USS Buchanan or hms campletown

[omi]

so here's my victim, this was going to be my attempt at the campletown but out of the box the kit is know where near the ship it became, so i've bottled it and will attempt a straight up build with some added touches where i can, but i'll be asking for help on reference from you marvelous super modellers when i come unstuck.
dont let it fool you inside that box is a world of hurt and alot of swearing the fit is not great and that was just the dry fit i tried.

wish me luck.

[Dirkpitt289]

That's an interesting looking ship. I like it.

[omi]

The first USS Buchanan (DD-131) was launched on 2 January 1919 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, she was swapped into the british navy with 49 other U.S. ships she served well and on 28 March 1942, loaded with four tons of amatol explosive, the ship rammed the gates of the Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert dry dock. The ship exploded the following morning, ending the use of the dock for the rest of the war. this stopped the battleship tirpitz from having a dock to enter the atlantic.
here she is.
.
sister ship arron ward

going to miss the start tomorrow guys as im off to ireland but ill be checking on your progress on the ferry.

[omi]

well i've started, sat down at the bench before the other half saw me and got the two halfs together and the stand up. ive started to sand the deck as the ship (i believe) had metal decks and not wood as in the kit.
anyone know the colour they were painted? a darker grey i assume non slip.



this is going to take some time


and i found this on the side "captain there's a hole in my battle ship" thin plastic too.
.

[JohnRatzenberger]

If you are building USN then it's probably Measure 11 meaning 5-S Sea Blue overall.

Here's a photo of the WEM vs Humbrol tin lids, which does not make a good color reference for several reasons; I used the WEM on mine ...

[fenman]

Good to see she is underway Omi. I do agree with John re the use of WEM paints, they airbrush very nicely and hairy brush quite well being enamel to. The colours are about as accurate as you are going to get to colour patches but I find them a little dark for 1:700.

I have done a couple of builds using Revell Aqua but the colour match is guess work. I am happy if it looks OK but the purists would be horrified at my cavalier attitude

[MerlinJones]

We giggle at purists!

[omi]

grey blue it is then, i cant stand enamels so it looks like a mix, which revell agua colours did you use fenman?
oh and did you look at that sea youtube video?

purists are they the ones who count rivets and then make the models out of tissue paper and sticky tape? i could be wrong.

jratz thanks for the reference pic.

[fenman]

lol, you have to love them though. I have never done a USN ship other than the Indionapolis which I used WEM paints. Not a fan of enamels myself but when I do use them, I thin with cellulose thiners for faster drying so quite a nasty mix really.

Yes, I like the ideas in the video, I will certainly be giving it a try. Should be a bit quicker for 1:700 to build up the layers. Thanks for the links.

[JohnRatzenberger]

I agree with fenman on being too dark at 1/700 and cut mine with a bit of light grey. At 1/240 you probably would not have to. Unfortunately I do not use acrylic (often) and cannot recommend a good color match, sorry. I looked at some color charts and maybe 36179 is a good start -- other than the image I included above, go to the Pearl Harbor GB (2011) archive and look at the pix of my USS Ward, you may see some color variations that will help.

[fenman]

Apparently Lifecolor do a two set set (?) of acrylics for USN from pre war to post war, there is a review here of set two but a google search will bring up more info. They actually look quite good and are possibly available in single pots, worth a look.

I think 5S is in set one.

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules ... nt&id=6306;

EDIT: They do indeed sell single pots, the 5S is available here, ignore the colour patch on the page though lol.

http://www.graphicair.co.uk/products/Li ... ml%29.html;

[JohnRatzenberger]

I tried Lifecolor for other applications and had some problems -- I recommend reading carefully the review in the first link for the comments about thining and usage; I have heard similar remarks about the paints being difficult from others.

[fenman]

Have to say I have never really had problems with them although I have to be honest and say that I have probably only used about five or six colours. I have always thinned Lifecolor with Isopropyl alcohol to about 70/30 paint to thinners as it is quite thin. I have used water to thin many types of acrylic, xtracrylix, Lifecolor, Humbrol, Vallejo and Revell Aqua but had very little success, maybe the only one that worked but hit and miss was Revell. All to often the paint just sat on the surface of the plastic in a patchy mess, and that is using distilled water. For Tamiya I use Tamiya thinners or Cellulose, for Revell I generally use Isopropyl alcohol but I have started to use Vallejo thinners, strange milky stuff, for Revell and Vallejo but not tried it with Lifecolor as yet. I personally would not hesitate to use Lifecolor but as always, what suits one may not suit another. It is all down to trial and error.

My favourite has to be Tamiya with their own thinners but getting colour matches is hit and miss, second would be Revell Aqua which is very thick and needs around 75% thinners but sprays beautifully. Same problem getting colour matches though. I just don't like mixing colours as I never get them consistent, I would rather use a colour that is 'near enough' than try to mix an exact shade.

[omi]

Great discussion you two, I personally use vallejo for a lot of stuff but for spraying I use tamiya and revell but I will use anything I can thin enough to get through my AB! Revell aqua is really nice and is pretty hard to miss up but Vallejo, well let's just say if it looks thin, thin it some more because it will clogg the AB.
Never tried lifecolor.
So I'm going to mix, and live on the edge, and rely on you two to guide me an humor me, if it turns pink don't laugh too hard.

[fenman]

Lol, USS Buchanan in pink now that would be a sight