Im working up my cahunas to drill out these barrels .........bleah

Jim,

Nice improvement on those guns!

Thanks Jim

I still have to put on blastbags and a ladder with railings onto the secondary cannons

Glorious work all-round, Jim!

The Iowa scratchbuild is an uphill fight due to some annoyingly inaccurate drawings I'm using, but I'll have new pics up next week.

--Karl

Im looking foreward to seeing your work,Karl.
I seem to be having some issues with the Gold Medal Models photoetch set I obtained for the Borodino class battleship. There are 3 walkways spanning across the area where the lifeboats are stowed. Photo etch railings and stairways are missing for these walkways along with a couple other small areas also. Other than these curiosities Im having a wonderful time with it.
I may have to "steal" some P/E from My Grosser Kurfust set by White Ensign. My only concern with that is stealing too much....then im back in the same boat.....so to speak . Im contemplating these walkways and wondering if they were made of solid steel and wood, or open expanded metal such as grating? I am considering scratching them as they seem a bit clunky...but Im not sure if this is the way they should be as I have no reference photos of this particular aspect of the ship..

Hi Jim!

Having extra PE is a must--just like extra parts for conventional modeling. Scratchbuilding certain parts is a perfect cure for kit part chunkiness. Another thing you may wish to consider is modifying deck-edge railings:

I've discovered that if you remove all but the bottom-most railing, leaving just nubs on the vertical stanchions, and run thin monofilament where the upper railings used to be (using the nubs as guides), the result is much more realistic flexible railings of the kind warships use. This method takes some practice, but it eliminates the ocean-liner solid railing look unmodified PE sets produce.

--Karl

hello Jim,
great work on your build.i have had the same problem with GMM PE,that is why i use Tom's PE for my stuff or if i can afford it the White Ensign sets.
the best info i have on your ship is the the walkways were wood flooring with what looks like pipe rails.
i will keep digging and see if i can find a photo for that area,but i am not too confidante of success of finding any photo's.i know that Mark has the kit.he might know how the walk ways were done.
hope this helps,
Bruce

my build shoud start this week.my PT boat is just about finished.

Thanks Guys,
@Karl: when I read your method of using monofilament I shuddered....sounds like Id need NO coffee and a steady hand for that .....but youve piqued my interest on that one. @Bruce: Yes I believe I will "swipe" a length or 2 of railing from my Kurfust set from WEM set. I also will swipe an accomodations ladder, and cut it up to use for these walkways ...thats the plan for now anyway. who knows WHAT will happen..

Very nice work on the weapons Jim.

Kenny

Hi Jim!

The gun upgrades look wonderful--I hope you will have a paint finish that will show them to best effect on the completed model.

On the PE railing mods, I use a jig to hold the PE then install the monofilament rails. I submitted a how-to featurette last month but some of the photos may have been too murky to use.

--Karl

I am definitely interested in learning more regarding your tecnique Karl..sounds pretty neat.
Can I ask a sort-of off topic question? I am trying to source the Lionroar set for the Mikasa(shes a pre-dred right?...lol)and my LHS seems to have trouble getting it in ....I have seen it available at Pacific Front Hobbies. Are they reputable? Will I have a satisfactory transaction?
Any advice would be appreciated guys. Im also going to look into getting extra railings and possibly stairways also

Some update shots

railings being added to the decks and a shot of the appropriate curved steel wheelhouse.

the deck above the wheelhouse has been re modelled using cardstock and strip also to accomodate the elongated structure below

Jim

Pacific front is a very nice place to get the things you need. Some tiems Bill is a little slow getting things out, but I have never had a problem with him on anything.

hello Jim,
i have gotten some items from Pacific Front.they are a little slow,but i have never had a problem with them.and they carry some of the more obscure ships ie:Austro-Hungarian Dreadnoughts,Norwegian Coastal Battleships,etc.
your build is looking great,thanks for the update.
cheers,
Bruce

Nice work Jim, top marks on the rounded railings around the wheelhouse, tough to make. The weapons/mounts are a big improvement.

Frank

I did a little work on the Chicago tonight. A couple of observations about the kit. The resin seems to be three different types. One was sort of brittle, the other soft, and the final one was pretty hard.

The instructions really are not anything I am used to. The parts are not really identified by number or letter, or even length. The two funnels required a part to be glued on thier backs, so I used a piece of brass rod I had left over. I might even try to get some more for the masts.

Here are a few pictures of the minor progress tonight.



The main guns are made up of three seperate parts.


This is the "You may fire when ready Gridley!" shot.


The forward funnel is attached to the wheel house deck, but that deck is still loose. Railings for that deck will be a challange.

hello Jim,
looking good.you are one up on me,i have not even started mine.i think that having the campaign run 10 months was a good idea.the Predread is a lot different then a Dreadnought(Battleship) or anyother modern ship.
thanks for the update.
cheers,
Bruce

Hey Jim!

The Chicago is coming along just fine. I shudder at the prospect of doing all that rigging in 1:700!

--Karl

Hey, Jim!

Here's a quick-n-dirty treatise on my deck edge railing mods. Please forgive the pics, but they should make the technique more understandable...


These are the materials: fine monofilament, manicure scissors, CA adhesive, a fresh and a dull blade hobby knife, and a homemade jig. The jig is a pair of styrene rectangles glued one atop the other to form a step.


First, I take the section of PE railing and affix it to the edge of the step on the jig with the MINIMUM amount of CA needed to keep it in place. Angling the railing section downwards almost parallel with the lower surface of the jig will help later in laying the monofilament. Next I use the scissors to cut away all but the bottom railings, leaving just a nub on either side of the now exposed vertical PE stanchions.

Taking a generous length of monofilament, I secure one end at the start of my PE section where the railing used to be, using the nubs on the other stanchions as a guide as I draw the filament across the length of the PE railing set. I glue the filament on the last stanchion of the section and then go back and secure the rest of the filament to the remaining stanchions with CA applied with the end of the dull hobby knife for more precision. Repeat this process for each run of railings.


When the railings have all been set, trim off the excess filament and using the fresh hobby knife, GENTLY pry the modified PE set off the jig and apply as normal to the model. In this fuzzy image, I left unmodified PE at the end of the bow and the rest is the modified set.

This process, though laborious at first, will produce more realistic flexible deck edge railings found on warships.

Thanks!

--Karl

That is very ingenious... and produces really good looking railings too. I can certainly see the difference. It still gives my goosebumps thinking of making them How do they hold up going around a corner or a curvature in the hull? Is there anything we need to know about that?

That's an insightful question, Jim! Because the replaced railings are tiny cables, they behave like their full-scale counterparts: they remain straight between the stanchions along a curving deck edge, producing a subtle faceted effect.

One issue, though...like the real railings, they cannot wrap around a projection to the deck perimeter, like a catwalk. Just like on real ships, a stanchion must be placed at each corner to anchor the tiny cableway. This means an extra degree in planning the railing layout, but I think it's worth it.

--Karl