Calling all Wickes-class & Clemson-class "Four-Piper" fans

[Avery Boyer]

Where'd you get the foot long match?

[Willie]

Where'd you get the foot long match?

In the same place where you can buy the Revell 1/72 USS Fletcher...
Very best regards,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi all,

Some more details that I have made lately.
The bows is almost complete, lacking only the securing system fort the anchor, the railings -- and painting. I have also added these last days the mooring elements.
I have also added all along the main decks a stretched sprue line, that is used in many ships to guide the water to the discharging pipes. This element will be of precious help when painting the deck borders, making that the lines are perfectly straight -- my pulse is sometimes weak lately -- as this line will prevent the brush tip to contact the main deck.

The fantail is almost finished after some substancious changes made after the suggestion of Mr. Wr.
The hooks for the towing cable or pipes -- the use of them is not clear for me yet -- were a nightmare to build, because thin as they are they break with only breathing on to them.
It lacks only two ventilators now, that I am going to build tonight.

The searchlight tower and main davits are completely finished. The scale is on the other side of the tower and cannot be seen in this pic.

The towing guide gives the aft peak a bit more realism.

I hope you like it. Of course, all suggestions are more than welcome.
Very best regards,

Willie.[/size]

[Laurence Batchelor]

Impressive Willie

[Tracy White]

You put my build to so much shame!

[Guido]

Hi, Willie!
I had suffered a bit of burn out on my Campeltown, so I finished a KUK torpedo boat to get a change of scenery.
My Campeltown will get back onto the bench quite soon. Latest progress is as follows:







but I guess you have seen these alraedy ?!

Cheers,
Guido

Showing HMS Campbeltown in St. Nazair configuration converting Revells 1/240 kit.

[Willie]

Hi there Guido,

Yes, you had already sent these pics to me my mail. The overall construction is excellent, and I have to say that the screws protections are amazingly well scratch-built. They are a superb model to imitate, but honestly, I don�t know if I will be able to match them.
Along with the other American four pipers shown in here, your model will make of this thread something really good.
Thanks a lot and keep posting your progress.
Very best regards,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi all,

I have finished today the machine room hatches, a very easy job which adds realism to the main deck. The pieces are not so accurate in shape as in Guido�s model though.

The vent on the left is redundant. It was made as a test for the building of the two main ones and is out of scale, but shows the steps of the process : blade #11 carved sprue for the main body, and stretched sprue and yogourt container for the rest of the elements.
Very best regards,

Willie.[/size]

[Willie]

Hi all,

Today�s crop, among some other minor details, was the galley aft bulkhead.
I was about starting the hull paintjob when I realized that it would be better to paint all structures together as well, so they had to be finished before.
It was fairly complicated, because the pics of this area that I was able to gather are very scarce, most of them are blurr and offer only partial views, so I had to imagine --using pics from other ships-- some starndard equipment that I was not able to back with pics. We could call it a poetic licence that you will excuse . This bulkhead is very visible, and I didn�t want it to be bare.

Improvising is always risky, but I hope you like it.
Very best regards,

Willie.[/size]

[les]

Willie, looks good. Don't agonize over if it's perfectly right or not. The only ones who know for sure served on it. Sadly, most of them are gone. Maybe someone will come up with some pics in the future that will prove you wrong. Oh well, you did the best with what reference you had.

[Willie]

Hi all,

I have already started the hull paintjob, as the flying bridge has to be built on the bridge itself once finished.

I enclose a couple of pics of the process and a final question.
I use Humbrol enamels, always thinned to a 40%, which lets the colour have the consistency of, say, milk.
The basic colour is Humbrol Matt147, a very clear grey, almost white.
Actually, the hull and structures should be painted in white, but it dries almost instantly, and after many tests I have never been able to avoid brush lines, so I have decided to use Matt147 instead. As I say, it is almost white.
Thinned to 40% the first layer is translucent, but leaves no markings at all :

The second is more satisfactory :

And the third one is definitive, the hull being perfectly matt now :

These ships wore in 1941 the so called Western Approaches Night Camo, in light blue and white, which made the ships less conspicuous in clear and moon nights. As you can imagine, an advantage of 100-200 yards before being seen by a watchman could mean to catch an U-boot surfaced or just diving, with all the benefits that it means.
For the camo I used Tamiya masking tape and Humbrol Matt65, thinned to a 40% as well.

After the second layer it was OK, as the base was already very clear, so a third one was not necessary.
The ships refitted at Devonport in 1941 had two black panels painted fore and aft --two hands of Humbrol Matt33 :

The problem was that after demasking, there were very thin lines were the tape had been --there was none in the tests that I had made before, maybe because I was using only one paint layer then. Furthermore, the Tamiya tape used for the camno angles let the fluid paint come under it, due to capilarity, and I had to retouch a couple of points. First time ever I have to retouch a hull.
I used to do my maskings with a adhesive tape roll that I had liberated from my Mom�s, but it is already gone now.
It is not too serious anyhow, as the lines and retouched points simply vanish when looking at the model one foot away, but the less mistakes the better.
I have to paint the hull red, a bit higher than the tape you can see in the pics, and I want to avoid further mistakes.
And now my question : I know that some modelers use Scotch adhesive tape. Do you know it ? Do you think it is flexible enough to adapt to bow and stern curves, and have the tape from the opther side overlapped without letting the thin paint under ?
Thanks in advance for any advice, and very best regards,
Willie.[/size]

[les]

I've never had trouble with Tamiya tape. To make curves use the thinnest one they have. Make sure you rub it down tight. Use a secod piece to cover any exposed areas behind the tape line. But don't overlap the first piece more than half the width. When you paint along the tape, build up your paint with light coats, in the direction the tape is running. That way it shouldn't run under the paint.

