Guys, are there any weathering tips for battleships I can refer to here? Or do I just use my own common sense (whatever's left)? I have lots of questions on this.

How much rust would there be on the hull, above and below the waterline?

Would natural tones in wooden decking show up through cam paint, and if so, is it more likely caused by walking or wave effect?

Would there be discolouration to decking and superstructure from the flash of the main guns and the smoke from the stacks?

Would the gun muzzles be discoloured from firing?

Is there any sort of chipping caused by weather?

Any answers or pointers as to where I can look online? I have no books, and don't really want to invest in any til I'm sure I'm really into ships. I'm building the 1/570 Revell KGV, if that helps in answering. Thanks.

Hello Dave

Ships at sea do take a battering from weather, and will show rust very quickly due to the salt-laden environment. That said, warships usually have a comprehensive husbandry routine, even in wartime, and so there will be a continuous program of chipping and painting. Upperworks will generally be kept fairly rust free, you will though see heavy rusting around anchor hawse pipes and and other areas below deck level, which are obviously much harder to get at whilst the ship is at sea.

Not sure about the wood decking vs cam paint question - I'd guess it wouldn't normally show through, except perhaps in high traffic areas / choke points on the deck.

Discolouration from gun flash is fairly unlikely I think, due to the above comment ref husbandry. Again you may well see smoke staining around funnels and other high level superstructure, masts etc.

Chipping from weather - yes, esp on N Atlantic ships, particularly below main deck level, around the bow.

Best bet is to take a look at some real ships of course - here's a random example from google...


Rust

Rip hit the nail right on the head with his answer, and the key word when it comes to ship weathering is "subtle" (that is, unless you're modeling a rust bucket that's moored in a dead bay somewhere! :-) )...swabbies spend a great deal of time with husbandry practices, to keep things "ship shape", you know, Even out on the high seas...
Good question David, and take Rip's suggestion and spend some time looking at pic's of the real thing (and better yet in person if your lucky enough to live by a dock).
~Gunny

As for techniques, similar ones to what you might use on armour will work equally well (oil washes, RustAll etc). I'm going to experiment with a sepia ink wash on the teak decks of my HMS Hood, so will post here on completion and let you all know what kind of calamity has struck!

Thanks, Graham & Mark, wish me luck.

Interesting question...

Appart from the already pointed out issues on real ships, we have to think here on a completely different point:
Scale.

If you weather a 1/700 ship in the same way of weathering a 1/35 tank (or in my particular case - a Midget Submarine!) your little model will look bizarre and strange

Here is a part of my Typ XXIII from ICM built review where I explain a little about the weathering and rusting on ships - subs:
I must confess that this is the part that I prefer most! I think that this is the “author signature” that will make a model different from any other.
The first step was applying a black wash to all the holes on the hull. While the wash was drying, I mixed 1/1 ratio white to the brass colour, and using an old toothbrush I sprinkled the propeller. Try this several times, and see that the propeller only gets the smallest drops of paint. This will break the brass colour and simulate the salt corrosion on the propeller.
Now back to the fun part! Cleaned the excess on the washes and started making some scratched and patches of a lighter shade of the Matt 57 paint, with a mix of 4 to 1 with Schnellbootweiss. Using a small paintbrush (00) little dots and dabs where applied almost randomly. Almost, because you have to think where to apply these scratches. Take your time and look at lots of pictures of similar submarines (or any subject that you are building) and you’ll find out that there’s a kind of a pattern…
The place where these scratches are most noticeable is on the white band around the sail, for obvious reasons.
Bellow the waterline, I simply dry brushed the area with the same colour, since there’s the future floor polish effect on the paint.

