Queen Mary

[Defiant911]

So I’m getting quite a collection of models under my desk to make but this particular one was given to me to make by a friends parents. I’ve never completed a boat before so this is definitely new territory for me.
I guess if you got to start somewhere it might as well be the Queen Mary.
Not sure how this will turn out but here it goes anyway.

Carl

 

[Dave Ward]

Carl,
As a kid, I remember being taken, in the mid 60's, to Southampton, to see 'the liners', Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, SS United States, SS France, and being amazed that something so big could move! I didn't realise that within ten years I'd be in the Merchant Navy ( no ships as flash as the liners, though ), and within 25 that all this would be past history........................
Dave

 

[spanner570]

What scale is she Carl?

 

[Defiant911]

Carl,
As a kid, I remember being taken, in the mid 60's, to Southampton, to see 'the liners', Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, SS United States, SS France, and being amazed that something so big could move! I didn't realise that within ten years I'd be in the Merchant Navy ( no ships as flash as the liners, though ), and within 25 that all this would be past history........................
Dave

I imagine you saw a few places Dave?.
I used to go to Portsmouth quite a bit as family had a nice apartment down there until they sold it but I did like visiting the old HMS victory and often catching a glimpse of some of the Navy ships in for repairs etc. I was down there when the new Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier left for its sea trials
and that was pretty impressive.

 

[boatman]

COUNT me in on this
chris

 

[Defiant911]

What scale is she Carl?

Scale looks to be 1:568 which sounds a very odd scale but size wise it looks not too big and not too small.

 

[Defiant911]

COUNT me in on this
chris

This one could be a slow burner, so best get a very comfy chair.
It could go more disastrous than the titanic to so be prepared.
carl

 

[boatman]

This one could be a slow burner, so best get a very comfy chair.
It could go more disastrous than the titanic to so be prepared.
carl

COMFY CHAIR an im seated begin when ready

 

[Dave Ward]

Carl,
48 countries ( I think ). I suppose the most exotic trip was Europe ->Panama Canal -> Tahiti & South Pacific Islands -> Australia & NZ ->Singapore ->Suez Canal ->Europe, which was around 5 1/2 months - I did that round trip 4 times in the late 70's, early 80's, sounds like paradise, but it was very hard work!
Dave

 

[Defiant911]

Carl,
48 countries ( I think ). I suppose the most exotic trip was Europe ->Panama Canal -> Tahiti & South Pacific Islands -> Australia & NZ ->Singapore ->Suez Canal ->Europe, which was around 5 1/2 months - I did that round trip 4 times in the late 70's, early 80's, sounds like paradise, but it was very hard work!
Dave

It’s certainly the way to see the world but I dont doubt that it was hard work Dave.
I imagine some pretty good stories and memories though.

 

[Defiant911]

So I pondered over how to paint the deck planking wood effect and found a few decent examples on YouTube. This basically amounts to five different shades of paint and two lots of masked planking to add a random effect.
The final colour is a burnt umber wash which I probably should of thinner down more as it mostly covered some of the subtle plank shades I had done. However, the wood look I feel looks ok.
This bit was the first bit of decking as a test piece for the rest and now i am happy with it I shall use the same principle for the rest. Obviously all the small
Bits on the deck are yet to be added or painted so this is just the basic deck piece.
First shot shows three colours and two lots of masked planks .


Second shot was with clear yellow added over first three colours.
Final shot was after applying burnt umber wash which I think left a reasonably realistic wood effect. As mentioned i could of thinner it down further and may do this on next piece to see if that actually would of made a difference.

 

[boatman]

HI Carl lookin good but a thought here i see you have made the deckin a little weathered an dirty but wouldnt the crew be out at night or sometime cleaning the deckin up as this is a luxrery liner an all top payin passangers on board but this is no critisum on your build
chris

 

[Defiant911]

To

HI Carl lookin good but a thought here i see you have made the deckin a little weathered an dirty but wouldnt the crew be out at night or sometime cleaning the deckin up as this is a luxrery liner an all top payin passangers on board but this is no critisum on your build
chris

be honest the wash was meant to darken it down a bit and give a more
Wood like look. As mentioned though I don’t think I thinned the final wash enough and it went on given a dirtier effect than expected. I went out after applying it so it was dry by the time I returned. I agree that it is perhaps a little more dirty than would be ideal. Possibly I could try some more thinners and see if I can remove some of the wash.

