1/144 Scale USS STODDARD (DD-566) - Kitbash, Revell FLETCHER

[Fliger747]

Hank:

This is different than Willi's dry brush technique, but relies on the ink wanting to settle into the small crevices and depressions. Yes Inda ink and a small spotting brush. One can use a tissue to absorb too much ink from the high pints. Experiment on a spare....

Tom

[Willie]

Hi there Hank and all.

Dry brushing is the easiest thing ever.

Firstable you have to paint the parts in the usual way, as if you were not to dry brush at all. In the case of these grills I had to be a bit more careful than usual, as the details are really subtle, and I didn�t want to run the risk of runining them. I applied two layers of very thinned paint, 50%-50% paint and thinner, the same reference as the rest of the ship, in my case, Humbrol Matt 64. This allowed me to keep the details of the grills to perfection, actually as if they were not painted at all, but they were.

Then I applied two more layers of a darker grey, Humbrol Matt 79, even more diluted, say 40%-60%, trying to respect the thicker lines of the frames.

Then I went back to the original Matt 64, dipped the point of a flat Tamiya brush in the paint and dried it pressing between two pieces of cloth, and then rubbed softly on the same rag, until it barely left traces of the color. Now you have a dry brush.

Go back to your piece and rub slowly in circles on the grills or the details you have "treated", so that the details are enhaced (you will see it inmediately, and it is always better a bit too dry as a bit too wet), and repeat the process as many times a necessary. You can never make mistakes, as the amount of paint you will be adding in each stroke is so small, and you can stop inmediately as well, without further "damage". No risk of "overdoing" in this case.

Try first in some spare parts, as I am sure you have printed two sets of everything, but this process is as easy as can be.

Take a look at : viewtopic.php?f=59&t=163082&start=320

They are my topedo tubes with the full process.

Nice going in NC, and very best regards from this side,

Willie.

[BB62vet]

Willie,

Thanks for the instructions, etc. re. the "dry-brush" method. I'll give it a shot!

Hank

[Fliger747]

Thank Willie for taking the time to share you expertise. It would have been reasonable enough to just point us back to your previous explanations on your Jorge Juan build. An interesting ship with a rich history of it's own.

BTW Way Stoddard made a short cameo in "Greyhound" in the credits when she flashed her wartime bow numbers!

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

After comparing my 3D printed stacks vs the kit stacks, I realized that mine were about 1 deg. off on the setback angle and were not to scale. After all the work & printing & painting!!!

Well, that's part of the game - back to the computer to redraw and size!!! So, I made one stack body correct and then mated it to a scaled down base unit and after some hammering/welding/grinding and so forth, came up with both stacks as 2nd editions -

These stacks are the correct size and setback angle so they should work well - we shall see....

I now have a print file set up with a new set of stack vent covers and some deck fittings ready to print tomorrow a.m.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Wah Hail! An unsung advantage of printing is we CAN re do items. A hand constructed item, wha hail! To paraphrase Barry Goldwater: "In your heart you know it's right".

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Tom,

Ah yes, nothing like making it yourself!!!

The stacks came out ok - I was surprised a bit. One has a missing upper end to the vent pipe (stack on the left in the photo) so do I reprint or remove and use one of my spare printed ones??? I may reprint as the bottom of the stack bases (both) had a very slight rounding on the corners, due to, I suspect, the way I had them supported. If I do reprint, I'll print directly on the build platform and that will solve that issue. Here be da stacks:

And my current stock of stack caps will fit without having to reprint those. Nothing like small favors along the way

If I do use these, both of these parts have to be cleaned up a bit - they both had some of the "fuzzies" that I had to scrap off with either my fingernail or a small chisel blade X-acto. Again, not sure why those are showing up, but just a small aggravation.

Hank

[BB62vet]

Today's print run was quite successful, until I messed up the lower ladder section on the fwd. stack. So, I'll be using the one posted above in Tuesday's photo as it's only minor problem is the base will need some light sanding to flatten - other than that, it's quite usable.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Glad to see progress on Stoddard, as is typical with these projects we get distracted, but not being a commercial project with deadline we are free to proceed as we desire. I know you are getting large collection of components to add!

Best wishes! Tom

[BB62vet]

Tom,

Thanks! I do have two good stacks now, painted partially, and ready to add detailed parts, caps, etc. The re-design was quite successful and looks better, but getting the ladders to print completely on the fwd stack was a beach, I ended up adding a lower separate ladder in the end and that's the end of that!

Hank

[BB62vet]

While working on the Fwd Stack, I realized that the current design for my steam whistle & piping didn't quite fit properly. So, after another design change/print and then a 2nd one, I think I have one now that will fit and look fairly accurate -

I pulled both the stack & stack cap into this design file, assembled them together, and then redesigned the piping runs and platform to conform to the angle & shape of the front of the stack & stack cap. This was key to the whole thing.

Printed a few of these items last night and after curing this a.m. will paint and see how they fit!

Hank

[BB62vet]

After assembling the after stack with the new stack cap/fwd. yardarm assy., I realized (too late) that I had not taken into account the angle of the stack when I designed the cap/yardarm - thus everything looked like it was bent backwards, even though there's only perhaps 2-3 deg. of tilt to the stack (lookng from the side).

