scapilot Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Hi folks. While I'm not new to the site, this is my first stop in the ship section. I've been having a hankering for the past few months to try my hand at a ship, so here I am. I picked up the revell USS Missouri kit at a hobby lobby yesterday, and while I don't expect any frills from it, I figured it would be a good inexpensive jumping off point to get my feet wet. I've already got a million questions, and am eager to find knowledge. I've tried a few Google searches, but it seems to return a lot of stuff in regards to wooden ship building, which I'm not interested in. I guess what I'm wondering is if there's a highly recommended site or sites that has some really good gouge with tips and tricks, and how to stuff. Up to this point, all my expertise rests in aircraft Modeling, and what I'm mostly wanting to find info on is the overall process of building (such as what to paint first, what to mask, and basic dos and don'ts), how to weather them, and how to do some of the water effects to make them a sailing display. The water effect isn't really an essential need right now as much as the other two, but just looking for some guidance on where some good sites are to really kind of dig in to plastic ship modeling. Thanks in advance. And I'm excited to learn something new. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) Modelwarships.com is a great web site, lots of good info and the forums are much like this. I love ship building and am in fact going to be starting a huge build soon that I will be posting here....as soon as I finish a few current projects. There are quite a few very good ship modellers here that can help out with whatever you have to ask. My technique, as I think it is for most ship builders is to build bottom up, inside to out. Meaning I start witht the hull and main weather deck, once finished, I work the levels of superstructure one at a time, like a cake, saving the numerous small parts and weapons for last. Edited December 5, 2014 by rightwinger26 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich in name only Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Agree on model warships. It goes by at least 3 different names and addresses that all end up at the same site. So recommend get familiar with it and note that any address that ends up looking the same probably is the same and has the same URL at the pages. One drawback to that site is that the threads don't go down to the level of ARC. So for example, if you started a thread in the "Calling All USS Iowa Fans" topic, your post and replies would be mixed in with everyone else's. But on ARC that thread would stay distinct. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 Thanks for the heads up and good gouge. Rightwinger, how do you overcome the obstacle of some of detail being molded into the dick it self? I'm sure this probably isn't the case with higher end kits, but just curious as to if there's something I'm missing there. Thanks again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ch9862 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I can recommend book "Ship Models from Kits" by David Griffith. His advice is targeted at building small scale models, mostly waterline. Helped me more than anything I could find online. HTH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 I'll check it out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Thanks for the heads up and good gouge. Rightwinger, how do you overcome the obstacle of some of detail being molded into the dick it self? I'm sure this probably isn't the case with higher end kits, but just curious as to if there's something I'm missing there. Thanks again. If your talking about things like anchor chains and cleats and such it depends. I use a lot of AM stuff, so I usually end up sanding a lot of stuff off. For the things that stay, I paint the deck first, and then hand paint the detail parts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 Hand painting sounds about what I was thinking. Can anyone give me some general color matches for most commonly used colors I'm naval ships? I've read a few threads, but they all seem to vary. Most common being deck gray, haze gray, and the hull red. I primarily use model masters enamels if that helps, but will reach for tamiya paints as a secondary. Thanks a lot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 I personally like to use MM British Crimson for the anti fouling, witht the right presiding underneath I think it give a good worn look. As far as hull and deck colors, that REALLY depends on the subject and the year that your building. What I mean is say, 1938 Saratoga was painted WAY different from 1945 Saratoga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 What's a good color for the Missouri back in the 40's. Definitely looks like a much darker gray than traditional modern day ships. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 That really depends on the year, she changed camp patterns numerous times. You would really need to decide how you want your model to be, then research it. Navsource.org is a fantasitic website with millions of photos, all broken down by ship that can assist you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rich in name only Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 About things molded in, including more expensive kits: Last night I was working on my Trumpeter Hancock checking bulkheads forward. The forward most bulkhead, which is on the foc'sl, has two "boxes" molded into the bottom. Reminded me of old Revell, etc., kits with details molded in. Turned out that they are part of the locator guide for the otherwise flat piece of plastic (with one molded-on door). They are hollow, making a square "U" to fit on the ridge in the deck which guides that part. So that was a good idea. The down side, and main point, is that there was not the crisp sharp edge we can get with separate parts attached. What I try to do is use a sharp #11 knife held flat against the best flat edge of the part and work out the curve (on some kits a big curve, on this one not too bad)until the curve is gone. Doesn't take long and really improves appearance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 What's a good color for the Missouri back in the 40's. Definitely looks like a much darker gray than traditional modern day ships. A good resource for US Navy WWII ships is ShipCamouflage.com. On the ship camouflage database Battleship page, we can see that she was painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Pattern 22D first, then the much simpler Measure 22. Post-war, shwe would have been painted Measure 13 along with the rest of the fleet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Thanks everyone for the helpful sites. Some of them were great. Happy to announce that I finished up the Missouri earlier today. Not 100 percent accurate, but it gave me a good feel for what to expect. Hope you guys enjoy. Thanks again. Edited December 16, 2014 by scapilot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy White Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Not 100 percent accurate, but it gave me a good feel for what to expect. Nothing is 100% accurate, and I've always said that "finished" is more accurate than "I was gonna fix all these problems but haven't finished it yet...." Great first ship! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Thanks a lot Tracy. That was kind of my thoughts on it as well. Just wanted to see if I was still intrigued at the end as I was at the beginning. Happy to say that I'm definitely looking forward to more in the future. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Very nicely done, bravo! Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scapilot Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 Thanks Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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