The Model Makers thread!

[Kerbinchaser]

Hey there ya'll!

So I decided that since I like model making, it would be a fun idea to make a thread where you guys show off your work and we can discuss everything from tabletop wargaming to large-scale models. I'll start with a diorama I did the other day. 

 

I love Naval models, especially the Kriegsmarine from WWII, because of their gorgeous battleships, notably the Bismarck and Tirpitz. 

This was just a test of different things, and I used Semi-gloss paint because I didn't have any flat.
The water is made from Toilet-paper and glue, and the ship models come from the game Axis And Allies. Smoke is made with cotton, and the "water" is painted with acrylic. 

Another shot of the diorama, this time showing the wake of both ships and the water in entirety. (Yes, the wake is too large, I know, it's just that I tried like 5 times to get it right.)
The one on the right is the SMS Bismark, the one on the left is an unknown cruiser class. I'll just say it's the SMS Graf Spee and be done with it.

 

I have also made a German aircraft carrier, the SMS Graf Zeppelin, and a few Panther tanks, but they wouldn't come in focus for a photo. 

 

I look forward to seeing your builds!

Edited July 10, 2018 by Lo Var Lachland

[Just Jim]

Oh... you are gonna love this...

I'm currently building a wooden model of the Charles W. Morgan, the last of the big whaling ships.

Wait, you're probably asking... A whaling ship??? Why a whaling ship??

A couple reasons. It's not a ship model one would normally expect to see. And I am a huge fan of Moby Dick. I always have been... I know some might think it's gross... and I'm not disagreeing in the least... But back then wasn't like today, and these brave fools were trying to take down an animal the size of a school bus in a glorified rowboat... and more often than not, the whale won... 

They had to be insane...

 

This was also the ship I used as a model for several of my Ghost Ship paintings:

 

Anyway... I already know a lot about this particular ship, the Charles W. Morgan. She's been recently refurbished, and is retired and on display in Mystic Seaport, which I hope to visit someday, preferably in April, when the do an all weekend reading of Moby Dick... onboard the ship!!!

 

 

Anyway... again... lol... right after I smashed my back, I was looking for something to do at a model shop down in Clearwater, and to my amazement, among the real high-quality wooden kits, was the Charles W. Morgan!

Well, let me tell you, I was really surprised seeing this next to ships like the Constitution, and Queen Anne's Revenge, and I had to have her.

At this point I've worked on her about 2 years off and on, and she's about... idk... maybe 1/3rd done? The hull is finished, and I'm waiting to find two things. 1/8th inch letter decals, like for a model train, to do the name on the hull, and a little sewing wheel thing to do the nail marks in the copper plating, which I may have found online.

Here's some of the pics I took while I've been building her. Again, this is a wood kit, not plastic, and I don't expect to have it finished for a couple more years, at least. No hurry...

 Note: the red lower hull matches the new restored paint scheme, as will the copper plating when it's done.

[Kerbinchaser]

@Just Jim That is 'flippin fantastic. Are you scratchbuilding it? It looks like you matched the dimensions perfectly.

Those paintings are awesome!

EDIT:

oh, it's a kit. Nevermind.  

 

Edited July 10, 2018 by Lo Var Lachland

[Just Jim]

1 minute ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

@Just Jim That is 'flippin fantastic. Are you scratchbuilding it? It looks like you matched the dimensions perfectly.

More or less.. the inside bulkhead pieces were pre-cut, but other than that I've had to pretty much shape everything from scratch, yeah. 

Here's the website for the kit. You can see some of the stuff is pre-cut, but for the most part it's just a big bundle of wood planks... Plus there is a lot of little metal stuff, like the anchor.

http://modelexpo-online.com/model-shipways-charles-morgan-whale-bark-1-64-scl

Some things I'll be scratch building, like the whaleboats themselves. I don't like how the pre-cut pieces look, so I went and bought a second kit (yeah...) of just the whaleboats, which is about half finished. 

http://modelexpo-online.com/model-shipways-new_bedford-whaleboat-1-16-scale

The whaleboats I need for the Morgan are 25% the size of the whaleboat kit, so once the kit is done, it will be my model (no pun intended) to scratch-build the smaller ones. But they're way, way, down the road, and nothing I need to worry about yet.

I also have a couple books on wood models in general that are huge helps.

Oh... I almost forgot... this is not my first attempt at a large sailing ship. I almost finished a plastic Constitution, complete with hand tied riggings... until my cat decided it was much too fun to play with, and demolished it. She came real close to losing one of her lives that night... 

Anyway, I do have some pic's from before the cat... tastrophe... lmao.... 

[TheSaint]

48 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Oh... you are gonna love this...

I'm currently building a wooden model of the Charles W. Morgan, the last of the big whaling ships.

<snip>

Oh, how funny, we were just there last month.

When I was young I made quite a few models, mostly jet fighters and sci-fi stuff. Sorry, no pictures, they are all long gone. I have a current project in the queue to assemble and paint a veritable army of Ogre Miniatures with my boys. I'll post some pictures of those when they're done.

[Just Jim]

5 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Oh, how funny, we were just there last month.

When I was young I made quite a few models, mostly jet fighters and sci-fi stuff. Sorry, no pictures, they are all long gone. I have a current project in the queue to assemble and paint a veritable army of Ogre Miniatures with my boys. I'll post some pictures of those when they're done.

Oh, awesome!!! And there's the name lettering!!! That's my next step... lol.

[TheSaint]

21 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Oh, awesome!!! And there's the name lettering!!! That's my next step... lol.

Had I known I would have gotten you some detail shots. I can look through my pictures when I get home to see what I do have. If you ever do get to Mystic, be at the Morgan at around 3:00 for the sail furling, it's fun to watch.