The Rust:
This is the final personal touch and, as I mentioned earlier, my signature!
Before you start making rust everywhere, consider this:
- Rust start because:
o The area got hit, paint chipped and the oxidation process started, this could happen anywhere;
o Areas of heavy duty, with periods of no activity, like in Submarines;
o Still areas, like corners and angled areas, from inside;
o The weather effect (temperature differences, salt, sun, water, snow, ice, and so on);
o The quality of the materials.
o Recent rust have a lighter colour, yellow or orange;
o Old rust has a darker colour and broader streaks;
o Rust streaks stop at the waterline.
I use artist’s oils Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. I use it pure and mixed, to make several shades. In this case since the scale was too small, I only used two mixes, making a total of four colours.
Having this is mind, I started applying a small dot using a brush (again the 00) and with a dry flat brush (number 5) gently made several vertical downward strokes. Pay attention when you start another stroke, not to go upper the initial stoke – you don’t want to have rust streaks going upwards, not even on a sub!
Also clean the big brush after making the streaks, and make sure it is dry of the cleaning agent when streaking again.
This process is then replicated on the needed areas, with care, not to overdone this effect. On some streaks, some dots of the same colour or even the darker shade can be applied to the initial rust streak dot, to make it more convincing.


(you can read the full build up analisys here:
ICM's Typ XXIII in 1/144 )

Ok - this sort out how rust appears and develop, but there's also the elements fadding the paint - even if you are told to go and paint that deck or superstucture - paint fades with sun, salt water - heavily!
So you could drybrush a lighter shade of the original colour (add a drop of white or very light grey) and do some subtle passes, but with most care so that you don't overdo it (very easy to!)

It is very interesting because I am in the process of making some features on "How To..." and weathering was one of them - If anyone would like to help...
Perhaps with would be interesting to see how different modelers make their weathering

Hope this helps
Skipper

A lot depends on the time frame you're modeling the ship in...

BTW, if you want to correct the issues with kit, you'll need to add bilge keels, correct the thickness of the after funnel (it's too narrow) and extend the armor belt further aft. These are all simple fixes.

If you paint KGV in a disruptive scheme, then the pattern will carry onto the decks (I need to verify this though, I'm away from my library). During the Bismarck chase, I'm pretty sure she was in AP507B with painted decks at that time.

Jeff

Thanks, Ruis, all good points.

Jeff, "easy fix"????? This'll be my first ship (if all goes well) so I think I'll keep it OOB. :-)

As "easy fixes" go, yes, these are very easy...

Bilge keels - those are the thin strips found along the bottom curve of the hull that help reduce the roll. They resemble long fins. These are easily done with plastic strip. You can even put a small length of plastic rod behind them to give them extra strength (the rod is invisible unless the ship is upside down).

The armor belt - find some styrene strip that's the same width and thickness as the armor belt, glue it to the side of the hull, putty the seam and blend it in.

The funnel...sandwich a piece of 1/16" styrene between the halves of the funnel, trace the outline of the kit part and cut it out...glue one half of the funnel to the styrene "filler", then cut out the opening at the top of the stack. Then glue the other half of the funnel to the styrene "filler". Sand it smooth...

Be thankful I didn't mention the errors in the shape of the superstructure!!

Jeff

You are mean, Jeff
Don't scare our new enlisted sailors :-)

But I guess that just with these easy fixes it will improve the looks a lot, on the old KGV

Skipper

Aww come on, I'm not that intimidating, am I?

These really are simple fixes that can be handled by even brand-new, first-time modelers. It's all just basic shapes (two long strips with pointy ends, two rectangles, and a traced outline).

A little extra work can sometimes go a long way to improving a model. The KGV isn't a bad kit, in fact, for it's age, it's pretty good.

Jeff

Mean, yes. Intimidating, no :-)




I've got an Airfix 1/600 KGV about 85% done. As I wanted mine to represent the ship during the Bismark chase, I did some digging around to find the right colors. KGV was in 507B (Medium Gray) with 507A (Dark Gray) decks - both wood and steel - in May, 1941.

Martin, I'm crushed...you of all people...ack ack ack.

Thanks for verifying the 507B, I wasn't sure about the deck colors. It's getting harder for me to remember all this stuff...I'm still amazed that I remember anything!

Jeff

Don't worry boys, Jeff and I go way back. He's a modeling brother from the great state of New Jersey. We are trying to find it in our hearts to forgive him for moving the lands of brats and wursts!




She also had yellow turret tops. Oh wait, wrong ship.. :-)

It was red turret tops, and she was painted 5-S sea blue, not 5-D dark gray.

Sorry to hijack your KGV thread...on a serious note, I've got all kinds of references on her, so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask, drawings, photos, etc.

JH