|
About the only tool I needed for wooden ship building that I did not already have was a blow dryer for bending wet planks and a third hand for helping out while rigging things. You can also repurpose or make different tools: the cradle that holds my current model is a pair of socks filled with rice and the metal bending tools I use are borrowed from my wife's jewelry making efforts. Looking for tiny squares to use to help make sure your bulkheads or frames go in straight? You could buy something expensive from Lee Valley, or you could use Lego to create a square the size and shape you need on the cheap. I have found that a magnifier has been useful for me as it allows me to work on really fiddly things while not straining my eyes. And a light, poseable vise can be a real godsend too. I've been doing more work on the Bluenose and have spent most of my time on it getting various shrouds and spreader lifts into place, and reshaping the Red Ensign to give it a more life-like drape.     Glad to be almost done the shrouds. They're monotonous, to say the least-- doing 16 of the same thing is irritating, and then four more almost the same is a cruel tease. Fearless fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Nov 22, 2020 |
#
?
Nov 21, 2020 22:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 18:29 |
|
|
This miniart building I bought loving sucks to put together. Does anyone have any better recommendations for 1/35 buildings?
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2020 22:54
|
|
|
Fearless posted:Glad to be almost done the shrouds. They're monotonous, to say the least-- doing 16 of the same thing is irritating, and then four more almost the same is a cruel tease. I was going to cackle about ratlines, but I don't think the Bluenose has any... sad... How much you have left to go? You should be getting close to done now, are you going to put sails on her?
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2020 23:20
|
|
|
The Locator posted:I was going to cackle about ratlines, but I don't think the Bluenose has any... sad... Bluenose does have ratlines when fishing, but the crew removed them when racing to reduce drag. I do not plan on putting sails on her because I want to show off all the work I did on the rigging and masts... plus, Bluenose has such a massive spread of canvas that it basically guarantees that at any given time half of the model is obscured. I am getting very close to done-- it is basically just a matter of lacing up the shrouds and adding a couple of details to those (like the sheer poles) and adding the very delicate rigging up at the bowsprit and attaching the rudder. Then she will be done, and I am already in touch with the guy who will build the display case. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2020 23:47
|
|
|
Fearless posted:Bluenose does have ratlines when fishing, but the crew removed them when racing to reduce drag. I do not plan on putting sails on her because I want to show off all the work I did on the rigging and masts... plus, Bluenose has such a massive spread of canvas that it basically guarantees that at any given time half of the model is obscured. I am getting very close to done-- it is basically just a matter of lacing up the shrouds and adding a couple of details to those (like the sheer poles) and adding the very delicate rigging up at the bowsprit and attaching the rudder. Then she will be done, and I am already in touch with the guy who will build the display case. Excellent. It's good to be at the finish line! If I ever build a ship with sails it will likely be with them all furled for the reason you state - don't want to cover my pretty work up! I never did get around to putting a case over Serenity, she just sits out in the open collecting dust. Luckily my house isn't very dusty. I carry the model into the workshop and dust it off with the air compressor periodically. The only way I could see doing a ship model with sails raised would be a diorama with her heeled over cutting through the water, but then the hull gets half covered, and you start getting into the need to do weathering and stuff to make it look right I think. For now I'll leave that to the plastic guys. I'm really getting into figuring out what I need to build the Young America, but I'm afraid I might be going a bit *too* large doing it at 1/48 scale. I would definitely have to move it out of my shop before very much rigging was done or it would never come out of the shop without tearing down a wall. It's a big model even at 1/72 scale, but go big or go home.. or something. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 00:49
|
|
|
