You have done a beautiful job on her. You should be very happy…Cheers mark
Thank you for those kind words. She is a part of my World’s Modern Carrier Strike Group Project as an escort for my US Navy CSG.
Jeff Head’s 1/350 Scale Modern Aircraft Carrier Strike Groups
Well, Jeff, after further study of the configuration of the decks, the paint job, which is good, and considering your advice, I have decided that adding the railings at this point is a couple of steps above my skill level, so reluctantly, I will leave them off. There are a lot of bumps and protusions on the decks that get in the way of the rails, also. My hands are a bit shaky, as I am one of the senior guys on the forum, and the ship looks good so far, so I have decided not to risk messing it up.
Now, if you lived down the street from me, I would be happy to bring my model to you, and entrust you with adding those PE railings!
No problem…I am sure it is a very good looking model! Please, if you get a chance, post some photos.
I got back into to this (model building which I did as a youngster, and then later in my 30s for 3-4 years) after being diagnosed with a very rare malignant bone cancer and undergoing massive surgerieis (3 of them) in 2010 to remove my entire sacrum…and then the recovery for months in the hospital followed by several months of very intensive rehab.
My Sacral Chordoma Journal
Luckily, they were able to accomodate me back at work due to my resulting disabilities…but in the evenings this has been very therapuetic for me.
I have about 5 years to go until retirement so am very grateful to be able to continue working.
God’s speed and Bravo Zulu!
Wow, Jeff, that is some ordeal you went through. I, too, have found modeling to be very therapuetic since open heart surgery 4 years ago. I’m retired, and have lots of time on my hands, so this keeps me busy and sane (and off the streets!)
I will post a photo when the ship is finished, though it will be a few weeks, I’m sure. This is the first ship model I have built since I was a kid, so there were a lot of new techniques to learn and I am going slow and doing it right, so far.
Well, I have another five years until retirement and was saving a lot of these kits until then…but then the cancer came, the drastic surgeries, hospitialization, recovery and rehab and then the disabilities. So, at the suggestion of my dear wife of 35 years, I broke the kits out and started anew.
it was a GREAT suggestion and a very helpful thing. God bless you on surviving your open heart surgery. My father had two quadruple by passes, and I know hwo involved, and difficult thaat is. Glad you were able to percerevere, and pray God’s blessings on you and your family.
So, now we can trade notes on our model building experience. I have gotten a three of my grandsons involved. Here’s a link to a Facebook video of my 10 year-old, Riley and his starting the USS Ronald Reagan in 1/700 scale. It’s a lot of fun, and very fulfilling to work with them.
Facebook Video of my Grandson and the 1/700 Scale USS Ronald Reagan
Here are a few pics of my finished ship, Jeff, and thank you for the well wishes!
That is a GREAT job. Outstanding painting, and a very clean build. Trumpeter provides so many details that make for such a nicer looking vessel.
You should create your own review and buildup page here on FS for it. Detailing how you got back into ship building and all the steps you went through to produce the model. A lot of people could benefit from it.
Anyhow, again, great job! And thanks for sharing it here.
Thanks, glad you like the paint job! Since it’s been over 50 years since I did a ship model, I guess aircraft and figure painting skills are indeed transferrable to other subjects. There is no hand painting, (except for tiny touch-ups.) I used Model Master enamels with an Iwata double action airbrush. I built and painted everything as assemblies and the last step was to glue the completed superstructure blocks to the deck.
I built the hanger doors closed as I figured it would be difficult for anyone to view the interior.
The black waterline stripe is a piece of Testor’s self-adhesive trim tape. They make a set of three rolls of three colors, each roll having about six different widths of tape on it. I simply put the tape over the seam between the bottom hull and the upper hull, covering it nicely and saving me the trouble of filling and sanding the seam. It was strictly an accident that I found this tape hanging on a pegboard at the LHS. I’m sure I will find more uses for it on future models.
I used Allean’sTacky Glue to attach the superstructure blocks to the deck, then after it dried, I ran a bead of CA along the joints. It dried glossy, so I gave the whole thing another coat of Testor’s MM Dullcoat and the glossy CA became invisible.
The nameplate was painted with Tamiya lacquer in rattle cans. First, a primer, then an overcoat of silver, next a coat of black. After it was dry, I gently sanded the black off the raised letters being careful not to go through the silver coat. Took a bit of patience and a little touch up at the end, but came out OK.
As far as writing a review, well, that’s something I don’t enjoy, although I like giving techique tips such as above to help out the readers whenever possible. The reason I got back into shipbuiding was finding your article here. I did not know there was a ship named USS Lassen until then, and that intrigued me and I just HAD to build it. Plus, my wife has been encouraging me for years to build something other than aircraft!
Best regards,
Chuck Lassen
Kudos on the deck gray decks!
Great work, Chuck! I am so glad you saw the Lassen build here and were able to build one of your own. After my cancer, and the resulting disabilites, and with retirement now 3-5 years away, I find doing this work very relaxing and therappeutic for me.
I am in the middle of my 1/350 scaleHMS Illustious build now, along with its Strike Group… Great model by Airfix, and great vessel. The Daring class Type 45 DDGs are a very potent Anit-air destroyer and a technological wonder. Too bad they can only afford 6 of them. Those are great models by Airfix too.
Dahjval Dadhania…here’s the build thread for the 1/350 scale USS Lassen, kit by Trumpeter.