January Ship Club Meeting

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who attended the club meeting, both in person and via Zoom.  

Here's the LINK to the video recording of the meeting.

Here's the recap of the meeting....

We talked about the Veterans Memorial being built in Colorado.  Its key feature is a replica of the USS Colorado, BB-45.  Construction is well underway.  

Roger Schafer called in from his trip to Wyoming and we shared some photos from his journey.  Looks like a great journey!  

I shared a reference chart from Martyn Denchfield (Flightdeck publication) on how to match USN colors with Vallejo model paints.  No opinions on the accuracy of this chart.  If you try it and have any opinions about it please let me know.

Sam gave us a history lesson on Halsey's Typhoons.  Both Typhoon Cobra and Typhoon Connie.  We talked about the fates of several ships lost or damaged during the storm and what led to their demise.  Below USS Tabberer, DE-418.  Empty fuel bunkers led to the instability of the ships.  

USS Hornet

We then moved on to projects our members are working on or finished.

Rob started discussing the completed USS Constitution from Artist Hobby.  Rob said the build was challenging but is happy with the results.

Rob's new project is the Fujimi 1/700 Hiryu.  This kit has the big update set.  Very nice color photo instructions and lots of detail parts.  Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Rob also picked up a reference book from the Anatomy Of The Ship series.  There were apparently two versions of this book released.  Rob tells us that this particular issue is much better with improved references.  Highly recommended.  

John Widmar treated us with his build of the Trumpeter 1/700 USS Alaska CB-1 which is a big cruiser!  John said the kit was really well done and had no fit issues at all with this kit.

I shared my latest project which is the Blue Water Navy, 1/350 SMS U-35 WWI submarine.  These boats were painted white with dark gray upper horizontal surfaces.  I hope to have it done by the next meeting.

Our next topic was the effect of decal setting solutions on water based paint.  This is based on a project I'm working on that used Vallejo paint protected by Alclad II water based Aqua Gloss.  I used Tamiya "Strong" setting solution over that and it melted through the Aqua Gloss and Vallejo paint.  Below is a test of the Vallejo paint protected by various brands of clear coats.  I put a drop of the different setting solutions on the finish to see how it would react.  I got a bunch of different results which I walked through. 

I decided to expand on this test by applying clear decal film to the left of where I placed the original drop and following the manufacturers instructions.  We'll see what results I get from that.  

I led a discussion on artists oil paints and what their labels tell us.  This is common for artists oils and acrylics.  I told the group about a podcast I listened to and an interview with Kris Sieber who has a web site called Luftraum 72.  Kris believes that for shading, panel lines, and weathering with oils it is best to use "Transparent" or "Semi-transpartent" paints.  These have finer ground pigments and allow the colors under the oil paint to come through.  This results in a more subtle effect.  

Here's an example of Kris' work using transparent artist colors.  We've all seen models which have dark panel lines that don't look very natural.  As you can see in Kris' 1/72 P-51B the panel lines have a very natural look.  We also noted that oil paints for scale modelers don't bother to include the transparency ratings of the oils which is unfortunate.  You can find transparency ratings for Winsor & Newton paints on their web sites.  

Next we talked about the importance of using a paint strainer to filter artifacts out of your paint.  I shared with the group gray Stynylrez paint put through a filter.  All of this crap could have landed on the model!  Once filtered it sprayed nicely.  I've used this on thin airbrush ready lacquers from MRP and found undisolved artifacts there as well, but much smaller.  

You can find these paint strainers at a number of places.

Model Paint Solutions

Green Stuff World

Micro Mark 

eBay Sellers

Another tip I got from the podcast was a paint brush and supply company called Zem.  They are found on the web and have excellent prices on quality paint brushes and other art supplies.  I found a stippling brush there that I've been unable to find in the local art stores.  It was exactly what I was looking for and the service was excellent.  Here's a LINK to their web site.  Check it out.

We looked at a couple of waterfall paint booths from Korea.  The idea is that the flowing water curtain at the back of the booth captures sprayed paint and stores it in a reservoir under the booth.  This is the first time I've seen one built for hobbyists.  Below is their first release which sells for $250.  In theory this booth could be used without venting to the outside world.  However I think that's optimistic for solvent based paints and thinners.  Here's a LINK to the review of this product.  

Here is their next release which is a bigger unit.  It will retail for about $360.  When more information is available I will share with you.

David Angelo shared a motor tool he found locally.  All this for about $8.  David advises that it works well.  He liked it well enough he bought a second one.  The collets are the same as Dremel.  There is a variable speed as well.  

I found the same tool on AliExpress for under $5 plus shipping.  You can find it at this LINK.  As it turns out JACK LIFE has all kinds of micro tools for very cheap on AliExpress.  At AliExpress you can find a JACK LIFE store where you can find other tools.  Here's a USB charged micro rotary tool for only $8 and shipping was included.  How do you make this and ship it to the US for $8 and make money?  This could be a useful tool.  Thanks David!

  

We looked at some new kits.  

From NIKO is a 1/700 AVP-23 USS Absecon kit that should be released in the next month or two.  This is a waterline kit with exceptional detail.   

Black Cat Models is going to upgrade one of their initial kits of the USS Farragut.  We talked about this class during the Typhoon Cobra discussion.  Look for this one later this year.  Ben said he's sure he can make a great kit even better.

Len talked to us about SS Models 3D printed kits.  Exceptional 3D prints that leave us with some challenges when painting.  Unlike most ship model kits the different levels are not broken up into separate parts.  Len is wondering how to paint under the open decks and around the elevated platforms by the cranes.  This is something we need to spend some more time with.  Think about it and we'll come back to it at the next meeting.

You can find these 3D printed ship kits at this LINK on eBay.  Look at these kits closely because some are very different than others.  For example some have wood decks, or photo etch railings, etc.  Most seem to have brass barrels.  They all don't have that.  In fact most don't have any photo etch so if you wanted that you would have to find some generic photo etch from somebody like Richard at Tom's Modelworks.  

That's about all we had time for this meeting.  There were several subjects I didn't get around to so we'

ll get that covered in the next meeting.