Good evening, gentlemen!
It's now 2230h where I sit. Having the wife on a business trip and a 4-and-a-half-year-old in da house, I am not so sure, if I'll be able to find the time to post this tomorrow, so please take my word for it: I will not start building before some time tomorrow night, when my CIC will be back and son will have hit the pillow! - and maybe not even then...
This first shot shows you the over view of the parts of the kit and the PE.
I'll be using the available 1/400 German Navy sets of WEM, GMM and Toms. All of them are made to equip the Heller line of kits with the Pocket Battle Ships, Scharnhorst and Geisenau, and the Hipper Class.
In the middle, you can make out a supermarket bill with today’s date on top (see inset).
The following pics show a bit of the stuff more closely up.
The kit is beautifully cast. I can't comment on accuracy, but this is - on first sight- pretty amazing stuff. Next to the heavy price tag, there is no obvious reason not to fall for this kit. I wonder, whether or not this good impression will hold out during the next 12 months.
Next to the workbench I have amassed printed references about the K-Class and their improved sisters - one of which is Leipzig. I will introduce the books to you on occasion.
I really hope to be adding to your entertainment with this blog, but I have to ask your understanding that - due to job reasons - I may not be able to immediately reply to your postings. Thank you!
(...Sometime I find myself in the position of spending more time to be "about modelling" than doing the actual thing. Bad medicine!...)
Now, Best of luck to all participants!...

... and "go"!

hello Guido,
looks like a great build,interesting subject.
cheers,
Bruce

Hi Guido,

First of all, Welcome aboard! The Leipzig looks fantastic and challenging all at the same time. Will you be building her full hull or waterline?,.. as you seem to have the option. With resin models, there usually is a shrinkage difference with larger parts, how does the lower hull mate with the upper hull?

I'm really looking forward to this build and we here hope you enjoy the experience!

Frank

I'd like to see this in 350 as I like the subject I'll follow this thread. As I have the ISW 350 Scharnhorst in resin.

Looks like a nice kit Guido, plenty of parts there to keep you busy!

Mike

Hallo Guido, I am impressed by the cleanness of your work bench! And then this model you will be building looks quite err, photoetchy.
I will also follow your build, hoping that you will do one of those seas you build so well around the boat too
JB

My god that’s a lot of brass.
You are a far braver man then I am.

Can’t wait to watch this one come together.

Bust of luck.

Fantastic looking kit, Guido, looking forward to seeing her grow!
Cheers,
~Gunny

Guido is German, and also a part of the "German Gambler's" which also have neat presentation
(sorry Guido, I couldn't help my self!!!)

Now, for real - a very interesting subject and a model that will reveal difficult (probably?), not from the amount of PE, but from the maker (from a friends previous HP experience).

Rui

Gentlemen!

Thank you very much for your warm welcome! I certainly hope to be able to fulfill your expectations.
In reply to your questions:

The kit has a full hull option. On dry fitting, it looks like a pretty good fit, with some necessity to fill and smooth over, but it shouldn't be too tough altogether.
I will display the ship on a water base, but I have not decided, if I will use the lower hull. That should be necessary, if I decide on a "heavy sea" display, Jean-Bernard refers to.

Certainly the owner of HP-Models has made a gargantuan mistake issuing the kit in 1/400. I think Poland and France are the last markets to use this scale. I am certain that Mr. Poepke could have sold tons of his is K-Class and "Kreuzer E" line, if he had chosen to talk to talk to his customers before issuing the line. I am certain such a survey would have clearly shown an overall preference for 1/350.

Sure there's a whole lot of PE to be seen, but I will certainly use only a little of each set. The HP kit does not provide any PE (as usual), so getting the necessary parts is quite difficult. Even having 3 WEM sets, 1 GMM and 1 from Toms + a bag of door, hatches and reels does not provide all the necessary parts. For example, I will have to scratch-build a lattice crane, if I decide an on a post-1939-configuration.
I will introduce you to the individual sets as I go along with the build.

Cleanliness: Ah well, ... a love-and-hate-theme!
I certainly like to think that a clean working environment is helpful creating a good build, but well known modeller Jim Baumann from UK is the living prove that is not quite necessary after all. Anyway, I have to share my hobby rooms with my sons drum set and my wife office, so I should contain the mess I am making to the immediate surroundings of the workbench. I actually do clean up the workbench thoroughly after every project, before representative photo shootings (such as the above) and visits of modelling friends.
As well, I am allowing myself to a brand new cutting mat every year.

Below you'll see the "neat" presentation of my Club Skipper is talking about! (just in case you hadn't seen it yet!)

Hallo Guido,

Das hat nichts zu tun mit dem Subjekt von dem Sie schreiben.
Aber, was fuer ein Schiff ist das welches hinter dem Leipziger Schachteldeckel im ersten bild sitzt.

Hi Guido!

I'm really looking forward to this build and I wish you luck! I am also happy to see in the club picture one of my favorites, the USS Long Beach!

Cheers!

For the non-German-speakers: Harry is asking, what ship is shown on the first picture right above the Leipzig box top.

