Member postings for gecon

Good morning,

The forum's own Bishop is certainly a diplomatic chap! My 'previous life' as an aviator would hardly add to anyone's abilities here but, let's see now, my 'area of expertise'...errr airbrushing hulls?. I think we leave that for now and I'll put the coffee on

Cheers, George

Thanks Ashley, how little I know. Spent too many years gazing out of the cockpit at the waves on the Noth Sea - and hoping not to end up IN it. If you want to learn...join the forum!

Regards, George

That's looks heavy! Does it slide sideways to fire out of the port? Does not look like it can swing. It can hardly be fired from where it is now. Well it can, but only once -and the 'bird on the bow' would certainly have tears in it's eyes.

Don't think I'll start that project just yet, but a wonderfull subject for someone who needs 'a long build'.

Regards,

George

Ah-ha! That's what I call a 'design purpose'. I knew at least that it could not possibly be a old Needham landing-craft with a point on the front.

Thanks for the enlightenment Ashley

George

Unusual construction of the bows on the Gannet. Has that unusual shape a design purpose?

And of course, the dickey-bird on the head sure puts my sad seagulls to shame!

George

Hull going into storage for a while...

George

Really magnificent work Bob!

Regards George

I have found that matt is easy to acheive with an airbrush. I have had trouble getting it to shine -even a slight shimmer is demanding. But I think I now know what to do....more-or-less!

Flourescent needs to have white undercoat but I'm sure Trevor knows that already.

Hull heading for the cellar store today. It's a bit early in the build to do the hull paintwork but I needed the practice! I expect I'll be spraying again after the build. Bound to be some knocks and scratches.

George

Managed an acceptable silk finish today. Used Tamiya Clear Gloss, ca,30% thinner and ca.5-10% Paint Retarder. Sprayed at about 12-15cm distance at half throttle (2 bar) on my particular compressor which is a cheap-ish unit from the Norwegian equivalent of Halfords. There seems to me to be an aweful lot of variable parameters in the air-brushing process! I'm quite nervous while doing the actual spraying....because I don't actually know what I'm doing I suppose.

George

Tamiya Clear Gloss acrylic airbrushed onto the hull today. Probably a bit early in the build to be painting as there's sure to be some workshop damage during the build but I needed to test out how to get a silk finish before forgetting the paint/thinner/retarder mix. I note from several 'you-tubers' that the mix is not critical so long as it's all stirred well.

Could have used more retarder but did not want to push my luck and risk 'running paint' syndrome. There'll be a pause in the CA contruction while I try to get the Fisher 34 curvey-cockpit built.

George

Edited By gecon on 20/09/2020 14:47:05

Edited By gecon on 20/09/2020 14:47:47

Edited By gecon on 20/09/2020 14:50:30

Admiralty frowning -just a little- at the state of the balcony today. Several passes of Billing Boats 'hull red' acrylic have now been applied. Still need more cover on it and a little silky-matte clear coat. I'm now in the mental state of "just do it" and find the necessary excuses for any flawed paintwork later. Like when a wasp flew in and I sprayed red onto the sliding glass door. Came off PDQ -with water!

Safe weekend to all,

George

The Colin Archer is on a rare visit to the builder's yard after spending most of the summer in the cellar. This is only because I need to test my airbushing skills endeavours. The topsides -now newspapered- are silk-ish white and the BTM will be Billing Boats 'hull red' some time tomorrow. The painting session was planned for today but a few family-assistance-sorties took a while to sort out and the sun was getting low in the sky by the time I was home again.

Not an inspiring photo but the crossword on the bow creates interest - for those very few who comprehend the 'viking lingo'.

George

Edited By gecon on 17/09/2020 20:16:49

Thanks Paul, started on the Colin Archer hull this afternoon!

Not because I really wanted to but because the Wx was right and I wanted to try the processes again before I forget what I did on the Fisher hull! Got matte finish today -I'll try the Tamiya clear gloss as topcoat tomorrow and hope for a silk-ish finish. An old Colin Archer hardly needs gloss topsides!

regards,

George

Airbrushing etc...

I'm a bit sorry that I started off on this airbrush escapade but I have at least learned something new. Today I also discovered that the new Ruby (not RuDy as I wrote earlier) needed a more powerful compressor than the one I have. When I tested today (just blowing air through) my small-ish compressor could not deliver enough air through the 0.8mm Ruby nozzle so I gave that up PDQ.

Seeing that I had rigged everything up anyway I decided to have another go with the first airbrush I bought. I achieved a slightly better finish than earlier by mixing in some 'paint retarder' with the thinned clear acrylic gloss. The added retarder extended the drying time of the acrylic so I managed to get a 'wet' look on the surface after about five succesive passes. I did not want to push my luck so I settled for that as the final finish for the Fisher 34 hull.

gecon

Just for info...

I have bought another type of airbrush. Hobbynox Rudy. Should have noticed this one earlier. It has the look of a 'spray gun' as opposed to an 'airbrush' which is probably why I have not read the 'bumf' on it before now. However it has a nozzle design which permits spraying with a 'fan shaped' spray pattern. Thus covering more area and laying down a more concentrated amount of paint with each passing. The info sheet states that is is designed for large ship hulls and large A/C models. The nozzel opening is 0.8mm whereas the first airbrush I tried has 0.3mm.

Elsewhere (You Tube) I note that airbrushed Acrylic should be oversprayed with clear varnish to seal it better and make it more durable. I have bought some Tamiya clear gloss X-22 for this purpose.

I will try yet again to acheive a better finish on the Fisher 34 hull. If it works, I'll do the Colin Archer hull too -before the autumn weather sets in here in Norway and renders the spray-booth (balcony) unsuitable for painting.

Forecast is good for next week so looks like Tuesday will be 'spray-day'.

gecon

Edited By gecon on 11/09/2020 07:35:28

Had som problems deciding how to make the combings on the capping rail around the aft quarters. Latest attempt suggests that they will be shaped from 10mm balsa. Thought I was going to construct built-up combings from 1mm/1.5mm aircraft ply but this provd to be too much for my brain and too fiddly for my fingures. Balsa is a little on the 'absorbant side' for my liking so I'll have to seal it well. 1 mm ply will be used for inside cockpit sidwalls.

Managed to produce some 'varnished teak' slattet cockpit seating -which is also a prominent feature of this type of motorsailer.

Anyway, will post photos of the latest 'offering' - and final choice of construction method. It'll be a while before it's all sealed, painted and glued in place though.

I've not yet given up on acheiving a gloss -ish hull finish so I'll post a few thoughts about that in that particular thread.....if I can find it again.

gecon

Edited By gecon on 11/09/2020 07:01:49

50" !! wow..."space for a pony" -as Hyacinth Bucket would say.

George

Ray, I seem to remenber you mentioning considering a yacht with 'bare poles' so I wondered if this was it. I have to include a motor here in Norway. The local lakes are too big to wait for the breeze to retreive a boat and so far, I've been alone at the lakes I've been to!

I do agree that motor-only models don't have the same appeal as yachts -or sailplanes. Though I am temted by one or two motor-only subjects for the future.

Regards, George

Hi Ray,

Are you going to have battened down sails -as in the drawing- and only motor power? Or will you be able to sail her too? It will look great either way I'm sure. Lovely subject.

Regards,

George

Beautifull work Niel,

I thought I was 'scratch building' until I started following your thread/s. Soon realised I was only just 'scratching ' at the surface.

I'm a bit like Ashley, after about an hour of 'scratching' I wonder if I should try to find an easier way and scratch my head agian! Usually end up restarting what I first thought of.

Regards, George