Heller Soliel Royal

[Guest]

It does not look like much has been done(if you know what I mean)..but..I can appreciate all the work that has gone into this.All that gilding work looks fantastic.


And lets hope the part you need turns up soon.

[Guest]

Boxed up and in the stash again I will never buy another heller kit again. I hope they go bust and someone with some morals buys them.

[Guest]

Hi all well it's amazing the effect threatening to sue, not just for the cost of the kit but also compensation can have. Special delivery today the hull half arrived(no letter of apology or even a note just the box with the hull in it)


So looks like it's back on then.

[Guest]

Excellent.

[Guest]

Hi all well now the hull half is here I'm like a cat with 2 tails, so my first job to remove the moulded plimsole line (I'm raising it a bit to improve the look) (seen it done elsewhere (davidk's build) and it looks much better)










I must say I think it's worked really well, you cant tell it was there at all










couple of strengthening strips in the bottom






She is huge.

[monica]

great news so glad that you did get it,,


it is quite a sise,shell look forward to seeing it move along,

[Guest]

Nice work on the hull.

[Guest]

Hi all here is tonights update .

[Guest]

Great result, I was worried about the cost of all that gold leaf going to waste. You shouldn't have threaten any company to get customer service. As far as I am concerned, they are not off the hook. I will not buy their products.


Still, on a brighter note, great work on the hull look forward to seeing it come to life now.

[Guest]

Hi all, I was asked by a few people how I did this wood effect so thought maybe some of you would be interested.


First of all I apologise my the first pics of the procedure are missing as the pics on my phone we're corrupted for some reason, it dosn't really matter as the process it the same throughout I will explain as we go.


First here is the huge list of things required






this is where my phone let me down I have no pics if this part as they were corrupted(sorry)


the pastels wont stick to plastic so you have to use matt paint (I've no idea if this will work with acrylics as I use enamels but I think it would)


I picked the lightest colour of the wood I'm trying to replicate for the base colour (in this case Humbrol m 63)


paint the wood with a thin coat in the direction of the grain if it looks patchy that is good (helps with the effect)as long as it all has some paint on it (look at the pictures of the hull you can see its very patchy)


once that is dry take the darkest wood colour pastel you are using and lightly drag it over the grain in a random manner not everywhere so it all looks the same , then with the brush, again in the direction of the grain brush it in










then with the highlight colour (we have pictures of the rest of the process from now on) do exactly the same






again brush in the direction of the grain










next get some black pastel and dab on details (anywhere that may get stained from water or nooks an crannys where swilling the deck wouldn't get plus a few random areas






now brush across the gain (only very lightly and only a couple of passes)










now brush with the grain as much as you like till you get the desired effect










now comes the important bit (DO NOT VARNISH THIS YET) the varnish stays wet too long and the pastels merge and you just end up with brown blotches. spray with your missus hair spray at a distance of at least 12 inches ( you don't want it to look wet when that is dry then you can spray your varnish.


















Just to show the versitility of this here is some wood from my Mefistofeles which I wanted a mahogany effect (its 1/12 so the wood grain effect is much couser)


red base coat






first pastel colour










the genius of this method is if you make a mistake or don't like the effect (untill you varnish it) wash it under the tap dry with a cloth and your missus hair dryer, ten mins and you're ready to go again, you tell me any other method that's that easy to redo.


Hope this is of some help to some one

[Guest]

Hi all well since my boss was having her hair done in Harrods that meant 5hrs sitting in the car waiting, I took a few parts to do whilst waiting, I think I've glued over half the cannon barrels together (the moulding on these kits really is superb, it's such a shame about their customer care)

[Guest]

I am impressed by your work! Well done! i will follow this work with great interes!

[Guest]

That wood effect looks great.


Thanks for sharing your technique.

[Guest]

Hi all here is the next update


some of the many, many cannons, think I will see them in my dreams


















Couldn't resist trying the gold up against it

[eddiesolo]

That looks gorgeous Ken, really nice wood effect and the gilding and blue makes it pop.