, but I mean it . I use the finer toothed blade and not a lot of pressure. Sawing tubes is always delicate, when it comes to the middle part, the start and end is easier.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

10 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

Looking so good. Nice going on your work around for the stanchions, as they look fantastic. 

For hand painting I've pretty much settled on using both Tamiya acrylics thinned with X-20A and Model Air, straight from the bottle. I try to avoid using my good brushes with lacquer paints as they destroy the bristles and tips. As I get ready to start the Lancaster, I've purchased new brushes and there is an incredible amount of detailing painting to be done. 

 

Thank you, Peter.  I have a few nice brushes for detail painting and a lot of beat-up brushes for everything else.  Some I bought on gift vouchers are worth a king's ransom.  I heave an unhappy sigh when the paint reaches the ferrule.

[GazzaS]

15 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Gaz, you’re very close now, looking amazing. You must do another boat……

Phil, thank you.  I really want to do more naval stuff...   but it all takes so effing long.  I know the boat isn't really far from done...   but the figures and the water base...   all still gotta be done.

I used to be 12 kits a year.  Now I'm down to like 4 or 5.  Honestly, I don't know how I'll ever complete any of my ship models.

[GazzaS]

Hi Everyone,

     Throughout the week I've been doing small things to creep production forward.  I also created my own chasing and repousse bowl and tools from stuff I had around the house.  My first attempt at the Reichs Eagle doesn't deserve a photo.  I didn't have real pine pitch and substituted with melted and then cooled hot glue.  Unfortunately, the metal outside of my tool was sinking along with the area under the tool.

I rigged the conning tower and attached the mast.  Painted up the life preservers and attached them.  Added the maneuvering lights to port and starboard.  The area near the lights was a bit of a boondoggle, with a few odd angles that led me to use too much extra thin.  Four days later, a sink hole developed.  I filled it with CA and sanded it smooth today.

The torpedo clamps needed something so I referred to a picture to show me the way.  The two bare loops holding the torpedoes in place look more detailed at least.

Today was a big day.  I added tally bands to the crews early style caps that are whipping in the breeze.  I made these with the finest shavings I could get from a sheet of evergreen styrene sheet.  They are very flimsy.  And then I painted them as best I could.  The uniform has three narrow stripes which I could only portray with one.

I also rigged the railings today.   Thanks for reading and for looking at the pics.

 

 

[DocRob]

How cool is that Gary, these figures look great and the tally bands are a nice touch, never seen before. You made a jewel out of that dinosaur kit. I still hope to find my lost parts from my S-38 kit, as I urge to build one or maybe I have to buy a new one.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Gaz

WOW, small details and wonderful progress. The figures look so good and add so much to the build - awesome work for sure.

[GazzaS]

20 hours ago, DocRob said:

How cool is that Gary, these figures look great and the tally bands are a nice touch, never seen before. You made a jewel out of that dinosaur kit. I still hope to find my lost parts from my S-38 kit, as I urge to build one or maybe I have to buy a new one.

Cheers Rob

Thank you, Rob!  TBH I never knew about the tally bands before.   I discovered them while doing research.  You can see that they are worn very long:

There are a lot of German marine traditions that I don't know or understand.  Like, in every group photo, there is that one guy wearing white pants with the blue shirt....    and vice versa.  Likewise, the fella in this pic above has a black hat...   But these guys all have white hats in the colorized photo below.

15 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Gaz

WOW, small details and wonderful progress. The figures look so good and add so much to the build - awesome work for sure.

Thank you Peter.  Yes, I've kind of put myself into a place where every build needs figures.  Sometimes I wonder if it's wise.

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, GazzaS said:

There are a lot of German marine traditions that I don't know or understand.  Like, in every group photo, there is that one guy wearing white pants with the blue shirt....    and vice versa.  Likewise, the fella in this pic above has a black hat...   But these guys all have white hats in the colorized photo below.

On the colorized photo, it seems to me. like there are five guys wearing white 'Matrosenmützen' (like the black one of the first pic) and two wear black 'Schiffchen' (forage caps) or just black hair, which is unlikely. I don't know a lot about the Reichsmarine or Kriegsmarine, but maybe the colorized pic is one of a military parade and therefore the white caps.

On a very quick research, I read, the Matrosenmützen where white in domestic areas, dark blue in others and in tropical areas, it depended on the season.
It seems like there where white Teller- or Matrosenmützen and only whit covers for the blue ones.

The tradition of the Mützenband (tally band) seems to point back to the mourning of the death of Admiral Nelson and the band has a total length of 1,16 m and is 3,2 cm wide and has the ends cut like a swallowtail.
Other sources claim, the band was worn as a substitute for the then forbidden pigtails of the sailors.
The collar of the sailors shirts was developed to keep those pigtails of the early days from spoiling the white shirts from the grease or tar of the pigtails.
The three stripes of the collar remind of Nelsons victories, as can be seen on your first pick.

It was only a brief search, because of spontaneous interest, so all is not absolutely verified, it's only quick view.

Cheers Rob
 

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Thank you for the research and historical information - so very interesting. Everything on a military uniform has a meaning and tradition and finding out what they are is a search all unto itself.

