Coming in really well Bill,

Much cleaner, tidier build than mine.

Si

Fantastic project and great build, very crisp work! Following with great interest!

Cheers,

Jan

Thanks Si! Appreciate the comments and continued support.

Jan, glad to have you along for the ride as well, thanks!

I started in on the masts with the foundation of the tripod elements needing attention first. I left off the coaling derrick arm to allow more flexibility in its positioning for later and also to keep it out of the way of trying to install its host leg into position. Trumpeter designed it with a notch near the base that interacts with the boat deck level to install it in the correct position and having the derrick in place would make that much more frustrating than it should be. I airbrushed all three legs after adding in the little platforms to the two front legs and the searchlight platform to the rear leg. All three legs were installed into the super deck and then aligned where they all meet at the top. I left off the little PE support piece, PE33A, for the searchlight platform's underside until after things had set on the three legs to avoid the possibility of it getting knocked loose and lost to the carpet monster.

One detail that I noticed in the Kagero 3D book that was missing were the three triangular braces between the legs, so I used some 0.6mm styrene rod to recreate those. The front brace went in first, followed by the PE ladders for the little elevated platforms, then the rear braces were added. I also added the last two funnel stay lines that connected to the tripod legs to round things out there.



Once all that had set up, I hand painted the braces and added the searchlight and railing to the platform. The derrick came next and I had to decide whether to position it as Trumpeter wanted it or how the Kagero book shows it in the 'stowed' position. The Kagero position would complicate a lot of things including the aft conning tower, the way the signal flag lines would be rigged, and also possibly interfere with the boats...so I decided simpler is best and put it in the Trumpeter designed angle. May not be 100% accurate but it's something I can live with.



I also added in the access ladder, PE48A, for the front funnel that reaches from the super deck to the weather station platform. Had I known how tight that space would get at this stage, I would've installed it sooner but I had overlooked it in the instructions under Step 30.



Next up will be the complex task of working on the crow's nest platform with all of its PE parts and the upper portions of the front masts and cross arms. Since those are going to be replaced with brass rod to take the strain of rigging, I've got to devote some careful study to that and decide how best to tackle.

Great work Bill

very crisp and consistent and setting a cracking pace too

Thanks Russel!

Ahoy Bill

I am loving the regular updates and your clear progress.

I really appreciate your effort thus far considering its only your second ship.

Like your tanks your work is very tidy, accurate & considered.

Well done.

I hope you are enjoying yourself?

Cheers


Sean

Ahoy Sean! Thanks for following along. It's definitely different from the 'usual' fare when dealing with armor but I'm having a blast working on it and figuring out how to get the most out of it in the process. It may seem strange to some but I'm finding the intricate nature of the detail work very rewarding...even if it does mean spending all my time with the Optivisor permanently engaged!

Beautiful work. Learning something every step of the way. Thanks for posting this build.

EJ

Thanks EJ! My pleasure to share the build with the gang here and appreciate the comments!

Hi Bill
Beautiful build all over. Are you planing on adding torpedo nets? If so, what do you intend to use?
Jacob

Thanks Jacob! No plans to add the torpedo nets, it's one of those details that I decided to live without as I couldn't come up with a realistic/practical way to actually show them rolled up and stowed.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day holiday! Efforts today certainly lived up to the 'labor' part at least but I had fun working on the main mast and its components.

I decided to replace the kit-supplied styrene mast-crossarm piece, C3, with brass rod to provide added strength and durability for this critical piece of the superstructure. My LHS stocks several different diameters of brass rod in their R/C aircraft section and I picked out different lengths of varying diameters and brought them home to see which would do the trick since the cross arms are thinner than the mast itself. I used a Dremel cordless tool and a cone-shaped grinder tool to introduce a taper for the mast but left the cross arms as-is given their relative thinness to begin with. Once I had the main mast done, I cut out the three cross arms again using the kit part as a guide for their length, and then marked their center points with a sharpie. Using a triangular needle file, I notched the main mast in the appropriate places so the cross arms would have a solid contact point.

Once all that prep work was done, it was time to solder the cross arms to the mast. I have a Weller variable temp soldering iron and while it was warming up, I used a piece of fiber board and some T-pins to position the mast and cross arms correctly. I used silver-bearing solder paste to place small beads over the join, the soldering iron provided the heat, and voilà! Brass mast and cross arms.





