Hi Everyone.
I actually put the two halves of the hull together last night and clamped it up, but when I removed the clamps it had not joined properly, so this morning I put the clamps back on and put lots of liquid cement around the joint. It has been clamped all day and hopefully will be fine by tomorrow.

Next up I started what I like to think of as PE Day.. Almost nothing but PE all day. First up the gun directors..

The actual array took a bit of time to work out how to actuallt bend it. In the end I folded them in the middle first, then using bamboo skewers I bent the round bits to shape. Then I glued them to there supports.

Then I folded up the stands for the aerials and glued them to the top of the directors.



After that I just attached the small antenna on the side and voila! a well detailed gun director.. and I needed four of them for this beasty.

Then I went to these radar aerials which were a lot simpler than the other ones. I used thick CA glue when I attached the aerials to their supports and then stuck them to the PE platform you glue over the kit support.

Next up I started the search radar and this was as far as I got. This one is by far the most difficult as the dish has to be dished.. if you know what I mean. I actuallt cut the flat aerial so I could dish it and get rid of many of the crinkles that appeared around the edge. Eduard recommended using a steel ball, but I don't know many people around here with 1 inch steel balls so I used the rounded end of a screw driver instead. I forgot to anneal it first which probably would have made it much easier. Oh well. I have attached the first part of the support frame to the aerial.
That is as far as I got today.
Thanks for looking.

Hi Everyone.
I have done all the railings on the bridge area and will put the ladders and stairs on after I attach the bridge assembly to the ship. I like to work from the middle outwards so I minimise damage to installed PE from my clumsiness. All those hand-skills I learnt while in workshops in the Air Force come in handy for this stuff.
More PE work finished, search radar dish and mount and the support it is mounted on.
Here is the antenna. The edges are a bit wrinkly but I did my best and it looks 500 times better than the one in the kit.

Here is the platform where the antenna is bolted to and another mast gets attached which holds a few more aerials (next picture)

And here is the top of said mast..

I wouldn't be too confident being at the top of that support if the ship was rolling very much..
Anyway, that's it for the moment. It is New Year's Eve and hopefully I will get all the PE painted today.

OK. Got a bit more done today.

That's the bridge almost finished. Just needs the big radar dish and top-most mast put on. Not yet as I am sure I will wipe it out if I install it now.

Ah the wonders of the macro lens. See what I mean about painting.. and some further trimming by the look of it.

And this is the area under Funnel No2, the rear one anyway..
Have just glued the funnels together and have a bit of a job to fill some rather large gaps. I think using 8 parts for each funnel is a bit of over-engineering on Trumpeters part.
Will attack the funnels tomorrow.
See you all again next year.

That looks very smart Warren, the PE does wonders for the build.
JUlian

Happy New Year Everyone.
I have been busy painting and PEing but need some more information on the rigging for the ship in its Measure 32 guise. I have the Warship Pictorial book but it doesn't have a detailed one.
Anyone know of any sites that may provide the info I need?
Cheers
Warren

Warren, she's looking good, absolutely first rate! Some spiffy PE work, my friend. I think you actually did a darned good job on that dish antenna. Hope mine looks half that good. Keep up the great work, I'm taking notes! LOL

Bob

Hi Everyone.
Well, the Showboat is almost finished. Just got the following to do..
1. Attach fiddly bits to the top of the forward mast (dish aerial, weather upper mast)
2. Attach the handrails to the outer areas of the hull. I always leave them till last.
3. Attach all the radio aerials and other rigging.
4. Wait for my great friend Bob's PE shields to get here so I can finish off the remaining 20mm guns that Eduard didn't supply. (I found out later that the later issues of this set have another fret with extra 20mm parts. But I emailed Eduard and have heard nothing back as yet.)
I have a shed load of pics to upload but the server is busy as usual.
So while I wait for the server to reset and I can upload some pictures I will go away and decide which ship to start next.
Cheers
Warren

Looking great Warren, very tidy PE work.

Si

Thanks Simon.

Hopefully I will get the Showboat finished this weekend. Hopefully the gallery will be back up and running soon.

Thanks to Bob for the PE he kindly donated. Will enable me to get the 20mm plastic/PE hybrids finished.

Looking at the Eduard site the other day I found that they include an extra fret for the 20mm guns in their current set, but my set didn't come with the extra fret according to my instruction sheet. Ripped off I think...

Cheers
Warren

I finally got onto the picture server after trying for a few days.





As you can see not too much left to do but I am sure it will take a few days of solid work.
I finished building the rear mast last night so it only needs paint now.
Anyone else had trouble with spraying Lifecolor paints? I can't seem to get the ration of paint/water right..
Anyway, more in a day or two.
Cheers
Warren

Beautiful work, Warren. You continue to remind the rest of us of our inadequacies! LOL. Absolutely beautiful work, my friend. I believe you are well on your way to a true museum quality build.

Bob

Don't know if I would go that far mate!! But thanks heaps for the compliment.

Warren, she is absolutely beautiful. You have done a masterful job on her, don't sell your efforts short. If my Showboat turns out half as good as yours has, I'll be a happy modeler! I'm glad and proud to have been able to have made a small contribution to your masterpiece with those PE shields. Congratulations on a job I think any us would envy!