 

[Dave Ward]

Carl,
as a junior engineer ( very junior ) I did one trip on the RMS Windsor Castle, just before she was sold. The upper decks were always immaculate, the wood perfect, no rust to be seen ( below decks was a different story ), and paintwork sparkling - most of the cleaning was done early, before the passengers stirred! I used to do the daily engine checks on the starboard lifeboats - I had to have a spotless white boiler suit, a uniform cap, and a shiny toolbox before I was allowed on decks where passengers could be found. I hated every minute of that trip, junior engineers were the lowest of the low, the crew ratings were better treated, you were just one among 20+ juniors - I was glad to return to general cargo ships...............
Dave

 

[boatman]

Carl,
as a junior engineer ( very junior ) I did one trip on the RMS Windsor Castle, just before she was sold. The upper decks were always immaculate, the wood perfect, no rust to be seen ( below decks was a different story ), and paintwork sparkling - most of the cleaning was done early, before the passengers stirred! I used to do the daily engine checks on the starboard lifeboats - I had to have a spotless white boiler suit, a uniform cap, and a shiny toolbox before I was allowed on decks where passengers could be found. I hated every minute of that trip, junior engineers were the lowest of the low, the crew ratings were better treated, you were just one among 20+ juniors - I was glad to return to general cargo ships...............
Dave

Yes Dave i quite believe it as on liner where there are passengers the company that ran the ship want the passengers to enjoy the trip an they exspect every where to be ultra clean as if you was in a dirty bioler suit i would give a bad impresshion would'nt it so clean decks a must Carl as they were on the ships i sailed on as a passenger

 

[Defiant911]

Guess it sounds like I need to get the turps back out and give the deck another scrub..

 

[Dave Ward]

We were not allowed to socialise with the passengers, or use any of their facilities - only above a certain rank were given this privilege! As junior officers, we couldn't use the main officers mess, we had our own rather spartan mess - we could only go on the aft lower deck for fresh air ( no passengers there ). I never spoke to any officer above the rank of Junior Second Engineer. The Senior Seconds, Staff Engineer & Chief Engineer were only ever seen occasionally, and never seemed to speak to any other ranks. I learned virtually nothing, if you showed interest, it was thought you were after someone else's job! . It was boring, the ship sailed at 1:00pm on Friday, and arrived in Capetown 11 1/2 days later ( 22 knots average ) she did this for 17 years! Senior officers loved it - they knew exactly when they could go on leave & most had been so long on the ship they didn't need to do much work. Had stwards looking after them, and 5 star cuisine! I only ended up on her because a normal junior broke his leg! I loved the general cargo ships, a lot of the time you didn't really know where you were going to end up and when!
Dave

 

[boatman]

WELL Dave it sounds like you poor devils got the short end of the stick an all the top lot were on a full paid cruise no wonder they stayed on they knew a good thing when it appeared an on the cargo ships it was a mystrery tour then lol well im now goin on a cruise as im takeing my HMS NORFOLK for a cruise up sheringham pond as its such a lovely day an almost no wind OH A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE
chris

 

[Deleted member 4539]

Guess it sounds like I need to get the turps back out and give the deck another scrub..

Hi Carl.
Just a suggestion.
If you try using thinners on it now it will end up looking a mess.Leave it as it is and treat it as a learning curve and next time just use less wash.
There is nothing actually wrong with the way you have approached it and to me it looks OK .

 

[Defiant911]

Hi Carl.
Just a suggestion.
If you try using thinners on it now it will end up looking a mess.Leave it as it is and treat it as a learning curve and next time just use less wash.
There is nothing actually wrong with the way you have approached it and to me it looks OK .

Yeah, I was wondering if that might happen. I will continue with the other deck pieces and do the same process but go easier on the wash. If it looks far better then I can always strip this one bit back or if not I’ll just match it up and put it down to a bad set of junior sailers cleaning that week..