IBG HMS Middleton

My first ship in really quite a while.

The kit goes together nicely but it's my first experience with 1/700 scale etched brass, and some parts were very fiddly. It's painted with a mix of AK Medium Sea Grey and 1938 RLM Grey, for the G20, and Vallejo 990 Light Grey and white for the G45

I made the sea base following the process in the book by David Griffiths, Ship Models From Kits. I started off with an Ikea photo frame. Then I put a layer of thin smears of modelling paste, also building up the bow wave. I followed that with another layer of modelling paste, including the wake. The sea is a mixture of AK RLM83 Blue and Vallejo Prussian Blue, with the sea near the ship being watered down RLM83 and Vallejo Panzer Aces Periscope. The latter was very watered down so the white of the modelling paste showed through. Next came a thin layer of gel medium, flicked up with a brush to make ripples. The final touches were Vallejo white paint, some a little watered down and some very watered down, to give the appearance of foam.

The final step was rigging the ship with fly tying thread. I found that difficult because the mast flexed, so it was difficult making it tight enough.