Jan,

Nice work on those funnels, those spider legs PE can be a real challenge to fit correctly.

Mark

Mark and Russ,

thank you very much for your kind comments!!

And here is another update, not as much as I was hoping for, but I'm getting back into the build.

Sprayed the funnels, and test fitted:







A whole bunch of cable reels and some carley floats ready for spraying. I decided to omit the brass 'netting', but later to put some short oar into them, so there will not much to be seen of the nets.





Work on the superstructure that's underneath the aft funnel. PE ladders and doors installed, and North Star winches. Starts to look business...







Finally some color on. Not ready jet, but getting in the right direction...





So much for now, and sadly, the next break is coming up, I will be rather busy with real life things over the coming weeks...I will see what I can squeeze in, but I can't promise much.

As always, thanks for looking in, comments and particularly your patience with this slow glacier...

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan,

I know what you mean about busy, next few weeks will cut down my rate of posting.

Great work, the funnels look good, and the etch work is very tidy indeed. Great job mate.

Cheers

Si

Great to see you get a bit of bench time in Jan!

All these tiny details even now hint at an eye catching model!

Looking forward to seeing your next update mate, even though it will be some time off!

We'll be here and waiting!

Hi all!!

I'm still alive I can't believe my last entry here dates March 4, so seven weeks ago... I remarked then that I would be rather busy over the next weeks, and I was (sadly not with modeling), but that it would be seven weeks...

But here we go, and I even had a rather productive weekend.

I continued work on the funnels and their bases:









Cable reels I had done earlier





The funnel in place



This compact part of superstructure allows to do the rigging before bringing it on board the ship, that's making it a lot easier. I am using Si's copper wire method that I have come to like.











That was not possible for the forward funnel, but it worked here, as well. Forward funnel installed and rigging in progress.





And finally, aft funnel installed, too. So that's where I stand, the glacier started to move again...









Now I will have a look around at all your fine work and try to catch up with what's going on on MSW - please forgive me if I'm slow in commenting or miss out on some threads...but I should be back more frequently now...

Thank you and cheers,

Jan

Nice to see you back with an update Jan.

Funnel rigging looks very good, good to see them both funnels in place.

The level of detail you are achieving is excellent, really adds depth to old girl.

Cheers

Si

Hi Si!

That you very much for your kind comment and great to see that you're still with me after this long silence...

One thing I forgot to mention in my update, the carley floats - I decided to go mainly with the kit's parts, without replacing the net by etch. The parts don't actually look all the bad, and the idea is to paint the 'nets' dirty brown with a hairy stick and add oars, so that will be well concealed.

Cheers,
Jan

Wow, Jan, these latest pictures show that your under-the-paint detailing is really starting to pay off!

Jan,

Awesome work you gotten done in the past seven weeks.

The copper wire for the funnels is something I never seen before, but I really like it. Is there a link for demo on how it is done? This is something I am going to have to give a try at.

Again very nice work with the superstructure, she is really taking shape.

Mark

Great to see you got some time at the bench Jan!

and time well spent it was too mate!

I like the look of that and I have this kit in my stash. What is this method?

Dear all,

thank you so much for still looking in and your kind comments, that's most appreciated!!

Si's copperwire - producing rigging material for those who don't manage to do it from stretched sprue like myself! Si (RedDuster) brought it up here, simpel very thin copper wire straightened under a ruler or the like and cut into length. Si, maybe you are better to give a quick explanation or a link to one of your build logs?? Works great!

So a long weekend, and I managed about two hours in the workshop. Had visitors over the weekend, barbecue, beer and all of that...sad real life issues ;-)

Quick update, spraying some NorthStar bridge equipment and anchor winches (from Shapeways):





And building one singe 44" searchlight from NortsStar - rather fiddly...but looks nice.









That alone took about all the bench time I could squeeze in...here test-fitted on board:



And that's it for today. Underway the next days, next update should be better, but probably two weeks away.

Thanks for looking in and cheers,

Jan

Very nice work indeed Jan.

The North star searchlight certainly looks worth the effort & hard work.

Great to see a bit more progress.

