Very short and quick update this month due to work/family issues as well as emergency repairs on my shipyard (basement) due to a leaky water tank. My apologies for the short update!


Center super-structure and masts. Had to be careful in the alignment of all parts; still missing couple radars and one mast. I used a small brush to dab some Tenax on the joints, to simulate ‘welds” on the mast,






Bow masts – sink holes repair and seam repair using tamiya primer. Some radars and sensors glued in place






Mk26 Standard missile launchers – all parts trimmed, launcher had sink holes that have been filled. Nothing glued yet, will paint the missiles first (white, since the missiles are the live ones and not the usual blue-training oens).



The Mk 141 harpoon launchers – I learned from the previous subassembly and trimmed all parts while still attached to the sprue : ) Good candidate for AM if you are building this ship; both halved don’t “meet”, with a significant overlap of plastic that had to be trimmed and shaved off. Not painted yet.



And that is it! My apologies again for the short post and absence from the board lately. Here you have a couple bonus pictures:

My new TANKLESS water heater installed… I have some black mold growing on the bottom part of the plaster wall, in the process of treating with bleach.



My shipyard and workbench, under a tarp on the right, tarp pulled up to take pics of my progress this month. Rest of basement sealed off during repairs…



Hope to re-open my mancave, er, workshop in a couple weeks

Cheers

Oh, my!
...this looks cosy!
Good luck with that "modeling side show"!
Cheers,
Guido

James hope your repairs all go smoothly.

Yes, fewer tanks and more ships.

Nice progress, James, and three months to complete - will he do it? This is a good one to watch guys as the final stages come into focus.

Keeeeeeeeeeep modelling!

Peter F

Ok, time for March update! The best part of the update is the fact that the basement aka workbench is back in business!

We also had some good weather days finally, so I rushed ahead to get some painting done, since my paint booth is in an unattached garage. Anti-fouling red was the order of business, using MM engine red (enamel), Paashe H AB and my meager and novice AB skills.



7 coats of paint! Of course, then figured out three errors and issues:

(1)Forgot to mask the sonar dome, which is painted black… should not be an issue.



(2)The propeller shafts…. Painted red… as per instructions… BUT… I don’t think that is accurate? Not according to my landlubber knowledge and the box art! Here is the shafts as they are now:



So… do I paint them as per instructions (red?) or paint them properly as “shafts”??

(3)You may remember the seam work I did, and using silver enamel paint to look for seam errors? I did not re-prime before AB the red… and I was not able to cover the old paint with the red AB… it is more noticeable close to the model.






I am at a loss as to how to proceed… besides re-priming any fixing I do from now on! I will try more passes of red AB, see if that works.


I will see if I can take more pics of the rest of the work I have been doing; lots of small subassemblies for the superstructures. My dearest daughter took the dig cam and I HOPE I can get it back and uploaded before deadline tonight!

In the meantime, you can take a look at the NEW and IMPROVED workbench…. And tankless water heater



The “bench” is the old kitchen counter from a renovation… rest are odds and ends and old Ikea furniture : ) The “Hollywood” GB Nimitz on the left slipways, the MSW Community USS Kidd on the right…. I need some more light (saving for an Ott light/lamp). Anyways, I hope I am able to post more pics later tonight, if not, prepare for one massive April update!

cheers

Hi James,

Did the red paint not adhere to the silver, or is it a coverage issue? Rather than re-priming, maybe a little roughening up with some very fine sandpaper in the affected areas and then repainting would work. The rest of the hull looks great. Nice looking bench - didn't take you too long to fill it up, eh?

Off topic question - are you happy with the tankless HWH? We're building a house and the builder and architect disagree about whether to use one. Builder says yes, architect says technology not yet mature enough for our application (need a whole house unit and, because it is one-story, there is a long run (90') from proposed location of the HWH to the places where hot water would be used. Did you do a lot of research before choosing one?

Thanks, Barry

Looking good, James! The hull is looking nice and smooth. Worse case scenario, even if you decide to re-prime, you can likely just do it in small areas and "fade" the overall red to blend it. Great work all around!

Session 10 Closed!

The april update is very short due to some serious work/family issues this month... The work was done over a couple hours early in the month, have not been able to do much or participate in the forums



basically, some sensors have been trimmed/sanded; several had sink holes that required Mr Surfacer, some are ready to receive the same treatment. Couple small parts (more electronic sensors), were glued to the main superstructure, bt most will get paint before gluing in place, followed my touch ups. The parts are just too small and in some cases too close together to paint in situ (at least on my newbie hands!). And this way I can AB instead of hand brush

anyways... sorry for the meager output..prepare for a massive may update!

Cheers.

PS Barry - Ill get to your question properly at a later time..in short.. works great if you have a small house/apt... will get you more details later.

Session 11 closed.

James keep it going not long left you gotta finnish this one looking forward to the finnish

James, as someone who has put out plenty of tiny updates, I feel your pain. But no worries, looking forward to what happens here in the homestretch.

Thanks... yes, I also goofed and thought I had ONE more month to go instead of only 4 weeks! yikes!

Good news is that semester is over, only one more round of finals to grade before taking some time off... my health is doing better so I can attack the build almost full time starting next week...

This is a lesson in how real life takes centre stage, and the hobby is only just a hobby, however, go for completion otherwise it's going to be lonely after so many starters, and, your build is a WINNER!

Cheers,

Peter F

Hi James. Take advantage of the academic calendar! Get those finals graded, take a deep breath, and finish the model. All the sub-assemblies look great; it will be a treat to see them put together.

