That really is a beautiful build. A bit too clean [:D] Must be all those “Coasties” doing overtime [swg].
Julian [:)]
Funny that you think it is too ‘clean’. The pictures don’t really show how dirty this model is. Remember, I am a tank guy, so when I do weathering…
The life boats look like a rugby team was rescued from a muddy pitch. The deck has been washed with enough black-wash to make it look like a coal freighter. The hull has rust and oil coming out of the scuppers. The sides are scraped up like she was raising and lowering the boats in a Force 5 gale.
Nantucket Mike would have a heart attack if he saw it.
The photos wash it out a bit.
Take a close look at this image. It shows the weathering a bit better. Look at the stack and the ventilators – you can see the wash clearly there.
It also shows where I added a brass plate to attach the boat davit tackle. I was not happy with the ‘magic’ attachment appearance of either end of the ropes and tackle. I added plates to the boat and at “cap” to the davit itself. The caps are merely to hide the poor fit of the block to the davit. It now looks better, methinks. (the plate is left over PE, and the cap is wine bottle foil bent and painted.)
And you can almost see where I drilled out the pipe at the back of the stack.
Oh, one more thing. The supports that the boat is resting on are made from evergreen I-beams and plate. I would like to claim that I was improving on the kit stanchions, but the truth is that I lost the real ones along the way and had to make new ones. Oops. No one will ever know!
Ok, Mike, I dressed up the telegraph.
And I painted around the running lights black, but I hate the way it looks.
Hi Der, neat model in every way. Your flying bridge made me think; the telegraph should probably point fore/aft motion of the lever. Just seems wrong sideways. Here’s a pic from another ship, the Relief, and in the wheelhouse, but it is probably the same idea.
A great project.
Bondo, thanks for the tip. I was thinking the same thing…[:-^]
I have rotated the telegraph and am in the process of adding louvres to the signal lamps.
I am also making a cover for the wheel… so far I have my doubts about how it is progressing, but I will post the results for comments.
A good way to model canvas is to soak kleenex in a dilute white glue and drape it on. Takes a litle practice, but not much. Paint afterwards.
We have a lightship museum in our local area. I’m sorry this is late but here is a link to some pictures that might interest you: http://www.portsnavalmuseums.com/lightshiparchive.html
Ok, I have made a few changes to the bridge:
The telegraph is painted and re-oriented
The signal lamps are silver face with louvres attached
The wheel is covered with canvas and installed.
The running light are painted black and back again, still need some touch up.
The bell is brass (but not weathered, it will look more like the large fog bell in the bow)
The fire fog nozzle has been removed and replaced.
As always, comments and suggestions welcome!!
UPDATE: Almost there, but there is a setback!
I have fixed all the major structures in place, and finished most of the touch up painting. I dry brushed the Spar with a naples yellow oil paint, and dry brushed the hull with a mix of cadmium red and white. I am trying to induce some sun faded look to everything. Then I dry brushed white back over the deck houses to tone down the weathering and make the highlights pop.
A detailed post with pictures will follow, but…
I LOST A PART!!!
There are only 9 of the gizmos that secure the rigging to the deck. So I am short one and will have to fabricate it. OOPS![banghead]
Enjoy some update photos. Ignore the loose fishing lines dangling. I am waiting for the CA to dry prior to trimming.
Comments and suggestions welcome!!
Your Nantucket is looking GREAT! My Dad turned me on to this model when it was put out by Pyro. The Linberg kits are pressed from the Pyro molds, but through the years, they have turning out less than good quality kits. I have spent a while on Ebay and have bought at least a dozen of these kits- both Pyro and Lindberg!
An overseas ‘N’ scale railroad company called Priester puts out some really excellent <sp?> sailors, all decked out in life perservers, both Officers and Enlisted, that will really compliment your model. I have even used some ‘N’ scale lights with strobe effects in the masts to simulate the lights. I used hollow plastic and rebuilt the masts so the wires would slide down inside the hull.
I am new to this forum, and haven’t figured out how to submit pictures yet, but I have a website that has a lot of info…
http://lightshipmodeler.iwarp.com
It has been a while since I have done any maintenence, but maybe this project of yours will get me back into fixing it since the crash.
Keep up the good work!
Bob
Oh, by the way- The fly bridge is a carbon copy of the bridge inside the Pilot House. It was used to navigate the ship easier.
Bob,
Thanks.
I have just about finished. A quick spray of dull coat and it should be a wrap. Oh, wait. I still have to add the flags.
