Clearwater Models

Sunday, 17 February 2019

YAMATO (Micronauts)

This is the MicroNauts 1:2400 scale model of the Imperial Japanese Nay's flagship battleship YAMATO (大和).
The Yamato was commissioned one week after the Japanese attack on the USA, and was sunk in battle in April 1945 with 3055 crew killed. It hosted the 9 largest guns ever placed on a battleship (46 cm). It was also the heaviest and most powerfully-armed battleship in history. The name Yamato has been used as a reference to old or imperial Japan, and the ship became a metaphor for the nation during the war and for the death of the empire in 1945. It is very difficult to photograph as it is only 10 cm long. Better photos should be posted.

Yamato

The real one...

Yamato

Saturday, 16 February 2019

JEANNE D'ARC (Heller)

This is the 1960 Heller 1:12 scale kit of the French hero Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) (kit #81199).

Joan was born in France in 1412, and burned at the stake by the Catholic Church (Burgundian branch) when she was about 19 years old in 1431 - having been convicted of heresy for claiming she was spoken to by one angel and two saints who told her to fight the English (and for wearing men's clothing!).

I began this kit over 15 years ago and suffered multiple armour colour failures, and only this week finished her. The overall paint is a burnt iron from Vallejo. The face is my fourth attempt at a face on a large figure. The staff is a bamboo skewer, and the flag/pennant is a decal from the original kit. There were also eyebrow and bright red lip decals, but I wisely chose to discard those items. It is blindingly obvious that I know nothing about painting faces on figures! Attaching the scabbard to the three clips proved the hardest part of the build. In the end it was nailed in place to keep the front clip from repeatedly pulling away.

UPDATE: This model placed first in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (Collections - Theme (groups of 5 knights in armour))

Jeanne d'Arc

Joan in a painting...

Jeanne d'Arc

This model placed first in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (Collections - Theme (groups of 5 knights in armour))

TRICERATOPS

Terrible Lizards! This is an unknown scale dinosaur model from an unnamed Chinese toy company which I bought at the Dollarama for $2. It is a triceratops. She lived in what is now Canada from about 68 000 000 years ago to about 66 000 000 years ago during the late Cretaceous period (about 2:15 in the afternoon).
I stripped down the pieces and sanded or cut off all seam lines and flash, then carved out the ribs and built up the top bone stubs on the vertebrae. I also cut off the jaw hinge and gave the skull a better shape.
It was then airbrushed white and aged white. To finish I added a sepia wash, and finally some light grey dusting.
It took one day, and made for a fun weekend project.

triceratops

This model placed third in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (Collections - Theme (5 models of dinosaur skeletons and fossils))

STEGOSAURUS

Terrible Lizards! This is an unknown scale dinosaur model from an unnamed Chinese toy company which I bought at the Dollarama for $2. It is a stegosaurus. It lived in what is now Portugal and the western USA from about 163 000 000 years ago to about 100 000 000 years ago during the late Jurassic (Albian) period (about 9:30 in the morning).

I stripped down the pieces and sanded or cut off all seam lines and flash, then carved out the ribs and built up the top bone stubs on the vertebrae. I also cut off the jaw hinge and gave the skull a better shape.

It was airbrushed white and aged white. To finish I added a sepia wash, and finally some light grey dusting. It was done last Sunday.

stegosaurus

This model placed third in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (Collections - Theme (5 models of dinosaur skeletons and fossils))

Tuesday, 5 February 2019

SOVIET NAVAL ASW DETACHMENT (Dragon)

Soviet Naval Anti-Submarine Warfare Detachment in the Black Sea, circa 1984.

I think I built this over 20 years ago from two different Dragon box sets of 1:700 scale Soviet naval vessels.

The main ship is a Project 1134B Berkut B (Golden Eagle) "large anti-submarine warfare ship" named Nikolayev. It was the lead ship of the Berkut-class large ASW ships. It was commissioned new year's eve 1971, and would become a Ukrainian Navy ship after 1991. It did not continue in service and was soon scrapped in India in 1994.

The Nikolayev is escorted by two Project 1234 Ovod Small Missile Ships.

It is all hand-painted. The base is wood with an artists oil paint water surface.
The photos are scans of old printed photos. Sorry about the image quality.

Soviet Naval Anti-Submarine Warfare Detachment

Thursday, 31 January 2019

TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Terrible Lizards! This is an unknown scale dinosaur model from an unnamed Chinese toy company which I bought at the Dollarama for $2. It is a tyrannosaurus rex. It lived in what is now Canada from about 68 000 000 years ago to about 66 000 000 years ago during the late Cretaceous period (about 2:15 in the afternoon).
I stripped down the pieces and sanded or cut off all seam lines and flash, then carved out the ribs and built up the top bone stubs on the vertebrae. I also cut off the jaw hinge and gave the skull a better shape.
It was airbrushed white and aged white. To finish I added a sepia wash, and finally some light grey dusting.
It took one day, and made for a fun weekend project.

tyrannosaurus rex

This model placed third in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (Collections - Theme (5 models of dinosaur skeletons and fossils))