The Wrap up

The model is now finished and if you are building one too, step back and enjoy it. If you wish to mount the model on a simulated ocean display, I've posted a how-to showing how I do it.

Weathering

The cardinal rule of weathering is "Don't Overdo It". The smaller the scale the more this applies. Since I like to use pastells for weathering, I don't complete this step until after the model is mounted. There tends to be pastell fingerprints all over the model if I handel it. Black pastell was rubbed onto a piece of paper and ,using a stubby brush, applied to the top of the funnel. Rust

was duplicated with brown pastell and a dab of orange pastell on top of it. a Q-tip is used to remove the

excess.

Rigging Pt.2 and flag

I used the instruction sheet and the box art as a rigging guide. Rigging is an area that can be overdone since even using spru, the thickness is out of scale. I usually install enough rigging to get the effect and stop there. If you build this kit or one like it it's up to you. The model kit comes without a flag, so I used one from a decal sheet I have. After soaking it and removing tit from the backing paper,I couldn't, for the life of me, get that thing to wrap around the length of spru I was using for a halyard. I finally folded both sides and glued them together. I then used a drop of super glue to attach the flag to the halyard. Finally, the last assembly items are the boats hanging from the davits. Just to breakup the monotony of the light gray, the boats were painted a darker shade of gray. I used a small drill bit to enlarge the attachment holes in the boats since I wasn't sure if they would line up with the davits. This turned out to be a big help and the boats were installed with thick super glue and a little accelerator.

Rigging Pt.1 and ships boats

I like to use stretched spru for rigging on small scale ships like this one. There are plenty of outher materials available but I've had good luck with spru, so far. As always, i start from the inside and work outboard. A pair of dividers is used to measure the length I'll need for each piece. White glue, mixed with water (50/50) works great for attaching the rigging. Using tweezers to hold the cut legnth od spru, dip the ends inthe glue and place it where you want it. I usually cut the spru a little bit long and and install it with the excess lenght in a convient place so I can trim it off after the glue dries.

Photo etched parts Pt.4

Since the sides of this ship are a long smooth curve, the railings along the main deck were relatively easy to install. The boat davits help support the railings too. Some may call this cheating but, I also removed a few small cleats from the deck edge with an exacto knife. The larger cleats were out of the path of the railings and were not removed. After the railings were installed and the glue dried, I used a small brush and light gray paint to paint the space between the rail and the deck edge for a finished look.

Photo etched parts Pt.3

I start installing the railings from the center of the ship and work toward the out side. This helps (but doesn't always prevent) railings which have been installed from being damaged. On small scale models like this one I like to use white glue to attach the railings. Super glue is good but is very unforgiving of errors. White glue allows time to get the position right and if necessary, the glue can be removed with water and tried again. A needle , mounted in a dowel, is the tool I use to apply a small amount of white glue to the deck edge. When installing PE railings, i also try to keep the number of bends to two. I've found that trying to make one long length of railing with many bends in it usually results in fit problems. Better to use smaller lengths with one or two bends.

Boat davits

I left the boat davits off until now to prevent them from getting broken off. Liquid cement from a squeeze bottle was used to attache them to the deck. Having them on now will be helpful for positioning the PE railings.

Photo etched parts Pt.2

The yard arms, shown here, were attached with super glue. I like to use the thick super glue for this kind of application. The slow setup time allows me to correctly position the parts. The rigging for the boat crane to the mast was installed the same way.

Photo etched parts Pt. 1

Photo Etched Parts

With most of the model assembled, it's time for the PE details to go on. For me this is the most challenging part of the build. Staying away from coffee (which I really enjoy) and doing this on a day when I'm not in a hurry helps a great deal. I like to paint the PE details I'll need while they are still on the frett. Since these parts are very small and delicate, the paint must be quite thin. An Airbrush is definitely the best way to paint them, but not everyone has one. A good alternative method is to thin the paint about 50/50 and paint two coats with a brush. The light gray I used is acrylic and I've found rubbing alcohol to be a good thinner for this. Mixing one drop of rubbing alcohol with each drop of paint in a small watercolor dish works pretty good. After the paint dries I cut the detail parts needed from the frett using an exacto knife on a piece of glass.

A new funnel cap

I did the paint-wash-drybrush technique on all the parts above the main deck and installed them, except for the boat davits.

As usual, I managed to goof something up. In this case I completely destroyed the funnel cap (part # A36) while trying to open up the center for the photoetched grill. I made a passable replacement funnel cap from sheet styrene and installed it on the funnel.

Superstructure and guns

The superstructure and guns were assembled per the instruction sheet, Squadron Green putty was used where necessary to fill seams. The smaller guns were assembled and painted while the gun bases were still on the spru tree.

Using a wash to make details stand out

To help the deck details stand out, I use a water color wash of dark brown around all the deck details. I used a dark gray wash around the focsal details. After the wash is dry I remove the excess with a wet brush. Flat white was drybrushed onto the raised details for more visability.

Painting the hull and deck

I painted the hull, casements and all deck details with two coats of Polly scale Light Gray acrylic. After the gray dried I painted the deck with Polly scale deck Tan Acrylic, FS1735.I've found the best way to paint a part that is busy with details to paint the raised relief detail first. The lower area of the deck is painted next so I can push or flow the paint up to the raised areas. Two coats of deck tan were needed to get full coverage. This is typical for Acrylic paints.

Hull and Main Deck

To make it easier to handle the model during assembly I attached a piece of balsa wood to the bottom of the hull with a small wood screw. A small hole was drilled in the bottom of the waterline plate for this purposeand main deck are molded in one piece so this step mostly concerns clean up and painting. After sanding off the molding flash and gluing the waterline onto the hull, I washed the hull in a solution of lukewarm water and dishwashing soap. This is to remove sanding residue, mold release agent and skin oils. A toothbrush helps in this process, too. This was set aside to dry overnight after dabbing with a paper towel.

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HMS Rodney in 1/700 scale

The HMS Rodney and her sister ship HMS Nelson are very unique looking battleships with their 3 main battery turrets located ahead of the superstructure. The superstructure itself is located quit a bit aft of the center of the ship. This is a 1/700 scale Tamiya kit and as usual it is very well molded with sharp and crisp detail. I also ordered a photo etched detail set from gold medal models to complete the model. I decided to build the Rodney in her pre-war configuration, painted light gray.