Cheers mate

5th August update

Well, it seems that with the northern hemisphere summer, MSW is very quiet, so it looks like its up to us antipodeans in the southern hemisphere to fill the void

And since it's winter here, why not!

Today I was able to finish shipping all the boats which have now been dressed up in all their PE finery, along with the cranes and the remaining directors... onto the pics.






the main guns are now permanently mounted too










I've also started painting the Arado ar 196... The underside I sprayed, but I'm resorting to the hairy stick for the topside. Fingers crossed! The first coat of Shwarzgrun is on, but will need another application.




So, from a very cold Melbourne, it's goodnight for now.

Thanks again for looking. This glacier's nearly been chased down, and with one more set of items left to assemble for painting, commissioning is now a reality.

Sweet looking ship. Really nice clean work you did with her. What color is the superstructure? It looks like sand or is it just the lighting?

Amazing work! Kudos.

It looks fantastic Russ. Well worth the wait...for us
I have one thought. Did you think of winding any thing around the reels to give them a hose effect?

cheers
Michael

Hi Mark

Thank you

The superstructure is Hellgrau 50 from Sovereign Hobbies The Lighting I'm using at my desk is fairly orange, giving it the appearance of sand or dust.

Once I complete the Prinz I'll take some proper pics in a light box




Thank you Michael (165thspc)




Thank you Michael (Cosimodo)

hehe, yer, this glacier is sure being difficult to catch

hmmm, hose reels: nope, can't say it occurred to me at all. Too late now Oh well, next time

Russell,
Really ;looking like a Warship now!

Great stuff!

Gaz

Cheers mate!

Very much like a warship now not much more to do. Hope to finish the Arado this week-and the rest not far beyond that.

That "little red box" campaign is beckoning

HI Russell

Just looking in on how you are doing and it is great to see you are nearly ready for the commissioning ceremony
Great work as always

Keith

Wow - beautiful work, Mate!!!
She's looking absolutely stunning, crisp and clean work, overcoming all the smaller and bigger annoyances of the original kit! All your work and effort you spent now definitely pays off, just beautiful!

Looking forward to commissioning, now it seems you can really talk about commissioning being in sight!!

Great work, Russ!

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Keith

great to see you back here on MSW!




Thank you very much Jan!

Yes, it seems like commissioning has been close before, but never this close... fingers crossed hey?

And on another note

For Graf Spee fans/DKM fans, there's some news on his Bow Eagle here

15th August update

Arado Ar 196 completed and shipped!

Russell,

All I can say is WOW!! Amazing work.

Dave

Excellent detail for 1/350 scale plane!

cheers
Michael

Thanks guys!

Appreciate the kind words...

Well, true to form the kit continues to fight me on all levels- the PE mast platforms holes are not the correct size needed to fit the kit and need opening up... not the easiest of tasks.

Lookin good, Russell.

Can not seem to get to much done on mine.

Such is life.

great work

Thanks Harry

I only have 3 words for anyone contemplating this kit: Back. Away. Slowly




Thanks Robinson

Hi Russ,

that really IS a pretty cool AR 196!! As everybody says, amazing detail for the scale, really an eye-catcher on your beautiful Prinz!!

Cheers Mate,
Jan

Lovely work Russell, your almost there.

Quick question, on the lifeboats, did you make your own oars or are they PE?

I have to go with just a WOW at the moment! LOL he's looking incredible Russ! Excellent work on the wee-wingy thing!

Cheers mate either this glacier's slowing down, or I'm speeding up




Thank you Harry the oars are from the White Ensign models photo etch set for the Prinz.



Thanks Todd I do like a good wing thingy and wouldn't mind if Airfix were to produce a lovely new 1/72 kit of the Ar196 to add to my stash

30th August update

Hi folks! Well this is the last set of components needing building/prepping for paint.

I bought the Northstar paravane set to replace the WEM set, because, as mentioned earlier, the WEM only provides enough for 4 paravanes, yet the Prinz had 8.

These really tested my limits in terms of PE construction, and, lets just say, that one shouldn't look too closely

Here you can see a paravane, together with the rack provided in the WEM set. The WEM set provides hoops to locate the paravanes, problem is, the paravanes don't fit. So they were promptly cut off!


I used the Northstar supports and glued them to the WEM racks, then after lots of colourful langauge managed to mount the paravanes


and prepped for attachedment to the forward part of the shelter deck

next up I prepped the props!

The standard kit part looks pretty clunky

so I took to it with a file and some sand paper-better methinks

Onto the masts. Now, I usually replace the kit masts with brass replacements, and the Prinz is no different.

Dave Foster (Rolltide31) was kind enough to send me a complete set of Master Models tapered masts and yard arms! Thanks Dave! You can find his online store here



You can see the main mast here and its original kit part. The lower portion of the mast was turned up on a lathe and the upper portion is from the Master Model tapered mast set. The two parts are soldered together.

Other parts, like the flagstaff

and last, but not least the mast platforms folded up and brass rods added for extra strength and 3d effect



Well, that's all for now, it's off to the paint shop with this stuff. Hope to have something more to show next week.

Thanks for looking

Looking great Russell!! Love the build so far!

Mike

Nice turnings on the lathe, Russell

Now, I know who to call when I need some mast work done.