Bishop Hobbies

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I got this model as a birthday gift from my dear wife in 2007 – I know I’m a lucky guy – my wife encourages me in my hobby. She is the love of my life!!

This thing is huge and will take quite a while to finish. I have been compiling a lot of reference photos from sources on the web. I have added some wiring in the drivers area – the full interior will not be too visible – so I will try and open up as many of the hatches as I can. Here are two pics of the progress thus far (no weathering yet):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-23-08

I have finished the engine and aft bulkheads and installed them. The transmission is almost finished. I have added some weathering to the interior as well as the engine and transmission. Weathering was done with paint and oil washes as well as the Tamiya weathering sets and chalk sticks that I shaved to produce powder. I will add some pics soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-25-08

The transmission is finished and installed along with the brake drums and exhaust pipes. I had to modify the brake drums to get them to fit because I glued them together wrong – hazards of late night plastic assembly! All is well now though. I plan on modifying the back armor plate to show it open so the transmission and brake assembly can be seen. The Tamiya weathering sets are very cool and help a lot in adding that worn look. I painted the transmission case with Modelmasters aluminum enamel and then gave it a really thin wash with Tamiya flat white. That gave it a nice worn look. And – here are the pics – if you want bigger – just click:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-31-08

I finished detailing the top and the underside of the tank body. I filled in all of the sinkholes in the tank body as well as the turret. I added some support structure around the transmission and modified the back plate of the tank so it can be shown in the unbolted down position for transmission maintenance. This will allow the transmission and brake area to be visible. The drivers hatch has also been finished and detailed.

5-6-08

This model build has slowed down a lot this past month. My son graduated from college and he and his wife have moved in with us to look for jobs and while she goes to graduate school. – so that took a few weeks. I have since painted the tank hull and running gear Tamiya German Grey then a top coat of Model Master dark green – which is close to the Russian green. I have yet to finish the detail painting of the inside the the top part of the tank hull. I will post pics soon tho – there isn’t much new to see as the dark green is – well it’s dark.

5-8-08

OK – here a some pics, notice that the road wheels have been added. The back plate isn’t finished, I just stuck it on for the photo….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-15-08

Here are some pics from the 2008 SVSM Kickoff Classic at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It was on display as an unfinished model and wasn’t entered into the contest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been working on the cannon barrel. It’s a two piece plastic part – could have used a turned aluminum barrel here . I found one online at JadarHobby Shop in Poland for $33.00 – a little too steep for me. So I will make do. After gluing the barrel together I stuck a brass tube in it with some blue tack stuff on the end to hold it. Then I chucked the other end in my trusty Craftsman cordless drill. Now I was able to sand the barrel smooth with the dill spinning it at a nice clip. After shooting it with a coat of primer I noticed some seam lines still visible. I applied some Tamiya primer paste to the areas and when that was dry sanded it down again. I repeated this process till I was satisfied with the results. Not aluminum but not expensive either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-21-08

I have finished a lot in the turret. I filled the casting marks on the inside with Tamiya primer using a toothpick – that worked well. The interior was painted with Tamiya flat white and weathered using my 3 Tamiya weathering kits. Sounds like I’m an advertising agent for Tamiya – well I’m not. The ammo storage assembly went together well and looks nice in the lower turret half. I finished the canon assembly with Model Master dark green and sprayed it with Model Master semi gloss from a rattle can to simulate an oily finish. That was detailed with silver, gun metal and flat black (Tamiya again). When I get the upper and lower halves completely finished, detailed and weathered I’ll take some photographs and upload them. This model is turning out very nice so far. I also finished assembling the tracks which were literally a snap. This thing is really starting to look like a tank!

5-26-08

Here are some pictures I took today. First up is the interior details of the turret after a little weathering.

Here are some pictures of the tank with the turret assembled but not glued together.

And finally pictures of the underside of the turret looking inside.

5-30-08

I’ve started weathering the tracks. The paint application by airbrush was in the following order:

1. Model Master Steel Non Buffing
2. Sealer for Metalizer
3. Tamiya Gun Metal X-10
4. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat Earth XF-52
5. Random misting coat of Tamiya Red Brown XF-64
6. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat Black XF-1
7. Random misting coat of Tamiya Orange X-6
8. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat White XF-2

I must say that I’m completely satisfied with the appearance yet. More to be done on the tracks – perhaps they will look better when I weather the road wheel areas and add some dust etc.

I also glued the turret halves together and used Tamiya putty over the seam area and Tamiya liquid surface primer on the seams by the gun mantle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-31-08

I painted the tank the proper color of Russian green using Model Master enamel. I made the same mistake I’ve made in the past. I started painting with the assumption that the paint was acrylic. It doesn’t work too well to thin oil base paint with water! When I thinned with paint thinner the results were much better. I finished painting and detailing the drivers hatch and the interior of the tank. I’m now ready to glue the tank body together. I’ve also finished gluing the final bits to the tank so I can give it a final spray with Russian green. I still need to add some extra bits such as the spare tracks, large saw and the tow cables. The spare tracks still need to be painted allso. This model is going to look really impressive when it’s finished. There is still a whole lot ‘o weathering that needs to be done however.

