1/2000 Derfflingers - complete

Here are the tiny ships painted and based. quite fine items they turned out to be - I really like how my scratchbuilding skills progressed since the building of my first balsa ships.

I followed a paint scheme readily available from the internet, and I must say these sheeps look sleek yet formidable. I chose 1/2000 over 1/2400 because the round number makes it easier to measure things - I make a 1/1000 scale plan based on available data, then a 1/2000 by reducing that one's size to half.

I used a high gloss oil-based varnish on the bases for the sea effect, and also painted the bases separately of the ships. 

Next up are the two members of the Nelson class, and then who knows, I've got blueprints for a dozen different kinds of ships now.

Tiny Derfflingers WIP

I've had more naval musings as of late, and to kill time, I've constructed all three members of the Derfflinger class in 1/2000 scale. They are actually quite large at 10.5cm (about 4") length in this scale.

SMS Viribus Unitis - Complete

I still owe you all a photo report about the complete model, so here it is. This was a great challenge for me and I tried a bunch of new techniques, but I think the end product justifies it all.

This was my August hobby project, but I had other issues to deal with in September, so the next one will probably be for next month. I'm building a bunch of smaller ships until then - a bottle model of SMS Zenta is complete, and now I'm working on the German Derfflinger-class battlecruisers in 1/2000 scale.

Here it is, please enjoy the pictures.

Stuff for Sale #2

Excuse me for the previous unexplained 'bleg post', that one was published for the same purpose as this one.
I've decided to sell off another large part of my collection to support the future education & medical bills of a tiny pug my girlfriend and I have adopted.

This was very successful last time and I don't really wish to get my income cut by ebay's or other sites' fee, so here we go again.

In the collections below, almost everything is painted to an OK quality (may vary), also please note that some of the figures had been improperly stored and would require updating/restoring the paint on them. However, they are well below the retail price of unpainted(!) figures, and there is a discount if you buy more in bulk. 

Most of these are from projects which had stalled or the figures are just catching dust anyway.  

Just like last time, I will update each lot if parts are purchased and adjust the price of the lot accordingly.

For international buyers, I'll get a quote from the post office and contact you with the price. I'll pack each item as well as I can, the packaging is on me as I have a lot of cardboard boxes and filler material. 

I'll list each item in GBP and HUF. For any other currency we can work out a favourable conversion rate or I can send you an invoice in one of the two listed currencies.

Both domestic and international buyers can purchase using PayPal for safety.

I can make additional photos and answer any of your questions in the comments, or you can send an e-mail to randomncreativeblog at gmail dot com with your inquiry.

Magyar vásárlóknak: belföldre a Magyar Posta horribilis áron szállít, úgyhogy ha lehet, alternatív módon [ismerős, foxpost, személyes átvétel] szeretném megoldani a dolgot.

Autóval el tudom vinni a figurákat bárhova, főleg Budapesten és az agglomerációban. Ha közel vagy, vagy bejössz valamelyik csomóponthoz, a csomagolásért, üzemanyagért stb. nem számítok fel költséget. 

Fizetés készpénzzel, bankkártyás előre utalással, PayPallel stb. lehetséges. 

Things I learned during my latest scratchbuild

Before I post the final results on the Viribus Unitis, here's a list of things that could and should be improved.

The must-have tools I've posted about before did really come in handy: a pin vice and tweezers are very basic and cheap things that really improve a modeler's experience.

Prepping the wood, sanding it multiple times and painting in thin layers will result in very nice surfaces (that can still be ruined a bit by torpedo nets).

Painting in sub-assemblies is great for getting paint where you really need it, and not getting it to places where it's not.

It's kind of difficult to get the right material for cannon barrels, I'll try and remedy this by using 2mm thick brass tubes sanded to a tapering shape (might still be easier to sand than toothpicks). The other version is to use bakeable plastic with a strengthening rod inside.

While paper clips are OK for the 1mm and above grade for various on-board equipment and gun barrels, below 1mm more stuff is required. Broom bristles are of a surprisingly similar diameter, so I purchased some 0.5mm steel rod.

Thin layers of air-drying clay will bubble up when painted, this is most likely caused by bad adhesion to the plasticard sheet, and can be improved by prepping the sheet or switching to milliput, which I most likely would have done anyway.

Ship crews are quite easy to do, so I shall be focusing on them more, maybe even pre-paint a large bunch to have them ready when the ship gets done.

Boats should be painted in more detail, or have more sculpted detail. Perhaps I'll make boats from bakeable sculpting clay.

My next project will be USS Wyoming, a much larger ship than the Viribus Unitis, so there's more material cost and prep work involved. The thing I sort of don't look forward to is the lattice mast by the way. I could not even find any proper method for forming one online.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #9

Now it's time for some more details and basing. I cut up some toothpicks to 3mm size and painted them white and blue. I didn't go into much research, just some period photos. It seems that crewmen who were sleeping on the deck wore the all-white uniforms meaning they were off duty, and the men actually working wore blue - of course there is a chance that the crew is ordered to quarters and there is no time to dress up in proper uniform, so I chose a few figures in white and most of them blue - there are about 40 all around the deck.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #8

We are in the final stages now - you can see the 99% assembled model at the end of this post, and I believe it was worth all the effort.

On the pic above - the forward and rear superstructure get some details done (masts, ladders and stairs).

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #7

I'm currently working on these bits - the boats are primed, the details on the bridge are complete, and so is most of the rear superstructure.

I had to re-size the aft watch position because it was too long and took the space from both the turret ring and the boat bay. This included chopping off a large part of the bottom armored section. Now it fits the blueprint and therefore there shall be no problem when completing the superstructure.

Please Support a Starving Artist

My younger brother has his ebooks on sale on Amazon, so please purchase some and enjoy - here's a link to the collection.