Peter - great work as usual, and plenty of good techniques and tips for us to copy (already raiding the kids playdoh buckets for suitable materials!).

Railings look better; I dont think my eyes are that good

Very inspirational build blog.. thanks again for taking the time to explain so much..
cheers

Cheers, James, your comments are well recieved.

Looking through my spares boxes over the weekend for various radar options, I found nothing and so here we go again with some scratch building. The 3 x radar look to be all different, and I am pointing to one in the picture. I beleive that ali tube may be ok - filled with pva and so, I've cut a couple of drums with my sharp heavy duty blade.



The smaller ring is the base to the aft radar, and while the glue sets (other top ups needed as it dries and sinks) I will carry on with the crane arms x 3.


These are 1000 guage brass rod, easy to cut, and light enough to fix without too much repositioning. These are held in place as shown, and left to dry overnight.



After this, I shall give them a coat of paint, and look to see what kit part s there are for tackle remembering that the device may have been updated in the refit.

The Lion Roar brass brackets set in the background is for the searchlight platforms etc. It may be that these are so small, and out of sight that they are difficult to photograph but needless to say they will be included in the build.

Also, I'm sorry for some of the blurry pictures but it's not always easy to take images of objects the size of a needle head. To try and overcome this I try to take at least three shots of everything, and at different angles to take account of differing lighting situations. There's more about photography later, and I will explore as I present it - and as always, suggestions, and criticisms are all welcome.

Peter F

A little bit more detail on the cranes, and because the supplied fret part doesn't look right, I've used the Gold Medal British Battleship of WW2 fret which, although a costly item, supplies some great items of detail, and is always in use on my modelling table.

The crane tackle is there in various lengths and its easy to pick out the right ones for the job. I've positioned these using pva.



While thats setting, and the radar as noted previously is glueing in place, I carry on with the last of the ships boats. Next I will be placing these last boats outboard so that should be interesting, and add a bit more vidual three dimentionality to the hull.


It also occurs to me that while taking all these photos that there are area where things haven't gone to plan so if I don't pick up on these now, the residual time left towards the end of the compettition will be a good "clean-up" period.

Also, some detail may be acceptable but not great - I shall also review this - if there's time!

Peter F

Getting busy on deck now! Nice going!
Guido

Cheers, Guido, and yes it's that time again when everything is a bonus and enhancement, and you always take a look if you're passing the toyroom to take it all in.

I'm pleased you, and Rui (who is always right) suggested Averoff, and the camo version as well. I beleive it looks so much more purposeful than the early version, well, so far at least.

Peter F

Coming along nicely Peter. I'm looking forward seeing you tackle the forward tripod mast.


Bob Pink.

Thanks for your thoughts, Bob, and taking the time.

And so, a couple of brush strokes on the boats using the MIG powder, "copper rust" to scale down the colour and then fit them outboard. To fix the meanest slither of photoetch to a horizontal plane is not easy but its a question of holding the two items in place. Out comes the play dough again. The boats sit on the play dough so that the two pieces to be glued touch or almost touch,and then I apply pva to the join. I don't have to stand there holding it and so onto the next routine.




Looking at the WW2 update, the aft starfish appear not to have changed much whereas the foreward construction is quite different. Easiest fisrt then, and using the kit part, slightly modified using the needle file, I fit the parts together.......



And, you didn't think I had finished with the sea did you? Out comes the "Paynes Grey" oil paint to blend in some of those white streaks across the base. The net result is looking better but who knows what I might add next.....



Peter F

OK, the last two boats, and these are the smallest. Oddly, they are slung under the two boats I've just fixed outboard, and are like two little ornaments on a Christmas tree, or earrings indeed.

They hang centrally, and to achieve the ropework I've used "invisible thread" (from the drapers) as it has some integral strength to hang straight. I've fixed the thread as shown with pva, and put the work aside to set.


