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[RipSlider]

Hello all.

Just been rootling around in the loft and found my 1/2 completed PCF. I put it in said loft as I was absolutely sick of it, but now I haven't seen it for a while I've realised I was pretty fond of it, and that the things I was getting stuck on should be pretty easy to fix.

(A large thank you to Martin13 and a couple of others on the forum for convincing me that shoving it out of sight for a while was a good plan - it seems to have worked )

Anywho, when i was first building it, I collected as many images as I could off the net and I have just spent the last hour having another look and getting myself re-aquainted.

One thing that struck me was that PCF's were real working boat - they were fighting in the vietnam delta's most of the war - and many ( most? ) of the images show at least some sort of battle damage or just general muck and grime which comes from a boat having a hard life.

99.99% of the boats I see built are built as if they have just had a complete over-haul. Which is nice I guess, but I automatically dislike doing what everyone else does.

Modelling muck, grime and hard use takes a bit more effort, but can look good. Model tanks, for example, come out brilliantly when aged and weathered. And look great with battle damage, and I know the techniques - I would just need to scale up a bit.

However, I'm not sure the same effect will look so good with a boat.

Part of me thinks that I could put a lot of effort in, and it would look really good. But most of this effort is going to be small detail stuff, so while it will look good up close, when it's in the water it may just end up looking shoddy.

Having not seen many boats models are having had a hard life ( I think I've seen one, and that was done pretty badly ) I'm not sure which way to go.

So I thought that I would ask you chaps. As your the experts.

Are you for/against?

If you like the idea, should I go all out and make it look like it has been in a real firefight ( which happened a lot - these boats took a really battering ) or just a few small hints. Or something in between?

I'm concious that these were real warships ( were they "warships"? Can a gun boat be a classed as a "warship"?) whioch a good number of people died on. And that the vetrans association has been very helpful, and also wants photo's when it's done. I'm not sure if this affects the decision or not?

Thanks for any opinions

Steve

[DickyD]

Go for the something in between Steve then you can always make it worse if you think it needs it.

[Bunkerbarge]

Use your experience to generate weathering techniques, not necessarily make it look battered.

I would use some washes, some dry brushed highlights, maybe a bit of rust, oil stains, exhaust stains etc and leave it at that.  It will look very effective for simply looking used rather than battered beyond recognition.

I actually have a similar concern with my steam coaster.  If I modelled it as most of them were it would look a mess, even though authentic, as these vessels were worked very hard.  Simple weathering will add a whole new dimension to it without it looking unrealistic.

[tigertiger]

Do a search on 'weathering', there is a lot of advice in previous posts on Mayhem.

[tigertiger]

Here are things that I have born in mind in my limited experience.

Remember less is more. If you over do it it looks bad.

When doing wood, I have used lots of different dyes, and mixed them to get a multitude of shades, even on the same rail.

When painting I have not cleaned my brushes properly, this allows a mixing of hues, which is something you do see when paint weathers on full size boats.

With full size  military vehicles/craft. After the original finish from the workshop/boatyard is replaced, e.g. repaint after action, the paint job is not pristine. Several paint jobs will predate the time when army units had a spray shop. Hand painting with old brushes and ends of tins of paint, by soldiers with other things to do, were common. Some of the hand painting I have seen has been very rough.

[tobyker]

Its your boat. Do exactly what you think best. (and damn the torpedos!)

[Philipsparker]

I always like to see a working boat weathered. Anything else and it just looks like a toy in my opinion.

When I finished my little tugboat, Tomsk, I just blew a thinned down mist of brown & grey over it until I was happy. Obviously the windows were protected first !

Pics on my blog - http://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/search/label/Tomsk

And to anyone reading this - PLEASE stop using gloss paint on things especially warships. They wern't shiny and Humbrol do lots of mat colour now. 

Phil

[DickyD]

Theres one of these on Kirklees MBC web site in pristine condition. Several photos, competition winner.

Looks awful even the uniforms are painted gloss.

http://www.kirkleesmodelboatclub.org.uk/naval.htm

[GaryM]

I would think it depends on who you want to please. 
If it's yourself then go with your gut instinct. 
I would imagine a boat just out of the builders yard would look brand new, one thats been "around a bit" not quite so. 
Depends on what you imagine, when you explain to others "when your boat was launched" and what message you want to convey.

regards
Gary :)

[Didge]

Go for it. I'm a great lover of grime and dirt. :)