1/700th scale HMS Habakkuk WIP (aka Project Habakkuk)

[Scooterman]

Simple answers to all your questions and I don't mean this as an insult to your friends and/or people that gave you their thoughts but.................

IT'S YOUR FECKING MODEL!!!!!!!

I don't see any of them trying to build what you're doing nor do they have the experience or knowledge of the subject.  Did they invent pykrete?  Were they there when the real Habakkuk was painted hull red and grey and the woodgrain showed thru?  OF COURCE NOT!  IT NEVER EXISTED PEOPLE!!!!

I can't believe that some twit 'harshly critisised' your work, WITHOUT EVER SEEING IT!!!!

Yes I'm on a bit of a rant here about how some JMNs can suck the fecking modeling will from you but seadude, this project is the coolest ship model I have EVER seen and you should be EXTREMELY PROUD of your work no matter what idiots have to say. 

You will figure out your problems.  As others have stated, take your time.  The mojo will come back, things will get fixed and when it's the right time, the Habbakkuk will sail.

Off the 'box,

Scoot

[seadude]

As for the sides showing a little wood underneath, perhaps a coat of primer gray and a re-coat of the outer color would do (no need to strip anything). I don't think I have EVER not had to re-coat or re-do something on a model.

When I got the wood hull from a friend back in July, I did sand it smooth, then gave it two coats of primer, then added the Haze Gray and the red paints.

[seadude]

I appreciate the advice, Scooterman. Thanks. I am trying to do the best I can on this project and I do want it to do well at a contest and hopefully win an award. But I just made a few mistakes and now I have to learn from them: Re-do the flight deck, and NO rushing this project.
I should probably just ignore what those other modelers said, but it's taking me a bit of time to get over it. You almost had to be there to listen to it.  In the end though, I'm reminded of something that may have been said on this forum or somewhere else. Something to the effect of: "If the only person doing the project is you and you have all the information/research on the project, then you have suddenly become the defacto expert on the project."

I don't see anybody else doing a Habakkuk, so I guess that must make me the expert at the moment. 

[Sauragnmon]

Big E, I'll reiterate one point and put forth my suggestions here, and let the boys comment on them as well:

Flight Deck - do the test I suggested - take a small chunk of scrap styrene, hit it with the blue you used for the flight deck, slap on the dullcoat, when it's set, hit it again.  Once that's all set and squared, put it against the other sections of the deck and see if there is any difference in the colour of the deck coat.  If there is, you might consider stripping the deck, laying the blue, letting it sit overnight to fully be prepped, stripe it, then lay the dullcoat afterwards.

Hull - tell the twits who think you should strip it and coat it with styrene to go milk a bull.  The coating of the hull would have been plywood and masonite, wood texturing is acceptable, anybody speaking otherwise should take the advice of Achmed the Dead Terrorist - "SILENCE!"

Silhouette - Interesting idea as that may be, as you said, you already laid out a lot of work.  By and large, your buddy also missed the fact that there are going to be Aircraft on board that monster when she's said and done, which will more than put that beast in scale, as well as her armaments which will do more to demonstrate the scale.

There's my pennies on the pile, chief.

[GTX]

But I was told instead to completely strip off all the gray and red paint, sand smooth the entire wood hull AGAIN and then repaint everything.

If it was me, that someone would be walking very oddly as they would have something jammed somewhere...as the other guys have said, you do what you want.  Anyway, where is someone's photo of the real thing to prove you wrong!!!

Regards,

Greg

[PR19_Kit]

I don't see anybody else doing a Habakkuk, so I guess that must make me the expert at the moment. 

Exactly! When they have a few Habakkuks under their belt, in various scales of course, then, and only then, are they in a position to criticise. Right now its an AWESOME model and it looks great, all you have to do is finish it off YOUR way. Go for it!

[seadude]

Silhouette - Interesting idea as that may be, as you said, you already laid out a lot of work.  By and large, your buddy also missed the fact that there are going to be Aircraft on board that monster when she's said and done, which will more than put that beast in scale, as well as her armaments which will do more to demonstrate the scale.