Hi Harry,

This is the armed transport HMT Empire Pibroch, 1943 (after the war Urmston Grange). I am using the generic HP 1/700 Armed Freighter Empire. You'll see it finihsed over at MW in the "Calling all shipfans" section under the "armed merchantmen". It'll take another 5-6 weeks to finish it, I think.
Looking forward to your next release (make sure Burkhard gets forts deliveries! )

Hi Dade!
This incredible Long Beach is made by Mr. Frank Ilse (callsign "Grandpa").
He says it's been a pain in the behind, but the result is quite impressive!
You can see more of it here:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cg/cgn-09/350-fi/fi-index.html

but ithese pictures doesn't do the build any justice IMHO.

Hey, I saw you guys in Lübeck ..... I have a couple of nice pictures from the event ... perhaps I should upload them to the site!

Probably a good idea, Niels!

Wow, thanks for the picture link. Very nice! I would love to build the Long Beach in 1/350, but have heard from others too that it's a cranky kit. I think I will stick to the JAG 1/700 model.

I need to figure out, how to make a gallery with the pics here at Kitmaker Netwoek ... Until then, you can see the pics here: http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/KrokoHunter/Modelbauausstellung%20Lubeck%202008/?start=0 There are a couple of Subs + Yamato on page 2.

This would be me and my little shop on location

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/KrokoHunter/Modelbauausstellung%20Lubeck%202008/29.jpg

Looks good, Guido. I will be interesting to see you get started on this build. Especially for relative newcomers to the keel laying business as myself.

Looking forward to see more

Hello!
Thanks for the link, Niels! Nice shots you got there!
I think we have talked at the show ,too, when I picked up some of that Japanese super slim masking tape from your table!

I should be getting started with the build this weekend: The wife will be out of the house on another business trip, so the evenings will be mine as soon as the youngster is in bed.
However, with this project I will not start with the hull and structure, but with all the tiny bits and pieces that go on top. I guess I'll be starting with the ships boats and main artillery.
The reason for this is that I am obliged to finish a couple (or more) things for a another group build that has a deadline. Anyway, the tiny parts will reveal the quality of the kit mostly and I'll be able to introduce you to some of my reference.

Good evening, gentlemen!
It's been a while and unfortunately I haven’t been so quiet, because of all the time I've been spending at the bench. No, but I indeed moved a couple of pieces around.
Along with some literature research I started fondling the parts and tried to get an understanding for the vessel and the kit's parts and what they are supposed to represent.
Unfortunately the kits instruction provides a fully unsatisfactory base of information.
As well I am not certain, if the box-top information "1939" is valid for this layout configuration. I guess, I spend some 20 hours reading for the past month, not too much text because a lot is in Polish, but excellent photos.




Anyway, activism does not make up for bench time so I started the inevitable: Clean up!
Almost all parts of the kit are on wafers and have a lot of over pour. Fortunately the over pour is mostly less thick than human hair so damaging the parts is not permanently imminent, but one should care none the less.



The wafers take a lot of cutting to remove.



Some detail is quite excellent, but still will have to go! Cast cable reels, nicely done, but still only here to be removed.



Cast insignia? What the heck?! .... (more to remove and smooth over withour destroying adjacent detail)




Now, maybe about 40% of the kit's bits and pieces are cleaned up. For some part I have started to fill up holes and bubbles, which are VERY FEW. The casting is excellent no doubt, but the kit aims at modellers NOT using PE. Otherwise I can not explain the Aztec stairs and cast-on detail designated to be replaced by PE. Anyway, I will work over the parts as we go along: until now it is only about getting cleaned-up and getting acquainted.



To escape the doldrums of cleaning I started to take a closer look at the supplied ship's boats. For the best part they are simply great and will need little make up. If there’s something negative to say about them is that they are too few. One obvious deficit of the kit is that at least 3 boats are missing from the necessary complement. Not even one picture in my references supports the set of boats in this kit. There are three smaller boats missing: I have cannibalized a Heller Admirale Scheer from my long time kit-stash: I know I should have presented that kit by the time I started the blog, but who could have expected such a flaw?



As usual, the beginning for such a project is less than attractive visually and the progress can hardly be seen, but that is one of the things that makes ship modelling special.
I hope you like what you see.

Cheers,
Guido

Wow, Guido, I'm blown away by all the clean up work you've already put into this- getting all of the tiny stuff ready is always a necessary evil. Good for you to get all of that out of the way so soon.

Can't wait to see more.

Hey Guido

Wow .. that's a nice heads start ..... alot of cleanup ... the dull part of working with resin (apart from that I love working with resin).

Looks like she'll be loaded with details.... I really look forward to seeing her progress .. and hopefully see her in real life ..... if not sooner then in Lübeck 2010

This is all very nice, Guido, and as the guys say, very clean looking bench and work - I could learn a lesson here. I'll have to post a shot of my workbench - it's mayhem!

Looking forward to your further posts, it looks like a very interesting project to me, and well referenced.

Cheers,

Peter F