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Mighty Mo, BB-63 Finished
- Thread starter Greg Kimsey
- Start date
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
I guess I am going with the 1991 version-ish (gotta rethink that bow gun mounts, not to mention I keep banging them on things as I turn the model so the railings are getting mangled.) The images provided and ones I found online suggest this golden tone wood (teak maybe?) which is quite beautiful. I have the smaller HO scale follower chain on order. It has, like, 40 links per inch, so microscopic! I guess that is more of a mooring chain? It comes out the front. and I see photos of it attached to the dock. Thanks for looking in and commenting! - Greg
Tim A.
Well-known member
I have a dumb question. Why were they using wood for the decks at this point anyway?
Anti slip I think. But I'm sure someone who knows will be along to correct me. 
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
It's not a dumb question and one I ask as well. Why were there EVER wood decks on any metal ship??
Rhino
Super Moderator
Rebuilding Battleship Missouri Teak
"Teak" sounds descriptive of some nice furniture - perhaps a dining table - not a word associated with the survivability of a Navy warship.
allhands.navy.mil
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
I am trying to keep her "clean" but still make it "interesting". The wood deck parts are pretty much done I think. I continued using Golden High Flow colors to paint the wood but added some extra colors to the previous mix. In the end I had Titanium White, Titanium Buff, Raw Sienna, Transparent Yellow Oxide, Sepia, Raw Umber, Shading Gray, and Carbon Black all on the palette going back and forth with all of them and using a #0 Winsor Newton Series 7 brush and short thin strokes.
I then got my airbrush out and used Liquitex Glazing Medium thinned with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner mixed with a drop of High Flow Carbon Black and made an extremely transparent shadow glaze to go over edges, seams, nooks and crannies, and wherever I wanted to add soft details.
I also used that glaze to make some lines of "interest" in the hull, including the red area, so it isn't just a flat gray or red blob, trying not to over-do it. I will add a mist of light gray to try and bind all of the gray area details together as well as lighten the above deck bulkheads later. I will need to mask off a lot so the paint needs to cure for a while.
To add even more interest to the red I used High Flow Alizarin Crimson Hue and drybrushed here and there. Then I mixed Titanium White and Buff with some Napthol Red Light along with plenty of Val Airbrush Thinner to make a thin pinkish color in the airbrush. I turned the air pressure down very very low to make the airbrush "spit" and added some controlled spatter to the red. (There is a fine line between spitting big blobs and spitting small spatter with the pressure- it took some fiddling. It is the same method I used to add road grime to the Ken Miles GT-40). I then glazed via airbrush over that with Highflow Napthol Red Light with a touch of Aliz. Crimson Hue to push all of that back a bit. It sort of resembles what I imagine salt water and sea-life does to the hull after a year or so. It may be wrong, but looks cool (to me) IRL.
That's it so far. I need to continue with the superstructure now I guess.
I then got my airbrush out and used Liquitex Glazing Medium thinned with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner mixed with a drop of High Flow Carbon Black and made an extremely transparent shadow glaze to go over edges, seams, nooks and crannies, and wherever I wanted to add soft details.
I also used that glaze to make some lines of "interest" in the hull, including the red area, so it isn't just a flat gray or red blob, trying not to over-do it. I will add a mist of light gray to try and bind all of the gray area details together as well as lighten the above deck bulkheads later. I will need to mask off a lot so the paint needs to cure for a while.
That's it so far. I need to continue with the superstructure now I guess.
That's it! That's what I want to achieve with the Racers.. Love the wood work.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Looking good Greg!
centaur567
Well-known member
Looks great!! Gary S.
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
Also, I am still searching for that elusive Haze Gray color. I like the one I used on this piece. It is Testors, a nearly full bottle of "Camo Gray" mixed with 5 dashes (dip the stirring stick into the additive color then mix) of Medium Gray and 2 dashes of Navy Blue. I know monitors can make color matching difficult so I really don't know what Haze Gray "actually" looks like. I like this one the best of the various ones I have used so far.
Well those ladders look great. Seems to me once the CA starts going sideways on a part it's best to back off, clean everything and try again. How are you applying the CA?
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
I am using the tip of a messed up airbrush needle, so it is sparingly applied. I have tried putting it on one piece, then the other, then both. The ladders work because I can lay the piece sideways and gravity holds it in place until the glue sets. I am using BSI (Bob Smith Industries) brand. I also have Zap brand. It's why I wanted to get Loctite, to see if an expensive brand works better. Looking up prices online it seems the same size bottle of Loctite vs BSI is $22 vs $8. The guy on A4-Garage Youtube channel uses it and his work is beyond, WAY beyond next level good so he must know something I don't. There is my level, then next level, then master level, then this guy.
Oh great, another youtube channel to suck up my time! 
I cut the eye off a sowing needle to use it sort of like a calligrapher pen. Gets a little more flow of CA.
I cut the eye off a sowing needle to use it sort of like a calligrapher pen. Gets a little more flow of CA.
Greg Kimsey
Well-known member
I have tried that too. It seems to work about the same to me and the airbrush needle is easier to keep up with than a needle needle in my chaotic work space. I may try it again and insert it in an eraser stick to give it a find-able handle.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Believe it or not, I use the BSI CA glues. I use both the thin and the medium thickness. I also will mix them together by placing a drop each on an old sapphire watch crystal and mixing them. I also use the CA that Hobby Lobby sells which is a different formulation than the BSI brand. I have also mixed old CA which has gotten thick and slow setting with new thin CA. This has given me a CA that is just a little thicker than thin and doesn't set up fast giving a little working time. That works so nice when filling surface blemishes and fine gaps. To apply it I use some stainless wire that has a sharp polished chisel end. When it gets a little build up I take a #11 blade and quickly knock it off.
The trick is doing the mixing which can change the properties in a good way. You just need to experiment a bit to find what will work best for you.
Also the CA doesn't set up fast on the sapphire crystal at all. It will dry/harden over time and you will end up with interesting patterns in the dried CA. The sapphire crystal works so well because it is hard and can be easily scraped off with a razor blade. It is also basically inert so it won't cause the CA to set up fast.
The trick is doing the mixing which can change the properties in a good way. You just need to experiment a bit to find what will work best for you.
Also the CA doesn't set up fast on the sapphire crystal at all. It will dry/harden over time and you will end up with interesting patterns in the dried CA. The sapphire crystal works so well because it is hard and can be easily scraped off with a razor blade. It is also basically inert so it won't cause the CA to set up fast.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Here is a video that just came out about "Oil Canning" on ships and Battleship New Jersey in particular. The curator is explaining what causes it and shows it behind him in the hull.
Good explanation. This is the reason we see on steel buildings the area that the siding attaches to the frame is not as faded as the area that is not. That steel heating up more than the parts that are attached to the frame, the frame absorbs some of the heat keeping the outside steel cooler and less susceptible to the paint fading.
You also see it on B52s skin.
You also see it on B52s skin.
Heavens Eagle
Well-known member
Thing is it is very subtle. It is a lot of small shallow rectangles that can only really be seen when the light is right. The submarine photos he showed were the most pronounced, but it wouldn't surprise me if water pounding against the steel on the subs would cause the steel to divot inwards a bit more than other ships.