While I was at it, I also created the rear mast and cross arm combo for the aft mast. The third cross arm for the main mast integrates directly with the fire direction platform, so it was secured in place with CA gel separately from the main mast. This also makes life easier when attaching all the PE bits for the underside as the cross arm becomes a convenient 'handle'.



Speaking of PE, the next steps require lots of patience and test fitting with the tripod to make sure the alignment is correct on all the underside supports for the fire direction platform. There are 5 separate parts and the locater marks that Trumpeter provides are a helpful guide but some adjustments are still needed to get the parts to line up correctly and play nice.



If using the styrene masts, Trumpeter has you secure the mast to the platform before adding the rear bracket and rigging extensions. I did the reverse for handling reasons due to the added weight of the brass masts and also to create an added support structure for the mast itself. The rear bracket is made up of 5 different PE parts that all have to come together just so to create the right effect and the Trumpeter instructions aren't super clear on how they all come together. Fortunately the Kagero 3D book includes a very nice look at this area and helped greatly in terms of getting it all lined up properly.



With that done, it was time to pair up the mast and cross arms with the platform. I flattened the rod with a square file so it could have a greater contact surface with the back of the platform and used CA gel to give me a little work time to ensure it was positioned at the right height and alignment with the third cross arm. Once the CA gel had grabbed hold, I used some Aves epoxy putty to stuff the base of the rear clamp structure so it would provide some greater stability and hold for the mast over the long term. A dry-fit test shows everything is lining up properly even though the angle on the camera isn't quite perpendicular.



Not a bad day's work, the second mast should go faster now that I've learned the 'tricks' of the PE from doing the first one.

Hi Bill,
Very nice work with the brass masts, they will be much more effective in handling the rigging than the styrene (As I learned to my cost when I tried to add the caged aeriels to this kit)
Overall, the Dreadnouggt looks very sharp.

cheers

Michael

Thanks Michael! Wow, I can only imagine how much extra weight/tension the caged aerials would represent for the styrene masts. The ones on the sprues in my kit look like they would snap at the lightest pressure, especially those top arms where the aerials attach!

Hi Bill,

The Scratchbuilt main topmast looks really superb, I was lucky with mine, all the turned Brass for the masts came from the Pontos set.

Si

Thanks Si! That is one of the main advantages that the Pontos set offers over all the other AM sets out there for sure. I've had this particular brass rod stock sitting around in my odds-and-ends bin for ages and I think I paid something like $5 for all the different sizes/lengths a few years back when I first got it. It finally got put to a good use!

Ahoy Bill

Nice refined work with the brass masts.

Isn't it nice when those items you knew would come in useful one day do in fact get used!


Cheers


Sean

Thanks Sean! I learned a long time ago never to throw anything out...you never know when it might come in handy! Those brass rods were originally bought with the intent of using them to try to create workable hinges (that experiment didn't work out as intended) on a German tank build so I hung onto them regardless. Their ticket finally got punched!

More progress to report, this time in relation to the smaller aft mast and platform. After looking at all the parts involved, I decided to build up the platform and tripod first and allow that to set up nice and solid before adding the fire direction/control station and all the little PE that form up the mast brace and rigging points. A little bit of putty and sanding work was necessary where the two angled legs of the tripod join up together but otherwise everything assembled as designed. The Eduard set provided the railing for the searchlight platform. Then I attached the fire direction station box to the top of the tripod and let that set up. Unlike the main mast, this one goes a lot smoother this way in terms of getting all the PE parts to align properly vs. trying to puzzle piece them together separately. Once the station was firm, I used CA gel to add the mast after filing it's contact surface flat for better gluing. Last but not least, the PE stuff was added to build up the mast brace and rigging 'starfish' points. Just like with the main mast, some Aves epoxy putty was used to strengthen the connection between the mast and the clamp PE parts and will get the chance to setup hard overnight before it gets painted along with the main mast.

More progress on the masts front to follow-up from yesterday. First order of business was adding in the tall posts, parts D7, that Trumpeter has you add in Step 43. These need to go in before the rigging though so I added them now especially as they interact with two of the 'starfish' points. Roof for the platform was also added so it could be painted as a single unit for easier handling.



The main mast got some final details as well in the form of the Eduard set. These rigging lines would be pretty tough to add using just the EZ Line given their curved shape and interaction with the other signal flag lines to be added. Since these are PE, I added them now so that the CA would have a metal-to-metal attachment point. Roof of the fire direction platform was also assembled



Out came the airbrush again and, with the help of some locking tweezers, both sets of masts were painted.