[Just Jim]

18 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Had I known I would have gotten you some detail shots. I can look through my pictures when I get home to see what I do have. If you ever do get to Mystic, be at the Morgan at around 3:00 for the sail furling, it's fun to watch.

Thanks, but that's OK. I have a ton of pics from the restoration project, so I get to see how some of the stuff was actually fashioned. Between that and the 6 pages of blue-prints I hopefully will be OK.

One other thing I need to still make is a nifty little tool called a rope-spinner. You can use it to actually spin thread into very realistic ropes, which I plan to use on all the riggings and shrouds. 

 

1 hour ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

oh, it's a kit. Nevermind.

If... and it's a big if... I ever finish the Morgan, I'll go full-bore scratch-build from just a set of blueprints. IDK what ship, but she'll be completely scratch.

[Dman979]

Just now, Just Jim said:

If... and it's a big if... I ever finish the Morgan, I'll go full-bore scratch-build from just a set of blueprints. IDK what ship, but she'll be completely scratch.

I suggest building the iceberg that sank the Titanic. 1:1250 scale.

[RoadRunnerAerospace]

I've been kicking around the idea of a ultra-scale atlas model, not much else

[qzgy]

I've made a a couple plastic model kits. Mostly jets. (F 18 and SR71 are by far the best ones I've made) . I also tried making one of thosemetal earth kits for a tank..... Didn't go so well

[Kerbinchaser]

2 hours ago, qzgy said:

I've made a a couple plastic model kits. Mostly jets. (F 18 and SR71 are by far the best ones I've made) . I also tried making one of thosemetal earth kits for a tank..... Didn't go so well

Yeah those are tough. 

[Kerbinchaser]

19 hours ago, Just Jim said:

Is that you? That's awesome. That ship is huge.

[Shpaget]

Lots of nice stuff here.

18 hours ago, Just Jim said:

One other thing I need to still make is a nifty little tool called a rope-spinner. You can use it to actually spin thread into very realistic ropes, which I plan to use on all the riggings and shrouds. 

Is this the type of tool you're thinking of?

 

[Kerbinchaser]

49 minutes ago, Shpaget said:

Lots of nice stuff here.

Is this the type of tool you're thinking of?

 

That's pretty cool!

[TheSaint]

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

Lots of nice stuff here.

Is this the type of tool you're thinking of?

 

I would guess something like that, except in miniature.

23 hours ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

Hey there ya'll!

So I decided that since I like model making, it would be a fun idea to make a thread where you guys show off your work and we can discuss everything from tabletop wargaming to large-scale models. I'll start with a diorama I did the other day. 

 

I love Naval models, especially the Kriegsmarine from WWII, because of their gorgeous battleships, notably the Bismarck and Tirpitz. 

This was just a test of different things, and I used Semi-gloss paint because I didn't have any flat.
The water is made from Toilet-paper and glue, and the ship models come from the game Axis And Allies. Smoke is made with cotton, and the "water" is painted with acrylic. 

Another shot of the diorama, this time showing the wake of both ships and the water in entirety. (Yes, the wake is too large, I know, it's just that I tried like 5 times to get it right.)
The one on the right is the SMS Bismark, the one on the left is an unknown cruiser class. I'll just say it's the SMS Graf Spee and be done with it.

 

I have also made a German aircraft carrier, the SMS Graf Zeppelin, and a few Panther tanks, but they wouldn't come in focus for a photo. 

 

I look forward to seeing your builds!

You know, I saw your post again and it jogged my memory. If you like model ships in that scale, you should look at the GHQ Micronaut line.

Edited July 11, 2018 by TheSaint
Another thought

[Just Jim]

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

Is this the type of tool you're thinking of?

Yup, that's a rope-walk! The only difference is I need something a lot smaller in scale. But that is exactly the same thing, yes.

And let me tell you, I've seen some models where the builders took their time to get the ropes really accurate, especially the thick, heavy shrouds, and they make the models really stand out. 

 

2 hours ago, Lo Var Lachland said:

Is that you? That's awesome. That ship is huge.

That was me... about 15 years ago... 

[Kerbinchaser]

50 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

I would guess something like that, except in miniature.

You know, I saw your post again and it jogged my memory. If you like model ships in that scale, you should look at the GHQ Micronaut line.

Wow, thanks! Those look awesome!

[Shpaget]

1 hour ago, TheSaint said:

I would guess something like that, except in miniature.

 

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

The only difference is I need something a lot smaller in scale.

And let me tell you, I've seen some models where the builders took their time to get the ropes really accurate, especially the thick, heavy shrouds, and they make the models really stand out.

Well, of course XD.

Yeah, I can imagine. Little details are what turn a good model into a great one.

Anyway, it looks like a cool weekend project for a hobby shop.

[Kerbinchaser]

REVIVED. 

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I like to make models sometimes. I'm not great at it, and tend to work on them on and off, but I've made a decent number of them. These are the ones that came out the best. They're really dusty. And a bunch of wheels fell off when I picked them up to take photos.

I made this quite a while ago:

 

This is a bit more recent:

It's a Mini Cooper kitbashed with a Jeep Wrangler. With a Hemi.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Mad Rocket Scientist

[Kerbinchaser]

They look good! Better then mine, at least.

 

I guess the reason I like models is because my Dad was a professional for about 10 years. He made models for the box that kits come in. 

I just wish he was still in the business.  

Edited December 3, 2018 by Lo Var Lachland

[Kerbinchaser]

REVIVED!

[Kerbinchaser]

I've been doing some planning of a scratchbuilt KSP rocket, but haven't figured out all the details yet. I think I'll 3D print it and then sand it smooth, and to top it off use polystyrene to add details and accents.