And I think the flag poles that came with the kit look wildly out of scale.
I might have to build new ones.
I will post some finished pictures when I am done.
Well, I think she is just about done.
Here are some nearly final photos. I will mess with the flags and some other details (the stern light needs fixing!) I have to remove some dust that got blown on during the dull coat application.
Comments, suggestions, and criticism welcome! Enjoy.
Where did you get the Buff color?
The buff color is called SPAR.
and it is available from Snyder and Short at http://www.shipcamouflage.com/
According to the experts that chimed in earlier in this thread, it is the only correct paint to use!
It sprayed nicely from an airbrush, and brushed well.
(and the color you see on the final model has been washed with engine grey and drybrushed with a yellow. The out-of-the-can look for the paint is visible in some pictures from earlier in the thread.)
A very nice build ! You have done the real deal proud.
Julian
Thanks, Julian.
I appreciate the comment!
Hi.
Just come across this thread." Dogger" as refered to by Tankerbuilder is actually in the North Sea between England (North) and Belgium/ Holland. Scotland is a bit further North but I have not checked the actual relationship by lat and longitude !
A map is shown at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogger_Bank
Will dig a bit more on Lightships located there in the past.
cheers
Jericlin
So far only come up with this :- http://www.jlunderwater.co.uk/old_site/photoix/lv83/index.htm
Interesting with a sketch of the wreck but no colour scheme !
Ahoy All!
I am new to this forum but i have been modeling going on forty years or so…I have a 1955 Pyro 1/95 scale Nantucket lightship kit serial number 238. i have added the pyro electric ship engine kit to go with it…I have a spare engine kit and another pyro kit that has the RELIEF lighship cutout decals that i want to build…my question is this: is the 1955 Pyro kit too valuable to assemble? It came with some things that i haven’t seen in other Pyro kits of this great lightship, such as the crew figures, spool of thread, and anchor chain…the two halves look like they were glued at the factory and the black bottom paint also looks to be factory painted… also, the box has a woodgrain divider inside and another one painted duck egg blue…When i bought this several years ago the owner sent a letter explaining that their parents bought this for them in the 1950’s but the owner never got around to building it.
At any rate i am going to build one of these kits plus i have two more lindberg lightship kits for spare parts…I have a lot of articles and pics i have collected over the years of lightships and also have the Russian version of the South Goodwin lightship that i haven’t built…i am working on a 1/700 scale scratchbuilt “Frying Pan” lightship that is in the drydock at he moment.
i appreciate all the research and info posted here, it should grease the skids for my assembly!
chris
Chris
I have an unbuilt NANTUCKET kit from 1956 and note the following: the kit has a cellophane bag of figures, chain and black thread. The box is unremarkable(no divider cardboard) but the cover box art is dramatic, depicting the lightship at night in dirty weather. The plastic is molded in three colors, red, buff and light gray. What makes this version different from the later releases is the letters spelling “NANTUCKET” are molded in the side of each hull piece. The late 1960’s version was molded in colors but with out the molded lettering. The box cover in that issue is a color painting of the lightship in calm seas.
Later versions(Lindberg) had the kit molded in white plastic with a color photograph of a pitiful build, I don’t know who builds Lindberg’s kits for the box cover, my young grandson could do a much better job. The direction sheet had the NANTUCKET letters printed on them so the builder was required to cut them from the sheet and glue them to the hull, what a crappy way to letter the model!
As to the bottom of your model being painted…I have an unbuilt 1955 model of the Pyro HARRIET LANE. The hull is factory assembled and the bottom is factory painted a gold color. The box has blue cardboard dividers seperating the hull, deck and other parts. As to the value of the kit…if you are a collector save the kit as an example of 1950’s tech. It’s monetary worth is debatable in this down economy, Evilbay seems to be a buyers market for OOP kits these days. It may sell for as much as $100 IF you find a buyer that REALLY wants to add it to their collection. Since the Lindberg NANTUCKET kit is currently available, I doubt if you’d get big money for your version of it.
The SOUTH GOODWIN lightship dates back to 1970, I believe UPC(or Frog) offered the model at the time. I recall building the GOODWIN in 1971, along with the NANTUCKET. As a young coastguardsman, I built every kit that had some coast guard theme associated with it. When I was stationed on the NANTUCKET I even built a copy of Billings Model’s German “ELBE” lightship. We had few amenities on that ship so I was always looking for a model to build to pass away the long weeks on station. . weather permitting.
Regards
Mike M.