My intention with "Ben Ain" is to make it as realistic as possible. My ultimate goal is always to make a perfect miniature of the real thing at any one moment in time. I never achieve it but what is the point of an easily achievable goal? :shucks:
To this end I will be weathering and dirtying the ship in an attempt to obtain the realism. Years of plastic modelling experience help with this and I am hoping that the realistic exterior will dramatically contrast with the polished brass internals when the covers are removed.
As for weathering ship models I think it is so easy to get it wrong and spoil the model so a great deal of care and research has to be put into it before you embark down the path. I have listed a couple of relevent points of interest below:
1) Find as many pictures as possible and study them for the formation of rust and dirt. Look at the overall condition of the hull finish and at least identify what you are aiming for.
2) Think about how things were done in the period being investigated. A 1920's coaster was painted up by her crew who didn't have access to spray equipment so why do so many modellers spray the hull and strive for that perfect paint finish? I painted my hull with a small flat brush and varied the mix of matt and gloss paint while I was doing it. The idea was to generate a surface that looked like it had been brush painted over a number of years.
3) Think about how you are going to achieve the effect you are after. So many modellers use air brushes for weathering on model ships and it looks very unrealistic. Rust and dirt do not form as a fine dusting on ships. on hulls rust forms in vertical streaks and follows the path that the sea water normally runs and it is never only one colour. I do rust with a dry brush following where I would expect water to run and combine at least three colours. I have added a picture of a destroyer hull that I played around with a couple of years ago to show you what I mean.
4) Practise on numerous bits of scrap until you are happy that you are going to get the effect you are after.
5) Do not overdo it. There are many models out there that have been spoilt by over weathering and it is so easy to do too much in an attempt to get it right. I am the first to admit that I think the destroyer hull below is a bit excessive but that level will probably be right for the "Ben Ain".
6) Do all your weathering at the same time at the end of the model otherwise you will have areas of slighly differring colours and intensities.
As for the Mountfleet "Ben Ain" model care must be taken with the construction of the focsle bulkhead. The instructions say that you should fit the main deck then the focsle deck and finaly the bulkhead should be inserted as a prefabricated unit. I do think that this is the best way however the angle of the main deck is slighly less than that of the focsle. This means that the forward bulkhead is slightly taller than the aft bulkheads so fitting the prefabricated unit is tricky but it can be done by gently prising the focsle deck upwards. Use the plan to get the exact angles of the decks in relation to the vertical bulkheads and you should be rewarded with no horrible gaps when the prefabricated unit is slid in place.
I hope that this is of some use to you.
Richard
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