The Ship Model Forum

Good idea about painting/spraying the decal paper the same colour as the ship, definitely a solution to the possible yellowing of the decal, perhaps I should have done it that way. Unfortunately it won´t work well in case of a splotched camouflage like on Vincennes - I can´t imagine how to align the splotches.

Nice to see this worked out. I'd considered using it in the past. For some of the old-school filming miniatures they'd use vinyl tape for just such a purpose, and paint over it. The thing is it wouldn't last too long, but they only needed it to last for the shot.

A possible solution is to paint the decal paper first, then cut and apply. That would cover up any decals and weathering, though.

Thanks for your comment, Dan. I found one reason against the paint first method so far: possible yellowing of the decal in the future. Let's see.

I'd also be concerned about the peeling of the paint with a mask, unless the adhesive was very light. Don;t know if that's a possibility.

Painting first - well Astoria certainly looks nice.

You may have to experiment a bit with a hulk hull.

Thank you, Dan and Martin! Actually I started thinking about using this method on my future builds. I just hesitate at which stage it would be ideal to do this (in a planned way, not as a last resort like in the case above :) ). The catch is what if the ship was camouflaged, e.g. USS Vincennes in the Ms12 splotch camo, that one would like to use masking tape for. If the hull plating/decals are applied first, which is what my conservative part is suggesting, I´d be concerned about peeling of the first coat of paint - or even the decal! - while removing the masking tape. Using a matt coat for the decal instead of gloss may be an option how to improve the adherence of the paint. The other possibility is to do the painting first, exactly as on the Astoria. Vincennes even had less portholes so less area to avoid. What are your thoughts?

[quote="Dan K"][i]It actually seems this method provides a crisper appearance of the plating than spraying over the mask. [/i]

Agreed. Nice adaptation, Vladi.[/quote]
Yes, agreed.

[i]It actually seems this method provides a crisper appearance of the plating than spraying over the mask. [/i]

Agreed. Nice adaptation, Vladi.

Hi all, my Astoria build has been on hold for quite some time as I put more priority into finishing USS Wilson last year and then into my Australia project. But now it´s time to move on with Astoria, too!

Just after spraying her with the gloss coat and adding decals of hull numbers and the ships´name I realized I totally forgot I wished to add hull plating! My original intention was to create the plating using a masking tape and airbrushing Mr. Base White but for whatever reason I forgot to do it before painting the hull. So I was in a situation when the paint was there so using my usual method would mean doing it all once again, with an added danger of overspraying the base coat to where I didn´t want it, adding too much layers to the delicate railings etc.

What to do? I considered masking the plates and spraying more gloss coat but I thought there was a danger of messing up the build. So what about using a clear decal? I draw the outlines of the hull plating in Inkscape and printed them on a printable transparent decal paper. Then I applied three thick layers of Tamiya gloss clear with a brush to gain some visible thickness (how often do you want it to be visible :heh: ). The next morning I cut inside the printed lines by Exacto blade and applied the decals over the hull. Some corrections were needed so I removed them before they set. I also found out that using a decal softener should only be the very last step to get out any remaining air bubbles, otherwise it can ruin the work. The second attempt already turned out quite satisfactorily. It actually seems this method provides a crisper appearance of the plating than spraying over the mask. The obvious disadvantage indeed is it only works if there are no portholes or other details on the raised plates, so I had to just miss the prop guards and the open portholes on the bow.

I´ll continue with weathering the ship in my usual way using artistic oil paints. Let´s see how will it look like when the next steps are finished.

Lovely. I agree about skipping the oil canning.

I declined attempting to imitate oil-canning as it was unnoticeable on wartime Astoria photos because of her 5-N paint (unlike on e.g. fantail of USS Quincy).

Some corrections and additions done after airbrushing.
[attachment=3]20230304 Astoria corr 1.jpg[/attachment][attachment=2]20230304 Astoria corr 3.jpg[/attachment]
Status as of today. Deck painted 20-B, attached funnels and vent under the searchlight platform. Started painting details and railings. Adding details to the bridge.
[attachment=1]20230312 Astoria fwd.jpg[/attachment][attachment=0]20230312 Astoria aft.jpg[/attachment]

Some more work done although no updates posted in the meantime.

[b]Motor boats[/b]
Two 40ft motor launches and one 26 ft whale boat were located on the hangar roof of Astoria in July-August 1942. Maybe this was the whale boat originally found davits on the port side of the well deck?

I used the awesome Shelf Oddity boats, in case of 40ft launches with my PE rudders and railings. It turned out I forgot to address rudders for the 26ft boats so I adapted those provided in the GMM USN cruisers sheet. Life rings were made from 0.3mm brass wire bent over 0.5mm rod.
[attachment=2]20230227 Astoria motor boats fwd.jpg[/attachment][attachment=3]20230227 Astoria motor boats aft.jpg[/attachment]
Getting ready for airbrush!
[attachment=0]20230227 Astoria read for airbrush 1.jpg[/attachment][attachment=1]20230227 Astoria read for airbrush 2.jpg[/attachment]

I use CA the same way, put a drop on a used medication tray and then apply using thin wire or pin.
I use cloth to clean the nozzle but it gets clogged over time anyway. Using 1 gramm CA package means it would not get thicker as it takes less time to finish it.

