Ahoy Shipmates!!!

Here we bring you another fantastic work from our friend, Louis Carabott. This time we have the Russian warship, Varyag.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

What a nice rendition of a classic ship, Louis! Working with white finishes is always a challenge and you set an excellent balance with the rust weathering. I am particularly impressed with the rigging--the funnel bracing must have been a supreme test of patience.

What purpose does the brown clay inside the hull serve?

--Karl

Hi Karl thanks for your kind comments ...yes I agree the rigging was a headache ....I saw off half of the hull when I do my models so that the vessel will have a flat base. So I re enforce it with epoxy putty, which happened to be brown this time and cross beams to prevent it from warping. I happened to me when I built the Airfix Invincible...thanks again for your kind comments Karl..best regards from Malta.Louis

Hi Louis!

The use of the putty is an interesting fix. My waterline edition of the 1:350 Combrig HMS Kent has sagged amidships, which means I will have to get medieval on it and use screws at the bow and stern to get her back on the waterline.

A few years ago I came across sheets of material called Gatorboard which is a very stiff form of foam core. It is lightweight and can be cut very precisely with a hobby knife.

Using this material, I can now keep my hulls intact and can simply cut a custom entry hole for the model. This gives me more leeway in posing the hull before adding the water material. The Gatorboard does not warp like foamcore does when exposed to plaster, so I don't have to add bracing to the underside of the diorama base.

Cutting waterlines is a chore and can be difficult to perform if a list or heel is intended for your scene. A substance like Gatorboard should be readily available in Europe, so please give it a try.

--Karl