Jan

Your camo looks great. I am about to try a disruptive camo pattern for the first time on my USS Herrmann. Watching your method with great interest

Dave

Hi Jan,
Great work on the camo scheme and nice to see a lot of pictures detailing the work. I will be interested to see how it goes on the superstructure.

cheers

Michael

Russ, Biggles, Michael and Dave,

thank you very much for your comments!! That's really appreciated!!

Biggles, as far as I could find out, this waterline marking or boot line or whatever exactly it is called in english, is of a pretty substantial thickness throughout the different vessel types. For the major German ships of WW II it is pretty exactly 2 m, it looks similar for RN, and modern warships don't look that much different (even though I think it's a little less, but not sure). So I simplified it for my purpose and used the same 6 mm (or the odd 5.9 mm) tape for all my model so far, and at least for the bigger ones (cruisers and above) I plan on sticking to that. For DD's I will decide when I build my first one sometime...but maybe even there. That will depend on the overall impression.

Dave, best of luck for your USS Herrmann. I am watching your log as well! Should you have any questions, I'll do my best to help!

Michael, yes, the superstructure is more complicated and complex than the hull. But this type of camouflage is easier to do than stripes and straight lines...I hope...

Cheers and thanks for looking and commenting!!

Great work on the camouflage Jan,

Coming on really well.

Cheers

Si

Thank you Si for your kind comment, that's really appreciated!

Looking forward to the start of the cruisers campaign next weekend!!

Cheers,

Jan

So am I Jan,

I have got the Scharnhorst down from the loft, and will open a new thread on Friday evening UK Time.

Cheers

Si

Sounds great, Si! Looking forward to your Scharnhorst!!

I should be in a position to finish my Belfast during the time of the campaign - should I, against all expectations, find more time for the workbench or just get along lots faster than anticipated, I'll start another cruiser. Quite a few left in the stash...

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Jan,

The Belfast is very welcome, the campaign page is now open.

Cheers

Si

Well, I was hoping for this weekend to be much more productive - but a combination of fine weather outside and some other commitments shortened my time at the workbench considerably. Rain is much better for the shipyard...

Anyway, small progress achieved - some touch ups done to the camouflage, no pictures here. I will have more pictures once this is finished.

Most time was put into the development of the motorized twin Oerlikons.

Todd inspired me for that with his HMS Roberts build some time back, and I did copy most of his approach with a few alterations. Now this is a prototype, I may choose to do some changes before building all five required.

Here's the starting point:



Interesting to see the same two kit parts being molded differently - on each sprue one comes out much crisper than the other. Now there are four of each, so I have to mix them anyway...

Basically using the Master's Oerlikons here, without their gun sighs and shoulder parts. I used a part of a WEM PomPom (as Russ pointed out, they are a little off scale, so I use them as spares for all kind of work) as mounting for the guns. I glued both guns together before installing them, so they are aligned. Well, kind of... But with some practice, it should be all right with the next ones to come....







Another WEM PomPom Part as gun layers seat and one of the not used gun sights, just to add a little detailing. The barrels are not glued in place, so somewhat misaligned. I have enough material to produce six or seven, so this one is probably not making it on the Belfast - but what do you think in general?







I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but this is really on the edge of what my camera is capable of...those Oerlikons are quite tiny...

For now,

Cheers and thanks for looking!

Hi Jan,

I reckon those twin power operated Mk 5s are a vast improvement over the kit parts.

Look good enough to use to me.

Cheers.

Si

Jan, you're attention to detail on the smaller armament is once again, outstanding.

Looking good!

Jan,

Great work. Those twin 20mm are pretty cool and you skill with them is outstanding. Can't wait to see more

Dave

Dave, Russ and Si,

thank you very much for your kind comments thats really appreciated.

Well, sadly there's not much to report for the BELFAST, partly due to other (non-modeling) commitments, to fair weather or just without any good excuse...

Did a first attempt to my Oerlikon business, but I think it was not my day - just got one of those...



Here some barrels prior to painting



and a test fitting of the superstructure, mainly to work out the right colors for the guns...





Not much of an update, more to say that I'm still alive...

Cheers and thanks for looking,

Jan

I know that feeling, Jan. good to see you're still making progress even though real life does demand attention at times

Russ

All right then at least a little bit to show...

And thank you Russ for your encouragement!

A few things coming together here lately - not all negative but not overly helpful for shipyard progress Nice weather makes you want to sit outside, and when you start modeling and some sweat runs under the magnifier glasses, well, at least I was tempted to take it easy and sit on the balcony with a nice cold beer...
London was a blast, but only got a quick look at the Belfast from a river boat. Busy schedule, including the GBBF at Olympia (Great British Beer Festival). Pretty hard -times.

Last but not least I am a little stalled with the twin Oerlikons. I did some modifications, and I think now generally that's the way:



Used some of the WEM PE for the gun sights, I think it looks better and this way I can produce five equal ones - the plastic part is completely stripped down to it's basic form, so no worries about better and worse parts.

