Life Boats in place



And here's the result after painting and weathering the lifeboats..

Life Boats

Also the lifeboats supplied by the kit, is a bit too simple compared to the real thing, so also here I added more detail.
Again I used the nails and copper wire to simulate the knobs and ropes on the side of the boat, and I added stabilizer bars and a rain cover.
The rain cover is cut out of  a (black) "report cover".

Lower decks

I continued with the fine details on the lower decks and besides the cranes and the life boats I’m just about finished on these decks.
I'm not sure how to bend the railing in shape in one piece without losing the "straight lines" and the sharp edges, so I cheated by "cutting" them in the 90 degree corners and soldier them together afterwards

"rusty look"

After the "shiny" look, here's the "rusty" look.

I might have overdone it a bit, but after having looked at it for a while it actually starts to appeal to me..



In theory she’s ready to sail now..

At this stage the rudders and the engines, propellers and shafts are in place.
I added some visual details on the rudders and the only thing left on the hull is to get rid of the "shiny surface"..

Bow with details

I continued with some fine detailing on the upper deck and finished it, only thing remaining is the mast and crane.
I'm really satisfied with the result so far..

Lower deck complete

I completed the lower deck and finished it with an more "used and natural" look.
For achieving this look I painted the parts in their normal base color, for example "mat black" (Humbrol No.33).
After this layer I "drybrush" it (not to heavily) with "dark Grey" (Humbrol no.32) to achieve a more dirty look, on top of this I "drybrush" "rust" (Humbrol no.113)
Sometimes as the final touch and to achieve a metallic look I “drybrush” it with "aluminum" (Humbrol no.56) on strategic places.

Life Boat

My version of the life boat, I added a few more details.
The rope on the sides is copper wire (as this stays in the shape you bend it), and the "knobs" are shortened nails which were included in the kit.
As you might have notiched, I also added some more details to the middle deck..

Equipped Lower deck preview part2

the still shining towing winches and the "rusty" towing bars..

Equipped Lower deck preview

I spend some time on the lower deck details and try to give it an worn out / used rusty look by using a technique (found on the internet) called "drybrushing", I spend some money on dedicated “drybrushes” and I’m very positive about the results.

It is an simple and efficient technique and creates the look I was looking for, the only worry now is not to overdo it.. 

Colorful and shiny

Here she is with all her colors except the white stripes..
The colors I used are humbrol enamel paint no.48 "Mediterranean Blue" and No. 69 "Yellow" together with No. 21 "Black" and  No. 19 "Bright Red"

Black..

At this stage the shiny black is airbrushed in place..
I find it very easy to cover the parts with aluminum foil, it's very easy to shape and always stays in the shape you want it.
…I haven’t found the perfect tape yet, I’m open for any suggestion…

The Ferrari look

Finally !! I can paint the hull..
I started with painting it with 5 layers of the same acrylic polyurethane based lacquer as I did on the inside, after this i primed the hull for finding any imperfect spots on it, and sanded/filled and primed several times until I was satisfied with the result..
At this stage I already airbrushed the "Ferrari red" humbrol color no.19 underwater line on the hull..

Middle deck preview

Not really finished yet, but you can already get a feeling how it will look.

Note: I also added more detail to the "boxes" on deck, not exactly as they are shaped originally but that's more because of the limitations of wood, lack of other materials and my skills and creativity in general..

Upper structure

I'm really getting the feeling for "small" details now, therefore I also made the louver windows on the upper structure a bit more realistic..
Also on the upper structure I will prepare several cabin windows with backlights, switchable in 2 different groups.

Preview..

Fitting everything in place, rudders, shafts and propellers..

Rudder shape

Neither the instructions or drawing show anything about the shape of the rudder.
As the original, I shaped the rudder with an sharp edge.
For fixing the rudder to the shaft I used an wire going through the rudder and soldiered it on both ends of the "brass holder", which again is soldiered to the shaft itself..

Keel extention

Again after studying pictures of the Smit Rotterdam, the keel shape towards the stern has an sharp edge, the model originally hasn't, so I added it by using an extra piece of balsa wood.
At this stage I also added the side and stabilizers strips on the Hull and started to position the propeller guards 

The "Engine room"

As for the motors i choose the Robbe "Power 755/40", an powerfull motor for a good price..
As the max. rotation speed at 12 V seems to be app. 5600/min it is possible to drive the shafts without any gear in between, I used the heavy-duty coupling from Robbe "no. 1446" and I expect quite some power..

Mighty bow..

Bow with the top list in place, a mighty sight when looking at it from this angle.