Mike McCabe - Modelling Naval Ships in Small Scales

MODELLING

NAVAL SHIPS

IN SMALL SCALES

MODELLING

NAVAL SHIPS

IN SMALL SCALES

Mike McCabe

First published in 2021 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

Mike McCabe 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 851 1

Dedication and Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to the two most important women in my life: my wife Jill, for her support and patience during its writing; and my sister Ceri, who passed away as it was nearing completion. Thanks also to friends who both helped out and provided moral support, particularly Malcolm Finch, Paul Rowlands and Barry Spencer; but also many more with whom I have talked about modelling over the years, who have shared tips and provided inspiration to me to keep trying to do better.

Cover design by Blue Sunflower Creative

Introduction

Ships are one of the very oldest forms of transport, so of course ship models have been around for a very long time. They are the classic model, having style, grace and presence so perfect as a centrepiece. Where there is a history of ship building, museums hold builders models made by craftsmen and apprentices to show their skills and those of the ship workers, and the pride that has been taken in them is there for all to see. At home, a ship model makes a fine display piece for friends and family to admire the skill of the maker. Ships are individuals, they have names, histories and stories. They are entwined with the lives of the crew and passengers, and for many they have been home.

There are many reasons to want to build model ships: to remember a career at sea, a relation who served, to recall history, or simply the pleasure of building a beautiful and intricate model. Whatever the reason, model ships of all types are a challenge for the modeller as they demand a range of skills: accuracy in building, neatness in painting, a steady hand for rigging, and an artists eye for creating realistic water. For such large vessels to be a reasonably sized model they are often by necessity built in much smaller scales than other types of model. Photoetched parts to produce very fine detail are common and require some delicacy, while resin kits are a common choice rather than rare diversion. Building ship models is probably the most difficult of all types of modelling, but it is also the most rewarding.

In recent years there has been a great increase in the number and variety of kits and accessories available, along with the number of companies producing them. The rise of 3D design and printing has helped to fuel this, and with greater availability of subjects comes an increase in interest. Although ships still form a relatively small proportion of the completed models seen at local and national shows, this is certainly increasing and the number willing to try their hand is undoubtedly growing. For those brought up for many years on the limited range on offer from brands such as Airfix, Revell and Heller, to see a French pre-dreadnought battleship or an Italian heavy cruiser available as a kit from mainstream plastic kit manufacturers is quite remarkable.

Over the length of time ships have been built they have been put to a countless variety of uses. Modelling them varies widely in scale, function and materials, and they may be static models or designed to be able to float and operated by radio control. Such a wide range of model styles would be impossible to cover in one book, and that is not the aim. This book concentrates on plastic and resin kits in the most common scales of 1/700 and 1/350, and by personal preference in a waterline style with a seascape base. This is not to say that many of the techniques do not apply to larger and smaller scales and other styles of model: they most certainly do.

Similarly, building ship models encompasses a great number of skills and techniques that it is not possible to cover in one volume. Here the most commonly used will be described as they relate to the subjects being built. No doubt you will have your own views on some of the techniques and will prefer to do some things differently; developing your own methods and personal style is a great thing, as it will bring an individuality to your finished models. Do not be afraid to experiment, and to adapt a model to your own particular needs and abilities.

The modelling hobby as a whole has seen a boom in the numbers of painting and weathering products available. Partly this is due to the much greater number of kits and accessories now available, which has led the focus of the modeller away from scratch building their own parts or even complete models, and more towards painting and finishing. A downside to this is that this great variety of paints, washes and powders can become confusing, especially when so many magazines and websites appear devoted to promoting one brand or another as though no model can be considered complete without them.

The techniques shown in this book do at times recommend products, but bear in mind that on the whole these are all basically well known and used types: oil-based enamels and artist oils, water-based acrylics, pastels for powders. In fact the majority of weathering products are formulations of these basic materials, and thinned, mixed or ground ready for use. For that reason this book will show how to use the types of material, since understanding how they work will then leave the choice of personal brand preference to the modeller.

Hopefully this book will act as part guide, part inspiration to you as modeller to use some of the techniques yourself and to develop your own. There is no substitute for trying, learning, then mastering new skills and gaining confidence in your modelling. Building model ships is challenging, addictive, fascinating, so let us dive into this hugely enjoyable hobby.

Chapter One

Where Do I Start?

For most of us in the UK the first ship model we built was probably from the Airfix range of 1/600 scale kits dating back to the early 1960s. Still popular with many modellers in this country, it has unfortunately been rather left behind as the most commonly used scale for ship models. As a result very few new kits have been issued in 1/600 since the early 1980s; nevertheless the nostalgia value of building something with the wonderful Airfix Roy Cross box art still holds a strong appeal for many who also prefer the slightly larger size of parts over the much more common smaller ship 1/700 scale. This was the chosen scale for a series of kits produced by four Japanese companies in the 1970s, who joined forces with the aim of between them making a kit of every World War II Imperial Japanese Navy ship available.