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Ship painting question(s)


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Hi,

My learning project, a previously built 1/720 Ark Royal / Tribal is now taken apart as far as I can go w/o breaking pieces (some were already broken/'gone).  I need to rebuild the 4.7" gun decks and fix the poor fit of the flight deck.  I've done a lot of scraping and sanding due to way too much glue.  I have a new Revell kit (same ship) that I plan to use parts from since I'm building up PE (White Ensign) and resin parts (nice guns at 3D) for the new one.  Perhaps a goofy plan but I hope to learn techniques on the old one, do better on the new one, and then move on a better quality ship.

 

Anyway, I need to know what type of paint to use for this fairly small scale ship.  I don't have an air brush yet.  I tried water base acrylic - not good. It seemed way too thick, even with small brushes, and dried quickly on the brush.  I scrubbed and scraped it off (took a long time).  I have all sorts of Testors enamel which seems thinner, but not enough.  Do these paints need to be thinned?  The man at White Ensign Models said that he brush paints and uses Colourcoats, but Sovereign is in the UK and I'd need a dozen or more colors for the ship.  Is lacquer better for this project? I read that its thinner than enamel.  Can you paint some parts with enamel and others with lacquer?  I ordered a type of primer to fill fine scratches.  I hope to spray (rattle can) the hull and brush everything else, at least for this ship.

 

Thanks for any advice,

 

Dave 

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20 minutes ago, TAdave said:

I tried water base acrylic - not good. It seemed way too thick, even with small brushes, and dried quickly on the brush. 

Could you give more identification on exactly which water base acrylic paint that was, several different types of paint exist which fit that vague definition.

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You can get Colourcoats paints here in the US at H&B Hobbies:

 

https://www.hbhobbies.com/

 

I purchased Colourcoats from them a number of times. Good to deal with. You can use mineral spirits to thin and clean up. Being an enamel you must give each coat time to dry before applying more, especially if using brush. At least a day, often more depending on ambient humidity and temperature. One other nice thing about Colourcoats is that they are closely matched to the real colours, especially the naval line. Colourcoats started out as paints for model ship builders.

As far as Lacquers, they are more for airbrushing as the solvents can attack plastic, though Mr Color paints have a fairly mild solvent and can be brushed carefully using their Leveling thinner.

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I thin Colourcoat for airbrushing with Mr Leveling Thinner. This is the thinner for Mr Color with the addition of a retarder to slow dying. You might find Colourcoat thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner allows you to get a brushable coat that's relatively thin. Don't expect a thinned paint to cover in 1 coat. I used to brush Floquil enamels--they were truly wonderful--and I routinely brushed 2 coats to get full coverage.

 

In terms of paint thickness, lacquers are the thinnest, enamels are thicker, and acrylics are thickest. My first choice to airbrush is Mr Color. I use Colourcoat for colors I can't get in the Mr Color line.

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On 2/21/2019 at 9:40 PM, southwestforests said:

Could you give more identification on exactly which water base acrylic paint that was, several different types of paint exist which fit that vague definition.

Inexpensive Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Paint, quick drying, easy cleanup, water-base. Co. name is Plaid.  I think it's craft paint, not for models.  I saw the made in USA and picked some colors that looked close,  That was before I found this forum where I could ask questions.

 

Dave

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Thanks to all for your replies. . I'll research the paints you suggested.

 

Do you use primer?  I hope so because I ordered Tamiya spray and liquid. 

 

Does anyone know if there is a source for propellers in 1/700?  I can't seem to find any.  I'm also looking for searchlights (British). 

 

It's tempting to throw this thing in the trash and start on the new one, considering all the breakage and glue but I still have a lot to learn.  Tomorrow I plan to try and build PE Octuple 2pdr.'s.  Looks like a challenge, and I'm not sure they will easily fit.  I'm wondering if Revell took liberties with their scaling. 

 

Dave

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Ah, that explains it. Those craft acrylics are formulated very differently from dedicated model paints.

Though, a few years back there was a thing with the multiple decades old brand of PollyScale acrylic model paints being discontinued, and some people in the model railroading community figured out how to use art additives in the various brands of craft acrylics to make them more usable for models, including airbrushing.

 

I know the information was published in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine, and I know that it is in several places on the web. But right now my memory is coming up blank on dates and websites, but search engines can find them.
Note, though that a paint which works on things the size 1/87 and 1/48 scale trains may be a bit too coarse for the far finer 1/350 and 1/700 scale ships.
But then again, one might be surprised.

 

On the 2 pounders, there may well be enough difference between the 1/720 ship model and the PE even if the parts were at the only slightly larger 1/700 scale.

Primers are indeed useful. And there are of course different people who have differing theories, practices, and preferences, on their use.

 

If nothing else, a coat of primer gives a good presentation of the model's surface condition prior to painting. 
Examples from my experience,

"Oh, I missed filing that mold seam line."
"Oh, that filler putty isn't quite level."
"Oh, I didn't see that glue fingerprint earlier."
Those kinds of things. 😄
Sometimes there's even, "Aw man, it looks so nice in a solid single color that I hate to visually break it up with the camouflage paint."

Ah, talking about ships and camouflage, this might be of interest if it isn't already known, though your Ark Royal / Tribal is UK Royal Navy and not USN,
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/warship_camouflage.htm
There's gotta be an equivalent for the Royal Navy ... I know there are books and paints for the Royal Navy out there.

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Well, then there's nothing to lose in continuing with this one as a learning experience. It can also be a "paint mule" for trying out paint techniques.

 

Models are most definitely scale-challenged at times. I'm working on a 1/48 LCM3 right now, and it includes 0.02" wire for some parts, which works out to 1" thick in scale--way too large for the part. I've replaced it with 0.01 wire, but that's still large a tad large. On your model, my 0.01" wire works out to 7.2 inches!!! The Eduard PE I'm using is 0.0075" thick--that works out to 5.4" thick on your model.

 

I have a Google Sheets spreadsheet to help me try to get scales correct. I constantly refer to it to try an maintain some semblance of scale, but I also realize that I'm sometimes at the mercy of materials...

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If you are truly interested in model ship building, these two sites and their respective forums will be immensely helpful. Its where the real ship modeling wonks hang out.

http://www.steelnavy.net/

http://www.modelwarships.com/index1.html

You will probably find ModelWarships.com and its forum more amenable to those just starting out or returning to the hobby. Their forum software is easier to navigate (Steelnavy.net's software is from the Stone Ages).

Edited by Mstor
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Thanks.  I'll look into modelwarships.  I approached this project the wrong way. Limited research, wrong paint, and PE details that I may never be able to use.  I've halted building while I get more tools and proper paint. At present I'm looking for tools that would be useful for assembling PE items, particularly a much better magnifier, proper super glue and some means of holding parts besides a tweezer. If I had 3 hands that would be even better.  My first attempt at super gluing was a disaster of sorts. By the time I got it off me, everything was dry and I was back where I started.  I tried using old CD's for cutting, but they are too reflective for PE I think.

 

Dave

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Check here for tools for holding and bending PE parts. Excellent quality and very useful. I have one of their smaller Hold and Fold tools and the smaller Cut off set for holding PE parts while cutting them off sprues. The larger Hold and Fold sets are useful for long PE rails and other long parts found in ship PE sets. The tools are not cheap but quality tools never are and these, with care, will give decades of service.

 

https://thesmallshop.com/index.htm

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