About time I got the other five pompoms built, so production line time.



treadplates fitted to the bases.



Trickyest bit to fold is the chutes for the empty shell cases., one complete & one flat.



First folds are the narrow ridge in the centre.



chute bases folded out, I use a pair of needle nose tweezers for this.



Finally the sides folded up, and the two done fitted.



Enough for one session. More soon.

Si

I was trying to upload some update photos and it said I am out of room. I only have 13 photos uploaded and they are in the 300K each range. What do I need to do?

Thanks,
Greg

Subscribe and you get all the space you will ever need!!

Just kidding mate. Just set up your picture program to resize the pictures to a smaller percentage of their original size. I use Irfanview and have set the batch conversion up to resize my 14Meg photos to 60% of their original size. Also make sure you use .jpg as the type of file you create. Nice and tight.

Cheers
Warren

Well, I completely forgot I had enlisted for this campaign.. and there is just 5 months to go until it is finished..
And I just started the Akagi a few hours ago! Argh! But the Akagi ain't no battlewagon. This means I will have to have a duel build going on for a bit or I will never complete a model for this campaign.

Now I just have to make a decision as too which ship to build laying in the stash. I have the Dragon Scharnhorst but it is a Battle Cruiser, not battleship which means, in my eyes at least, it don't qualify for this build.

I have twenty ships to choose from if you include the three 1/200 kits that are waiting, but I think those three are going to take a bit longer than 5 months each..

Most people seem to be building WW2 stuff so I thought I may build something a little different and do an early battle ship. This narrows it down to the following kits, all 1/350;

Trumpeter HMS Dreadnought 1907
Zvezda HMS Dreadnought (Anyone know what fitout this one is?)
Zvezda Sevastopol
ICM SMS Grosser Kurfurst, and
Hasegawa IJN Mikasa

That's all the early battleships in the stash. Anyone got any ideas about which one I should build?

Oh, and by the way, lots of excellent builds going on here.

Cheers
Warren

Hmmm I can't even edit my own message... I did of course type dual but everything seems to change it too duel...

Well I read it and didn't even notice

I haven't heard of or seen the SMS Grosser Kurfurst so I would for that for something different.

I am sure what ever you choose it will be fun watching!

Cheers
Michael

Hi Warren,

Good luck with whatever you choose.

The Zvezda Dreadnought is 1910-12 fit.

Si

Thank you for your confidence in me Michael. If you have a look on this site under 'Markgraf' you may see the Grosser Kurfurst's sister-ship I built a while ago.

Thanks for that Simon. Means I can build the Trumpeter 1907 version and this one and not have two ships the same. And seeing it is a pretty simple PE set (Pontos) I think I will give her a try.

Cheers
Warren

Warren if it's not too late I vote for the Sevastopol, I've not seen one of those built so that may be fun.

I'm enlisted in this campaign but even with 5 months it's looking unlikely, it's taken me 4 months so far to get a destroyer even close to being finished although nothing was done on it for 2 of those 4 months. We'll see as I have the Trumpy Queen Elizabeth and a pe set on order.

Hmmm.. I have the Pontos set for that one as well.. I will decide tomorrow.

Is there a way for me to see what is using up my allowed memory? I added up all my photos and they are 1.6 meg total, but it shows I am using 10 meg. Is it possible something besides photos is using up my space?

Thanks,
Greg

@Si, your DoY is looking great. I like the detail of the pompoms. If I remember correctly you said it came from the Pontos kit, is that correct? If so it is definitely pushing me to purchase the Pontos kit for the USS Yorktown (CV-10).

@Warren, looking forward to seeing whatever ship you decide to build.

everyones progress looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Good luck.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

Yes they are the Pontos pompoms, they really are very good.

Si

Finally I have started my build for this campaign, Zvezda's 1/350 scale HMS Dreadnought. For this build I will be using the Pontos Detail Set and that is about all, oh except of course glue or it won't hold together to long I shouldn't think. My glues of choice are Tamiya's Extra Thin, BSI Super Glue, extra thin and normal, Gatorglue, and probably Tamiya'a Gel type glue.

Mr Simon Heathwood constructed the Dreadnought with the same Setail set a few months ago, but I don't think I will be using the torpedo nets as I am not good enough to simulate the water thy would hang in..

OK, I have already done a little work, separated the hull halves from their sprue and drilled out the portholes in them and a few other pieces, and got the hull braces ready.

And here are some photos for you to laugh at..


