The Ship Model Forum

Hi Will,

thanks !

EZ Line is really good stuff, its stretching capacity is incredible and guarantees good results even to the most careless user...

As for the ships they are of course 100% scratchbuilt (95% to be fair and honest : a few bits from the trade here and there, especially photoetched details that I can't or don't want to produce myself) :

- HMS Rodney based on the drawings of a well known Polish company (sorry can't remember the name, probably easily found on the web) who printed them on purpose at 1/72° scale (around 100 euros as far I can remember)

- Vosper Perkasa based on the well known Tamiya kit, with all dimensions measured and enlarged from 1/72° to 1/24°

- all the others, as easily guessed, 100% from my somewhat disturbed French mind : being an industrial designer by trade, I've got a bit of training for that...

Hey spottier, wonderful work,
may I ask where did you get your ships boats from or did you construct them yourself?. How did you go with the EZ line,
Cheers, Will

Hi,
just a quick overview of all main components brought together !
It helps sometimes when you've got the feeling that it doesn't make progress fast enough...
A lot of work still ahead, of course, but it's quite satisfying to see the whole lot more or less taking shape.

Yes probably, although this is a matter of personal feelings : real scale at 1/350 means you may barely see the rigging indeed !
0.25 EZ Line stuff is probably out of scale "mathematically" speaking, yet will be visible on the model.
Worth the 16 € expense anyway, even for trial, as the material itself is really up to the job and makes this very tricky task really easy and foolproof.
Stephane

Do you think the 0.25 would be ok for 1/350 ships.

Hi,

as promised, first feedback about EZ Line rigging wire :

- stuff itself and material is up to the promise : very elastic and almost unbreakable, easy to bond with small drops of CA glue...

- unfortunately I selected the "wrong" gauge, listed at 0.25mm on a French shop site, and really way too thin for battleship rigging at 1/72 scale. In fact it's meant to be used to telephone posts wiring at HO scale (1/87)... It's so thin on the 1/72 HMS Rodney that it's not far from invisible !

- I've just ordered the "0.50mm" gauge that should be more suitable for the purpose : report and hopefully photos next week then

Apart from this mistake I've got no doubt that this the right stuff for the purpose though !

Stephane

Hi,
EZ Line stuff will probably be there today and will be experienced immediately : I'll let you know my first impressions and photos very soon indeed !

Words fail me, wonderful work. Thanks for mentioning the EZ line wire as I have been scratching my head for some time wondering what I was going to use on my model - many thanks!
cheers, Will

Hi,
main superstructure well on its way now, fully weathered and mostly detailed...
Next step is rigging and I've ordered some EZ Line elastic wire that I've heard about for some time and that I'll be trying for the purpose : easy to stretch and bond so that it stays straight and tense forever it seems. Ideal stuff on the paper vs the classic cotton thread and its well known shortcomings...
Next step is back to the hull - endless - planking, painting and weathering all main and secondary turrets, and of course a long step of detail and equipments of the main bridge.
Spring is exploding outside meanwhile : painting the 3 meters hull outside is planned for this summer (you may buy Tamiya spraycans shares right now for a quick profit ahead !).
Now enjoying early retirement at 59, I'm creating a small modelling association in the nearby small town of Isigny (destroyed at 90% on D-Day) to initiate youngsters (and adults if any) to our favourite and so satisfying hobby.
Enjoy your hobby and everything else of course !

Hi,
yes, Tonnerre and Charles de Gaulle look amazing for sure, this is what you probably meant...
Don't know if Tamiya rattle cans were used to paint them though...
So I'm not alone - an easy guess - in the "I hate doing the other side of things" movement !
Please note that my addiction for static waterline models cleverly (!) avoids having to do another half of the hull (and the most complicated !) : probably doing half-waterline-hull models is the ultimate lazyness way.
Not sure about the floating qualities though...
Is it now clear that the hull is not my favourite part of ship modelling ?
Cheers
Stephane

Looking amazing!!, your post on the 10th of Feb gave me a laugh - I was just looking at my ship and bemoaning the fact I had to duplicate what I had done on one side, to the other. But I don't think a half hull would float very well....
cheers, Will

Hi, more than 20°C in Normandy today... in February !
I won't complain, a great day to spray big components outside (and so increasing climatic disorders in the process...) : Tamiya spraycans for those who want to know, a bit pricey due to the model size but a guaranteed spotless finish.
A great week-end in French main Mediterranean naval base of Toulon to visit real warships before my midship son leaves for five months across the seas : BPC Tonnerre on the left, and yes, our sole nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on the right, days before it leaves after an extensive two years mid-life reconditioning.
All that's above freely accessible information on the web, so I'm not spoiling any classified information here !