While hard to spot in the following pic, I used some MM non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal to detail the curved rigging lines. Then the main mast was installed permanently atop the tripod and the roof added. I had to lightly sand the back edge of the roof so it would sit at the proper height/angle in relation to the mast as a minor adjustment.



The rear mast element received its pair of search lights and was also permanently installed. I used regular glue for the base of the platform elements and some gap-filling CA for the tripod legs that install into the deck.



All of that will get the chance to set up nice and solid overnight before I start adding the rigging. Due to the tight spaces involved, some decisions will have to be made on just which lines to add or leave out as I don't think there's quite enough room, particularly with the rear mast, to add all the lines that the Kagero 3D book and blueprints show as being used but I'll do my best under the circumstances.

Spent a great deal of time working on the rigging today and was really impressed with the EZ Line, it truly lives up to its name in this particular application! After some careful study of the Kagero 3D close-ups and the rigging diagrams in the scale blueprints, I started in on the fore mast first. All of the interior rigging and bracing lines were done first and I generally worked my way from bottom to top one side at a time so I could get things as close to symmetrical as possible.



Then the real fun began in terms of running the signal flag lines. I decided to run them as single lines only instead of doubling them up as the space is pretty crowded even with the single only. The connection points I had installed earlier proved very handy still as it made life a lot easier for attaching the bases of the lines and avoiding any tangling in the process. For these I started with the lowest cross arm first and worked from the innermost out to the ends, one side at a time, until I had the 6 lines done. Rinse and repeat for the 2nd cross arm.



For the rear mast, the space tolerances are smaller but I followed basically the same pattern as on the main mast. I was able to get all the lines in place around the 'starfish' with a little patience and care. The rigging is now about 95% complete. While I won't be trying to recreate the cage-style aerials, I will run single representative aerial lines between the two masts and to the jack staff once it's installed but I'm deliberately holding off on doing that until I get the rest of the hull details done to avoid any snagging/complications in that process.





Rounding out the day's activity, I added the railing and optical range finder to the spotting platform and then installed it in place on the boat deck. The Trumpeter railing set included a piece that was just perfect as-is for my needs but these railings are more flimsy than the Eduard railings and will deform at the slightest opportunity, so shaping it into the correct oval shape was an exercise in patience for sure. Last but not least the remaining four coal derricks were painted and installed. For some reason, Trumpeter left out of the kit the horizontal derrick arms that should be at the front...I think they planned to include them since they had notches in the legs of the tripod where they should connect to...but no parts provided on any of the sprues in the kit. I had filled those notches earlier after trying to figure out why they were there...and now that little mystery is solved I think.



Next up will be the repetitive joy of installing 50+ PE coal scuttle covers on the deck and starting to add in more of the remaining details there now that the rigging is largely out of the way.

Very impressive. I bought some e-z line to run rigging and antenna wired on a 1/700 ESSEX. Been trying to figure out how to get that little sag in them between the towers on the deck edge cage antenna supports. Your rigging sure looks superb!

EJ

Thanks EJ! This is my first time working with EZ line or rigging a ship so can't offer any advice on trying to introduce sag other than to just let some natural slack occur in the line itself between the attachment points. Doing rigging in 1/700 scale I'm sure is a bigger challenge vs. 1/350. Hat's off to you there my friend!

Today's update focuses on one of those less-glamorous aspects...dealing with lots of tiny parts in a repetitive process, but one that does add some nice detail to the deck when complete. Due to the Dreadnought's compartmentalized design for vertical access to areas of the ship vs. the usual horizontal water-tight door type of access, there are a ton of coaling scuttle points scattered all over the ship. 56 in total on the main deck plus another 4 on the super deck. Fortunately, the Wood Hunter set includes a nice PE fret with 60 of these designed specifically to fit the openings provided in the wood deck. A while back in one of my previous airbrushing sessions I took advantage of having the AB loaded up and applied some of the hull gray so it could sit and cure for a nice long while before I got around to installing them.



Working one at a time, I used Gator Grip glue applied with a toothpick point into the openings and a 2nd toothpick (important not to mix them up!) moistened with spit to pick up and place the cover in position. Careful pressure with the point of a toothpick pressed it into place. Rinse and repeat 56 times and you have all the ports in place after a couple of hours, 28 on either side of the deck.



Still more work to come in the detail department as I work on all the little odds and ends.

That's all for now, have to get ready to watch the Niners-Cowboys football game to kick off the 2014 season here in a bit.