Found a misstake in the Vospar build from Italeri. Step 15- if you keep the door open for the engine room you must reverse the door upside down and shave off the hinges. The way Italeri has them open is wrong. The slates in the door would be facing the wrong way. When open, they should be facing upwards to be correct. Just look at any louver door or shutters on a house and you will see what I am saying. You should reverse parts 20E and 19E,then you can attatch them facing out with the door knob facing out. I scribed open the slates on mine and just before attaching them I saw it. I will have to scratch some new hinges but it looks so much better and having the slates sitting correctly makes a big differance. The engine room is done and painted. Now that it is done, you can't see much but there is something there that resembles the engine room. Will try to get pic's soon through my I.T. support friend Al aka taffy 3 . bob d.

There have been some great builds here, and a great campaign! However, all good things and all that. The end date is March 1, 2014 and that's only about two weeks away. So if you're still working on your model, time to put it in high gear!

Michael

progress of my entry, 1/35 Italeri S-100, started to paint the hull.

Time for an build update. I hop I can finish on time. This is my first PE detailed model. Handling the small part sis proving to be a challenge.The completed model will not be as LapMan,s I think he is more experienced than I am. Here are some photos.
Skull Cap with PE Shields

Wheelhouse, together but need paint touchup
The three guns partially done

A shot of the bow and part of the the main deck

Mid deck with some PE parts attached

Aft Deck showing more items. Paint is from a rattle can. I don't have an Air brush yet, that will be my next purchase.
I hope it turns out better than it looks.

You're doing fine Darrell, keep up the great work!

Michael

Greetings!

I realize this Campaign will be ending VERY soon, but I would like to throw my hat into the ring! I've been trying to re-gain my desire to build again and now some time has become available. This just might do the trick for me!

I've been following along for a while and am very impressed by Keith's dazzle camo, Warren's Vosper, Simon's dutifully busy MTBs, and Don's 1/700 (yikes!) WEM gem!

Honestly, all of the builds are beyond my abilities, so I've learned a bit from all of the entries.

I originally was going to scratch build one of the USS Maine's TBs or build Mirage's 1/350 ORP Podhalanin. However, Gary Kato's "wish" for a Higgins Boat in the build kept nagging away at me. I searched my stash and, Lo' and Behold(!), there it sat, lost and lonely in the very back of a file drawer; JAG's 1/350 78' Higgins Boats!!



I've learned over the last few nights that there were so many different armament configurations to these boats. The JAG kit seems to be a mid-War fit, as it carries the Mk XIII roll-off torpedo rather than earlier tube launchers. Also, the included radar indicates a mid-War fit, too.

I'm trying to decide which boat to build. Just by leaving the 2 aft torpedoes off, the number of possible boats goes way up.

Should I go with a Mediterranean boat or "go green" with a Pacific variant?? I'm not sure yet.

I'll decide by tonight, then get my fumble fingers and worn out Mk I eyeballs to work!

Thanks to all,

Daniel

Some nice builds going on guys. I finally finihed the engine room and hope to finish my motor mac and paint him up by this weekend. Still waiting for 2 of the broken parts from Italeri but will continue without them at this point. I added a bracket in the engine room that holds 2 mini lamps and provides enough light so you can see the work there. Took a bit of thinking to come up with the set up. My Vosper will go on a base in England just pulling away from the dock. That will not be ready in time for the end date but the boat will be unless I have a tornado hit my house. lol. Yesterday I painted the black boot and when it had dryed I noticed it was too high on the bow. That didn't sit well with me, but I noticed in some of the reff. pic's I have that some boats were painted that way. Some times you just get lucky. I figure I can screw down the deck and use thick tacky glue for the deck ventillators so when the bulbs need to be changed out I can do it with minimun hassles. So with that figured out I will do a marathon build this weekend and get all the sub assemblys done and painted up. I see the Royal Navy accepting her by the end on time. Some extras will have to wait till later such as the crew, the tube bracket with splinter shied for the forward 20 m.m., which I started awhile ago. The base ring was attatched last night and I have to add bolts with washers tonight. As a P.T. boat, it will be done in time, just some of the extras to be done at a latter date. I even added the engine gauge pannels for the 2 forward engines the day before. So I really have to crash start my engines and get her done. Off to the assembly area.

Well, there is onlt 3 days left. I unfortunatly will not be able to finish up in time. After waiting 6 months for Italeri to send the parts, and waiting for the P-40 engines to arrive, and adding mini lights for the engine compartment, I just don't have time to finish puting subassemblies together and get her painted and rigged. So with a sad heart I must depart from this campaign also. I tried to catch up but it was just too much in too short a time to do justice to the Vosper. As we all know, when we rush to finish in time it leds to a sloppy job, and I wont do that. I will continue to get her done and will post pic's when she is complete. It was a fun run with all of you and gave it my best shot, but it is not meant to be. Any way, the best to all who tried and those that did get done, Thanks for the encouragement Michael and everyone else. bob d.

