Great work Jan!

The effort on the big guns really paid. Repulse is looking closer to being ready for action every day.

cheers

Michael

yep, really coming along nicely Jan

Hi all,

thank you very much for your comments and encouragement!!

Yes, she's coming along nicely and I do enjoy looking at her however, so much left to do, and as always some of the less enjoyable parts been set aside until the end...

However, with this build I made at least partially a different approach by building many small parts early on (all boats, all the small weapons...). Right now it's the ships cranes, the bridge/compass platform really looks challenging - especially since I read in a different, old build log that there are many corrections to be done. And somehow always my least favorite things - masts and rigging. I should probably go for brass turned masts, they don't bend that easy....well, I don't have any for Repulse, so the kit's parts modified with etch will do. It will be slower from now on, no commissioning in 2014...

Thanks all for looking and following, one update before christmas, maybe with luck two...let's see...

Jan

All right, x-mas is taking over and minimizing my time at the yard, so I decided to give my personnel an early leave after the last work session yesterday. So this will be the last update for 2014. But now worries, 2015 should be better from the modeling opportunities than 2014, and I am already thinking about the next build...

But first good ship REPULSE needs to be finished, some work to be done here still.

So, the cranes: nice parts by WEM and a little plastic card.









Both get the dark 507 a paint:



Some more ladders and railings to the higher decks:
- ups, who put all the dust there just amazing what a macro lens pics up...
















...and the cranes installed. I hope I'm not regretting this...
Small modification, I ran my first trials with EZ-line for rigging the cranes. Promising so far, but it looks like they would nee a little weight to get some tension. Will see in 2015 what I can do about it:









And with that, fellow shipwrights, I say goodbye for 2014, wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year, thanks for looking, and in 2015 I hope to get some progress up here fairly early on. Well, not in the first week , but still soon enough .

Cheers,

Jan

Hi Jan!

This is sure turning out to be a great build, exceptionally clean and detailed! I look forward to seeing more updates and progress in 2015!

I know the feeling with Christmas and the New Year's period being so busy-so much food and wine to consume leaves very little time at the dockyard-it's hard to motivate my workers as well, and they've all been sent home on leave, with the exception of one or two painters

The ladders, railings and cranes all look amazing! :-) Those macro lenses sure do show up a lot of detail a magnifier head set does not. Curse that "Evil Dust"

Your EZ line work looks great so far too. If I could offer a tip though, it does need a little tension to look its best. I find that if I trim the EZ line a little shorter than the final length it will need to be rigged at and then dab a little accelerator onto the object I'm going to attach the EZ line to, I can then apply CA to the EZ line and stretch the EZ line to the attachment point and it adheres almost immediately under tension. If I am applying the EZ line to a 'flat' surface I will use a #75 drill and put a small hole in the surface to insert the EZ line into prior to attaching it. Not that I'm trying to tell you how to run your dockyard though.

In the meantime I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hopefully Santa is good to you and brings many possibilities for your next build

Cheers, Russ

Hi Russ,

thank you very much for your kind comment and no worries, you are not telling me how to run my shipyard - the opposite is the truth, I am very grateful for any tip or advise!! And that is in particular true for matters that are new to me like the EZ line. Your tips should be very helpful when it comes to rigging.
With the cranes, however, I kind of outsmarted myself - they are not fix, and are hanging on the lines. I was hoping their weight would suffice to straighten the EZ lines, but they are to light and the lines are to strong. Now, I could either bend them down as to just straighten the lines and then glue them in place, or I could attache some weight - maybe have them lift a plane, or at least attache another line from the hooks to a plane glued on the catapult, or...I am still considering options. If you can follow along the lines I am thinking and have any ideas, please let me know!!

But that will be dealt with only after all the wine has been drunk and the good food has been eaten ... A very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you and your family, too!! (and I am hoping for the new Pontos 1/350 Bismarck set, even though this will not be my next build...or let's hope Trumpy makes up their mind and releases a 1/350 NELSON!! Could not agree more with you on that topic!!)

Jan

Nice work Jan,

The cranes look good, always better rigged.

Hope you have a great Christmas and new year, might get some building done over the holiday period, but who knows.

Si

Jan, phenominal looking work. Cant wait to see what your dock workers accomplish in the new year.

On a side note, I just received my master Models 20mm Machine Guns and I have a new profound respect for yours and Si's ability to work with those items...I bow in homage to your skills.

Great work and A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Dave

Couldn't agree more Jan there's much wine and merriment and good food to be had and the dockyard needs a steady set of hands

With the cranes, I'll leave it up to you mate. Maybe try a combination of the options?

Let's hope Trumpy comes to their senses hey, and releases a 1/350 Nelson It would make for a nice pressy next year.

That Pontos Bismarck set, sure sounds like a mighty fine gift from St Nich! Enjoy my friend!

Russ

All right - first, even though a little late, let me wish a happy new year and all the best for 2015 to all of you!!!

I'd granted my workers an extended Christmas leave, and they decided not to return to work before this weekend, what shall you do?!?

I've been watching the progress all along on most of the builds and I am amazed how busy you all were over the holidays - great progress all along

But then - my shipwrights eventually retuned and here is what they accomplished:

It's all about the bridge/pilot house/compass platform, a rather small area but quite some corrections and creativity necessary since apparently parts of the lower after parts of the bridge are not correct, at least according to plans that I can access and an older build log from a different site that I sometimes use as a helping guideline.

So here's the starting point, a part of the lower bridge, partly assembled and with a first color coat. No worries, that's by no means the final paint!



Here are extensions required, below and above:





Some brass added for effect - no proof of that but sure looks better than plain walls...



