Light Cruiser "Hr.Ms. de Ruyter" 1936-1942 waterline, camouflage

[josbakkers]

Simplyred,as Legion told You it's better to copy the planes on 160 grs paper,they build easier but before cutting, paint the page with clear acryl paint so the colors are better resistant and the extra glue on the surface,like on the floaters and wing stay's is easy removed.
Boat looks great,happy building,Jos

[Simplyred]

Thanks Jos !!
What kind/type/brand of clear acrylic do you use? I have no idea on what to buy? Do you airbrush it on, or do you apply it by hand?

[josbakkers]

I use Talens (Dutch brand)matt Acrylic picture varnish,can be brushed or sprayed,use special thinner,but these kind of varnish is available from a lot of different brands .I buy it in a Artists Paint Store they normally sell Acrylic paint as well. Hope this helps.

[Simplyred]

I did some more work on my "De Ruyter". Attached find pictures of the main gun towers, the canon, the Bofors Flak anti air craft guns, and the airplane catapult.

The weaponizing of the "De Ruyter" was a result of political discussion. De Ruyter had 3 guntowers:

Front deck: tower 1 with canons 1 and 2
Front deck: canon 3
After deck: tower 2 with canons 4 and 5
After deck: tower 3 with canons 6 and 7

A bit strange, having 2 full towers on the after deck, and only 1 double canon tower on the front deck. Which suggests that the ship was probably thought to fight more important battles from the after deck.
Anyway, the fact that 1 full tower was exchanged for 1 canon on the foredeck was a settlement between political forces at that time, who could not decide between 3 towers or 4 towers due to financial issues.
This left the "De Ruyter" to be not optimally armed for a cruiser.

On the middle section the designer placed the Bofors 40mm anti aircraft flak guns. As the model shows, there were 5 of them. The fact that they were placed relatively close together posed a risk on the one hand (if hit the complete section could have been destroyed) but it allowed concentrated fire on incoming aircraft enabling the ship to force them outside flak range. When the ship was turned into the right position towards the incoming aircraft, these (back then) state-of-the-art flak was a power not to underestimate.

The gun barrels of the flak were not included in the kit, so I constructed them. To do so, I removed a few fibers from a street-broom, and since they were orange of color, I painted them black with acrylic paint. Next, I needed to add the hull of the barrels, and for that I used the tubing of a black paperclip. Removed it in small sections, and pushed it on the painted fibers. Which looks rather nice I think. And although I have seen bofors with much more detail on them in the same scale, I am satisfied with the results for now. As a beginning paper modeler, it may be better to set the goals not too high and first learn a lot.

The catapult was put together from the kit and the additional laser cut parts. But since those were not colored, I find myself constantly using a color that LOOKS similar with the plain eye, but in a macro photo one can see the difference quite well. Hmmm. A lot to learn I guess....

As usual, I found it both very difficult to build, and very rewarding at the same time! I had a good time building, and I will struggle forward!

Will keep you all posted.

[josbakkers]

Red,it's difficult to mix the perfect color,but we all are making them to dark when mixed it look allright but when dried ! Try to mix them lighter and try it out on a spare piece of the LC cardboard.The build is beautifull,sure it's Your first cardboard model? Keep cutting,Jos.

[Simplyred]

Well, I learn A LOT from people like you, who take their time to bring people like me up-to-speed. I appreciate it.
Yes, it's my first cardboard model. I can see that however in the build, especially when I compare it to what I have seen that YOU can produce! I am not that proficient by a LONG shot, and I even doubt I will ever get there.
But I am finding lots of pleasure in doing it!

[Simplyred]

As a result of the advice of Jos Bakkers, I painted the airplane catapult with a color more suiting the rest of the build. This was quite a difficult task, but, at least for the naked eye it now seems of almost the same color with only a very slight difference. HOWEVER, when looking at the picture taken in macro, this again seems to be different: there is more difference in color appearing as there is in the real life situation. Obviously, the camera does a better job than my eyes However, after this repaint, I am quite satisfied with the result although it does not yet appear to be 100% matching on the photo.

Also, I finished the main cranes of the ship. As you can see, they are also painted. Next, I will need to add cabling to it, and attach the hooks to the cabling of the cranes.

[Don Boose]

Excellent detail work.

Don

[Simplyred]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Excellent detail work.

Don

I am honored by your compliment Mr. Boose, but as a beginner eager to learn, will you forgive me that I take this opportunity to ask you what could be done better, and in which way? Thanks for any help you can provide!

[josbakkers]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Excellent detail work.

Don

Red,You did an excellent job,mixing colours is difficult.Even proffesional painters find it hard,cause there's allways a different shade or light on the object.Keep on the good work.Jos