Cheers

Si

good to see you're getting some time back at the bench mate

Hi all!

All right, here comes an update - after quite some hiatus, as Si says at his Warspite build. Here quite the same. At the same time, please apologise for not commenting on all your great builds and build logs - I have to catch up some time soon.

With my HMS Hood, somehow over the last couple of weeks, I failed to get "in the zone" (another quote from Si), and that might be at least partly due to all the small stuff I'm working on. However, I have the feeling that, would I allow myself now to start with i.e. the big guns, I would neglect the myriad of small stuff I still have to do.

The 44" searchlights from NorthStar were not helpful - excellent pieces they are, but pretty fiddly to build.

So here's some progress.

Removed the kits parts of the anchor windlasses:



and new ones in place.





I tried to glue some oars on top of those Carley floats, but there are now fitting ones. I cut some to fit, but I don't like the look of it, simply odd. I removed that again, no oars on the floats....



More small stuff underway....









And 44" searchlights. At build no. four I came up with a way to properly joining those "crossbars" in fron of the lens. Fixing one part in a PE bending tool, then adding the second part.





Searchlight impressions. I think I'm getting better with the later ones.













Well, still time to improve - somehow I was certain I would have to do four - when I finished No four, I put them back into the box, only to see that I need six. Oh well....

So, finally, four searchlights in place (two more to come).







Finally, I put some bridge equipment in place - pure fantasy and for effect of looking busy. I´d feel those parts could make some sense as I installed them, but honestly, I did not make any reality checks, I just think it looks nice and busy. I hope you let me get away with that...













So that's it for today!

Thank you once more for your patience, thank you for following and all comments, which I really appreciate. They help staying on the topic!

Cheers,
Jan

Lots of PE for those searchlights but they do make them look mighty fine. Nice work.

Mark

Yes, we'll let you get away with that

It's just good to see you still working on the Hood mate!

Hi Jan,

great to see some progress. The compass platform looks nice and busy. The searchlights look great too.

The old girl really is coming on.
keep up the good work mate.

Cheers

Si

Ditto to all those comments Jan. The detail looks to be worth the effort. I have built some of those NorthStar searchlights and sometimes there can be just too much etch I think.

cheers
Michael

Hi Jan,

When it comes down to it, it's your model and you can do what makes you feel good. I like what you did. Keep up the great work.

Cheers

Gentlemen,

thank you very much for still following and, even more for your kind and encouraging comments!! That's quite some motivation to help me over times where the build is really slow!!

Thank you again, most appreciated!!

Cheers,
Jan

And another month gone - where is the time? And why is there so little time for modeling these months for me??

Anyway, yes, here's a little more progress.

First I finished the two missing 44" searchlights. And then I started working on a myriad of small and tiny stuff that somehow was a little repelling to me - all kinds of vents and the like, that clutter HMS Hood's upper decks.





Even simple parts, all of them had to be cleaned up carefully.
Than they needed to find the right places. I admit that at that point I just followed the Trumpi instructions - all those holes are in the wooden deck anyway and would have to be taken care of in case they are wrong. And somehow I simply wanted to get the small stuff installed to get some visible progress.
So here it is:













Finally an overview of where I am at - considering that quite some small stuff is ready and waiting in various boxes (like 4" AA, all the boats, the PomPoms, the .5" quads) this is not too bad. I just need time and motivation for the final push...





We will see when that eventually happens....

For the time being, thank you all for still following along, and thank you for each and any comment!

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

Nice progress with your Hood. Those little pieces are a pain to prep, but they sure add to the looks of the ship when they are install and weathered.

Mark

Hi Mark,

thanks for your kind comment, and you are absolutely correct here! And they are painful to prep, oh yes...

Cheers,
Jan

Yes! I feel your pain Jan! So little time-so many models!




It's great to see you get a bit of time at the bench even though there's not been much opportunity the last few months. All these small details will pay off soon though as you start adding them to the ship





Looking good here and progress is ready and waiting to be shipped!





Don't give up! Soon you will be at commissioning! Anyone who finishes Hood deserves a few as it really is a monumental effort to build her!

Always a pleasure to see an update and cheer you on mate!