Here is the earlier (left) and modified (right) version:





But then again the gun barrels wouldn't align as I want them to...I will try to glue the two Master Oerlikon single gun bases on a additional support plate, let's see, maybe that does the job.





Some more small stuff -I forgot the doors here:



though that was still an easy fix:



As mentioned in the campaign page, 'propulsion' added:









Props and shafts are nicely aligned, so I am happy with that - good Belfast should be steady on course

Finally I gave the entire hull a good coat of clear gloss to protect it and to provide a surface for the wooden deck to stick to later on. The gloss coat makes most of the touch ups disappear, what is still visible will disappear when the matt varnish will come on in the end - but there's some way to go...

For now,

Cheers,

and I hope I can report more progress after the next weekend!

Looking great Jan,

The 20mm Mk Vs are a great improvement on the kit parts, and looking good with the props in.

Cheers.

Si

looks like you're having as much fun with those Oerlikons, as I am having with my pom poms, Jan

Thank you very much, Si and Russ!!

Well yes, I did have some problems with those twin Oerlikons, they simply would not turn out as I wanted them to, but after several alterations I am finally happy

So here's the final edition:

the added 'base plate' which was made from a part of the Master's Oerlikon shield serves well. Since this twin guns need the frames of 10 single Oerlikons, and two sets were lost during my trial and error, I used up 14 sets of the single frames, now leaving me with shields, sights, mounts... to cannibalize.
The seats are made from a cut shield, too.
The 'mechanism' between the kit's plastic and my 'base plate' is a part cut from the WEM's PomPom railing and bent into a kind of a spring - this actually allows to adjust the elevation of the barrels

Now finally - even if not perfect - the barrels are sufficiently aligned.











And that being said, start the production line...





All the mentioned individual parts:



And finally all five guns - the barrels are not glued yet, they will be removed and painted individually.





A little comparison for size - this is metric, so cm and not inches



Normally I should continue with the single Oerlikons, straight from the Master's set. Only I am not sure if I am up to that yet...

For now,
Cheers,

Jan

Pretty close to perfect as far as I can tell, Jan!

Great job, and I can't say I'd blame you if you take a break from doing the singles for a little while

Russ,

thank you very much, mate!!

Eventually I found some time and managed to achieve some progress on my Belfast, after almost stalling for a few weeks.
Finally, all the 20 mm Oerlikons - single and double - are finished

Let's start with something basic, I painted and modified the stand so that it will serve me at least during construction without doing harm the the paint.

Some basic insulation foam tape does a good job for this:









But let's talk about more interesting stuff, all the Oerlikon business.

I found some motivation and continued with the single Oerlikons, straight from the Master's kit. Four needed. I am not going into detail here - I did a lengthy presentation on how I do them in my HMS REPULSE build log, and this time I basically followed my own instruction

So here's the total output after painting, barrels and guns still separated:



A single in the darker 507 a:



and a double:



One of those double needs to be painted in two colors, light 507 c on starbord, and dark 507 a on port side - it will find it's place on top of B turret:



All of them, with their barrels (painted black) glued in place. I wouldn't go to war with them, they might still have some accuracy issues but to the naked eye they look good



Some impressions of individual guns - macro lens is pretty unforgiving, but I am happy, once installed the small inaccuracies will be pretty hard to recognize:





















To get some relief from the fiddly parts, I decided to start with the wooden deck, I use the Artwox deck.
First impression is just great - not only it is an almost perfect fit (some small issues not worth mentioning, and even they can very well be self-inflicted, the after deck is just a fraction of a degree 'leaning' to port...almost invisible as is and will be totally concealed once the superstructure is on.
The laser cutting is really great - you can take the deck easily of the protective foil, all the cut out parts remain there. I remember my first wooden deck, where I had to cut out almost all parts with my knife....



Good fit:





And finally some more work on the forward superstructure, some surfacer / putty needed and needs to cure before I can go on. So that's where I am, superstructure only dry fitted, of course.





So much for today, thanks for stopping by and looking!!

For now,

cheers,

Jan

Great progress Jan,

The twin 20mm MkVs are very effective, if you don't mind I will be pinching the idea (well having a go at it) when I get round to my Belfast.

The deck looks great down too.

Cheers

Si

Jan,

Your Belfast is coming along great. All the AA guns are well done and look the part. I am going to be using your 2020mm method soon on the Herrmann

Dave

Wow Jan....Beautifully done so far!!

She is coming up beautifully Jan. You should be very happy.....Cheers mark

Your Belfast is looking great, Jan! Years ago I blew an opportunity to tour the ship while I was in London on my honeymoon - had to keep the new wife happy...



Anyway, your model is inspiring! I plan to do the 1/600 Airfix version one day. Keep up the good work!