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Comments
i decided to build a model of the ship i served on (uss long beach cgn-9) and display it
"underway" in a sea water base. like this one:
this is frank palmer's submarine diorama, and i thought i might try my hand building one too. i've had a 1/700 model of the long beach on the shelf for a very long time, so i decided to tackle that first. (imagine how tiny the parts are when you take a 721 foot long nuclear guided missile cruiser and condense it down to 11.5"! uncounted pieces launched into the ether, so i used the parts that i didn't launch on the port side because that's how i want to display it ) i got the ship model pretty much done, except for the davits/lifeboats, cuz they required special painting, and gluing the upper half to the keel (i didn't want to build it waterline because i want to elevate the bow). any way, i set the ship aside and started on the base. as i was futzing around with tin foil, gesso and glue, i accidentally knocked the top 1/2" of the mast off. i tried like hell for at least a week to glue the tip back, but i was too shaky and it wouldn't set. i was about to say screw it when i had a brainstorm. i've been collecting post it note stacks for years at conventions because i use them for gluing. i figured out a new use for post its:
this has been quite an adventure, but if it turns out half as cool as frank's i'll be pretty happy.
i love you tube. there's a video for everything...
as an aside, i started to paint the ship. i bought an okay air brush set up but i already see the need to upgrade the brush. anyway, i painted the ship haze gray ("haze gray and underway!"). problem was, the plastic was already gray so i couldn't really see where the paint was going on so this afternoon i repainted it white as a primer so i can see the haze gray when i repaint it again.
i can't wait to try painting the water. i've got two bases ready for paint, and i'll just pick the best of the two and use that for the final model.
i love it. easy to change the blade and when you do, it locks into place and it doesn't budge. i just finished cutting up some 3/32 chipboard and it sliced through it like a hot knife through butter.
i givr it 9 out of 10. maybe 9.5.