Revell HMCS Snowberry Flower Class Corvette
This is the fourth part of the Revell HMCS Snowberry Flower Class Corvette 1/144 Scale RVG 05132
I feel a little guilty about the wonderfully color illustrations that Revell included with this model. They have been very fun to read and study and Revell has done an excellent job making them as clear as possible. But I’ve mostly abandoned them and ventured off into creating my own instructions.
This is because so many parts need to be painted before they can be assembled. And this week I’ve realized that to move forward with this project in the way that I have planned I basically need to paint and weather the hull now before it becomes unmanageable with all of the parts. It’s a little stressful to try and keep everything in order, and at times you might think I’m a bit chaotic, but hopefully, when this project is done there will be a method to this madness.
Looking through the instructions I cut out every part that will be painted the same dark grey as the deck. There is quite a bit of flash around all of these parts and I used my Vallejo Sanding Pads to smooth out the edges. Keep an eye out for the flash when you are building this model. I’ll admit I didn’t notice some of the smaller bits until they were primed, it’s just everywhere but at least it’s easy to remove.
Looking now at the back section of the lower deck, I first primed everything with Mr Surfacer 1200. For the main deck color I used AK Interactive Dark Eggplant Grey (RC242). I had planned on using another color, but sadly I ran out. At first, I wasn’t as excited by this color, but it’s growing on me the more I look at it. I’m sure I’ll really like it once the model is complete and the rest of the parts have been added.
I wanted to break up the Dark Eggplant Grey with some lighter grey paints to simulate the paint weathering. I started with Tamiya XF-53 Neutral Grey Acrylic Paint, followed by XF-19 Sky Grey. these were both sprayed splotchy as I had done previously with the rubber pathways.
It’s a bit difficult to see the final effect as the AK Interactive Dark Eggplant Grey is a semi-gloss paint and reflects around the Tamiya colors.
Before I began the long masking process I added some Tamiya Basic Putty to the ill-fitting aft plate. My putty was drying out too fast so I diluted it with some Tamiya Lacquer Thinner. It went on very messy but I could tell very quickly that it was working and already biting into the plastic.
I think my putty is too old so I’ve tossed it out. I’ll let this side dry for a good day before I sand it smooth. Hopefully, it’s enough, but I might have to add some more putty to properly smooth the parts together.
Masking the rest of the deck is a long and tedious process, but it is a nice way to spend an afternoon and catch up on some of my favourite modeling videos.
I wanted to show this section of the aft deck in particular. To get the nice curved shape I cut many small rectangles of modeling tape and carefully layered them in a gradual curve. This was easier than laying down tape and cutting around the edge. It’s also a lot safer, as I could cut too deep into the paint and later on when I remove the masking the paint could come with it.
The Forward deck might look like a blue mess, but each piece of tape was carefully placed on and it was nearly ready to have the hull painted. As I’m building this in the winter this means I have the furnace on blowing warm air into the room, and this can cause the tape to dry out and potentially lift. Before I paint the hull I’ll go over once last time and press down on the tape to ensure everything is still protected.
The lower deck and the deck around the galley took longer to mask as there were more details that needed tape around them. This did slow down the masking process it will be worth it to have these smaller details painted rather than trying to paint them all by hand later on.
Lastly, before priming, I noticed that the hull was very smooth and glossy compared to the other parts. I sanded it all down with a Tamiya 600 Sanding Sponge. The rougher surface should help the primer grip the plastic better, and I’ll feel reassured that the paint won’t lift.
I wanted to create a base layer for the chipped paint. After I primed the hull, I painted on Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron. This is a really great color, it’s a dark brown with bits of metallic fleck in it. I typically use this to paint the exhaust stacks on aircraft. But it will be an excellent base color as it’s not as brash as flat black, and it will make the chipping a bit more subtle. Dark Iron is also the color I use when I’m weathering Sci-fi subjects like an X-wing.
Now that the base color was painted I was ready to begin painting the rust. For the rust, I’m going to layer on several colors in random splotches. At this stage, things don’t need to look neat and tidy as it won’t all be visible once the main hull colors are added.
I began by painting Tamiya XF-68 NATO Brown. This is quite a bright brown and it made for an excellent first layer of older rust. I then painted the XF-64 Red Brown with a bit of XF-2 Flat White to brighten it up and try to match the intensity of the NATO Brown. Unfortunately, it sort of turned grey and in the future, I think I might omit this color from the rusting process.
Now for the brighter and more recent rust. I used Tamiya X-6 Orange and I sprayed this all over. In particular, I sprayed it on the bow of the ship where I thought the most chipping would occur. The orange is a lot bolder than this picture suggests, I think the balance is off because of my green cutting mat.
This rusting process will be applied throughout the rest of the build on all of the parts that are going to be light grey. So if I forget and fail to mention it in future posts, what you are seeing here is what I’ll be repeating later on.
I want to mention Tamiya X-21 Flat Base. You might have seen this in the store and might have wondered what’s the difference between this and XF-86 Flat Clear. X-6 Orange is a gloss paint I wanted it to be flat, so I added X-21 at a 1-1 ratio and thoroughly mixed it with the Orange, and thinner.
This is not a Flat Clear and it’s not intended to be sprayed directly onto your models, but mixed with Tamiya Acrylics in the X range.
I think this is a good place to stop for now as I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me now that everything has been rusted up.
The rusting effect might look a little mild, and agree to an extent. It could be more intense, but I’m trying to keep in mind the scale of this subject, and I think for this scale it will do just fine.
I’m very excited for the next stage which is to add the chipping. This might seem like a lot of extra work to add chipping to the model. But with each color for the rust, I only used 2 drops of paint, and sprayed it on quickly so that it would be more splotchy and random. It will pay off in the end, but I’ve still got a ways to go to get there.
To be continued…
Jared Demes is a modeler from southern Alberta. He has been building models since he was 4 years old when his Dad first introduced him to the hobby. He has written for several magazines including, Fine Scale Modeler, Scale Aircraft Modeling, Phoenix Scale Models, and others. He has an interest in all modeling subjects, with a focus on WWII Japanese aircraft and Science Fiction.
Jared has won several IPMS awards for his modeling, and currently operates his YouTube channel rebelsatcloudnine, where he showcases model builds and product demonstrations.
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