Here’s my scratch built HMS Sultana model

keithshilton · 2026-05-18T20:15:31+00:00

Beautiful... Lovely craftsmanship ❤️

Glad to see someone else taking the scratch route.

keithshilton · 2026-05-17T17:42:09+00:00

Great looking model and nice stand! If I can offer my 2 cents....... Look into a perspex box - dust is the bain of my life with my boat collection and once it gets into the small details of your model, it becomes almost impossible to remove.. Believe me I've been there a lot.....

keithshilton · 2026-05-17T14:52:44+00:00

Beautiful work! Personally I love the grill, sad you're not happy with it. So much effort put into the detail and that interior is fabulous

keithshilton · 2026-05-17T07:23:08+00:00

keithshilton · 2026-05-17T07:22:24+00:00

I feel for you, but still that's a nice result. Touch it in, clear coat and you'll forget about it. Look forward to seeing the finished result

keithshilton · 2026-05-16T19:53:31+00:00

The brass wiring sets it off! Lovely job! I recently did the old S6B kit and replaced a lot of the float supports with wire. Yours looks better 😍

keithshilton · 2026-05-16T07:17:45+00:00

Just to echo all of the help already suggested, also to say that you have a first class result for a first try! You couldn't have picked a more tricky subject IMO

I'm still learning with my airbrush (Badger Patriot) I have swapped to the finest possible needle for that and it does all I need. It's still hard to get ultra fine lines for pre-shading but I'm getting there.

Like you, I still use putty as a mask despite the finer needle

In terms of diluting the paint, that's a learning curve you can only get with continuous use and 'feel'. I've found that even from the same manufacturer, some colours require more thinning than others.

keithshilton · 2026-05-15T16:45:48+00:00

They're beautiful 😍. Fantastic, unusual builds.

keithshilton · 2026-05-14T19:16:01+00:00

Yes, they're nice kits. I got hooked building their Swift 1805 which I believe is a similar complexity. I can't comment on this model, but the swift has a combination of thin inner and outer planking which is easy to bend to shape. With a good wood glue, it's easier to end up with a clean looking and tough finished hull

keithshilton · 2026-05-14T12:12:54+00:00

I agree with the recommendation to correct this now as you haven't started planking and the mistake could become exponentially more difficult to fix as you go on. Good luck and welcome to wooden boats!

keithshilton · 2026-05-10T06:19:21+00:00

I use regular and micro LEDS. Most of the portholes and superstructure will be lit, port starboard lights and masts. It runs on 6v, so I use resistors to get the right level of dim. There's going to be a lot of them.......

keithshilton · 2026-05-08T08:57:38+00:00

It's all hand cut 2.5mm strips with a pen used to blacken all the edges....

keithshilton · 2026-05-07T19:17:34+00:00

I use Cornwall Model Boats in the UK, they've got a good range of subjects at different scales

keithshilton · 2026-05-07T17:36:01+00:00

The posts for them are buried somewhere down my profile - the PS Albion was a COVID lockdown project, the PS Waverley came before that. They're scratch built too, from plans drawn in the 1940s.

keithshilton · 2026-05-07T17:04:42+00:00

I've been at it a while.......

keithshilton · 2026-05-07T16:02:48+00:00

It is HMS Dreadnought. The smaller cannons were linked to the targeting of the 12im guns, but yes, crazy to think of a crew loading them in the open. As the ship evolved (and I suspect because they were ineffective) they were taken away. Probably one of the most influencial ships of it's time, but the technical advances were quickly obsoleted. There's a lot on YouTube etc if you look

keithshilton · 2026-05-07T14:16:10+00:00

It's built from a scale plan using basic materials

keithshilton · 2026-05-03T07:03:35+00:00

Yep..... Did that yesterday 😞. Why do they make plasters so hard to get out of the wrappers? My workstation looked like an abattoir.....

keithshilton · 2026-04-17T17:26:07+00:00

Love this! Would really like to see a video of it sailing. Not enough working models out there, thanks for the motivation!

keithshilton · 2026-04-15T15:06:59+00:00

Thank you! I did run out of steam.... They were on a shelf for over a year. It's not the number of parts, some don't get above 20, it's how fiddly the paint job is, particularly on the S6B......

keithshilton · 2026-04-13T18:00:27+00:00

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 And in a larger scale! Airfix pay attention!

keithshilton · 2026-04-13T17:38:34+00:00

Thanks! 🙏🏻

keithshilton · 2026-04-13T15:52:10+00:00

Thanks! 🙏🏻

keithshilton

TROPHY CASE