Phi230 posted:This miniart building I bought loving sucks to put together. Does anyone have any better recommendations for 1/35 buildings? What are you having problems with? I've not built one personally, but there are some great tutorials on youtube of how to tackle them. In other news, here's my latest project. After slogging through a couple long complex builds, I wanted to do something quick, fun, and easy. So, I grabbed the Revell of Germany 1/32 FW-190F-8 kit off the shelf and this is what came out. I'm making no pretenses whatsoever to be perfectly historically accurate, but the general idea is to convey a forgotten and abandoned FW-190 that was stuffed under some low trees and covered with tarps for camouflage from roving allied fighter bombers. There were quite a few of these scattered around Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1945. I found the "Yellow K" paint scheme referenced in a 1/48 Eduard kit and decided to do up some masks on my Silhouette cutter to match. Pretty much everything else is straight out of the box. The kit itself is really nice, especially for the cost. It went from "in the box" to "mostly built" in about 7 hours. That includes painting, decaling, and weathering the cockpit. The cowling was the only finicky part, but a lot of tape and liquid superglue had it coming out pretty nicely. The exhaust stacks where they meet with the cylinder heads were short-shot in one area, but since I was going with a closed cowling, it wasn't a big deal. It would've been a deal breaker on a cowl-open build though. Paints were MRP and weathering was done with oils, Mig washes, and pigments. The trees are twisted wire covered with plaster and woodland scenics foliage. Tarp is tissue paper laid down with white glue and water, then painted in situ. Ground work is still a skill I'm working to improve, but I'm reasonably happy with how everything turned out.    Full album here
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 01:41
|
|
|
Re: miniart buildings; get some blue isolation foam and make a building yourself. Miniart makes great accesories like windows, doors and such, but for the walls I would just use some foam, wooden coffee stirrers etc.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 02:27
|
|
|
Gewehr 43 posted:What are you having problems with? I've not built one personally, but there are some great tutorials on youtube of how to tackle them. Assembly and fitting. God drat its gap-a-mania on this thing. Gonna need like a pound of putty. Would love to see tutorials because I've only found the official tutorial which is lacking to say the least.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 02:45
|
|
|
Molentik posted:Re: miniart buildings; get some blue isolation foam and make a building yourself. Miniart makes great accesories like windows, doors and such, but for the walls I would just use some foam, wooden coffee stirrers etc. Can you link the specific foam? Can this foam be used as a diorama base? Can I buy it at a hobby store? I'm building a street diorama with a ruined building and I've been looking for something to scratch build the street and sidewalks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 02:47
|
|
|
Phi230 posted:Can you link the specific foam? Can this foam be used as a diorama base? Can I buy it at a hobby store? I'm talking about XPS foam, its like 'normal' styrofoam used for packing but much denser so you can carve/scribe it. Most hobbystores worth their salt have it, but you can get a 1,5x1,5m plate at the hardware store for much cheaper, you just have to pull off the metal foil off it to use. You can glue it with white glue, other glues might melt it. AK also sells it for a huge markup, its the same stuff as the hardware store stuff but like 20x more expensive. https://ak-interactive.com/product/construction-foam-6-and-10mm-blue-foam-high-density-195x295mm-includes-2-sheets/
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 03:36
|
|
|
You can also get Foamular at many hardware stores, which is the same stuff but without the foil layer on it. The big panels come in light(er) and heavy densities, and the hobby panels come in a medium density. Great stuff. Home Depot also carries standard styrofoam sheets for infinitely cheaper than hobby/craft stores. Last time I checked they had large multi-sheet bulk packs for the same price Michaels was selling a single smaller sheet for.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 04:09
|
|
|
The Locator posted:Excellent. It's good to be at the finish line! If I ever build a ship with sails it will likely be with them all furled for the reason you state - don't want to cover my pretty work up! I never did get around to putting a case over Serenity, she just sits out in the open collecting dust. Luckily my house isn't very dusty. I carry the model into the workshop and dust it off with the air compressor periodically. It is weird to get this close to the finishing line on a model that has stumped me in the past. I don't see me ever building a model with sails because I find that the fabric rarely looks right to scale, and I have seen too many models on which those sails are dust traps. Our house isn't very dusty either, but I would like to protect the model as much as I can. Next model is likely to be an un-rigged, semi planked Bounty that one can pick up from its cradle and admire the structure of the hull, and the layout of the decks, but that paper model of CGS Canada keeps whispering that it deserves to be built in a more honest material than paper...