So, this morning I was fiddling around with the part wondering how to correct it and it fell out of my hands on the floor - breaking off the stack cap & yardarm and thus, solving that part of the problem. The cap, etc. is not usable, but it doesn't matter - has to be redesigned. This was an all-day challenge as the parts did not want to "move" so I was forced to create a new file, copy the stack cap alone into it, then copy the yardarm assembly into the new file. The yardarm assembly didn't want to copy as a SOLID, so it came across as a SURFACE which meant I spent all day redrawing the yardarm, instruments, platforms, grating, and both RADOMEs - finishing about an hour ago. I'll reprint a couple of these tomorrow morning and hope that one comes out usable. As usual, I make improvements where possible, and this is in the area of the RADOMEs which tend to collect liquid resin and can be messy. So, hopefully the new design will allow this to drain after printing while drying under the fan. I was able to make a 5.5 deg. angular change to the orientation of this yardarm in relation to the stack cap. I had also pulled in the after stack into the new file to make sure the cap was angled correctly. Here is a side view of the completed part after the SHIP-ALT was completed:

Next, I'll see about fitting the TED Mast to the stack cap - I've got a couple of these printed and this will be a small job in itself getting it located properly. I may actually get it located & cemented in place and then spray the entire stack cap/yardarm & mast flat black at one time - just needs a light coat as the black resin saves on using a thicker coat of paint.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Good luck Hank! Printing as one piece saves sometimes messy and difficult parts joining, however the unit can be easily spoiled by one of the peripheral antennas not printing. Looking forward to your progress!

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Good luck Hank! Printing as one piece saves sometimes messy and difficult parts joining, however the unit can be easily spoiled by one of the peripheral antennas not printing. Looking forward to your progress!
Cheers: Tom

Tom,
"Luck" is the key word here! Since my last post I've redesigned both the after stack, stack vent covers, and the stack cap/fwd yardarm assembly at least once, making structural changes to ensure that the print comes out as it should. I've now got 2 very good stacks being cured and 2 very good stack cap yardarm assemblies drying. I only need one each, but the spares could always come into play due to clumsiness. One other thing is that I included the intake vent covers as part of the stack itself rather than separate add on parts. This simplified and assured that they would be located correctly. Here is a picture of the stack as it is now configured:

When redesigning the intake vent covers, I went to the dimensioned drawing in the TFD FLETCHER Class Plan Book and made sure everything was sized correctly rather than rely on the original Revell kit part which I had done prior. I think this produced a more correct part in the long run.

I also discovered that my custom decals for this model had the draft marks backwards and also a couple sets that I never had made that would actually be needed, so I've reached out on that end of things. I have got the hull numbers in place now, so that's a small area of progress. Once the hull decals are ALL in place, I can move forward with adding main deck houses and equipment - as well, I need to get the display board completed so the hull can be mounted in an upright position.

Hank

[Willie]

Howdy Hank and all,

Excellent progress again. The pieces you have designed for your yardarm are IMO perfect, and the effect will be supreme.

After assembling the after stack with the new stack cap/fwd. yardarm assy., I realized (too late) that I had not taken into account the angle of the stack when I designed the cap/yardarm - thus everything looked like it was bent backwards, even though there's only perhaps 2-3 deg. of tilt to the stack (lookng from the side).

Well, s**t happens, or better, these are the little mistakes that prevent a genious from becoming presumptuous. At this stage everything has an easy solution, and the printer will never protest nor get tired.

I have to say that after reading this, I ran to my vitrine to check my own yardarm set fearing the worst, but it was not the case. As I had made the stack with cap from the beggining this problem did not arise; had I done the set with the cap alone, I am afraid I would have made the very same mistake.

Keep the good work, and very best regards from this side of the Atlantic,

Willie.

[Fliger747]

Indeed! A triumph of persistence. I've done that as well, had a huge box full of almost good enough parts to get what I wanted. The hand building is a surer path if requiring more digital skill and a certain will to make replicate parts in any quantity. Perhaps persistence is always required?

Looking forward to seeing some visual progress as Hank gets the hull to the point where the pieces begin to get added!

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Willie/Tom -

Thanks for the nice comments, etc. - I guess that's one of the benefits of making your own 3D parts - you can adjust the design as needed and then make a corrected version w/o having to order and wait on someone else to provide them to you. The mistake was something I had simply overlooked, but I'm glad I was able to catch it when I did. Since then, I've had 3 print runs to get a couple good stacks printed and 2 good stack cap/yardarm assemblies - which need curing and then will be ready for paint, etc.

Finding a new decal vendor is proving a bit tricky (Willie - I PM replied to your PM) - waiting on a reply from a new possible vendor.

Today is our first day of "cold" weather so I haven't been out to the shop yet - maybe this afternoon after its warmed up a bit??

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Good luck on the decal vendor! Surprising there aren't off the shelf draft markings. Did the kit come with those?

Sounds as if your goldilocks season when not too hot or too cols is unfortunately short!

Looking forward to the completed painted stacks.

Tom

[BB62vet]

After several print runs and a couple more revisions to the designs, I now have both stacks completed and painted, ready for installation at the proper time. I've intentionally left the whip antennas off in order to keep them from being broken. Here is the after stack in its current state:

I may spend some time using extremely thin dia. styrene rod to create the various curved parts of the cables to their various terminations on the front of the stack - this will be rather tedious work, to say the least!
I forgot to make photos of the fwd stack but will do so tomorrow and post them then.

Currently, I'm waiting for proofs from my new decal vendor and hope these arrive early next week as I'd like to get this phase of the hull work completed and get back to completing the display board & keel blocks as the kit stand is rather flimsy and not all that useful. I've also started cleaning up the new 01 Level 3D printed after deckhouse & Mt. 33 gun tub & Mk. 56 director platform in preparations for painting. So, progress is slow, but moving forward.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

The WWII congestion is replaced by other complexity! I had mistakenly thought that converting my Missouri from WWII to current condition would simplify things, Ha! The stack work looks good and it's quite clever to photograph on a glass tabletop.

BTW, Stoddard's bow shot cameo is one of the first shots as the end titles begin in Greyhound.

Cheers: Tom