Micronaut Only Thread

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:33 am

WW2Central,
those carriers look great. Get two more and you will then have that photo re-created.
Very nice work. Congratulations.

ExGGFG · Post by **ExGGFG** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:14 am

WWIICentral wrote:Go easy on me guys... I took some artistic liberties on some of the paint schemes so I know they are not 100% historically accurate (like the Hornet on the end). I wanted to share the finished results.

There's something very cool about seeing 4 fleet carriers lined up next to each other

Tanner

Holy hell!! Those carriers are gorgeous! Nice work sir.
How are you painting the lines on the decks? Is that masked and airbrushed, or masked and brush painted? Or decals?

Thanks.

WWIICentral · Post by **WWIICentral** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:19 am

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback.

ExGGFG - The decks are done with custom decals

Ducknucks - The technique that I've used on the Bismarck is to get the I-94 Enterprise german flag decals and cut the flag to the correct shape for your use. It's pretty quick and easy and beats designing and printing your own. It also includes flags of different sizes so you could fit one to the Prinz Eugen. Here's an example of what I did:

ExGGFG · Post by **ExGGFG** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:15 am

Hi guys,

I'm wondering what people have found successful for basing aircraft? I picked up a bunch of 1"x1" metal bases for my aircraft, but I'm not sure what will be most durable for mounting planes on them. Also, I don't want to be doing a pile of work.

I've seen some pics on te forums with clear acrylic pegs which seems nice, but I'm just not sure how easily those will break, and don't want to be fixing broken ones all the time.

Are they strong? Where do you get them from?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

ExGGFG · Post by **ExGGFG** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:55 am

My latest efforts. Royal Canadian Navy destroyers and corvettes, U-boats and some merchant ships (not on bases yet, as I haven't decided how to name them).

The destroyer Haida is actually still a floating museum in Hamilton, Ontario Canada, near Toronto. It used to be berthed in Toronto harbour and as a young boy in the 1980's I actually had a birthday party on it.

WWIICentral · Post by **WWIICentral** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:53 am

ExGGFG - Very nice ships! Thanks for sharing. I am looking for the same answers as you in regards to mounting aircraft. My initial thoughts are that I will just mount them directly to neutral (grey?) colored base without anything to elevate each aircraft. I'm just afraid those little buggers will be snapping off too often. And when you consider how small they are and how few of them you get in a blister pack, they are quite expensive!!!

Tanner

ExGGFG · Post by **ExGGFG** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:27 am

Thanks WWIICentral.

Can I ask you what colours you used to paint your carriers? I picked up Enterprise and plan to eventually have all the carriers used at Midway. Your grays and blue-grays are really nice colours.

I use both Tamiya and Vallejo colours, if that's what you happen to use - please share your choices?

Thanks!

cbovill · Post by **cbovill** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:57 am

Tanner - those carriers are absolutely stunning! Holy cow they look good! I really struggle with getting the details to pop like you do. You may have a market for your custom decals too.

Chris

cbovill · Post by **cbovill** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:07 am

ExGGFG - I posted a link to an earlier page in this thread that shows the basing I use for my 1/2400th aircraft. I have two sizes of clear acrylic base - one for multi-plane basing and one smaller for single plane (scout) basing. The pegs they sit on are just fishing line that I bought cheap at Walmart and is flexible so that it won't break but holds the aircraft up just fine and even keeps them flying in formation.

http://www.ghqmodels.com/forum/viewtopi ... &start=360

I've based hundreds of aircraft this way and no problems. It also helps to drill a small pilot hole in the underside of the aircraft for the fishing line to connect with.

Chris

ExGGFG · Post by **ExGGFG** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:24 am

Thanks Chris. I know those pics well, but hadn't read very closely I guess because I missed the part about the fishing line. That's a really clever solution and I will run out and try some of that!

Much appreciated.

Love your stuff by the way.

Unfathomable · Post by **Unfathomable** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:14 pm

WWII Central.

I truly don't know what to say. On a site with so much good work - amazing work - from so many talented people, yours manages to stand out as head and shoulders above the rest. Each time you post I'm truly gobsmacked. (I was about to type "I'm not pissing in your pocket, but I won't, because I am.)

