Rubbish, nothing! This is a serious and inspirational build. I'm noting this for when I continue on my kit of this subject.

Thanks Michael,

A build this big takes more doing than I thought it would, and lots of decisions that even though they are considered don't always pan out in the long run..

For example, yesterday I sprayed the same Vallejo polyurethane primer on the deck parts for the aft deck as I did for the rest of the hull sides. Only problem is I am using WEM Colour Coats for the deck and those paints are enamels. I am going to paint a small part tomorrow and cross my fingers it doesn't come out with a crinkle finish!

I know lacquer can affect the wrong paint underneath it but now sure of enamel which is no where near as 'hot' as lacquer...

We shall see...

Hi Warren,

Coming really well in my absence over the last couple of weeks.

Keep up the good work,

Cheers, Si

Thanks Simon.

Finely worked out Lifecolor paint application using the airbrush and got one side of the hull done. More results as they come to hand..

Well I thought I had worked them out then my 0.3mm nozzle brush decided to block up with the same paint. I got a little peed off at that point and swore I would never ever buy these pain in the butt paints.

Then I remembered my 30 year old Badger single-action brush I have and thought I would give it a go as you can vary the paint supply much more than you can with a modern dual action brush.

Put the paint in the cup and tried to spray.. nothing.. No sign of any paint coming out of the cup.. tried blowing the paint back through the cup with no success.. must be blocked. Put some lacquer thinners in the cup and tried again. Still nothing. Put a piece of plastic rod down the spout of the cup and it came out with horrible looking rubbish from the elbow of the spout. Put more thinners in and gave it a good scrub.

Then I put it in the ultra-sonic for some time with methylated spirits and dried it when it came out. All clear finally! The only way I can spray with my old airbrush is to use my old, noisy compressor as it has the correct fittings for it whereas every other airbrush have the more modern standardised fittings.

So I went out into the man-cave (garage) and set it all up ready to go. Did a quick check on the side of a cardboard box to check paint flow and blow me down it worked perfectly. So my thirty year old single action airbrush is the way to go with Lifecolor paints. Even though it was under 12 degrees C in the garage it seemed to go on fine. I then bought it inside to dry out over night.

This paint problem has been a real roadblock until now. Still get a fish eye every so often for some reason but I can put up with them. Just wait for them to dry and paint over them.

That's it for now.

Cheers
Warren

Warren,

Glad to hear that your pair issues have been resolved and that your back on track. I use the Restore Aztek AB and used lifecolor to paint my USS Herrmann with no issues. On the same note it was a small area in comparison to yours. Will keep in mind the issues you had when I get to the North Carolina. Thanks for sharing your trials and resolution

Dave

Warren,

that does not exactly sound like lots of fun....however, good to hear you resolved the issues with your paint and airbrush eventually!! Hopefully it's more enjoyable once you figured out a way to handle the life colors - looking forward to some pictures of the painted hull!!

Cheers

Jan

great save, Warren.

Watch out for those colour cotes over the acrylics though. The paint might not be too hot, but the enamel thinners could be...

Very correct Russsell. I will keep that in mind.

Well you may think that I have gone into hibernation after the cold weather has hit Adelaide, especially after living 8 years or so in Queensland, but you would be incorrect in your thinking.

Warren has been working hard to try and work out how to apply the correct white paint, Western Approaches White, to the hull and aft superstructure of the Flower-Class, and to prove I did work it out eventually I present the following pictures as evidence..





and..



After I finally got that on I got back to the aft deck pieces..



Note that the walkways have not been painted yet..

And finally some more work on the engine room skylight..



After the hull has dried for a few days I will mask it up and spray some WA Green and WA Blue on it. I then have to see about what colour the insides of the walls at the rear of the ship are and paint them BEFORE I glue the superstructure in position, otherwise I won't be able to get to the them easily.

Cheers
Warren

Warren,

Outstanding work. Glad to see you have overcome the challenges you experienced with the lifecolor. Keep at it my friend. Can't wait to see more

Dave

Thanks Dave.

Looking good. I painted the insides of the walls at the rear of the ship the same colour as the deck. Not sure if this was correct however.

Looking good Warren.

I have been hibernating even if you haven't

Staying indoors and avoiding the man cave and anything to do with painting until it warms up a bit. Gives me plenty of time to prep for painting though

Looking good Warren,

Cheers

Si

Ahoy Warren

Real nice indeed.

Great progress "shipmate".

Warren & Russell - You guys have a winter across the Tasman? Hehehe


Cheers


Sean

Thanks Sean.

Yes, we have winter here in Adelaide.. cold, wet and miserable sometimes.

Looks great Warren!!

Glad to see that you got your issues withe the WA white resolved! And your PE work definitely looks great as well!

Cheers,

Jan

and then we get all Adelaide's weather a day or so later

Hello Simon.

Thanks for your comment. Sorry about the late acknowledgment.

Cheers
Warren

Thank you very much for that Jan.

I went on a cruise on the Murray River over the weekend so my hull's white paint should be very dry when I get around to the rest of the camouflage.

Cheers
Warren

And normally worse than when it was here..

hm... what's with that?

We give all the left-over weather to Victoria, Russ. We don't need it in South Australia anymore so you may as well have it..

So it is time for a small update. Due to a lack of time at the moment (I am playing an online game called Transport Empire) but I got to do a bit on the stern area today.



All those braces are from the kit but are not shown in any of the GLS instructions that I have seen (but I am probably wrong)

That's it for now. Next up is another coat of grey for the stern area deck etc.

Cheers
Warren

Hello everyone...

Well it is very quiet in here but I have made some more progress.

First up I sprayed the inside of the hull and supports the same colour as the deck..



After that I sprayed the roof of the aft superstructure.



Here is the aft area of the ship with PE deck and the superstructure sitting in place.. not glued as yet..



Then I removed it all again and seeing it has been at least a week since I sprayed the hull I decided to mask the hull up in preparation to spray the WA Blue and Green.









That's it for now. Spraying will be done in the next few days then I can get into attaching lots of the deck stuff permanently.

Cheers
Warren