Just finishing off on last year's work, here are some unpublished pictures to show :

The main railing areas complete, and I've adeed some WEM tyre black to the ropes. A little bright at the moment so I will also brush these down when they dry.



I also drilled holes as shown for the anchor chain to slot into, and I added the chains to complete this. I also show my method of holding this in place which is the big bulldog clip with the needle point tweezers in place - make sure there's no glue on the needle point if you do this.




Then, looking in my spares set there are some replacements for the smaller gun barrels so it's either this or thou. guage brass rod.


To end this posting, I've included the colouring of the blast bags - simply, I needed a change to all that photoetch.


Peter F

Here's to Peter striding relentlessly toward the completion of a great project! My hat's off to you!
Congratulations for hitting the 4000 clicks mark today, too!
Care to join in for a bet as to how many clicks you will have until final Judgment is cast?
I am willing to bet that you will accumulate just short of 10,000 clicks.
Cheers, mate!

Guido

Very kind of you Guido, and I was saying to Mark that it's good to see you back in the blog, I missed all the commentry and pix, and Nanond too - what's happened to him?

10,000 clicks? I think I may have to do that myself - hehe.

Peter F

Hi Peter,

I'm just catching up. Very impressed by your work with the photoetch and I intend to use your posts as a guide when I get to doing my own. Looks like you're almost finished - beautiful job.

Barry

Cheers, Barry, and I think I may have to refer to my own notes as I build the next ship as I'm learning and experimenting all the time.

In terms of completion, I'd say I was 50% through. Those pe routines take up a very long time, and something I notice when I take photos close up is that everything looks so rough and out of line so again there's another routine to incorporate.

It doesn't make for very good postings so I tend to edit my input, but for example, I have cleaned up the rears of the secondary guns, gone over the railing painting again, and touched up the sea effect again. I will also add some more cotton wool as I develop the methodology of that routine.

I guess the answer may be not to take close up photographs but the end result is a smoother and at the same time "sharp" looking build, well that's the theory.

Peter F

Very nice work Peter. Is the chain photo etch?

Kenny

Yes, Kenny, those chains are supplied on the pe fret, and there's enough to have the anchors deployed if needed.

So, those troublesome guns, and finally, I decide to cut off the barrels provided and put on the 1 thou brass - you were right, Rui -- mental note : Rui is always right - stupid!


So I did that, and glued them back on as shown. Also there is some funnel detail including ladders, and platorms which I've put in place.



And now, continuing with the rails I've used a felt tip to speed up the colouring routine and as shown. It turns out a bit bright so I shall tone all that down later until it faids into the background.



Staying with the pe fret, there are the ships cradles to assemble and I show this as it needs to be in place at this stage - ish. After assembly, and not to lose them I've put them in a small metal box for later use. The instructions are clear but I don't see exactly where to place them so I'll have to go away and do some research.....back later.





Peter F

Hmmm, I'm having another one of those moments, and its good to give yourself a critique every now and then if you don't see problems happening as you do them.

This concerns the railngs I have placed so far which are unfortunately - NAFF! What I plan to do therefore is remove these, and go for something much thinner like GMM extra fine which I think will help on such a small ship. The railings so far placed are much too think, and especially with the blacking effect I have used - it looks more like a cage than a background effect. The supplied rails will make a good template.

So, back to the drawing board, and another lesson learnt, and stay watching as I struggle to go one step backwards to take many steps forward - hopefully.

Cheers,

Peter F

Seams as though it is a month of re-doing for you aswell Peter the gun barrels do look better but as for the railings. Why do you say they look NAFF or is it I,am not used to the scale of these as I,m still getting used to working in such small scale.Your builds always look great I think I need to start looking at some extra detailing on some of my up and coming projects

Hi, Keith, I suppose its real life versus the photographs, and other builds in your collection which you can compare.

I'm at the point now where I will change things if I think I'm going to be sorry later. The rails I've got right now look heavy, and like a tiger cage whereas they should be part of the background, and overall picture - at the moment they dominate too much.

I'll get onto it and do some more postings soon, and hopefully there will be a big difference.

Thanks for your comments.

Peter F

OK, I've decided on the GMM extra fine rails, and in comparison to the supplied rails, there is a vast difference - see the image of one against the other.

I've primed the pe, and given it all a coat of WEM tyre black, and I will eventually leave it that colour.


For something different, and to show progress of another sort, I have given the hull and deck a coat of washed out oil paint. This is zinc white with turpentine to tone it down. The effect is "scaled colouring" which means that all those "bright colours" are now toned down. The other benefit is thati t gives it all a mat varnish look.



Next will be another coat of Tyre black on the rails and then fix them on.


Also I note a couple of areas of things that have f"allen off the build" as I continue and so there are stops every now and then to find these and put them back on - this again is a continuous problem but is all part of the fun.



Peter F

While the another wash coat is drying on the railings, and before the next, maybe final application, I will place the fore and aft masts.

This is based on the WW2 version of the ship so there will be a departure from the instructions. I will refer to my camo version 1:700 drawing and compare that to the ship build to see where the masts appear and their height.

