Sounds good Mike,

Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

Cheers

Si

First I have to take some pictures. Unfortunately the changes are very slight and not very noticeable. Door here, hatch there. Incorrectly placed stairs somewhere. That kind of stuff. Speaking of the staircase... I had placed one on the starboard side of the aft superstructure based on a few deck plans I have. I used a profile plan of the starboard side and 1 or 2 pictures to guide me. Unfortunately I didn't check the rest of the plans to further guide placement. Turns out that I need to take off the ladder and do a little scratch building to make a platform for this ladder. The ladder isn't directly attached to the wall of the structure but instead attached to this platform and ends on the deck adjacent to the aft starboard 40mm quad Bofors tub. It shouldn't be too hard to scratch the platform but getting everything lined up correctly might be a challenge. I don't have the tub attached in preparation for further modifications and priming. There's no detail for this platform location on the kit parts unfortunately.

Things seem to be moving quickly on the San Francisco for me now. Here is where I am now, having fun messing around with the seascape and the weathering. Just about where I want to be here then it will be on to the rigging which appears daunting. I have three types of black thread but I see now that I should have replaced the masts with brass rod for strength; something for next time I guess.
Cheers,
Rick

Nice seascape Rick,

Coming really well, have fun with the rigging, I use copper wire that way I am not putting masts and yard arms under tension, and it is very good at capturing the gentle sag of long aerial runs.

Cheers

Si

Rick,

your water looks really fine, very realistic and certainly adds life to the model!!

I know what you are thinking about the rigging. Always the same for me. I know Si is an expert with copper wire and it always looks stunning when he does it, however, it never worked for me. I am using EZ Line, it doesn't look as realistic, but it is easier to handle...

Now here comes the update to Belfast, all the superstructure is still dry fitted and only installed for effect, there's quite some work ahed of me. But I did make some progress in the midships area:









And the 4" twins are under construction, barrels from Master and some WEM added:





Thanks god only four to go...



Main things still to do - all small boats, the masts and rigging, major parts of the railing, the cranes, the main guns, and finishing the 4"ers. And touch ups, clear coat etc... Well, not too bad...

Cheers,
Jan

Nice job on the 4" Jan.

Have an update the Scharnhorst, hope to get it posted over the next day or two.

Si

Jan and Si,
The Belfast is looking superb! Si, I checked out your Borodino build, wow! I have some fly tying thread that I think I will use for the rigging but I am going for the copper wire on my next build.
Cheers,
Rick

Thanks Rick,

The Borodino was fun, one way and another. Fly tying thread sounds a good idea too, will watch your progress on that with interest (In case it turns out to be a better idea than copper wire).

Cheers.

Si

Finally some more progress.

The single and quad 20mm under way, being built up on the sprue.



The plastic parts of the singles together.



The five quad mounts with the etch, ready for spraying.



Quad on top of the fwd 5.9" turret.



Singles, binocular mounts and radar on the foretop.



singles and quad on the funnel platform.



Quads on the platform alongside the hanger.



The singles on the quarter deck.



Cheers.

Si

Looking great, Si!

Thanks Russ,

Topmasts rigging and railings and a few minor details to go.

Cheers.

Si

Rick - nice job on your seascape. I have a couple that I need to put together myself so I am looking at your example closely. Very nice work.

Si, the Scharnhorst is coming along nicely. I do not envy you all of the small caliber AA guns but I am watching closely. Glad you were able to maintain your sanity.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

The way I stopped the light AA being too much a strain on what's left of my fragile sanity was to do it in stages, and not do too much in one go, hence I did the 37mm, then took a break for the big guns before tackling the 20mm.

Cheers

Si

Si,

great job and very nice progress - almost there!! Your Scharnhorst looks fantastic with the increasing amount of details on!! The light AA look incredible fiddly

It's slaws a good feeling he realize that the sprues are almost empty...good sign!
The way you're doing it with the small weapons is pretty much my approach - generally speaking, to keep your sanity That's why at some point I started with some small stuff very early on in the build, set it aside, do some bigger parts and more tiny things...

Looking forward to your commissioning sometime soon - it's clearly coming within reach!!

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Jan,

Yes she is getting there. still a few bits and pieces to go.

It is always good to break up the repetitive bits, keeps interest in big projects as well.

Hope to get a bit further this weekend.

Si

Great work everyone, I especially like the detail on the AA and planes in 1/350th. Maybe someday, I'll join you guys in the "Big" leagues.

For now, I'm getting very frustrated with the paint job on my San Diego, and decided that it's good enough for now. I'm going to build the rest of it up, and touch up paint at the very end.

I am looking forward to my next ship model, and using the masking and spraying lesson I've learned here.

Have a great weekend everyone

Steve

Hi Steve,

your San Diego looks fine! Good to see that you did continue with your deck, you are building this one into a fine model!

And for your next ship - don't set your expectations too high! The entire hobby - at least for me - is about learning and trying not to repeat errors on the next build. And whenever I manage to avoid some mistakes, I am very well able to invent new ones... but that's part of the hobby!

Nice job! You should be happy - and at the same time, you will / should never be entirely happy

Cheers,
Jan

I've recently been having some trouble with the progress and detailing. I've reached out to somebody to try to help me with it. So hopefully I'll be able to get going again.... Sometime.

Looking good Steve,

Good luck in sorting your troubles Mike, hope to see some progress soon.

Si

Before it all becomes all too quiet, here is a micro update

Well, not that micro after all, since it took me a few hours, but not much to show: production line for the 4"-ers continued and ready with the six guns, but not painted yet.





And finally, after about two busy weeks away from the workbench, I am looking forward to some shipyard time during the upcoming weekend. So I should have a more extensive update ready by Sunday or Monday

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan,

4" looking good. Nice amount of detail going there.

Cheers

Si

That San Francisco looks fantastic.

Jan,

very impressive work on the 4" ers.The PE work and detail really make them pop.

Dave

Really nice work everybody!

Hi all,

some work done on my Belfast:

4" painted





And some work on the ship's boats, almost finished the boats. Almost...final assembly and some touch ups still to be done.















The longer story as always on my Belfast build log.

Cheers,

Jan