The Ship Model Forum

Hi all, I'm new to ship building having built aircraft for years. My first model is the 1/350 Academy USS Oliver Hazard Perry which I intend to spray paint and I'd appreciate any advice on the order of construction and painting. Is it recommended to build the majority of the ship spray the light gray and then mask everything to paint the dark gray top surfaces or are the best results created by taking a modular construction approach?

Any comments greatly appreciated.

Hull and deck, then superstructure, guns and then "odds 'n sods" last.

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A Toast: "To the lesser of two weevils". Capt. "Lucky Jack" Aubrey
in the yard,
U.S.S. Oregon
U.S.R.C. Harriet Lane

For over forty years I haven,t veered from this approach .The hull gets assembled , cleaned up and then painted with light grey auto primer , checked for any flaws and then wash painted in the appropriate color. Then I do the hull red , or green or whatever is required and then the boot stripe .While it,s drying I do the deckhouses as modules as far as I can take them . Then I go back and take the hull with the bottom protected with "SARAN WRAP .(That clingy stuff for wrapping sandwiches .) Install the pre painted deck and let sit for a day or two in a dust free area . If you are going to mount the ship on a custom base (lamp finials of brass or chrome mounted on a board made from MAHOGANY or stained wood .Do the drilling and mounting BEFORE you mount the deck ).Now where were we ? Oh , okay now take care , and if your ship needs decals or painted details on the deck do them now. Next the main-deck houses and weapons . (all painted beforehand ) . You may want to add photoetched ladders at this time .Do NOT add the rails until you are finished with the ship UNLESS the instructions call for it , or you,re good enough to do this as you go ! Now you are at the masts and sthuff ! Hmm , I always paint these last and install ALL the P.E. I can BEFORE , I mount it or them , again if you can ! Come back from the top of the ship and install All the rails .(Quick tip)( You can bend ALL the P.E. to shape Before you build or assemble certain items and then install now!) There are some that CANNOT be done beforehand .You will see which (be patient ) .Now go back and carefully with the ship upright install the shafts and rudders .I am sure , at least I hope ,if it got a dome or whatever you put it on at the beginning . There you have it from my perspective .That,s the way I do it with few if any alterations in the steps . commodore4

Hi, Welcome to the forum I'm building the Perry right now as she was when I was stationed on her. It is a learning experience for me as well but I would agree with previous posts. Do as much of the fine stuff in sub units as possible. I'm waiting right now for some more PE to arrive but I've got plenty to do with all the small stuff.

This shows some of the small stuff I'm working on


And this shows the hull in a holder I made up


Just take your time and look over the instructions often to plan ahead. I'm really enjoying this build even is it seems like a lot of work. I would also sugest joining a local model club if possible, the guys in my club have tons of experience and ideas for anything I might build.

Enjoy the build

Sean

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Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
Albert Einstein

In Drydock:
Academy 1/350 Oliver Hazard Perry w/ PE and resin parts.

I am building the Trumpeter 1/350 USS Arleigh Burke. Do you know what the width of the boot stripe should be on this model?
Thanks!
Scott

Redkiwi, I did the long hull version last year. You can check out the build here
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=202096

I’ve taken meatloaf’s build approach in terms of order of assembly. That works well.
My latest works have been primed in satin black. Then i start the primary painting. Decks 1st as it’s easy to mask the flat surface before doing bulkheads. Sometimes I do the superstructure separate and place it after the main deck is painted for ease of assembly. I do this if the fit is really good and i know the seam line won’t show. If some of the small stuff like torpedo tubes, the whip antennas, or the radar amidship would shadow the paint then i leave those off and paint them separately before attaching. I try to get as much on as possible before primer so that i get all glue marks covered up.

Chris

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

My FFG calculated out at 2mm based on drydock shots i found online. Looks like mark75 gunner is in about the same range looking behind that photobucket watermark, ugghh lol. Arleigh Burkes should be close. Look for some drydock shots and scale out the width of the boot stipe to the height of the hull to get a better estimate.

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

This looks like anything you ever wanted to know on the subject...

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_su ... 83894.aspx

T2