And I'm not only referencing the carriers on the previous page, but all your posted examples. (Assuming you're not having a cheeky fiddle in 'post' when you drop in the water effect ... which, by the by, I don't think you doing.) I have so many questions for you I don't even know where to begin.

You should do a super detailed idiot-proof tutorial. Hell, I'd probably pay you for a detailed idiot-proof tutorial! I take more or less a month to produce a single model that doesn't look 10% of yours quality-wise. Rather, they look rubbish. In fact I won't even start my carriers (or even cammo schemes) until I improve, something I work at nightly. Despite all that when I see your results I almost feel like chucking in the towel. I don't get how you achieve the texture, the depth, the detail, the precision, the deck markings, the atmospheric variation, the total believability of an object that truly exists - artistically animated stylisation notwithstanding. Post more!

How OTT has this message been? I'm not even drunk! But it's true: whenever I see one of your vessels my reaction is, "Holy (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) how does he (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) without (censored) (censored) (censored) the cunning (censored) (censored) (censored) with all the luck I (censored) bet he (censored) (censored) (censored) and I don't (censored) well care anyway, the jammy (censored)(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored).

I love those models so much I hate it.

PS: What was the PI Enterprise (I think this is what you said, I haven't checked) decal kit? And where do you get it? (And did you get the bow swastika so the anchor chains lay over it before or after application?)

All the best.

WWIICentral · Post by **WWIICentral** » Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:37 am

Unfathomable - thanks for the kind words sometimes I'm surprised (and Happy) that my miniatures turn out so well. There is so much good work on this forum and I've benefited from it all.

To answer some of your questions:

The decals I referred to are I-94 Enterprises decals. I can't post the URL here due to forum rules but if you Google that exact phrase, you should find them relatively easy.

I was able to achieve the chain-over-the-decal look by trimming the decal to the rough shape of what I needed and then making a cut where each of the chains would be. This essentially cut the decal into three pieces. I then applied the decal in 3 pieces on either side of the chain and in the middle. Hope that helps.

ExGGFG - To answer your question on color: I used Vallejo 868 (Dark SeaGreen) and 816 (Luftwaffe Uniform) mixed with 951 (White) in a 1:1:2 ratio. Either of those grey colors are good choices for Deck Blue (20-B) and you can mix them in varying degrees to get the desired result.

For the Sea Blue (S-5) color I used Vallejo Field Blue (964) mixed with White (1:1 or 2:1)

For the General Haze Grey I used Vallejo Medium Sea Grey (870) and the I airbrushed a highlight layer of Sky Grey (989) on top.

Hope that helps

Thanks again guys,
Tanner

Unfathomable · Post by **Unfathomable** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:57 pm

That's awesome, WWII Central. That's exactly what I need: details. The other thing I'm interested in is how you get those fantastic cross-wise slat marks. Not the regular deck markings, but the texture that's knocked down below that, beam-to-beam. It's machine precise. And did I mention that last night I had a dream about you? You did this amazing dance with seven veils. You looked like Christopher Walken, except really, really small. Trust me, you were ... mesmerising.

And what about that hyper-detailed for-idiots-only tutorial. How long does each model taken from start to finish?

av8rmongo · Post by **av8rmongo** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:46 pm

Unfathomable wrote:And did I mention that last night I had a dream about you? You did this amazing dance with seven veils. You looked like Christopher Walken, except really, really small. Trust me, you were ... mesmerising.

This is disturbing on sooo many levels. I mean if you're gonna bring Christopher Walken into this, why go small?

WWIICentral · Post by **WWIICentral** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:17 am

Yes... disturbing... gotta have more cowbell!

To answer your other questions:

Slat marks - these are part of the decal; I placed deck planking in a pattern that closely matches the planked texture already on the flight deck surfaces.

Tutorial - to be honest, I am not sure I have it in me. I used to love doing tutorials (and I posted quite a few on my site) but time is so scare now that I'd rather just focus on painting and posting a few pictures now and then.

Timing - depends on the complexity but I would say I spend at least a few hours on each model. Cleaning, sanding, gluing, primer, basecoat, varnish, wash, details, decals, varnish again, etc.

Here is a good example of some ships that were on the more complex side:

Hope that helps,
Tanner