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 08:49
|
|
|
I like the mini diorama but shouldn't the tree on the left side of the plane be broken from the wing going through it?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 11:02
|
|
|
If I'm a complete novice looking to get into model building can someone recommend some good online stores in Europe (UK/DE) and maybe a good place to start model wise? I have no experience besides very badly painting Warhammer miniatures as a kid 20 years ago, and have no equipment. I want to try and make small dioramas, but figured it would be good to have something to actually put into them. I don't really have any idea on where to start model-wise, some people have recommended a Spitfire from Tamiya but I'm not really sure.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 11:23
|
|
|
Furism posted:I like the mini diorama but shouldn't the tree on the left side of the plane be broken from the wing going through it? Looks more to me like a plane that was parked there for camouflage, and one of the landing gear has collapsed from ground action.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 11:24
|
|
|
NTRabbit posted:Looks more to me like a plane that was parked there for camouflage, and one of the landing gear has collapsed from ground action. Yep, lots of German aircraft were abandoned in Czechoslovakia at the end of the war. They were often pushed under trees and covered with various things like tarps and netting to help hide them from allied fighters.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 14:35
|
|
|
Fearless posted:It is weird to get this close to the finishing line on a model that has stumped me in the past. I don't see me ever building a model with sails because I find that the fabric rarely looks right to scale, and I have seen too many models on which those sails are dust traps. Our house isn't very dusty either, but I would like to protect the model as much as I can. Yeah, sails are a science. When furling them you have to make the sails way undersized or they end up way too large when furled for the scale. I've seen guys use paper for sails to very good effect also. Don't be too quick to dis a paper model, have you seen some of the paper models on modelshipworld? There is a Royal Carolyne that is amazing and I wouldn't know other than the fact that the builder tells us, that it's paper.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 17:11
|
|
|
Anyone have recommendations on a Vallejo Model Air color or alternative single-color, airbrush-friendly acrylic that matches TIE Fighters from ESB or RotJ? My best lead so far is Vallejo's Dark Ghost Grey but I'm not sure if it has the the blue tint of the latter OT TIE Fighters or if it's a straight light grey from ANH, which isn't the color I'm going for. I know there's some color mixing options but I'm lazy.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 18:47
|
|
|
Communist Walrus posted:Asked this in a separate thread but figured it might get some responses here: Anyone have positive or negative experiences with these printable transfer/decal sheets? Or have another brand you'd recommend? I'll get back to you, I bought some after seeing your earlier post, but I won't be near a laser printer for a week.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 18:54
|
|
|
BOGO LOAD posted:Anyone have recommendations on a Vallejo Model Air color or alternative single-color, airbrush-friendly acrylic that matches TIE Fighters from ESB or RotJ? My best lead so far is Vallejo's Dark Ghost Grey but I'm not sure if it has the the blue tint of the latter OT TIE Fighters or if it's a straight light grey from ANH, which isn't the color I'm going for. I know there's some color mixing options but I'm lazy. Dark blue grey or along those lines/ dark grey blue or dark blue pale? Perhaps medium or dark sea gray too Phi230 fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Nov 26, 2020 |
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 18:57
|
|
|
The Locator posted:Yeah, sails are a science. When furling them you have to make the sails way undersized or they end up way too large when furled for the scale. I've seen guys use paper for sails to very good effect also. I've built paper models before and I think they are very much an acquired taste. There are definitely some incredible paper models out there; MSW has some spectacular German warships rendered in paper as I recall, but it is not a material I particularly enjoy working with for model building.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 19:12
|
|
|