Bob

Very nice work- that PE looks great!

Looking forward to seeing her completed.

Regarding the lifecolor paints, I like them and the fact that you can airbrush and brush paint with them but I too have had trouble airbrushing them and getting them to "stick" Try using windex or Tamiya acrylic thinner- about 50/50 mix as I find it helps.

Cheers

Anthony

Hi Anthony. You are up early!

Thanks for the compliments. I was thinking I may even try some Lifecolor thinners if I can find them. But using the Tamiya thinners is a good place to start. Metho or water don't work well at all. Clogs up my airbrush all the time or is too thin. Never seem to find the happy medium.

Thanks again.

Yeah, I am normally up about 6am

I have the Lifecolor thinners and they didn't really help. Definately try the Tamiya or windex

Cheers

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen.
Well, the Showboat is as finished for the moment as she is going to be until I get a rigging diagram from somewhere. But that is fine as I am sure I will just break the wires by accident... although I could use EzLine I suppose.
I apologise in advance for some of the photos. I will set the camera up properly at a later date.

Well here is an overall view. Right at the end I changed my mind and painted the tops of all the ammo lockers Deck Blue. It just didn't look right with them a mixture of the three camo colours.

I didn't want the hull to look like it had just been painted so I left any imperfections as far as slightly different matts there and it seemed to vary the shades a bit to add a bit of interest to such large areas of colour.

Another overall shot of the midship area. I only managed to knock the tall mast once and it bent the aerial at the very top when I was reaching to grab some turps to wash a brush. Had to use enamel for the props as acrylic metallics like that just don't work very well for me usually.

I made the whip aerials out of piano wire. Think they are a bit thick (like me at times) but that is the thinnest stuff I had that will not wilt in any heat we get like stretched sprue can.

No Kingfishers on this one as I have not finished them as yet. They are a bit crude compared to the catapults they go on so I may not use them but look for some better one at a future date.

The PE deck handling cranes are much nicer than the kit ones. I have still to paint the cables of the crane properly. I slapped on a little black but I think gunmetal would make more sense. And it would be shiny like a nice, greasy cable.

Oops I forgot to paint the insides of the 5 inch guns, and probably the 16 inch guns as well. Oh well.. Will do it before the final shoot. PE helps in the radars and quad 40s immensely.

Here is that mast I tried to destroy earlier today..
I would like to get different propellers for the ship as well as brass ones just look so nice.. But I haven't found them as yet.
Anyway, she can go into one of the nice, dustproof display cabinets I have. I am hoping most of my ships will fit in them, but the Saratoga and QM2 have to go in a bigger cabinet as they are just too long for my smaller display cabinets.
As I said, I will take more pictures anon if the editors or whoever would like a feature on my 'Showboat'.
Thanks for looking.

A very nice piece of work Warren, looks really good. Go for the EZ-line, magic stuff to work with.
Cheers,
Julian

Warren, congratulations, my friend! In my opinion you have totally nailed the Showboat. Great work. If mine comes out half as good, I'll be a happy modeler. I have the Warship Pictorial on the North Carolina Class BBs and there are several rigging diagrams for her at different stages in her career. I'd be happy to copy and mail them to you if you like. Alas, I don't have the capabiltiy to scan and e-mail. Just drop me an e-mail if you want me to send them. Also, G-Factor makes some beautiful brass props for her. If you'll look at Freetime Hobbies or Sprue Bros., I think both have them in stock.

Congratulations again on a superlative effort. I think you decision to leave the little variations in the hull paint was spot on. She has a certain "used" look to her.

Bob

Don't you just love it when you realise you made a bit of a boo-boo with a kit you thought was finished, except the rigging...
There I was peering at the Eduard PE instructions for the Showboat online when I discovered I had missed a step.. Yesterday I had been looking at a reference book and noted all the antennas etc around the top of the main tower part and thought that they must have been a fit after 1944 which my kit depicts. Then I discovered my mistake today and have a few more mounts etc to add to the top part of the area mentioned.
Oh well, its off to the cabinet to retrieve the Showboat for some further surgery...
Wish me luck...

Impressive build Warren, I very much enjoyed following it.

Thanks for posting

Si

Hang in there, Warren. Carborundum non illigitimi! Rigging diagrams on the way.

Bob

That is some impressive work there Warren! Been following on the mobile phone, sorry I didn't post earlier. Great build log.

Reminds me of the Missouri I built 10 years ago. Nice work with the PE. Did you finally find a solution for the thinning of the lifecolor?

So what's next?

Cheers!
Stefan

Thanks Bob and Stefan.
Didn't need to thin the Life Color again yet but have ordered some thinners from the UK.
Still haven't decided what is next. I seem to have become addicted to PE with 1/350 ships so will have to be a kit I have the PE set for. Comes down to the following, all 1/350..
1. Hasegawa IJN Mutsu
2. Academy HMS Warspite
3. Tamiya IJN Musashi
4. Tamiya Modernised New Jersey
5. Trumpeter USS Ticonderoga
6. Hasegawa USS Gambier Bay
7. Hasegawa IJN Akagi
8. Academy DKM Admiral Graf Spee
There are a few more but that will do from memory..
Now, which one do you think ??

Hey Warren, I'm all for 2 or 6!



Cheers!
S