Well, let's go then for weathering, here only on the main tower to start with !
I'm quite familiar with the techniques on 1/35 armour models I'm building alongside for years, I was just a bit fearing the size of the task ahead for a 1/72 HMS Rodney.
I'm keeping it light though, the aim being just to make the surface detail stand out, and avoid the unrealistic bland "new" look.
Technique is dead simple : artist oil colours heavily diluted with "White Spirit", as we call it here in France. General "wash" to break the visually surfaces, and of course natural accumulation in corners and along stripes, as in reality.
Two successive coats (allow a bit of time to dry between both), the first one in black, the second and lighter one with orange for rust.
Application of the "rust" is not the same, and will be only applied on corners, and bits like in reality naturally attract rust.
A general rule is to apply large vertical strokes with an almost dry wide brush, again duplicating reality.
All these techniques are very widely described everywhere for 1/35 armour weathering, with incredible levels of realism, plus of course added mud and the like, that not apply here.
It's really essential to avoid the "heavy hand" effect at that stage as it can really ruin the whole thing.
I'm satisfied with the result so far, and won't go any further : a coat of Tamiya matt varnish will smooth and protect the whole finish.
The challenge will now be to keep the weathering finish reasonably even and consistent all along the three meters model, hull included !

Hi Chris,
thanks for the comments and please bring on HMS TIGER soon !
I'm really into static models hence the waterline choice, and my own personal feeling is that the real view of any ship is on the water : I don't feel comfortable with full hull models... out of the water ! Feels wrong to me, yet again my very personal feeling.
I've got a project of R/C ship but it will be a 1/10 scale ELCO 80 or German S-Boote, in the future though.
Ah, the 1/72 portholes ! Good question... I love the fact of keeping cost of scratchbuilding close to zero (building out of nothing, if you prefer), hence my permanent quest of free plywood off-cuts and the like, or wandering in DIY shops just looking at bits and pieces and trying to imagine what they could figure at 1/72 scale : as an example the mushroom vents are dead cheap CHC screws with just the head smoothed with filler.
Similarly the hull portholes are... shoelaces eyelets, again bought very cheaply by hundreds on the web or specialized shops.
No glass of course, but personally I'm not bothered about that.
On the upper structures, I use small sections of aluminium tubing set into drilled holes, plus a small gutter above, from bended 0.5 mm brass wiring.
Please don't ask "why different portholes" between hull and upper structures : couldn't explain the fact myself !!!!

HI Spottier
im a newby on this forum an I have been looking through your build an I think you are a fanstastic builder on the Rodney though I just wish she was made to sail on the wet stuff.But that's up to you if you enjoy doin a water line model that's great as that's what this hobby is about great work an its given me quite a lot of enjoyment just looking at your builds . But a question if I may where did you purchase your 1/72 scale port holes ? an have they got glass fitted in them ?


as i build fairly big model R/C model warships i am soon to start building HMS TIGER converted into a helicopter carrier in year 1978 in 1/72 scale i have just bought the plans on 6 sheets to scratchbuild her as i have never seen anyone else build her so it should be one of a kind.Anyway back to your build i'll be following your build as i really enjoy it happy building

chris

It's beautiful!!

Hi Jorge,
I totally agree, and funnily enough I'm well into weathering on 1/35 armour kits I'm building alongside big scale warships !
I think my hesitation goes back very far, to my fascination as a kid with Paris naval museum big scale models, that were never weathered...
Just have to break that mental link and move ahead.
Stephane

Hi Spottier. I think that is a question of preferences, but in my opinión, weathering is the way models come to life.

Jorge

Thanks Jorge !
I'm following your fine build and your work makes me thinking about weathering, to enhance details and bring a more realistic look altogether...

Wow, beautiful ship and impressive size

Jorge