[PanzerWomble]

You did really well with those old figures, I've used the Revell polythene ones which were pretty awful . Torpedo clamps are great addition as well

[GazzaS]

15 hours ago, DocRob said:

On the colorized photo, it seems to me. like there are five guys wearing white 'Matrosenmützen' (like the black one of the first pic) and two wear black 'Schiffchen' (forage caps) or just black hair, which is unlikely. I don't know a lot about the Reichsmarine or Kriegsmarine, but maybe the colorized pic is one of a military parade and therefore the white caps.

On a very quick research, I read, the Matrosenmützen where white in domestic areas, dark blue in others and in tropical areas, it depended on the season.
It seems like there where white Teller- or Matrosenmützen and only whit covers for the blue ones.

The tradition of the Mützenband (tally band) seems to point back to the mourning of the death of Admiral Nelson and the band has a total length of 1,16 m and is 3,2 cm wide and has the ends cut like a swallowtail.
Other sources claim, the band was worn as a substitute for the then forbidden pigtails of the sailors.
The collar of the sailors shirts was developed to keep those pigtails of the early days from spoiling the white shirts from the grease or tar of the pigtails.
The three stripes of the collar remind of Nelsons victories, as can be seen on your first pick.

It was only a brief search, because of spontaneous interest, so all is not absolutely verified, it's only quick view.

Cheers Rob
 

Cheers Rob

Thank you for the interesting facts.  Amazing the traditions connected to Nelson.

[GazzaS]

3 hours ago, PanzerWomble said:

You did really well with those old figures, I've used the Revell polythene ones which were pretty awful . Torpedo clamps are great addition as well

Thanks, Guy.      I might have done better...  but I didn't want to expend the time and effort.

[GazzaS]

16 hours ago, DocRob said:

 or just black hair, which is unlikely.
 

Cheers Rob

Looks like just hair to me....   no peaks, points, nor enough height above the crown to be anymore...  probably a couple of Bavarians who wanted to feel the wind through their hair.

[KevinM]

Stanchions.... such a small change with big implications>

[GazzaS]

February and March are our worst months for in my corner of Oz.  Humidity...   which adversely affects clear coats is very high.  And all that is left on the boat is clear coats, transparent parts, rigging, and final assembly...   then, I can work on the water base.  All I've managed in the last few days are these two inflated rubber rafts.

I don;t know why Airfix put oarlocks on them.  And I was just too lazy to take them off, once i realized they shouldn't be there.

[DocRob]

Tell me something about humidity Gary, yesterday we had 99% and above 80% is absolutely normal here. It doesn't affect my airbrushing though, at leas, I haven't noticed it as of yet.
The boats look great, especially with the wood texture, but also terribly narrow. I wouldn't want to sit in these in the rough Atlantic Ocean. My SUP seems to be wider.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

9 hours ago, DocRob said:

Tell me something about humidity Gary, yesterday we had 99% and above 80% is absolutely normal here. It doesn't affect my airbrushing though, at leas, I haven't noticed it as of yet.
The boats look great, especially with the wood texture, but also terribly narrow. I wouldn't want to sit in these in the rough Atlantic Ocean. My SUP seems to be wider.

Cheers Rob

Hi Rob,

      My painting isn't affected so much...   but my clear coats sometimes fog when it's disgustingly humid.  The rafts themselves are pretty oddly shaped.  Kind of deep and rectangular in cross section.  Just another of those details I didn't want to redo.

[CANicoll]

Gary, AWESOME work!  Love the figures and the detail and the rigging is spot on.  The figures add so much to the build but the details on the boat just keep adding up.  SO much to look at - great job!  This is like four builds in one.

Chris

[Peterpools]

Gaz

Nice work on the inflated rubber rafts - they do look mighty good.

 

[Martinnfb]

[GazzaS]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:41 AM, Martinnfb said:

 

With the arrival of the Kotare Spit. everything else got put on hold.   Now that I'm waiting on oils to dry and another stretch of workdays, I won't touch it until the weekend at the earliest.

Chasing and Repousse.  That's pronounced Re-pooh-say. 

My dearly beloved got me a cast iron pitch bowl and 2kgs (4.4 lbs) of pine pitch resin.  The resin arrived in a rectangular tin and had to be smashed into bits and slowly melted into the bowl.  This was done in the oven at around 220F...   or 107C. 

Here is my bowl and the red pitch:

 

Chasing and Repousse is how they make fantastic artworks like this:

Like Martin says...   3 clicks for best resolution.

Now, I spent part of this morning trying to make two brass eagles for my s-boat.  They are only 12mm by 9mm.  Or, 1/2 inch wide by 3/8 inch tall.  There are a couple ways to work...   you can work from the backside, or the front side.  These little guys were from the backside and ended up just a little too big...   and ugly.

The brown on them is leftover pitch.  I tried to melt it off them, but it caught on fire.  You can see dark flecks of it on top of the pitch bowl.  I don't want to waste any of the pitch, because it ain't cheap.  Apparently you can remove it with solvents, but that means any pitch you remove that way is lost for good.  I was hoping not to have to buy another block of it.

 

Anyway...   I'm still working on it...  Martin.

 

[Martinnfb]

Gary, what if I make you a master of that eagle in epoxy?  I would sculpt one and if you like it I can send it your way. Then you can cast him a little brothers.