First up we have the instruction sheet... 8 pages IIRC. Typical Zvezda and nice and clear.


Please forgive the dark dots in the pictures but I can't find a small enough screwdriver to take the camera apart and clean the inside of the lens. This is the main sprue in the box. Unlike the Hasegawa Akagi with 42 sprues this one has only got 6 including the hull.


There are two of the sprues on the left.


And lastly the 'interesting' stand...


I don't know if you see it clearly or not but the plastic used in the hull is not all the same colour but has different shades of grey all through it.


Here are the Pontos instructions. I am not a fan of these photo style ones and think that Eduard makes some of the best instructions for PE.


A big bag filled with smaller bags of brass, resin and chain. Brass is for numerous items including the masts and yards.. and barrels of course.


Then we have the wooden deck.



The fret in stainless steel of the torpedo nets and their fittings.


Here is the main PE fret. No etching mistakes to be seen.


And the two remaining frets in the box.

That's it for now. I have already decided I will be using the Zvezda skylights as I may run out of time if I decide to remove all the deck detail, and the deck moulding is pretty sharp anyway.

More piccies later!

Cheers
Warren

Good choice Warren!

Only 5 months to go, but I am confidant you'll make it in time!

Those Pom-Poms are looking good Si

Russ

Hi Warren,

Good luck with the Dreadnought that kit has few vices and the Pontos set is excellent, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did,

Thanks Russ,

The Pom poms are great, although folding the chutes for the spent cartridge cases is "interesting" to say the least.

Si

Wouldn't you think that someone who works as a logistics engineer by day would be able to make sure he had the right paints for a model before he started it... nooooo.. not Warren.. I do not have the right grey for the Dreadnought so it too comes to a halt until I get the right colour in a few days time. I then started applying the PE hatches but am now worried that the wooden deck may not fit over the hatches, so that plan has stopped as well..

But anyway, here are some progress piccies..


Here the two halves of the hull are being held in the vice like grip of some clamps. Not a bad fit but there will be quite a few gaps to fill.


While the hull was solidifying I decided to attack the turrets. The Pontos barrels and the pins they supply for said barrels work perfectly and there is no need for the dodgy drilling out of things to get the barrels to fit. Why can't all manufacturers do it the same way?


Then I attached the decks after removing three break (not brake) waters which will be replaced with PE items.


And here is the stern area with a little PE added..


Mmmm... golden colour..

Anyway, that's it for now.
Cheers
Warren

Nice start Warren, must admit I do like the Pontos approach to the main guns.

Be wary about adding to much etch to the deck prior to getting the wood down, may cause issues with the fit.

More work on the Pom poms.

The spent cartridge chutes are fragile if over handled.



Excuse the poor photo, but I did get the two parts to fit.



All six bases complete with their guard rails.



The remaining five bodies with the etched detail fitted.



Holes for the barrels have been drilled, and a start made on fitting them.



As far as I have got.



I did manage to break the drill bit as well

Si

Wow that's all I can say you all are doing really awesome work. all the builds in there different states look awesome.
I will not be able to start anything, I had hoped to start January 1 due to House renovations and an upcoming move most all my kits are in storage for the short term 4 up to 5 months. that said keep up the good work. awesome job all.

Sascha(Ironowl)

@Warren, your Dreadnaught looks great. Love the golden color.

@Si, the pompoms look great. I hope I have the same level of patience you have when I address the 40mm for the USS Dace.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

I must admit I will be glad to see them built now.

Si

Ahoy there me hearties!

I have not stopped building, just doing fiddly bits in the hour or two I have for modelling during the day. I am doing the fun bits associated with the torpedo net set up, booms etc. The mountings for the booms are on the ships sides and the boom holders (for when they are folded) are bent and installed.

I have also installed the hook in the base of each of the 26 booms, two short and 24 long booms in total. I am still deciphering the Pontos instructions (maybe they should be called confusions) as they are not very clear in this area.

Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren,

Do understand, took me a while to work it out, in the end found very helpful drawing in the AOTS book, which when laid alongside the "confusion" sheet cleared the waters somewhat.



hope that helps.

Si

On with the pompoms.

All the barrels in place.



Four ammunition boxes folded, sixteen more to do.



Fitting the boxes to the side frames.



two out of six ready for spraying.



Will be glad to get these finished.

Si

The last 16 ammunition boxes folded.



Finally, all 6 pompoms assembled, mounts are just rested on their bases prior to spraying.



The mounts and bases sprayed, just need detail painting.



Si