6-3-08

A final coat of Russian green was applied to finish off the just attached bits. For some reason this paint smells oily for about 2 days – I guess that’s oil based paint for ya. When that was dry I shot the whole tank with Tamiya clear flat – now that gave it a nicer more realistic look. The rubber road wheel covers lost their shine. I then shot the exhaust area and road wheel area as well as the tracks with Tamiya smoke. I also painted the tow cables with Tamiya gun metal and glued the tackle ends on. I still haven’t glued the hull together. Maybe I can keep it separate so that the interior can be viewed on occasion. More to come so stay tuned.

6-4-08

Ok – so here are a few pics…

6-11-08

I have now finished and added the spare tracks on the right side and the saw on the left side – then I gave the whole model a coat of Tamiya clear flat from their rattle can. I used the Tamiya weathering set to give the raised portion of the tracks a steel appearance like they had been scarped clean on street surfaces – I followed this with a coat of Tamiya clear flat to protect the effect. Then came an oil pin wash (actually a dot wash in this scale) of white, black, dark brown and dark green. After waiting two days for this to dry I gave it another thin coat of clear flat to seal this then a soft spray of Tamiya desert yellow on the lower surfaces. The turret was then masked off and the white stripe was painted on. I made a mistake here and forgot to leave a gap on the side of the turret for the tank number – so I had this section of a white stripe that I needed to remove. I masked off the rest of the stripe (the good part) and using q-tips and Windex I carefully swabbed the offending area. That got most of it. I then used Tamiya paint thinner to get the rest. The weathered paint in this area looked different than the rest of the turret – so I repeated the oil pin wash there and it was all good. In the process I had knocked off several turret parts which I now replaced – all except for one large stowage bracket on the side of the turret. It was nowhere to be found – where do these pieces go anyway? I replaced this with a piece of bent brass wire. These weathering effects really make the tank look realistic! As soon as I get the decals on I’ll post pictures.

6-12-08

Ok – I’ve put on the decals. There weren’t many and all on the Turret. I first applied a coat of Future then put the decals in really warm water. After I got the decals positioned like I wanted them I used Microscale Set and Sol the get the to snuggle down. After they were dry I found I had some silvering problems in some areas. Repeated applications of Micro-sol didn’t help. The decals were snuggled down nicely – and there was still that persistent silvering in some areas. Ok – out came the Tamiya liquid thin cement. I dabbed it carefully on the offending areas and walla – no silvering. Of course the decals were really dissolved too – but not distorted. When they were dry I shot the turret with a coat of Master Modeler clear flat. I’ll try and get some pics up soon.

6-14-08

Ok – here are some pics – I still have to do some weathering on it but this is pretty close…..

6-17-08

Since this model is for the most part finished – I’m transferring it to the Review section. I still have yet to add some mud in the form of Squadron Green Putty and to depict diesel spills with Future. When I get those done I’ll add some more pictures here.

3-6-09

I’ve added a few pics to show the tarps I added to the back of the tank along with some misc. tools and bolts made up from scrap.  Ok – this pic I haven't found yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/26/2013 I've added 20 more pictures of the finished tank. In looking over this article I realized that I hadn't taken too many when it was done – time to rectify that!

Here are some pics I found on the internet – sorry that I can't list the reference…

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little History

The Revolutionary War privateer RATTLESNAKE was designed in 1779-80 by John Peck, a Boston naval Architect; she was built in Plymouth Massachusetts. In style she resembled a miniature frigate, and had a separate quarter deck and forecastle. These features are rather unusual for a privateer. She carried up to 20 guns (probably six and nine pounders) and had a usual complement of 85 men.

Little is known of her career except that it was brief. On her first cruise she seized over one million dollars of British goods and she was ordered to be captured at any cost. Late in 1781, she was taken by the British firgate ASSURANCE (44 guns) and brought into the Royal Navy as the COMMORANT (14 GUNS). Sometime around 1784 she was renamed RATTLESNAKE and soon afterwards sold out of the British Navy.

The vessel was unusually fast, and her full lines were recorded by the British Admiralty after her capture and have come down to us today.

A Little Background

I first became aquainted with this model when I was in high school. I picked up a Model Shipways catalogue at my local hobby shop. I believe that was back in 1963. I would pour over that catalogue looking at the pictures of the various ship models and my favorite became the RATTLESNAKE. It just really looked – well it looked like a miniature frigate which is what it was. I love sailing ships because the rigging is so complex and that makes it fun to look at when the model is finished. I had built several wooden ship models from scratch when I was in Jr high – they were more of a carved balsa block for the hull and balsa sticks for the masts. I rigged them up after a fashion – they never lasted long though. I don’t think I was very careful with stuff then – kinda like a bull in a china shop and at least one of these met its demise because it was sat on. A few years later I did build the 1/96 scale Revell ships – USS Constitution and the clipper ship Thermopale – I fully rigged these and they just looked cool. I didn’t put them in cases tho and soon house dust did their work on them. The Constitution actually lasted many years on my parents fireplace mantle – until my mom tried to dust it one day. The dust finally got to her too I guess. The ships boat for the Constitution actually has a second life as the basis for the Admirals Yacht on my model of the Yamato.