If need be, I can remove the pics and text from the base. They're only held on with Scotch tape.
While I would agree that aircraft can do a decent job of showing the scale of the Habakkuk, the other modeler said that to REALLY show the sheer size and scope of this beast, it would be a lot better to put another 1/700 ship next to the Habakkuk. Look at the following and then make a judgement:

[Scooterman]

I don't see anybody else doing a Habakkuk, so I guess that must make me the expert at the moment. 

Fecking A right, bubba!   All others can sit on it.

[proditor]

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and suggest you tell the detractors to take a flying $%^& at a rolling donut.

What you've made is a staggering achievement so far, and it's obviously also been a real labor of love.  Finish it in due time and don't let folks rush you to completion or undermine your confidence.  Hey, we LOVE the 'Kuk here!!!  

[Stargazer]

I don't see anybody else doing a Habakkuk, so I guess that must make me the expert at the moment. 

[Mossie]

Uh oh.  I'm going to play a little bit of Devils Advocate here.  I agree with everyone else here as regards others comments.  Do what you feel is right & treat others advice as just that, you can take it on or disregard it as you please.  Some are just trying to offer their help.  Unfortunately it is in some peoples nature to put good work down in order to make themselves feel superior, the JMN's.

The one thing I would say is that if you want to do well in a competition, you've got to play by the rules of those organising it.  So if they expect the finish of your Hull to be smooth, it'll have to be to compete.  Be prepared that competition judges are really going to pick it to bits, every last blemish, glue spot etc. will be found & exposed to the light of day.  And in most cases you won't be able to talk to them to explain why you've done it a certain way, it's a very faceless.  I'm not criticising the judges approach, they have to select a winner from several participants that will be very hard to pick from, so it may go down to an almost microscopic scratch in the paint.  Us modellers can be a very critical & hard to please bunch & the harshest glare will be found in competition.  I'm not trying to dissuade you from entering, just that you will be expected to tow the line.

[rickshaw]

Do it the way YOU want to do it.  Do not listen to others' nitpicking.  I actually quite liked the idea of how you were going to display it.   Informative and interesting.   As for the wood grain, thats fine as well.   Pity about the flight deck but thats recoverable, I suspect.

[Weaver]

On the subject of the flight deck:

a) I sympathise: the first model I built on here, after a 20 year gap, nearly got screwed up by that bloody blue tape. Never Again: the blue tape is used strictly for cardboard nowadays, and it's Tamiya tape all the way for the moseld.

b) Carrier decks get a lot of abuse and get re-painted in sections as and when neccessary, particularly in wartime. With that in mind, I'd have been inclined to re-define the "damage" as "character" and put lots of other rectangular finish variations on it.


On the subject of the JMNs, well now you know why some folk on here feel so strongly about them. YOU are the one doing all the work, so the question is, does it come up to YOUR standards? Are YOU please or disatisfied with it?

[seadude]

The one thing I would say is that if you want to do well in a competition, you've got to play by the rules of those organising it.  So if they expect the finish of your Hull to be smooth, it'll have to be to compete.  Be prepared that competition judges are really going to pick it to bits, every last blemish, glue spot etc. will be found & exposed to the light of day.  And in most cases you won't be able to talk to them to explain why you've done it a certain way, it's a very faceless.  I'm not criticising the judges approach, they have to select a winner from several participants that will be very hard to pick from, so it may go down to an almost microscopic scratch in the paint.  Us modellers can be a very critical & hard to please bunch & the harshest glare will be found in competition.  I'm not trying to dissuade you from entering, just that you will be expected to tow the line.

Yes, I know all about competition and judging, etc. Even if my Habakkuk is not perfect and does not win an award, I'm not worried and probably don't care. Winning an award is nice, but as I've told friends and other people time and time again, it's not the main reason why I enter contests. I enter to SHOW people something different and unique. I enjoy doing WHIF models with different color schemes, decals, never-were subjects, etc. I get constantly tired of seeing the same old, same old F-16, Fletcher destroyer, etc., etc. at contests. People just don't seem to "get out of the box" more. I'm doing the Habakkuk not just as a WHIF, but also to show a bit of history and to educate people. An award is secondary for me. I'll try to build it as best I can, but I'm not perfect.

[Mossie]

Good on you!