The underside of the next higher level, some molded parts had to go to make room for the extension to the lower deck. Well, some bad ejector markings, but I guess they will be well hidden when installed...



One more deck up, the compass platform (roof). Here, open windows are provided by WEM, so the molded parts have to go. I decided to open the back of it, too, since one plan showed steps leading in on both sides. As in an earlier thread, I believe that the compass platform is a quite open and exposed area. So I try to get this appearance and put some equipment in as well.



Quick impression of the development:





Now these will be inside - anybody can tell that they are German equipment? I don't think that anybody will be able to spot the difference... These are Veteran Models Observation Equipment for DKM, but they'll do...



Here's the lower part of the compass platform, since it's not designed to be built open, a new deck has to be installed.



And this would serve as the deck inside:



The WEM windows installed, I will leave them open.





The parts 'as is' provisionally installed, that's where I'm at. For the way ahead I think I will paint each deck/subassembly individually, then install other small equipment, maybe even the railings, then glue everything together. At that point the nasty gap at the front has to be dealt with, but that should be possible without damaging the stuff in the back - I hope... - and finally the inclined ladders etc. will be installed. Not quite sure about the best timing for the railings, though...



Just a few more impressions:













So much for today, next update should be due next weekend.

Thanks for looking in!!

Jan

Great work Jan,

I don't think anybody will notice the German kit, good solution to add missing detail. Good way of doing a bit of what I call "creative gizmology".

Si

Thank you, Si!

Creative gizmology, that's nice, I like that!

I'm quite exited to see that you are doing another WEM DD on the campaign, very nice, looking forward to your build! And great job on the DoY by the way!

Jan

Happy new year Jan!!!

You've made a fantastic start to the year!!

Good to see the dockyard up & running again

Russ

And to you, Russ!!

Great to see you are back on the King, as well, and I am quite excited to see your promised update

Thank you very much for your kind comment!!

Cheers,
Jan

Just a very quick update on yesterday evening's progress, some small stuff (including three inclined ladders from WEM, of which each had a pair of the steps still connected - managed to get them apart with an engraving tool, smallest bit I have for my Proxxon drill. Knife was out of question since the ladders were already bended into shape...) and first color coat on parts of the bridge structure. This will all receive a final paint later, but getting some color on now showed areas that still require some work and allows spraying areas that will not be accessible later on. And it does not hurt.

Should get some more done today and another update today or tomorrow





Jan

Well, OF COURSE I did not manage to get the update done yesterday...but here it is, with only slight delay

Small stuff...doo-dads as you call them over at the Battleship-Campaign. And quite a few. Don't look like much work, but they are and the grand final of HMS REPULSE apparently becomes pretty doo-dads intense so this is not going to be a quick, bright final but rather a slow and prolonged one... I hope you are ready to bear with me here for another couple of weeks...let's call ist spring

Okay, doo-dads one:



and two:



WEM and Eduard give me the unique chance to pick which platforms on the foremast are more apropriate no decision yet...



The windows and walls for the spotting top



They have the exact same hight as the combined walls/windows of the kit's part,



so while it is sufficient to cut the walls from the upper part, the PE has to be wrapped around the lower part. This requires grinding down on the sides to account for the PE's material strength. Well, one may discuss whether the slight increase in the spotting top's side would be visible, but: just wrapping it around leaves a nasty gap at the joint. So, grinding down all four sides a fraction of a mm, but done through trial and error...

All parts cleaned and ready



The new walls of the spotting top, some interior to follow





and finally the spotting to, not glued yet, of course:



So much for now! Real life ist taking over again, but I do hope to get something accomplished not too far in the future

As always, thanks for looking,

Cheers,

Jan

Hi Jan,

Great update, the etched opened up control top is going add some real depth.

Si

Hi Jan,
Its looking great!

I like your list of to do doo-dads. They always take longer than you expect, but you've made a great start with the spotting top.

cheers
Michael

Thanks Michael and Si,

much appreciated!!

Yes, it's becoming a little tedious now - somehow I thought I could progress faster - but then again, it's about building and not so much about progress, well, should be...just keep telling it to yourself, and eventually you believe it

Very nice work on your camo, Si, great how you match blending superstructure and hull - remembers me of my PoW, caused my quite some bad language in times

Jan

First class, Jan

keep chipping away at those doo-dads and soon they'll all slot into place. (I find it's the doo-dads that brings a ship to life )

Soon enough you'll be at the finish line and looking for your next build.

Russ

Jan I just caught up on this build from the beginning. Your work is great and your solutions to complex build/fit/PE/paint problems are very interestןמע. I have learned much and look forward to seeing more.

Bryan

Catching up here myself Jan...top shelf work my friend!!

Thank you Russ! I couldn't agree more, the little things bring a model to life! Right now loosing a little pace, but not about the 'doo-dads' but because of the stupid thing called real life, even worse: work. The thing that basically feeds you and allows you to buy new models


Bryan and Todd,

great to have you on board!! -and thanks for watching! Both of your projects are superb builds that I am following with great interest!

Cheers,

Jan

You're most welcome, Jan

I know what you mean about work, mate-it's a double edged sword for sure: it funds our hobby but takes our time

Russ

How did I miss this build? Oh that's right I was offline for the whole time since you started!

Hi Jan.

I have this kit in the stash as well but i have the Lionroar kit for the upgrade, plus some railings as Lionroar only supply generic ones which I have found never seem to work properly.

Model is looking great! It always seems that the last few percent of the build takes about 80 percent of the time to complete.

Will be watching from now on!

Cheers
Warren