Revell Golden Hind

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

I have received my Revell Golden Hind kit. It is a well detailed model. I have come to realize that the painting will be interesting to say the least. I have poured through the threads on this topic. I plan on building the kit from the box. I will tone down the colors a bit. I will try paint for the decorative bits. I have a plan B for using decals for some of them. I wanted to know if the bottom was off white or black? Also, the masts are brown,what about the yards? If anyone has any other color advice or general building advice, I would appreciate it. The big question is…how do I fix a couple of the vacuform sails. They are usable, but have some extra crickles in them. I would like to smooth them out. Otherwise, I will have to replace or furl them. Thanks to jtilley for the kit recommendation. I hope I can do it justice. I will use the great built pictures of the kit by sirdrake as inspiration.

2

here’s a picture that I took while i was in Savannah Georgia this last august. it’s not the greatest but i took it because i figured at some point I would be building this kit.

post a build log when you get started. I would love to see how this kit goes together.

3

Back then ships’ bottoms were painted with either a dark mixture that might have been dark dark brown or black or a tallow colored mixture that was probably some shade of off white. Not too far towards tan, but certainly not bright white either. My votes is for the off white, simply for asthetics.

Russ

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I agree with Russ about the bottom paint. Be warned: there’s a raised line indicating the location of the waterline, but it’s very, very faint. Even a thin coat of paint is likely to render it invisible. (I speak from experience.)

I’ve never been a fan of vac-formed “sails,” but I’ll cheerfully concede that the ones in this kit are far better than average. With some careful painting and rigging they probably could be made to look eminently acceptable. Do be sure to notice that they’re molded in such a way that the ship must have the wind on either the port or starboard quarter (I don’t remember which).

I’ve never tried to fix a crack in a vac-formed sail, but the most obvious cure would be to make a “patch” out of the excess plastic on the sail sheet. You’ll have to be careful that the adhesive doesn’t make a mess of the sail, but it should be possible.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck.

5

Does the hull have the pronounced wales plank just above the waterline?

If so, it would not be out of the realm of historical accuracy to simply paint the bottom color right up to the bottom edge of the wales. That would eliminate the need to fuss with the faint raised line for the waterline. I have seen models painted in the this fashion, both contemporary models as well as modern.

Russ

6

Try putting the sails in a sink with warm water to smooth them out.Just apply even pressure with your fingers.Thats worked for me in the past.Let us know how your build goes.

Rod

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Off-white it is. I’ll look for the line. This is a 1965 issue. It should be there. I will try the warm water. I will need to patch the lower center of the lower fore-sail. What do you “age” the sails with? I was going to paint them a very light tan and use pastels to pop the nice details on them. I plan on using Model Master enamels for this project. They are what I have, along with a few Humbrol enamels. Any color suggestions to use? I don’t want to buy all new paints,but, I do plan on more than one tall ship in my future. Thanks for the replies. If I can figure out how to upload photos, I will include them as I go.

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Paint the underwater hull first, then mask it off before painting the rest of the hull. Keep some extra white around for touch ups afterwards.

John Tilley has a deck effect using grey tinted with tan or beige.

9

Thanks Jim, I’ll check into that thread. I have the kit on the workbench and as soon as I’m done here, I’m off.

10

I looked at the Batavia. That effect is very nice. I have the kit washed and on the bench. I think I’m going to spray the deck black and then a tan. Then I will scub it to reveal the detail. I have used that before and to my eyes, is convincing. I am thinking of MM military brown for the general bulwarks and exterior. Antique white for the bottom. I have many many shades of tans and browns to differentiate the various sub parts and wales. If you have any other color suggestions, let me know. I plan on painting tonight. I am taking pictures as I go. I need to set up a photobucket account to get them posted here.

11

I have made a little bit of progress on the model. I have set up a photobucket account and uploaded the pictures there. I just need a little time to get them here. As seen in the threads on this site about this kit, I will assume the Revell color callouts are correct(for the decorative elements). There a few places where they do not call out specific color and I would like your imput. What would be a good color for the caprail? Gallery window frames? Most importantly…the correct colors for the stern coat of arms,lion and griffon. I plan on panting the interior bulwarks and exterior the same color(light earth) with below the waterline white. I still need a good color for the sails. I am doing various shades of browns and tans for the deck,masts…etc. Seeing the pictures(if/when I can get them posted) will help you to further comment on the progress. Thanks for all the help so far.

12

Try subdued versions of any color, to get the effect of a flat surface of paint that has been at sea for a long time.

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Awesome! Thanks for the insight. I was thinking of muted coloring due to the types of “paint” that was used. I am depicting the ship in a used condition. I don’t want to weather it too much. Being this is my first ship in a very long time, I want to try different ideas to see if they look good. I will do an ochre caprail and pick out the gallery supports in ochre. I need to look up that coat of arms. Thanks woodburner! I’m still trying to get the pictures up.

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Here is a picture of the parts as I got them.

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Here is with the deck painted and small parts sprayed.

16

For those sails, and from the bottles on your bench, if you started with a 50/50 or 60/40 White to Radome Tan, that would likely get you a good start on the sails. Use straight Radome tan on the doublings and seams of the sails, and then dy brush them a bit whiter. Unbleached Linen make a good starting place, too, if tinted with white for good scale appearance.

Now, I must also admit a bias. I find vac sails useful mostly as forms over which to mould 100% rag resume paper if the scale is large enough, finer material, like rag vellum or tissue (packaging, not facial) in smaller scales. But, that’s me; I find paper tolerates fine holes and stiching for attachment better than vac plastic.

The semi-glossy packaging tissue makes a nice material for making flags for this era, too.

17

Thanks CapnMac82,

I will give the tissue a try. I do not like the vac sails either. I ordered some paints with colors like linen and ivory. I’ll need to test to see if I can get a combination I can live with.

I assembled the hull and deck last night. The fit was not the best and some filling at the stern will be needed. I want to minimize filling and sanding as much as possible as I do not want to loose the wood detail. As I get a little further along, I’ll upload more pictures.

18

You’re making good progress.

JTilley recommended using silkspan for sails. If you search “silkspan” you should find his comments and method.

19

Here’s the thread to which Woodburner kindly referred: /forums/350912/ShowPost.aspx

Please note, though, that the “sailmaking” method I described in that thread is strictly applicable to furled sails. As I said early in that thread, I’ve never found what I consider to be a satisfactory method of making “set” sails - except on very large and very small scales.

20

Hi Woodburner,

I found in the archives that you had built the large Revell Mayflower. I have the same model. I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind:

  1. You had posted pictures of your build but while the posts have remained, the pictures are gone. Is there anyplace else they are posted? Based on the posted comments you must have done I fine job which I would like to learn from.

  2. I also have the Morgan and the Golden Hind. What I would like to ask is if at these skills, the masts and yards are strong enough to take the strain of the rigging or will the whole thing eventually sag? Should I replace those parts with wood? I would also ask the same question about the large Mayflower?

Thanks very much, BigBoat