Ahoy mates,

I intend to share my experience building the Emden. I built in in June-October 2012, and really enjoyed it. Here are some photos from its construction.


Box contents
I used Revell's original release (05039). The plastic is slightly darker in colour compared to the newer (05041) release. There is a very slight difference between the two versions. The newer version has raised bases for the forward 105 mm guns, and also engraved 52 mm gun barrels in the front and rear ends.

I use a GMM photoetch set for the Dresden class, supplemented by a Tom's Modelworks PE for the Konig class, which was originally bought to replace a missing railing section for my Markgraf. This set has various ladders, stairs, funnel railings and pulleys that are useful for other German ships of the same era.

Modifications


The skegs are too shallow; I had to cut them away from the hull and used plastic pieces, so they would stand out at a greater angle from the hull.


I asked a friend to produce resin copies of the guns used on the wings; these are used in place of the 'turrets' provided by Revell.


Funnels are given extra detailing by sanding off the cast-on railings, replacing them with spare 1/700 railings cut to size from a Dragon Arizona and Tom's Modelworks 1/350 Konig set. Pipings are made from steel guitar string.


As I lack a power sanding tool, I had to make a surgery on the decks. Here you can see where I have separated the decks to facilitate removing the cast on 'Aztec ladders' at the corners (the picture shows the bottom of the decks)


The resin guns are mated to the gun shields, which were cut from the turrets provided by Revell, and sanded thin.

Other pictures will follow tomorrow.

Cheers,

Indra

nice work so far,I really like the resin 4.1 gun turrets.looking forward to more.

Thank you Anthony!

Let's continue with the build log.

I drilled out the anchor hawse pipes and removed the moulded anchor chain.


The stairs were replaced with Tom's Modelworks PE for the Konig. They are much better than the ones provided in the GMM set, which does not have individual angled stairs.


While there are at least two wooden deck veneer options available for this kit, I decided to paint it. At any rate, not much of the deck can be seen under the boats. Note that instead of painting the skylights, I used decals I drew and printed on my computer.

Selamat Malam Indra,
welcome aboard, nice work on the Emden so far.
Cheers,
Julian

g'day Indra.
As I found and pointed out to Artwox their deck is incorrect. They said they were going to send me a replacement, corrected one but nothing has appeared so far.
Looking great Indra and welcome aboard.
Cheers
Warren

Greetings Julian and Warren.

Thanks for the welcome.

I have also contacted Artwox regarding their incorrect deck, but they did not respond.

By the way I think they have launched an improved deck for the Revell 1/350 Bismarck. Their previous version have cutouts for plastic ladders - so it seems that they should be open to suggestions.

The bow section. I used a guitar string to replace the flag staff, and a cheap imitation necklace for the anchor chain. I decided not to replace the bridge wings and use decals to simulate the windows.


Almost all railings already in place. They fit very well, with most bends located on the stanchions. Boat sides were originally very thick, I sanded the outside to reduce them to a more scale looking thickness.

Hi Indra,

Great looking build, very neat etch work

Si

Thanks Simon.

I found GMM's and Tom's photoetch pleasant to use, due to their strength and durability. I used thin CA glue to glue the railings to the deck, any excess glue can be absorbed with a sheet of tissue paper.

The final result











I replaced upper mast sections with steel guitar string, which is far more durable and closer to scale thickness compared to Revell's original plastic masts. Rigging is done with fly-tying thread, tightened using heat from a hair dryer. The jack and ensign are printed on transparent decal paper, and applied on both sides of pieces of white paper, dried, and then crumpled a bit. Pulleys for the boats are taken from Tom's Konig set.

Paints used were Tamiya Light Ghost Gray, Dark Ghost Gray, Red Brown and Gunship Gray spray cans.

My verdict of this kit: Highly recommendable, especially if you are interested in WW I/early 20th century ships. I would love to build another Dresden/Emden, in Kolonialanstricht white-yellow scheme. Unfortunately they are now rather hard to find; hopefully they will be re-released soon.

A very nice and sharp build, very well done!

Its a pleasent ship to look at, and your build makes it shine. Do you have some sort of base or stand you plan to display it on ?

Cheers/Jan

Thanks Jan. I do intend to mount it on a pedestal, but haven't done so. It is now in a display case with my SMS Markgraf, so at least it's safe.

Wow,that really came together quick,and it looks great.

perhaps my favorite ship,read Gentleman of War,a great book on her last tour

Hi Anthony,

It took me the better part of four months to finish the model. I am most definitely not a fast builder

I haven't read that particular book, but have read a couple articles about Emden's exploits. Very gentlemanly indeed.

Emden is especially interesting for me as there were very few German ships (other than Monsoon U-boats during WWII) that actually reached my part of the world.

An excellent build and as mentioned before very clean and crisp PE work,
cheers,
Julian

Indra,

I am enjoying this build by you and am working on the same kit. I do not know how to get small, dark rectangles (skylights) in Photoshop (CS6) to enable my printing them on some decal paper. I have both white and transparent decal paper and have used both successfully in the past but I'm at a loss as to how to create numerous little black rectangles with a transparent background in Photoshop (or a combination of Paint and Photoshop) so that I might print them on decal paper. Would you (If you see this post ... since I realize the thread is an old one) please shed some light on the process you used?

Mike