Steamer Ben Ain

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Richard

Stunning progress - this will be very impressive when finished. The bike looks cool. You can get an etch set for the Tamiya bikes mentioned earlier by Ian (these include better scaled spokes) but that's only as a side note as your white metal kit looks real quality.

The steamer's looking real good so far Richard.

Keep up the great work

Paul

[Guest]

I wasn't aware of the PE set for the Tamiya bikes. They would have been a lot easier to put together than the Hornet one!

I might keep my eye open just in case I want one in the future. Thanks for the idea.

[Guest]

Final Touches to the Bridge



The bridge has been in a state of almost completion for a while so I decided to get on with it and finish of the building. All that remained to add was the hand rails and the canvas dodger so first job was to put the handrails together. I made some simple brackets to hold the lower end from fine aluminium tube and a base of litho plate and glued them to the lower outer edge of the steps. The top of the hand rail was glued into a hole drilled in the bulwarks. There is only a single handrail on the upper sets of steps and I decided that they would quite possibly not even be fitted to the short aft steps so I only needed to make six handrails and glue them in place. They were painted matt white and the top surface of them was scuffed up with a soft pencil to simulate worn away paint. The steps were painted black and the tread given a worn away look with some dry brushed gunmetal enamel. Again weathering would be left to the end of the model when it would all be done at the same time to ensure consistency.



The final item of the bridge was the canvas dodger. I wanted to try to recreate a picture I have of the Ben Ain where the dodger is only fitted on one side, a normal situation for these ships when a view was required in one direction but a sheltered area was desired to get out of the wind for periods of time. I first prepared myself a piece of metallic air conditioning duct tape, removed the gum and cut it to an approximate shape and size for the dodger. I created some stitching runs with the pounce wheel then started to fold the dodger carefully into a shape whereby it would be if it was hanging on only two stanchions. When I was happy with the final shape I carefully removed it from the model and mounted it onto a wooden base with some blu tac and sprayed it with white acrylic primer. When that was dry I used white acrylics to create shadow shades and highlight shades, gave the dodger a wash with a light filter then painted on some highlights and shadows to give the dodger some depth. When I was finished I was actually quite pleased with the effect so went through the whole process again for the aft bridge dodger, which I wanted folded up on top of the taff rail. When the two dodgers were dry I carefully applied some epoxy to the taff rail and put them in place. Basically that was about as far as I wanted to take the bridge before final weathering at the end of the model.







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[Guest]

The Hull



There is not a great deal of detail to add to the hull apart from some wash port covers but I did notice some boat guides in a photo so I added them from scraps of wood cut to shape and glued to the hull and I also decided to improve the rubbing strake.



I took a few shots of a coastal vessel in the basin at Ellesmere Port a few years ago and had a good look at the rubbing strake on her. It was obvious that ships of this era used large baulks of timber as rubbing strakes, held onto the hull by large bolts deeply counter bored to leave only the wooden surface proud. I was sure the Ben Ain would have been fitted with a similar arrangement, particularly as the model hull has something similar moulded into the surface. All examples of the model I have seen elsewhere have simply been painted in the same colour as the hull but in reality the surface of the rubbing strakes would be exposed scuffed wood. I didn’t really want to get into trying to remove the moulded in strakes at this stage so I decided to add the required surface. I rubbed down the outer edge of the moulded in rubbing strakes and glued on planking strips of 5mm x 1mm strips with epoxy. When the epoxy was set I rubbed down the top and bottom edge of the plank until it matched the edge of the moulded in strake and then applied p-38 filler to the gap. This was then also rubbed down and hull black applied to the top and bottom surface of the strake, Finally the surface was cleaned off with a fine sanding block before adding a wash and to finish off sealing it all in with a couple of coats of matt varnish. It now looks like a proper wooden rubbing strake and so much better than simply painting it over.



The wash ports were all added and the edging to the bulwark capping was completed before touching up some of the paintwork. I deliberately used a semi gloss enamel of a slightly different mix to the one I had used originally as this will all help to build up different textures and give an impression of a hull that has been painted over many times over the years and in patches as the ship has aged. I then applied some roman draught markings, which I did think looked a bit big to start with but I doi have a clear photo of this vessel at the time of modeling which clearly shows quite big forward draught marks so I went ahead with applying them. I also applied the kit supplied name and port of registry, which all worked very well with a bit of heat gun used to help the sticky backing to settle to the detail. Again weathering is the only thing left to do with the hull so time to move on again.



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[Guest]

Hi Richard, as I said before your work is to museum standard. Just been going through all of your postings on this one, and all the extras you have added is amazing, thanks also for sharing some of your techniques with us, I cannot believe the amount of work on the hull rivets. Cheers Derek

[Guest]

Thanks Derek, I'm not sure whether this has become a labour of love or a testament to my tenacity but it is certainly absorbing some time. I had a look back through this recently and amazed myself at how I thought in 2006 that I would be at it for a couple more years. Here I am in 2011 still thinking the same!!

I still do something every time I get home but working away so much does slow things down. I usually set myself a target for what I want to achieve during my time at home and never make it! I have to say though I only have the foredeck and the foc's'le to do so the end really is in sight. I can't imagine what is left to make more work out of though but I'll probably find something. Weathering is going to be a lengthy process as well not to mention those little details such as oil drums, packing cases and a couple more figures.

Watch this space!

[Ian M]

That looks really effective Richard, Nice work.

I must say that Ben is looking really good and by the sounds of it almost done.

Ian M

[Guest]

Just a couple more years should do it!! :laughing:

[Guest]

I've just dug this out to have a look at where I got to and cannot believe it was two years ago since I last added anything. Time really does get faster as you get older. I have been away from home now for best part of seven months with only a three week period in the middle, during which we moved house, so not surprising not much has progressed. When I get homne I won't have a workshop so I don't know when I'm going to get any more done. Still you can't rush these things.

I'll add a few of my latest pictures though and get around to writing someting one day!

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[Guest]

Looking fantastic Richard, where did you get your figures from?

Cheers

Andy

[Guest]

A mixture, which goes back to what I mentioned a few days ago regarding slight differences in heights looking more realistic. The cook is from the Tamiya German WWII Field Kitchen set, the crewmember splicing the rope is a Model Art Russian tank crew figure and the two rope handlers on the foc's'le, who you probably can't see but I'll try to dig up a better picture, are both german tank crew gun cleaners! On the bridge is a captain and a quartermaster steering, who are both original kit supply white metal figures. The bike is an old Hornet white metal and PE kit and the water tank above the galley is the top inch and a half of my wifes best garden broom!!

[Guest]

Intresting. seems that you cant purchase boat crewa from any one supplier Richard. This makes thing difficult.

Cheers

Andy

[Ian M]

I'm glad you have dug this one up again Richard, It has been an enjoyable thread to follow.

I hope that you get back on is soon.

Ian M