While that's cooking, I plan to build the main crowsnest on the foremast. I have the plan and elevation from the mag that Rui sent me so its just a question of tracing it off. This can turn out really badly if not done just right, and again I have used left over pe fret, and some oversized ladder detail from some other pe fret to simulate the windows.
]



I have used superglue with Zip Kicker to make this dry fast as I don't intend to spend 15 mins sitting there holding it. Also I tried pva to glue the ladder to the housing but eventually used superglue as best choice.


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

Peter F

So, that's the last two ship's boats in position, and I am now carrying on with the main lookout on the foremast. It's all scratch build so there's no end of experimentation to achieve the "right look", and I have shown a dry fix of the components I will use in the illustration.




Again it's a question of interpolation of photographs but I believe I'm going the right way - all comments welcome!

Peter F

Well, getting there at last, and continuing with the masts, I have fixed the observation enclosure, and "starfish" using Lion Roar brass pe.

The roof to the platform is plasticard which I have cut out with a hole punch to get the desired round shape. The splays that make up the roof are the residual pieces left by the hole punch - see the illustration. These are fixed on with pe, and carrying on with the brass rod, I have also fixed the last part of the mast and cross trees - all with pva.

So, a couple of long shots will show the progress, and my schedule completion which said I would complete this part of the construction ready for next month's rigging feast!

Cheers,

Peter F

You forgot these, Peter













Cheers


Rui

Thanks, Rui. I thought it was just me! Nice going Peter - I'm anxious to follow along with your 'rigging feast.'

Barry

Yes, it seem that we are either very busy or out of work. So, thanks to Gunny for helping out with the photo posts but I beleive he is now stuck with working all hours, just like me, however, the model making is how I relax, and unwind and I will continue until the end of this project.

Now, getting back to it, thanks Rui, you're my favourite!

Peter F

And so, finally for this month, and on schedule, the masts are now complete, and all the bracing is in place under the platforms. The final picture shows all the masts having been painted and so all is prepared for the flat coat prior to rigging.

April means rigging, and there are three ways to go. Sometimes I mix all three but number one is the caenis fishing line fixed into place with stationary gum.

Next is thin wire from smallcars.com. If there's some rig that needs to be extra strong then there it is.

And then, there's the stretched sprue. I think you can go very wrong with streched sprue and this is due to which type you use. In that case, its a quetion of trying out various plastics to see which one suits your needs best but beware if your house is subject to temperature change or youu take your builds to an expo as the contraction and expansion can destroy everything.

And so, starting with the fishing line...............................

Peter F

Rui

Not just PE bending... MIND bending! Amazing...

Cheers, Dade, you're my favourite.

And just one more rigging method to expalin which I don't often include and it concerns the finest thread I have found and it is surprisingly strong - as it should be, and this is from a natural source, Arachida Japonica.

These creatures spin a organic thread which can be used for very fine rigging. The only drawback is that is has to be coloured but that can be overcome by feeding it blackberries with its other food. However if the thread is painted, it can lose its stickyness but be sure to attach it first.

Happy modelling.

Peter F

This method works best for me when I place the creature on the spot where I want the rigging line to start and use some white glue to tack a fly at the terminal end. Don't have to be concerned about knocking off any PE with my fat fingers. Give it a try.

Session 10 Closed!

Amazing work... love the pic with the pen, hard to tell at times how small that ship is...emphasizes the amazing job you have done with this one. Antennae and rigging is simply amazing! cheers

Cheers, James, nice of you to take the time.

Peter F

On behalf of Peter:





May the rigging commence...

Rui

Thanks for your help, Rui, we are really pushed hard at work, and have little time for other matters. As I said about Mark, and Guido, you're either working all hours or you're out of a job so there's no choice.

In any event I continue if only for half an hour every now and then, and the rooutine I have shown above is for the mat varnish spray. I have created a mask out of paper, and sprayed the ship already. I always do this before rigging and this keeps the rigging looking fine.

I then show there types of rigging material, not the stretched sprue, and my first choice is the fishing line, so, here we go again..........

Peter F

hello Peter,
looking great i like your water,are you going to do a feature on how you do it? with the Divine water Campaign starting soon,if would help the ones(like me) who do not do water effects.
cheers,
Bruce