One final thing about brush strokes, try brushing up and down instead of side to side. See if you get fewer strokes. I also sometimes brush the paint one way (side to side) and a second coat (up and down). Building thin coats will leave fewer brush strokes.

[Willie]

Hi Les,

Thanks a lot for the input. Actually I was working the very same way that you say. The only places where the paint run under the tape was in the overlappings in the angles -- not much, half a mm. maybe, but I am not used to mistakes when painting.
Another friend in the forum ( thanks a lot, Pachi, ) has indicated what seems the obvious thing to do : After masking I should have painted the angles with the same colour of the base, just in case of running, and only then paint the camo. Obvious probably to everybody but me ... Something to be very carefully with the next time.
Anyhow, the mistakes are no longer visible when seeing the thing one foot away, what means they are more or less acceptable.
Thanks again , and very best regards from Spain,

Willie.

[Guido]

Hi, Willie!
I see you are making great progress and I am very much looking forward to seeing the final results: I think you'll put all other efforts to shame!

Concerning the colour bleeding: I use Tamiya tape all the time and do not have or have very few problems with it. DO NOT use regular scotch tape without prior testing: you may lift of your colour coats. This effect can be utilized to simulate heavy tear, but I think you are not planning to walk this way.
To avoid colour bleeding under the tape I run a toothpick along the tape-edge to the model before painting, this helps especially well, if you have cross-joints of various tapes.
A bit of bleeding always happens (at least to me it does ), so I touch up: However the touch up will be even less obvious after you apply the finishing clear coat (I always use Revell flat clear, no matter what colour coats I used before).

Great going, Willie!

Cheers,
Guido

[Tracy White]

Scotch tape has very little flex in it.. far less than Tamiya Tape. I still use it quite a bit as I've used a lot of it and know it's characteristics well, but because of the lack of flex, you'd have to either paint the red FIRST or apply it and cut the waterline.

Whenever I've had problems with paint bleeding underneath Tamiya tape it was because I did not burnish the tape down well enough at the corners. I've got a V-2 rocket that's a prime example of that on one side....

[Grant Goodale]

There are some additional things to consider to prevent paint bleeding under the tape.

First, I always use Tamiya tape. As Tracy said, burnish it down. But go another step. Run some flat finish along the edges. That generally tends to prevent bleeding.

Another tip is not to apply a lot of paint in one coat. Lightly brush (or airbrush) the paint and do a few coats. Most of the times that I have experience paint bleeding are the direct result of my impatience putting on too thick a coat.

HTH

- Grant
IPMS Toronto

[Tracy White]

I've updated the ShipCamouflage.com Camouflage database for the Wickes Class in WWII. I've linked to all of the camouflage measures we have listed as well as a couple of design sheets I had forgotten I had for a while. I'm also updating the database to add names and conversion dates that have been missing.

Please note that this just covers US service, no details on Royal Navy or Japanese!

[Willie]

Hi all,

A couple of questions, just in case somebody has some info about it :

(a) Does anybody know how the cross for the halyards was attached to the main mast in the Town Class ? -- Or in anycase, how the thing was done in general ? Any pic will be really appreciated.
I have some idea about the rigging, but I have no clue on how the cross was attached.

(b) Where were the mast lights placed in this class ?

TIA, and very best regards,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi all,

I have been checking my files once more, and (pics are never seen enough or maybe I am simply focusing in the masts now) I have noticed some details I had not noticed before. They are marked with arrows. Does anybody know what they are ??? Could they be the lights I am looking for ???
As it is clearly seen in pic 3, they have nothing to do with the halyards.

TIA, and very best regards from Spain,

Willie.[/size]

[Willie]

Hi all,

The hull paint is finished, using the tricks you gave me last june. So thanks a lot again to Les, Pachi, Guido, Tracy and Grant . I have to say that painting is for me the most delicate stage of the construction, as a good building work can be ruined in the easiest way by a lousy paintjob.
No bleeding at all this time. I masked the waterline with Tamiya masking tape, and gave a stroke of clear matt varnish not only in the overlappings, but also in the crossing points with the other colours. Such an easy thing, and I had never thought about it. The line was absolutely straight and not a single retouch was necessary this time.
I used Tamiya tape as Scotch seemed a bit too hard and not too flexible, and I will need to do some practice with it before using it en masse.

The hull red is self made, using Humbrol enamels, aprox. 80% signal red satin 174 and 20% US dark green matt 116.

Very best regards,

Willie.[/size]