My Fairmile is alive! Plenty of work (home and outside) and some problems with bubbles et al; a missing steering wheel, just in time to be glued, a broken and missing vent cowl...
But primed tonight (not showing on pics) and ready for the painting (I hope!)
A little like a NASA coutdown, it seems...

Regards
Javier

There have been a lot of beautiful builds going on here!

I understand this campaign is coming to a rapid closing. If you feel that you need more time for your build(s), please let me know either here or through PM.

Keep up the great work everyone!

JH.

If it is not to much to ask to you and the group, May I have 48 hours more? I'm almost done, but this babe is very delicate and I don't want to spoil something?...


Many thanks and regards (It seems the Sun returns to Madrid...)
Javier

Jeremy and Michael,

I could use an extension, too. I can't believe I have to wait to paint due to RAIN in Southern Calif. in the middle of one our worst droughts on RECORD!

Here's the point I've reached with my Higgins 78-footer:













I've added:
4 small vents around the pilot house and 1 behind it
a steering wheel
chart house door
whip antenna
guide rails for the twin .50 cals
bow tie down rails
bow and aft jackstaff (is that the proper term?)
guide rails for the 40mm
hand rails around the pilot house and tubs
an electrical box
a small mat for the "Lt." to stand on while driving
opened the entrance to the bottoms of the .50 cal tubs
a cradle for the mast (when lowered)
a capstan on the foredeck
a hatch just abaft the stbd .50 cal tub
2 posts for the single .50s
lowered the aft 2 vents
added a hatch just in front of the aft RS locker
a horn (?) on the pilothouse
scratched the radar mast
scratched the life raft
scratched the anchor
scratched rope coils
railing for the 40mm
sights on the 40mm
2 recoil devices (?) below the 40mm barrel
casing discharge (?) at the bottom of the 40mm baseplate
a new 40mm barrel
scratched 2 Twin .50 cals
scratched 2 single .50 cals

I still have to add the torps, torp release handles, a 37mm canon, a 20mm canon, raft supplies and oars, mast rigging, and possibliy rigging from the bow to the charthouse. I THINK that will just about cover it!

I can't finish until I paint (I've decided to "go green" with her). I COULD brush paint, but the details are so small I'm afraid they will either break or get buried by heavy coats. I think I need to wait so I can airbrush her. After that, the parts should all go together quickly. I'm planning on putting her in a sea-base, which is why I didn't touch the props, rudders, or exhaust ports.

Anyhow, I've learned a LOT from this "overnight" build! I can now tell the difference between the Higgins and Elco boats quite easily, and I learned a lot about Higgins himself, too, which was a very interesting discovery!

I'll post Completed pics as soon as I can! I need to get on to the Enterprise Campaign, where I'm trying to scratch-build (for the first time) the 1800's Enterprise during her encounter with the Tripoli corsairs.

Best wishes,

Daniel

Hey Jeremy and Michael, I don't think it would be appropiate nor fair for an extention for me as I would need at least a month to finish the Vosper up. Just too much work to do yet to make her a worthy replica to those who crewed them. It has be rough here, besides the wait for the parts and engines, my pain pills which zone me out at times but the wifes back went out on her 3 days ago so I have double duty on top of taking care of the daily stuff to keep her going and the house. I do appriciate the offer but really don't think it would be fair to those who completed on time. Thanks very much any way. But just to let you know, she wont go into mothballed status, I will keep going at my pace and will post pic's as I go because I really want to finish her up. I want to get to the 109 and it's feild mods. The Vosper was a pretty simple kit to get my feet wet for the 109, but turned into a pissing match with Italeri and then like a dummy, opening up 2 hatches and doing the interiors off them is making a beast of a job. bob d.

Hi Bob,

I'm very sorry too hear about your troubles. Life can be difficult at times. Modeling doesn't come close to the importance of family! Take care of your wife and yourself first, and keep plugging away at modeling as long as it doesn't add to your stress!

I'm looking forward to seeing your completed build. I don't know if there will be an extension, but if ANYONE deserves one, it's you!

Best wishes to you and yours!

Daniel Chavez

I need an extension too, a ten days extend will be great.

Howdy Y'all
@Jeremy-I could use a few more days.
@Daniel-My goodness, what a great job. I love it.
Take Care,
Don "Lakota"

Here is my build. Not the prettiest but not bad. I found the PE work very finicky. I need more experience with it to be able to use all the pieces, especially the small parts.





Maybe i should have used the Griffin Photoetch kit rather than the Eduard kit.

Jeremy,

I certainly don't have any objection to a couple of weeks extension. There are too many great builds too close to completion!

Michael

Sounds good Michael, how does three weeks sound to everyone?

Sounds great Jeremy, thank you!

OK everyone, you heard the man, let's wind those things up!

Michael

That's a respite. I still hope to finish the boat tomorrow, but that will enable a decent cradle (not to rock it, of course, or maybe yes, given the subject and the weather we have lately...)


Regards
Javier

Can I make more mods to my E-Boat since the campaign has been extended? I see some improvements I can make.

Absolutely Darrell, make her shine!

Hey Jeremy, Michael. A few weeks? I'll give it my best shot. If I can do a few hours each day, I might get her done. Back in the game!