Off topic: We decided to go ahead with a tankless HWH for our new weekend house. We got one with an integral recirculating system which I hope will help with the long pipe run. Made more sense to me than heating a lot of water when we weren't going to be there.

Barry

James, I served aboard KIDD from 12/84 to 07/89. A GSE (Gas Turbine Systems Technician - Electrical) in the forward engine room (Main 1) and as Lee Helm (throttes) during Restricted Maneuvers/General Quarters. I didn't take many pictures of her, but I'll try to find some and upload them for your use. But the Navy's official photo(s) should serve as a great source to start with.

You're doing a great job, btw. I just received my USS KIDD kit today and hoped to start a build in the near future, but I'm going to wait to see how your build ends. You and the others have a great blog/post going and am learning a lot from your experience. I'm looking forward to the rest of the updates. Good Luck!!!

Neil

First, welcome to ModelShipwrights!


we have a shipmate, JimAdams (Goldenpony) who served in the Scott; he also has a build blog in the site, including some great AM parts. My build is OOB, but I have tried to document all the potential pitfalls; and with me, there were plenty!

Cheers, look forward to yoru build!

May update! Last official update…. Unfortunately, still dealing with economic/health issues so the update is not complete: I had to make a decision 2 weeks ago, when I realized time was going to run out. Do I cut corners to complete the ship, or do I continue to build in a more careful way and pay attention to quality? I decided on the latter, after so many months of struggling with seams etc, seemed (pun intended) that I should strive for a quality end product. So, I will have another update after the official ending, with the finalized product, in the meantime, I will post what I have done so far!

The first decision was: paint! How? I decided to try a technique described in Ashley’s books: airbrush at right angles, both haze grey and deck grey. The idea is if you do it correctly and precisely, you don’t need to mask as much of the other surfaces.

First, color choices ! the instructions have color codes for Model Master colors, which is what I use (enamels). I wrote this information, but forgot where I got it from….

Haze grey = vertical surfaces, use Model Masters 1725, neutral gray
Deck Grey = water decks, use MM 1723, Gunship grey

I’m not too convinced of that scheme, seems a tad too dark… anyways, onwards!



Parts ready for deck grey…. No masking!

The main water deck… again, looks a tad dark to my eyes? I want to add more color/texture to the helo pad, maybe add some oil stains type of weathering, make it resemble a flight deck?



I tilt over the deck, you can see very little if any spray over… of course, when I do the haze grey I will mask SOME or I will end up with a ton of touch ups! I may try one side with and one without masking, see if it works…




You may remember this repair job on the weather deck:


The whole surface was also much scratched from all my manipulations, sanding, etc. I gave it some good sanding & buffing So, how did it come out after painting?



One blemish is still noticeable, oh well… couple minor ones you can see if you look close enough… but most of the blemishes are gone… I give myself a B- on this job, “ok” but can do better in the future!

For the smaller subassemblies, the AB technique works also, but I got some splatter on the vertical surfaces:



Hopefully, some day Ill be better at airbrushing and narrow down my ‘paint cone” so I can do a better/faster paint job.


I have also worked on the masts & sensors assemblies and construction, but do not have the camera with me at the moment. I am now filling in some sinkholes (after tempted to leave them as is) and setting out the parts for round 2 of paint (deck grey). Also assembling the life rafts, that get “light grey), and masking the mast sections that will be painted flat black.

The whole will then be assembled, touched up and prep for decals & weathering.

I will try and post more pics later today, before the deadline… rest assure that this baby will be finished and posted!

Cheers all!

Great work, James! I too have faced the deadline/ fast (poor) finish or past deadline/ careful (good finish) conundrum. I've always made the same decision as you. Looking forward to her when she's done!

MSW Community Build Contest Closed!!!!!

Thank you to all who took part!

James will look forward to the finnished articale sorry you could not make the deadline but I,am sure you will get a first from me for your great efforts All the best mate.

James, I can consult with a Bos'n Mate friend of mine if you like - we were both on DDG-993 from '84 to '89 - but I do remember that THERE WAS A RED WATERLINE on the Captain's boat. I may have pictures in my collection to assist - if I can find them after all these years! It was maybe the width of a 4-inch brush, but it was certainly there. Maybe use a single strand of brush for that painting detail???



As for the deck and bulkhead color scheme:
- Haze gray was certainly for the bulkheads
- The decks were covered in a anti-skid material that was actually painted black! The areas of the deck that didn't have the anti-skid were the same color as the bulkheads. Ditto for the railings, capstans, and other deck components, etc.
- The markings on the helo pad, which also had the black painted anti-skid, were white. Lighting installed in the deck itself were red.

I'll add more as my memory permits. Wow! I can remember details from 20+ years ago, but don't ask me what I did, or ate, yesterday!!!

Yep - still working on it! will post some more pics in here later this week !

Neil - thanks for the info mate! My own 14 year navy career has been reserves and landlubber active, so NYC Fleet Week is as close as I get to ships!

The Dragon Kidd kit, the color instructions are wrong in various places, including the Captain's boat: instructions has it with a RED hull and BLACK waterline... I corrected that some months ago (phew, MONTHS ago??) but still have to add the red waterline.. I was going to use a ruler and a red sharpie to make the waterline instead of paint... but I am a newbie, so not sure how well it will work, will post pics of course when done!

Plenty of Group Builds starting in the summer, take a recon and jump into one of them!

Again, thanks for all yoru help and info! cheers