At any rate I developed a real longing to someday build a wood ship model.

Fast forward to 1975. I was out of college and working professionally and newly married to boot. I happened to spy the very model of my dreams in a local hobby shop. Well – I bought it for $55.00 + tax.

The Model

When I opened the box I must say I was pretty dismayed – I mean I don’t know what I expected – I had seen pictures in the catalogue of what was in the kit. The scale is 3/16 inches to the foot or 1/64th scale. Inside the box was a machine carved (rough) white pine hull, a fistfull of dowells and some small packages of fittings – pot metal, and wood blocks etc. Also there was some rigging thread and two big full size sheets of plans and a block of wood to carve the ships boat from. I guess what got me the most was the instructions. It was about 4 pages of the briefest information I could imagine – basically it said – put it together and oh by the way good luck.

Construction

After a few months of opening the box and looking at it from time to time and feeling sorry for myself – I realized that it wasn’t going to build itself.

A friend (thanks Dennis) loaned me a Dremmel type router and some bits. I routed out the hull in the forward and aft areas so they could be detailed. I sanded down the hull to the proper dimensions and eventually added the main deck (scribed wood decking). I added a few bits and pieces to the hull and there it sat for quite a while. I just wasn’t getting anything done. This was when our kids were coming – they kept coming till we had five and Teresa and I said whoa – that’s enough. So we were pretty busy at home – I mean we were really busy at home with these little guys – it was a lot of fun though.

So the ship wasn’t getting built. One day I had the bright idea to take the thing to work and building it there at lunch time. That’s what I finally did. I had a drafting table in an adjacent room that I set things up on and I also had a really understanding boss (thanks Jon). Remembering the dust problem – I kept the hull covered with cheesecloth and as the build moved farther on I built a display case for it too.

The construction time went on for 9 years – from 1975 to 1984 with some gaps when I stopped – there were times I just got sick and tired of working on it and I would have to force myself to continue!

Here are some photos taken during construction. Sorry about the poor quality – but at least you can see some of the below deck detail.

Here are some of the details I added:

• Replaced all of the pot metal castings of the mast tops and caps with built up boxwood structures exactly as depicted on the plans – lots and lots of extra pieces here.
• The main deck fore and aft sections are fully detailed – even though they are hidden by the forecastle and quarter decks. That’s what modelers do – they detail areas that you can’t see unless you are a fruit-fly.
• All of the cannons are fully rigged with block and tackle.
• Cannon balls came from 12 gauge shotgun shells.
• The aft and stern window metal frames were replaced with boxwood frames, glass was replicated with white glue which dried transparent.
• Stern relief was accomplished with white glue and micro balloons mixed together.
• All yardarms were rigged with proper foot-ropes.
• Lower yardarms properly rigged with parrels (I used small beads) to hold them to the masts.
• Sails were added using balooner cloth (very tight weave cotton cloth) that was sewn up by my wife (thanks Teresa) exactly as illustrated in Steele’s Elements of Mastmaking Sailing and Rigging.
• All sails had lashing ropes added as well as the proper rigging rope at sail edges.
• Ship was completely rigged using Cuttyhunk silk thread drawn through beeswax.
• All lines tied off with proper knots – no granny knots used.
• All shrouds rigged properly and all ratlines attached with clove hitches. That alone took the better part of a year and I really hated doing it – it was just so monotonous!
• Many additional blocks of various sizes were added to complete rigging.
• Ships boat built up clinker style – just like full size one.
• Model painted with Pollys acrylic.
• All yardarms were tapered by hand and boxwood added to the center of those that required it to make up an octagon shape.

Ok – that ’s enough on that.

I put the model in a case that I built to protect it from flying footballs – remember we had 5 kids growing up! The case and ship model has held up very well over the past 23 (as of 2007) years since I finished it.

I love to occasionally take this model down off of the shelf and just look at it. I always have to clean off the case top what with dust etc. There is so much going on that you eyes just feast on the details – that’s what so wonderful about fully rigged sailing ships. I think the sails add a sense of motion and are positioned as if the ship is tacking. In this way the ship can be displayed to show off the sails on one side or the complete rigging if turned to the other side. With all of that detail you can just sit and look at this area and that for quite a while.

I have taken this model to a few model shows and it’s won some first places – but the curious thing is that when I take it – along with my 1/200 Yamato battleship – it’s the battleship that really gets the most attention. I guess that there just isn’t the interest out there for wood ship models. Go figure. Well – now I have a wood ship model to look at.

It only took me 9 years to finish – sometimes you should be careful what yo wish for – you might just get it. Actually wishing never really gets you very far – you have to provide all of the work too – and this was a lot of work but it’s totally worth it now that it’s finished. I wonder how many of these things were purchased with grand ideas and plans, but were never finished. Kinda like our lives – we have grand ideas and plans to do this and that – but if they never get beyond the thinking stage – that’s all they are – thoughts. But if you are determined and whack away at it long enough you can finish. I’ve seen this over and over in life and it applies to everything and everyone.

And that’s the end of my thoughts – now go build something.

Wanna see more pics? GO HERE.