That is twice I have lost my entry so not tempting fate here are the piccies before I start.. I will fill in details later..

Here are the items I will be using, Plastic Kit, Gold Medal Models PE Set and Master Barrels Armament Set.

Sorry for the flash reflection on the box-top. Less than 10 sprues for this one..

Here is the lovely GMM PE set in all its brass glory. Almost looks like it was polished after the etching was done it is so shiny.

Here is the PE searchlight tower which should look marvellous compared with the plastic one.

And one of the boat cranes.
More soon before I lose this!!

Well, I found the proper blue stained wooden deck at only one place, and I ordered them for the 1942 and 1944 versions.
Until they get here the SF will be waiting and I will do a smaller project. More news as it comes to hand.

And the news is.. after much consideration, the new build will be the ICM 1/350 Markgraf. I have the PE, deck and barrels and it is going to be a relatively simple build .. Will start a blog after I take some photos..

Cheers n Beers
Warren

You have a fair bit to keep you busy by the looks of it Warren.....CHeers mark

Well, I finally got back to this one yesterday. Have the hulls glued together and propeller shafts in place...

But I made a boo-boo and now have a step in the hull sides between the two parts on one side as you can see in the first picture... It moved will it was drying even though I had five clamps on it!!

And the solution...

Tamiya Extra-Thin glue (that I always use anyway) and lots of clamps..
It appears to have moved back into place and we shall see the results after it has all dried and the clamps have been removed.
Cheers Everyone and thanks for looking
Warren

good luck

You've been getting a good workout lately with the PE Warren

Presently working on this kit, had the same problem with the hull, though not as bad. The rest of the kit seems to have good fit. I'm also using GMM PE and MM barrels, but take a look at the kit 5", they're horrible. I bought L'Arsenal resin guns which look excellent, particularly the barrels. Going the watch your progress with interest.

Thanks Everyone.
@ James, I agree with you about the guns. Will have to take a look at the :'Arsenal ones and see how they look. Are there any casting faults in them, although going from the resin bits in the Richelieu Set I got they should be fine. Just don't watch too closely mate..

@ Bruce, I may just need it..

@ Jeremy, I don't think I could build a ship without PE anymore. It is addictive!

I think I fixed the hull problem. It seems to have disappeared after I removed the clamps.

More news anon!

Good to see you underway again Warren. Look forward to seeing more.....Cheers mark

Anyone else thin that something ordered in August should have got to me by now? I ordered wood decks for both my San Franciscos in August and still haven't got the items. Time to cancel the order I think... I will publish the name of the hobby site if I get any grief over the cancellation.
But seeing the next step involves the deck I think I will not be worrying about the Blue Wood deck for this one and will just paint it Deck Blue. There is plank etched there anyway and there is no need to get the right mix of colours etc like with a natural wood deck.

If it helps, consider a simple jig to help align the main battery tubes. I am using one for my own CA-38.


More here: https://picasaweb.google.com/ARP1757/CA38Project02

I also did something similar on my 700-scale ASTORIA: https://picasaweb.google.com/ARP1757/CA34Project02

HTH,
Andrew P, PBFHS
Chesapeake, Virginia
www.PBFHS.org

That looks like a great idea Andrew. I hadn't thought of that. I just cut the plastic off and drill the holes by eye.. Works most of the time but there are some disasters..

Thanks for that.

Uppps this comes very well but very profecional!! Jejej regards and support, regards Daniel

Hi Everyone.
Quick update..
Hull is painted.
Deck is painted and attached.
And here are some piccies!

Here is the painted deck and all the brass barrel upgrades.

Then we have the main armament with their blast bags.

Then the five inchers
Then the difference four brass barrels can make even to a quad 1.1in gun mount.

And the four of them.
That's it for now.

Looking good Warren, thouse quad 1.1" must have been fun, definitely worth the effort though.

Si

Thanks Simon.
Once I put on the magnifying visor, that I use all the time, they were not too hard. It would be nice if one of the barrel manufactures provided jigs for drilling the holes I think..

Nice looking work Warren.

The L'Arsenal moldings are very clean, no rough edges. The bores are drilled out too. You have more guts than I have on the 1.1's. Keep up the good work!

Very nicely done Warren.....cheers mark

Thanks guys,

I found that there are replacement splinter shields for the 5"/25 mounts, but there are differences between what is moulded on and what is provided in the PE. Not sure of which is right so the shields can stay, especially as there are no bending lines on the PE to indicate where to bend it etc.

@ James, I have the L'Arsenal set here for the Richelieu and the resin in it is the best I have ever seen. Only problem is now I am out of contract I have to sighteb the belt a bit, especially after lashing out and getting the Fujimi 1/350 Hiryu and Suikaku during the week.

But here are the unimproved (except by brass barrel) Trumpeter 5" single mount...

And here it is with the rails from the GMM set..

As much as I would like the L'Arsenal guns at the moment I will have to use these ones. I can always replace them when I start work again, I just won't glue them in position..

And two different size hose reels..

And the forward turret before painting..
That's it for now.
Thanks for looking
Warren

You know what really upsets me, when you close the wrong tab by accident and lose the last 10 minutes of typing..
Time for an update.
First up the twelve 20mm Oerlikons for this version of CA-38 are going to be furnished using the chunky kit items modified with GMM PE.
Here are the parts with the modified kit item.

And here is one of the guns assembled. The barrels are way too thick but for this build I am going to use them anyway.

Only a few bends were required and the detail of the guns is really enhanced using the PE.
Here are four of the guns in place on the hanger roof.

Then we have the searchlight tower. I see that it needs a little tweaking to get rid of that gap in the foreground.

A simple PE folding job that really enhances the look of the model.
Finally we have the two funnels with a little bit of PE jewellery. The grills are also PE but have been painted already. The interiors of the stacks have also been painted since this picture was taken so please ignore the way they look in the photo, the blurry photo I see as well..

Oh well, that's it for now.
We have had big storms rolling in one after the other over the last 24 hours and one of our rooms got some water in it through the roof, luckily not my model cave!! 3 inches of rain in 15 minutes is pretty heavy I think you will agree.
Anyway, more photos anon...
Cheers all
Warren

Seen the storms on the news the last few days Warren. Lets hope none of your fleet need re-commisioning mate and they all stay dry!