I will be building the 1/48 Hasegawa A6M2-N Type 2 Rufe OOB, nothing special. What will be special will be the way I will be displaying it.
My thought here is to display it tied to a beach similar to this photo using resin which will be a new technique for me and which I will be documenting step by step.
This should be a pretty quick build. I will also be trying AK Interactive Worn Effects for the weathering for the first time.
So with that being said, here I go. I just have the office completed.
For the Float Plane GB I would like to model a 1/72 Jake sitting on a setting as in your picture . Have never done one like that so I will be very interested in your excellent water displaying techniques.
I’m also very interested in what you do here. I have the Tamiya 1/48 of that aircraft in my stash so I’d like to see how you end up displaying your Hase.
I find it hard to believe I’ll be teaching you anything. You always seem to be teaching me new techniques. Since this will be my first at resin we’ll get through it. I have been reading up on resin water and it sounds easy, but we’ll see.
One thing I was going to try is to color the resin with water colors. Just a few drops of blue to make a hint of turquoise. My hope is that it well be transparent and will be able to see the sandy bottom. I will try it out on a test base first. To make the waves I will use a heat gun (I use for Monokote) with the heat off and use it to “blow” the formation of the waves. The information I found suggested that one use more hardener than recommended so the resin hardens faster, thus holding the waves that were formed.
Ha ha Steve! It’s your turn to show me a new trick in this hobby. One is never too old to learn something new. [;)]
It so happens that I also have the Monokote heat gun. [:D] I read somewhere sometime back about some resins getting too hot when curing that could melt or distort the plastic so look into that first.
Yeah I’m a little concerned about that PJ. I will probably pour the resin in in levels to try to cut down on the heat as it cures. The other option would be to place the build in last but not sure how I would do that. I purchased some resin today, but wow, its pricy stuff. I was going to use this method for a later build, the Prinz Eugen, but will need to come up with a different method for calm water. I was looking into wax, this may be an answer if you don’t want transparency.
Well, this is where I’m at with the Rufe. It’s going together as expected, pretty easily. Low part count, typical Zero, the only tough part will be the painting.
Here is an update for the Rufe. I’m at the point of painting as soon as the glue dries. I tried the Worn Effects on the props. The front face of the prop blades are aluminum and the rear face is flat black. This gave me the perfect opportunity to try the effects out on a test surface. I really liked the result and am excited to try it on the rest of the build.
The base is Styrofoam that I shaved and sanded at an angle to simulate a beach. I applied my favorite substance, Acrylic Gel, for a glue, because it has texture and when dry is similar white glue. I then poured some Oregon sand on the gel to simulate beach sand. Later I will AB sand color on the sand since the Oregon sand is darker than South Pacific sand. This will also allow me to spray a darker sand color to simulate wet sand where the waves have wet the beach.
Next I will start adding resin to the base in stages. We will see how this works.
Steve
I completed the beach and painted the sand. I then taped some poster board around the edge to prepare for a resin pour
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I made my first resin pour, and now I know what not to do.
First off, I used a few drops of blue water color to try to tint the “water”. It was like mixing water and oil, just slower. I finally was able to mix it by using the paint mixer. The turquoise color I wanted didn’t materialize, more of a light blue. Not bad but not what I was looking for.
Second, I was hoping the resin would harden fast enough so that running a sealer around the poster board would not be necessary. I apparently did not put enough hardener in the mix for it to harden fast enough and I had leaks. In fact, most of it leaked out. Oh well, this may actually work to my advantage
Ok, lessons learned…so far.
Seal the edges. I’m now using white glue.
Put in more hardener.
Put in a few drops of turquoise if you want turquoise.
Also, I painted the Rufe silver, air brushed the Worn Effects and am ready for the exterior colors.
I wish I had a Rufe to build… OH WAIT! [:D] Looking amazing, Steve. Absolutely love what you’re doing with her. I’m literally in the middle of working on my Tam offering right now. I’m just taking a quick break.
New progress on the Rufe and beach. I sprayed the Worn Effects, let that dry then sprayed the IJN Grey, let that dry for about a day and a half. This morning I masked and sprayed the green and applied the decals. Interestingly, after pulling off the mask, some of the gray peeled off, which is just fine and adds to the effect. This was probably due to the Worn Effects. The cowl was not glued on yet but it did work on its weathering…
The beach is turning out very well in my opinion. I mixed up another layer of resin and mixed in some turquoise, maybe a little too much, but it is at depth so again this should work to my favor.