[quote="Vladi"]
[i]BTW: saw the pin vise and drills you posted on your blog - these can be bought very cheap on Aliexpress[/i] :cool_1:[/quote]

[i]Oh yes that was a few years ago. I purchased a large order of very thin drillbits ranging from 0.1 to 1 mm (plus the USB soldering unit) on Aliexpress thereafter[/i] :big_grin:

[quote="Vladi"]
I use cheap brands and preferably in 1g packaging because I´ve never been able to prevent the nozzle from getting clogged after having been using it for some (not so long) time. I tried some of the more expensive with a teflon nozzle but the result was about the same, just with more waste as the packaging was larger :heh:
[/quote]

I do pretty much the same (Loctite Superglue mainly), after a couple of months of use the glue gets thicker and loses its capillarity effect. Found that storing the CA packages into small sealing plastic bags closed in plastic or glass tupperwares slows the drying process to some extent. Also, cleaning the nozzles lumen with twisted blotting paper after each use prevents them to clog. The clogging of the nozzles isn't a big problem as i use a drop of CA and use a glue applicator made of a thin wire (0.03 mm to 0.06 mm- Shelf Oddity/Blacman wire is ideal) instead of gluing directly from the nozzle

Hi SG1, thank you. Yes, I use an USB soldering unit and solder wire and sometimes solder paste, but only really for the main joints like attaching floor to the bridge sides to give it structural strength. I will solder the foremast to the bridge when I´m done, too, for the same reason, but it will be a bit tricky as I need to paint the bridge before that.

For everything else I use the CA glue and CA gel because these are easier to repair/reposition if something went wrong. I use cheap brands and preferably in 1g packaging because I´ve never been able to prevent the nozzle from getting clogged after having been using it for some (not so long) time. I tried some of the more expensive with a teflon nozzle but the result was about the same, just with more waste as the packaging was larger :heh:

[i]BTW: saw the pin vise and drills you posted on your blog - these can be bought very cheap on Aliexpress[/i] :cool_1:

Vladi excellent progress so far. :woo_hoo: Did you solder the main bridge components as you did for the mast? if so the soldered joints are flawless, and considering how small is the bridge that's a remarkable feat.

Are you using the usb soldering unit coupled with ordinary solder wire or the (Koki) paste ?

on standby for the next updates

[b]Main bridge[/b]

I reported about the main bridge already before, only some corrections were left to be done like non-ideal fit on the back of the bridge etc. Wind baffles came out too large in the previous attempt so have been amended on both navigating and signal bridges.

Flag bags were added to the signal bridge. I used the FiveStar overlay for the fire control top and added some ladders, railings, door and a scratchbuilt support for the Mk28 director.

Bulwarks are still missing from the battle lookout platform (fwd of 1.1 splinter shields) as the platform itself can still be removed to provide access to the navigating bridge below to allow for painting and installation of the crew and other details.

All levels are dry-fit only.[attachment=0]20230226 Astoria main bridge combo.png[/attachment]

Glad you like her, Dan. I learned a lot about attention to detail from you, thanks again!

Great research and beautiful detailing, Vladi.

[b]Main turrets[/b]

This is another feature where the New Orleans class members varied. Well-known is the difference between Mark 9 guns in “round face” turrets and the slimmer Mark 12 guns in “flat face” turrets. The other difference is less obvious – were flat vents added to the turrets in the thirties. These appear on all class members except of San Francisco, but most units had them on sides below the local fire directors. Quincy had them slightly (1/2 of width) more forward compared to the others, but Astoria was another exception as she had them located on the back side of the turret.
[attachment=3]20230224 NO class turret vents comparison.png[/attachment]
I noticed this difference already two years ago when we worked with Justin / Red Devil Design on his 3D model. For some reason I forgot to include this feature in the [url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B-uK2B7nV7WUxAiYatTqsJLiYmEqbqRJ/view?usp=share_link]New Orleans class comparison table (as of 1942)[/url] previously, it´s been updated now.
Matt / Kraken Hobbies kindly printed these turrets for me in 1/700. There were some visible printing layer lines on turret faces that I tried to make less obvious by liquid putty. The one missing barrel was lost to the carpet monster, waiting for Matt kindly providing a replacement.
[attachment=2]20230224 Astoria 8in turrets combo.png[/attachment]
[b]Foremast and mainmast[/b]

Both masts were completed using my PE details. The SC radar, a weathervane and TBS antenna are missing, will be added later.
[attachment=1]20230224 Astoria foremast combo.png[/attachment][attachment=0]20230224 Astoria mainmast combo.png[/attachment]

[b]Funnels[/b]
My recent [url=http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=6603&p=1021000&sid=2cf734e51d70d8f8361fc27ffb2af2f0#p1021000]question in the CASF NO class thread[/url] did not bring any answers. To recap what was it about:

[i]While trying to redo the piping on Astoria´s forward smokestack I spotted another minor difference between New Orleans class members. The leftmost photo below shows the pipe leading to the port whistle on Astoria „switching sides“ from starboard to port side of the funnel below the whistle platform (let´s call it the „knot“).[/i]
[attachment=2]20230216 NO class 1st batch whistle piping comparison.png[/attachment]
[i]I checked about her sisters and noticed that this pipe went straight on Minneapolis and San Francisco. New Orleans had no whistles/pipes there until her December 1944 refit. Later there was a „knot“, too, but different from Astoria. All cruisers of the second batch (Tuscaloosa, Quincy and Vincennes) had whistles on the aft funnel without any „knot“.[/i]

As the exact arrangement on Astoria remains unclear I decided to continue in the “logical way” – to lead the piping from the “knot” straight down along the other pipe on the starboard side. This is the result:
[attachment=1]20230223 Astoria fwd funnel combo2.png[/attachment]
This is the aft funnel, I found no variations there:
[attachment=0]20230223 Astoria aft funnel combo.jpg[/attachment]
[b]Searchlight tower[/b]
[i]Edit: The tower I showed here was actually incorrect for Astoria! Astoria had a design that I already got ready as can be seen above on this page. Will address this in some next post[/i]

What´s next?