BOGO LOAD posted:Anyone have recommendations on a Vallejo Model Air color or alternative single-color, airbrush-friendly acrylic that matches TIE Fighters from ESB or RotJ? My best lead so far is Vallejo's Dark Ghost Grey but I'm not sure if it has the the blue tint of the latter OT TIE Fighters or if it's a straight light grey from ANH, which isn't the color I'm going for. I know there's some color mixing options but I'm lazy. Try Vallejo Intermediate Blue (FS36176). It's nearly a perfect match for the TIE fighter blue.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 19:39
|
|
|
mllaneza posted:I'll get back to you, I bought some after seeing your earlier post, but I won't be near a laser printer for a week. Much obliged. After I posted that, I was poking around through my phone notes and found that at some point I'd bothered to write down these. Still waiting for them to arrive but I'll follow up in this thread once I give them a shot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2020 19:48
|
|
|
Triggerhappypilot posted:Try Vallejo Intermediate Blue (FS36176). It's nearly a perfect match for the TIE fighter blue. I'm pretty sure this is what I used on mine. I wasn't really trying for an exact match I just really love that paint.  Vallejo also makes a Star Fighter color set that includes a couple different greys, I don't know if how well those match.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 02:04
|
|
|
Lol at that box art. I see what you're doing, Vallejo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 02:24
|
|
|
Fearless posted:I've built paper models before and I think they are very much an acquired taste. There are definitely some incredible paper models out there; MSW has some spectacular German warships rendered in paper as I recall, but it is not a material I particularly enjoy working with for model building. That's a pretty important thing. If you aren't enjoying it the end result probably isn't gonna be very good.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 04:14
|
|
|
Bucnasti posted:I'm pretty sure this is what I used on mine. I wasn't really trying for an exact match I just really love that paint. Thanks for the pic. When I looked up Intermediate Blue I thought the swatch looked a bit darker than expected but the image you provided looks great. Meanwhile, I kinda fell further down the rabbit hole and found the claim that the original paint color used for the film was Pactra's “Stormy Sea Blue,” which is long out of production. With that was the claim that Tamiya's TS-32 Haze Gray is an almost exact match. Intermediate Blue appeared darker than Haze Gray, so I went a little mad and downloaded a number of Vallejo swatch images and used photoshop to compare the HSB values.  Intermediate Blue is in the bottom right. The closes match to TS-32 seems to be Vallejo's Pale Blue (71.008) in the top left. With this comes the added rub: Though the original model makers used Stormy Sea Blue on the figures, the lighting used during filming brightened the color of the ship entirely, which makes a hunt for the original color sort of moot. I might be overthinking my first scale model.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 04:55
|
|
|
The swatches never look like what they do in real life, they can only get close Also the color changes with scale. The same color looks different on 2 separate scale models at different scales.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 04:59
|
|
|
Also monitor calibration affects things dramatically. But yeah, the original ISDs are pure white. Accurately colour matching Star Wars stuff is almost impossible. Just go with what "feels" right to you.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 05:58
|
|
|
Arquinsiel posted:Just go with what "feels" right to you. This is really the right answer. Unless you’re doing a commission or similar where you’re trying to match a particular vehicle that exists and you can sample you’re going to drive yourself to a level of unease that will end with you arguing over the definition of “khaki.”
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 06:59
|
|
|
just do what I did for the romulan warbird I’m going to build. find between 5-10 good stills of it, use the color picker tool to make sample blotches, then average the color together, and then use the imodelkit app to match a paint mix to the average
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2020 07:04
|
|
|
Hey nerds of small things, do you have suggestions for a beginner wooden ship model? My father requested a model ship for Christmas, but he doesn't have any specific one in mind. He used to do some models as a kid but hasn't done any in decades, although he is very artistic in general.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 05:03
|
|
|
Midjack posted:This is really the right answer. Unless you’re doing a commission or similar where you’re trying to match a particular vehicle that exists and you can sample you’re going to drive yourself to a level of unease that will end with you arguing over the definition of “khaki.”
