Paint Test Take II

After getting some advice from Greg McKellar, I took another run at a base coat for Nautilus. Greg's suggestion was to use a light coat of Roof Brown applied sparingly over the gray primer. This produced a very neat look, much better than the dark gray/brown on the wheelhouse and dorsal fin.

Of course there's much more work to do than this. But I really like the start. And if your monitor setting makes it look a little green, don't worry. It's brownish in real life.

When my wife first saw it she was amazed at the difference. "It's been gray for so long it almost doesn't look right." I know what she means. Once it sets up a bit I'll flip her over and do the underside.

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10th Anniversary Special

Lest you get your hopes up on the Nautilus progress, I'm also working on another project for R/C which I have had on the shelf for a long time: a 1/96 USS Helena (SSN-725). This would be the boat in which I was fortunate enough to make a DVE - Distinguished Visitor Embark - back in March 2001.

I've had an old ThorDesign Flight II LA hull in the corner for several years. I also bought a Flight II sail from Matt many moons ago when I contemplated converting my Flight III boat to Helena. However, I sold that boat last year.

So far the hull is cut and mated together. The seam fits really well. Unfortunately, I don't have any stern appendages at this time. So I've turned to working on the sail. The image is of some light work on the forward vertical array. It was originally scribed as several parallel panels up the leading edge. However, on Helena it was one larger array. So I puttied them together and rescribed the perimeter, along with a shot of primer. Starting to look better.

Compare the above to this shot of the actual boat taken in 2001.

The boat and her men are still at it after all these years, fighting the good fight. The day I spent aboard her was one of the most memorable of my life.

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A Darker Shade of Nautilus

Well, I made my first attempt at painting the exterior of the static boat. I followed the paint mix ratios in the instructions, however, it did not turn out like I expected. Way too dark. It's a great color for shadows and panels lines I would expect. Just not what I had in mind for an overall "look". I think I needed more of the Euro Gray in the blend.

"If you didn't like it, then why put on so much?" you might ask. Having been removed from the project for so long it felt good to be doing something. And the airbrush was laying it down like velvet. I just couldn't stop!

I greatly admire the work done below by Greg McKellar on his Gen 3 static build. His is more what I hope to achieve. Yes, the comparison makes the dark seem darker...

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