Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Superstructure part 1



Working on the tugboat superstructure is a proper old-skool plastic kit building experience. 

Part fit isn't bad, but modern kits are so much better. I'm assembling all the big lumps first. These will be tidied up and painted before final assembly. 

One thing that does confuse me - why are the panel lines or gaps between planks raised lines? I'm assuming this was ease of mould making, you can make a grove easier than a thin raised line. Part of me wants to etch these with a scriber and the more sensible bit says to leave well alone as the subterfuge looks fine on a model. 


Putting all the bits together, I'm getting an idea how the finished model will look. Am I alone in dry assembling kits like this, just to see how the model is progressing? 

7 comments:

Paul B. said...

You are not alone. Dry assembling is a good way of spotting future problems as well as a way of spurring yourself on to the finish line.

Simon Hargraves said...

This looks like fun, Phil.
Is the kit vac-formed? I know that was popular for boat kits and I even had one or two (Calder Craft Attacker springs to mind).
Dry-assembling I always do if possible, as you say it gives an idea of the look (and size) of the finished model. There have been a couple of freelance kits in 009 that I've had to modify to fit within my (fairly generous) loading gauge and it's a he'll of a lot easier to do before the model is assembled!
Although I'm not really a boat modeller I'm watching this with interest,
Simon.

Huw Griffiths said...

You're definitely not alone in test assembling sections of kits, to check fit and appearance.

As for the raised "grooves" (or whatever we're supposed to call them), I'm sure I've encountered the same sort of thing myself somewhere (can't remember where - perhaps on some low-end model railway stuff).

Of course, I take it that they're not trying to represent where somebody might have been slightly over enthusiastic with caulking ... .

Joking aside, I can think of 2 basic ways of dealing with this issue:

* Leaving this stuff as it is might make it slightly easier to "dry brush" simulated panel joints - presumably using either powdered pigments / chalks, or paint / marker pen, hovering slightly above most of the panels.

* If it is actually easy to separate all the "planked" sections, then it might perhaps be an option to consider using the scriber, followed by a thin wash of Indian ink etc.. However, I must admit that this does sound to me like a lot of thankless work ... .

Phil Parker said...

Simon - No, it's injection moulded. Larger boat models tend to be vac-formed. I'd do more of them if I had space for a suitable machine to make the best of the boat it range I bought a couple of years ago...

Phil Parker said...

Huw - We are both thinking along the same lines with the weathering. Dry-brushing is going to be the way to go possibly with some misting from the airbrush.

Christopher said...

Hi Phil, regarding the details that aircraft modellers call raised panel lines -- and something I remember from old Airfix kits in the 1970s -- the keen modeller would remove them and re-scribe them! Something I've never tried, as I didn't know about (or care) about such things back then...

BR60103 said...

Phil:
I'm a bit late commenting. I'm building an Airfix Brake Van and in painting I've found that the board lines are both scribed and raised. The outside bits are scribed but the inside of the ends and the floor are raised.