This will teach me to want to rush things. Tonight at my church we start Vacation Bible School and I am teaching this year. So my week will be all that and no building.

So, this afternoon I thought I would get some last bench time in. After spending half of my time getting my wife set up to with her pottery I got into building. After 10 minutes I mangled one of the PE pieces, so I was done.

Well, that's how it goes.

Alright, sorry for the week off. I was teaching at my churches Vacation Bible School.

Today we have some previous work as well as some new work done today. The torpedo magazine is up first. The only kit part left is the center section of the original plastic part. Everything comes off this. Then you build up the new magazine and add the underside support gussets.









Also some more work done on the stack.









I still have a little clean up to do on these, but this is basically done. Hopefully this will will see more work done and maybe even some more parts added to the deck.

Hi Jim.

Looking great so far. If I may make a suggestion, paint all the PE BEFORE you install it. It makes it much easier in the long run. Not that I am a greta expert you understand..

That KA deck looks great, I will have to get some for the ships in my stash.

Keep up the good work!

Warren

Just my 2 cents here on painting the PE: the only PE parts I paint before installing
are the railings around the deck. Other pieces I add to the model parts and spray all when finished. I also find that grounding the frames with Vallejo grey ground improves paint coverage on some producers PE parts.
Julian

I an painting after for all of the main sections. The railings I an painting before.

My construction step are taking a new diection starting tonight. I am going to work on the guns. Then move to the next level and work my way up. I have been all over the ship doing this and that with no clear diection.

So, I hope to get the other two main turrets done tonight and possibly painted as well.

I did not realize just how long this simple task took. I had planned to finish the remaining two main guns tonight. Well, 30 minutes later I had one almost finished. My eyes were bothering me so I gave up.

The ladders on the turret are removed as are the view ports. View ports are replaced with etched parts. These are very fragile, so take major care with these.

Then the main guns are replaced with turned brass.

The Brass barrels & etched viewports look a vast improvement on the moulded items, really lifts the turret.

Great work Jim, following with interest.

Si

Solid work, are you going to sculpt some blastbags ?

Cheers/Jan

Blast bags.....She had them up, but they were removed. I am not sure what date exactly they were removed. Pictures of her in late 43 show blast bags. Then pictures of her in October 44 show they are gone.

The kit is listed as 45, so no blast bags.

I really want to build her during the channel dash, so if I actually do that project I will have to add them then.

Jim, really great work so far. I'm anxious to see more update photos. I don't know how you approach things like this, but I saw your reference to some PE parts in the Lion Roar set that you said were very, very tiny and hard to see. To be totally honest, I often will omit PE that is so tiny that it can barely be seen. To me, if it is that difficult to see the benefit to the build will me minimal to negligible and I've found that the frustration level of dealing with PE goes up in direct reverse proportion to the size of the PE part involved. If a tiny PE part causes me to want to pull my hair out, and is so small that it probably can't truly be seen at a reasonable viewing distance on the finished build, it tends to end up in the spares box. I'm sure this will drive the rivet counters nuts, but to me its a question of something sucking the fun out of what is supposed to be something I'm doing for fun.

IMHO,

Bob

Bob,

I have a magnifier and I also wear reading glasses when I build. My rule is I either set a time limit or if I am doing something complex I finish that and stop. OR, if I cuss, I am done. I have plenty of time so I am using it.

I do agree, sometimes parts are too darn small. I would probably do the same as you if this build were not an assignment. But, I see nothing wrong with it and I will probably do the same thing.

Glad to hear that common sense prevails on other builds as well
I also have to use an optivisor to see what I am doing. In spite of this some PE parts are to small to be usable by me. I also find that PE is not always an improvement over the molded details of the kit so I don't replace them.
I couldn't agree more with Bob when he says that building is supposed to be fun and not a chore aimed at pleasing the riveters
On that note my compliments on the build Jim, looking really sharp there. The turrets look great.
Julian

Jim, I take your point. An assignment or commission build is a different matter from a purely "fun" build and under those circumstances I would probably take the same approach as you. But, being a definite amature, I build only for fun and my own satisfaction. I also use a magnifying visor but even with that find some PE parts to be nearly invisible. It is those that I often leave on the fret. And, as Julian so correctly pointed out, some PE parts are not really an improvement on the kit parts they are intended to replace. Unless I see real improvement over the kit part, I tend to stay with the kit part.

All of the above having been said, please understand that it was never my intenion to take anything away from your work. Your Prinz Eugen looks great so far and I'm anxious to see more of your work.

Thanks for sharing with us,

Bob

Bob,

I know exactly what you were saying. This has been a fun build and I have enjoyed it. There has been to Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr moments, so I turn off mt light and go home.

Also thank you all for the comments. I am getting bolder as I go. There is a major part that I am dreading, but I have to wait to tackle it.

Sort of a little look at the base. I picked up a piece of plastic for a light fixture at my local hardware store. Here is my plan.

Get a board large enough for the piece I need to cut. Next trace the hulls outline on the back and cut it out. Paint the backside of the plastic sheet. secure the plastic to the board. Put the hull into it. Then I plan to add the S-100 in the background. The Prinz will be at anchor with her sea planes out. One flying, one in the water. That is the plan anyway.

A short one tonight. I spent most of my time yesterday cutting the opening in the water. It still needs to be opened more, but the hard work is done.

It was easier than I thought to cut. A sharp utility knife and carefully bend it to make the first big cut. Then trace the waterline plate for the basic outline. Since the bow is sharp, I drilled out a hole so I wouldn't split the base. Then score the outside and start breaking out pieces.

Then it was off to the main guns again. I finished the second set of the upper guns, then started on the top gun AA mounts. The small boxes on the sides are folded, then the lids are separate.

I also added the intake on the stack. The PE work was yesterday and today. Then I pressed too hard on a new blade and sliced open my thumb. SO, work was done for the day.

interesting build so far. i've got the Hipper with some of the goodies. Might wanna catch those seam lines on the ends of the range finder housings

Jim - Lookin' real nice so far! I've shelved my PE again as other projects took precedence, but hope to return to her soon. I will watch your build with interest to help me with my build. Again, lookin' good!

Mark

Well, it has been a while. I cut my thumb, let it heal, hurt my back, let it get batter, went over to build today and cut my stinking thumb again.

But I did get some work done.

When working with the secondary weapons be careful. The instructions are really not too helpful. I smoothed the turret and cut the side. This is when I cut my thumb again. I had to stop after that. But the other work I was able to do before.

When drilling out holes for the small barrels be sure to make the holes the same depth. They look a great deal better than the plastic barrels.

The resin Arado is a be improvement over the clear plastic ones in the kit.













C|:-)

Amazing work on the Arado's canopy Jim, looks really good! The radial engine is a nice touch too,
Cheers,
Julian

hello

your work is amazing!!!i will follow your build!
bye
stef

The engine is a long piece of PE that is folded on top of itself to give the engine thickness. That same technique is used on some other parts as well, but those are to come later.

Coming on great Jim,

Like the Arado, the engine& Canopy look great.

Si

Following your build closely Jim! These detailed ships take an extraordinary amount of time, don't they?

one question...the Lionroar pe appears to be steel(?) not brass. Is that the case? I have worked with steel pe before and its not something I want to repeat if I don't have to. I found steel pe is almost too tough to cut...

Thanks and will follow your work with PE ( Prince Eugen)

Tim





put bold text here put bold text here

Yes, it is steel. I think it is actually stainless. I use new blades all the time. Plus I cut it on a sheet of plexiglass.

I need to get back on this. Summer really had me running all over the place.