I always use brass rod, and my three basic sizes usually cover all situations - so far.


The rod is therefore cut to shape, and dry fitted for comparrison with the picture. The aft tripod uses a slimmer brass rod, and this is positioned subject to the large platform halfway up being built and placed for fit - this will happen next.






In the meantime, there's another coat on the railings. This method of multi thin coats makes sure that the extra fine detail is not clogged up with one maybe two thicker coats - anyway that's the theory.

Peter F

AHH see thats another tip for the note book don,t slapp it all on in one go sounds a good theory Peter . See even at my age I can still learn when shown how too properly thanks.

Me as well, Keith, my eyes are wide open and anyone I see who can build them as I would wish to see them myself has my fullest attention and there are plenty of great artists around f rom painters to technowlogists I am their constant pupil.

Cheers,

Peter F

I'm running out of words to describe how amazing this build is!

Very nice of you to say that, Dade, and very much appreciated.

The tripod mast input wasn't finished so there are a couple more images to see, and as show.


The WW2 update includes these masts plus there are various platforms as well. So, no kit part for this and time to scratch build again. This time its clear plastic from new shirt packaging. this is recycling at its best, and is also the first misson for the fine railings.


The diagram of the ship was reduced to 500 scale so all I have to do is compare and cut - as shown. the rails are very delicate and so hard to handle but they do bend very well. The whole is stuck together with white glue.






Back to the brass rod, and finally, for now, a couple of crane stanchions either side of the middle funnel. BTW the platform can be seen in the background. This again was stuck into place with pva which gave me a chance to position it correctly.




The rails as I say are very delicate so its ships boats next.


Peter F

Great work, Peter. Thanks for the detailed views of the mast/platform/railing building. I'd like to try something like that at some point. How do you connect the brass pieces in the tripod mast? Do you solder them? As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the next installment. Barry

Ahh - I missed this one Peter
It's good to know that Alexandra have another person thinking just like her!

Good job on those parts and it's a shame the issue with the railings... but on the other hand you managed to solve the issue well!

The tripod is also a lesson

Bravo Peter - you have guts!
Keep up,
Rui

Cheers, Guys, and Barry, most probably superglue the tripods - always works.

Rui, it's just that I couldn't live with anything that was incorrect and I've had this on previous builds. A lot of my work needs redoing alas. I shall fix those rails soon but not too fast as they are too delicate to touch. Boats and davits is a good routine to sidetrack on for now. Also, yes, listen to your colleagues opinions as they can shurely see things from another perspective, and as always, all comments are welcome!

Peter F

SCALE! reading posts in the other blogs the question of wrong or innaccurate detailing comes up every now and then, and in my case its all about scale.

Having the pe crew to hand, its a good idea to cut one of these little guys out, and compare him to the details your building. For example look at deck planking. On the WEM kits the planking is hardly noticeable, and shimmers in the light. Other examples will show - compared to the pe man - that the planks are 1500-2000mm wide!!! Sometimes its best that these weren't caste in the first place.

In the question of the Averoff rails, they looked great in the box and as a bonus, they included awning stancions - something I had never seen before, and, having paid $200 for the kit it would have been a shame to throw them out and use the finer $30 rails - and the extra cost.

However, there it was, maybe I had used the wrong colouring but nevertheless not good enough in the final analysis - sometimes you have to build to come to a decision, and that's what I did. I guess the rails would be as thick as the pe man's arm!

Also, look at the Averoff bridge reconstruction. The kit parts were fine but I prefer the windows to look real. The problem now is that I have to do this every time, and instead of using kit parts, I have to sub them off for scratch builds. What should be fairly quick, and fun can be real work!

Having said all that, the boats and davits are great works of art from YS Masterpeices although 12 x builds is tedious and time consuming but I'm sure the final build will be worthwhile.




One of those pix is a bit out of focus - I usually take x2 - sorry.

Also, a great picture of the bridge, now, see what I mean? A great help to build up the detail.



I continue...............

Peter F

Hey, Peter!
Do I sense a bit of a burn out?
Have a brake before you brake!
Cheers,
Guido

Nah, we're old campaigners here and never give in. The hard part is not the extra mile but knowing there's more to do, and methodolgy with accuracy and artistry as a norm - not too much to ask, hmmm?

Peter F

It's going to be a great model and certainly something not everyone has on his table.
Cheers, mate!
Guido

I think the expense versus value is questionable but compared to the rest of the field, YS Masterpieces Averoff its a very good buy if you can afford it, Guido.

So, its all about little boats for the next 4 weeks, and just as well because those decks need filling! the other thing that is in my mind is finishing on time so I'm putting all other projects aside to promote this one.




This month, I intend to have the ships boats ready but that railing will also be a priority, and then there's the weathering - something I really like doing as the look goes from resin painted model to virtual reality - -watch this space!. BTW the old railing, and my pe men are on the boats instructions page - two in one. Note that that the railings are as thick as the guys arms - generally acceptable but not for me.

Peter F