Encore 1/232 Protected Cruiser USS Olympia

[wouter]

May 26, 2016 10:09:24 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

Thanks Wouts and Terry! Feels a little strange doing all the weathering up front since that's usually the last stage on other builds!

I can only imagine. But it are those different approaches to what we do the most which keep it all fresh, changing from time to time helps to break the habit ^^

Cheers

[wbill76]

No question, definitely a different process involved with ships!

[wbill76]

More time spent today impersonating Darth Vader with the breather mask in order to continue the hull weathering process. Using a pointed 18/0 brush, i applied a pin wash of MM enamel Burnt Umber to the rivet lines and hull plates on the dark gray areas.



This was tightened up using a small square tip 10/0 blender brush lightly dampened with clean thinner.



3 hours later more or less and I had one hull side done.





Will rinse and repeat for the other side!

[Leon]

Excellent work Bill! Rivets and panels really pop out.

[wbill76]

Thanks Leon! Have to take advantage of all that nice molded-on detail of course.

[TRM]

Mr. Consistency! Again with a beautiful advancement to this one Bill!! Some great tones already there...can't wait to see you hit it more in the future!

[wbill76]

Thanks Todd! One step ahead at a time in the marathon.

[armorguy]

Very cool job so far Bill, you really make them details pop !

[wbill76]

May 27, 2016 13:46:25 GMT -5 armorguy said:

Very cool job so far Bill, you really make them details pop !

Thanks AG! The hull halves were molded as mirrors of each other so it's kind of interesting working on the opposite side today since everything is reversed in terms of the 'grain' in the way the plates and rivets are molded.

[wbill76]

More fun with the breather mask today meant I was able to get the rest of the pin wash work on the dark gray portion done on the port side.






That meant I could turn my attention back to the hull red areas. I mixed up a wash using roughly 90/10 thinner/Flat Brown (the little square bottle Testors enamel color) and applied it with the same 18/0 pointed brush used on the gray portions.



Same drill in terms of tightening it up with the 10/0 square blender brush and now the starboard side is completely weathered.






Ran out of hours in the day, so tomorrow will get the port side red done and then I think it will be time to seal it all up and get it mounted permanently on the stand.

[Leon]

Outstanding work Bill!

[wbill76]

May 27, 2016 21:36:03 GMT -5 Leon said:

Outstanding work Bill!

Thanks Leon! No ground hogs were armed in this update.

[martslay]

Brilliant result, Bill!

[dierk]

Looking sharp!

[wbill76]

Thanks Martin and Dierk! It feels like I should be at the end of the build instead of the beginning! Kits within the kit in terms of getting it all together.

[dierk]

I see what you mean Bill: it is a bit of a back-to-front approach, but 'variety is the spice of life' (says the man who almost exclusively builds soviet stuff...)

[wbill76]

May 29, 2016 3:14:07 GMT -5 dierk said:

I see what you mean Bill: it is a bit of a back-to-front approach, but 'variety is the spice of life' (says the man who almost exclusively builds soviet stuff...)

There are many shades of green out there Dierk! Since this ship doesn't have a lot of superstructure, the hull is definitely the main event!

[TRM]

Keeps getting better and better Bill!! Nailing the hull!!

[wbill76]

May 29, 2016 11:43:35 GMT -5 TRM said:

Keeps getting better and better Bill!! Nailing the hull!!

One line of rivets at a time! Than goodness for raised details... otherwise would be a nightmare.

[TRM]

Raised is better in this case for sure! I hate the ones with no panel lines at all! Always a challenge!

[wbill76]

Final round with the pin-wash treatment was completed today. After a total of about 12 hours for the full hull, I got the last section of the anti-fouling red done.





I'll give my eyes a break and look it over one more time tomorrow to see if it needs any tweaking before it all gets sealed up with the flat coat.



I'm definitely looking forward to doing some non-thinner based work for a while, it started to feel like the breather mask had become permanently attached to my face.

[Leon]

Superb work Bill! It's about time you come up for some fresh air.

[wbill76]

May 29, 2016 17:20:42 GMT -5 Leon said:

Superb work Bill! It's about time you come up for some fresh air.

No kidding! I need some liquid glue fumes to restore balance.

[dierk]

Superb job on the hull Bill!
"There are many shades of green out there Dierk!" But other than 4BO they are all imposters

[armorguy]

Lovely job on the pinwash Bill !

[wbill76]

Thanks Dierk, I never doubt your credentials as a true believer!

AG, much appreciated! Now I can finally move on from Step 1.

[TRM]

LOL...getting past step one is always exciting! What a fine looking hull!! Some excellent variations!! And that's without the medicinal aid of paint thinner!

[wbill76]

May 30, 2016 16:53:31 GMT -5 TRM said:

LOL...getting past step one is always exciting! What a fine looking hull!! Some excellent variations!! And that's without the medicinal aid of paint thinner!

Thanks Todd! The buddy I'm building this for stopped by for burgers and to see how it was coming along and was quite happy, always a good sign. Things should move a little faster now build-wise as the hull was definitely the main event on this baby.

[wbill76]

After spending 3 weeks working on the main hull, I can say that stage is now firmly done. I applied some MM Lusterless Flat via the spray can to seal in all the paint and weathering work done so far. It also knocked down some of the residual Future gloss and unified the hull in the process.



The main deck consists of 3 separate parts so I removed those from the sprue and cleaned them up so I could do a test fit with the main hull to be sure I wouldn't encounter any problems down the road after it was permanently installed on the stand.



Everything plays nice with a snug fit into the hull, there will be some small gaps at the stern that I will need to address but nothing major. The wood decks will cover over the joins in the three sections so that's also not a concern.



I mounted the hull onto the stand posts and added the locking nuts. These were gently tightened and CA added to the top of the threads to secure them in place. I added a drop of CA accelerator and another dose of CA to cap it all off. That meant I could finally move on to Step 2!



Each of the deck portions has a raised planking pattern molded in place, so that had to go to allow the wood deck veneers a smooth and even surface to adhere to. This was sanded down with a sanding stick and the tighter spaces dealt with using a combination of smaller sanding sticks and the back edge of a #11 blade to gently scrape away the pattern.



Once that was done, the ten 5-inch guns that I had assembled earlier were snapped into position in their casemates.



Still plenty to do in Step 2 in terms of getting the deck side plates cleaned-up and ready for installation and adding other details.

[TRM]

And just like that, we go topside! Looking sweet with the guns in place! Certainly good news when your friend likes what he was seeing! Not sure how he wouldn't though!