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 13:56
|
|
|
Radio! posted:Hey nerds of small things, do you have suggestions for a beginner wooden ship model? My father requested a model ship for Christmas, but he doesn't have any specific one in mind. He used to do some models as a kid but hasn't done any in decades, although he is very artistic in general. The Model Shipways 18th century longboat is a reasonably simple build that is a great starting kit. It's affordable, can be built with simple tools, and turns out a really nice little model.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 14:34
|
|
|
general question about greeblies/kitbash pieces do you try to organize them somehow or do you have a single big container of kit bits that you free associate on to your spaceship model (just realized this is really similar to the divide in lego builders between organization and chaos)
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 17:07
|
|
|
I’ll keep extra pieces/sprues in their original boxes until I need space and then I’ll consolidate into a big jumbled mess in a single box
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 17:09
|
|
|
Raskolnikov38 posted:just do what I did for the romulan warbird I’m going to build. find between 5-10 good stills of it, use the color picker tool to make sample blotches, then average the color together, and then use the imodelkit app to match a paint mix to the average This kinda what I did for my Vor’cha class. But more “does this look right” than science. Speaking of, I over-sprayed a little / let the tape peel away when I was hitting the nacelles. I used tamiya acrylic to paint this. Is there a substance I can use to get the acrylic off but not melt my plastic into a pile of Klingon dishonor? Where I went d’oh.  Action shot 
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 17:43
|
|
|
Isopropyl alcohol will clean tamiya acrylic right up. Use a q-tip so you don’t go overboard.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 18:23
|
|
|
Alright, paint question time. Right now I'm using Revell enamel paints with the occasional tin of Humbrol enamel for stuff I don't feel like mixing up that's not part of the Revell gamma. However, the chain of stores I usually get my paint from appears to slowly be phasing out Revell enamels. They also don't offer them online, and sites like Amazon are too expensive, especially when it comes to shipping. Went to three different locations in the past weeks because I needed some refills but was unable to find them. As a result I'm considering switching to Revell Aqua (acrylics) instead as it's much more easily available and it'll make cleanup a lot easier, as well as giving me much faster drying times. Replacing my entire stash in one go would be quite costly though, so I'm considering doing it in phases based on what I'm building at the time. I already know I'm not supposed to mix the two types, but are there any issues I should be aware of when combining them on one model as in painting certain bits with acrylics and others with enamel? As I'm a brush painter I'm also thinking I might have to replace the brushes, which is not really an issue but will require me to keep a close eye on which brushes I use. I mainly build Revell kits at this moment, but I'm also looking at other brands and kits and have a bunch in my stash so I might have to branch out and get more acrylics from other brands as well because mixing sucks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 20:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 18:29 |
|
|
ptier posted:This kinda what I did for my Vor’cha class. But more “does this look right” than science. Seconding the Q-tip and IPA. You can also sharpen a toothpick to a needle point and scrape out anything still stuck in the deepest recesses if you can't completely clear it with the swab and it shouldn't score your plastic. I think you've got just about the perfect shade of seafoam-y green. -- I've been a lazy piece of poo poo and the only model I've built this month was a 1/144 P-40 from AFV Club. I'm not happy with how it turned out, and I really wish I had learned about the 1st Air Command Group markings I could have slapped on this thing before I painted it, instead of literally while I was waiting for the topcoat to dry.    Model quality is okay - better than Revell, not as good as Sweet. The cockpit fitment is especially weird - the cockpit windows slide into a sort of clip, then gets glued to the fuselage. I'm not a fan. The tailwheel is molded directly into one of the fuselage halves, which is convenient, but it's also fragile as hell and keeps collapsing under the very minimal weight of the model itself. I've got some Platz 1/144th kits coming at some point in the indeterminate future, and I'm looking forward to comparing them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2020 21:06
|
|
