nice steady progress there, Jan

I feel your pain with all the seams that need filling and sanding, but it will all be worth it in the end

Ahoy Jan

Nice update indeed.

Looks like you have plenty of sanding and filling to do.

Cheers


Sean

Hi Jan,

I do understand what you mean about real life, not been in the workahop for nearly a month.

The forward superstructure is coming on really nicely, and the 4" are looking good.

Keep up the good work mate.

Si

WOW!

Jan, I just got caught up with this build. Its really just a pleasure to watch. The decks and bulkheads are indeed intricate and the additional PE parts (some so so big!) really make it complex.

Its looking great so far, I enjoy the problem solving puzzles. I've got a HUGE! bag of popcorn and a whole bottle of Gin for this one.

Regards,
Bryan

Hi Bryan,

that's great to have you back here on MSW - you did a fantastic job with your Reuben James, I truly hope you'll find your motivation and faith back soon - I'd really love to see here being finished!

Thanks for your kind comments!!

Cheers,
Jan

Russ, Si, Sean,

thank you very much - slow, very slow, but (I hope) steady.

Just a few pictures to show that I'm still alive...

Didi a little more mixing the other day, something that should resemble corticene





Probably a little dark, but since it seems not entirely clear what it looked like - possibly differently over time - I'll go with that. It's basically a leftover from old projects with some brown added....

Before I can install the lower bridge, stuff on the Admiral's signal platform has to be build, and some paint should be on (hence the corticene mix) since it will be very tough to paint it all once assembled.

So here some more sub-assemblies, of course requiring more surfacer.







There is no dedicated PE for the flag bags, however I thought that they likely were angled and had some kind of hatch on top, so I added a fitting cover.





Now, before I can continue, those new sub-assemblies must cure and be sanded, so I decided to try my hands on the North Star .50 quad mounts. And once again, great stuff!!!



This one is, of course, only test fitted for effect - I am pretty far away from glueing anything in place here. Some more pictures - this one with barrels down and the shields omitted. I'll do the second one barrels up, and than one more barrels up/down with shields for aft.

Some more detail pictures of the first one:














...and it really is the first one, not the first one that worked out and is 'presentable' They are really doing great stuff there at North Star!

I'll do some more .50 quads tomorrow, and will try to get some in-progress-pictures.

I should have some more up tomorrow or Monday!

For now, cheers and thanks for looking,

Jan

Going with WOW to start with Jan! I have been out of the loop so to speak for a bit and needed to play some catch-up on this....simply fantastic brotha'! You're definitely putting that eye for detail to good use! Tanks for taking the time to share all your progress thus far! Top notch!!

Jan,

Amazing work. As Todd said your eye for detail is amazing. Top notch work.

Dave

great work there Jan!

those .50's look great! Just bought a set myself for my Punjabi destroyer!

Things are coming along very nicely indeed Jan. Great work. I only wish I could make such progress on my own models (I never finish).

I do have a couple of suggestions/inputs though:

1. Flag Lockers- Hood's flag lockers did not have angled tops, nor did they have hatches on top. They were rectangular in shape with slotted openings on the forward section. Little square and rectangular openings for stowing flags, etc. Of course, when not in use, the lockers were covered with canvas (rolled down from the top). Here is an EXCELLENT source of info on the flag lockers: http://ontheslipway.com/?p=2068

2. I know you are just test-fitting for now, but you had the rear Conning Tower Platform support assemblies (A8/A9 and A10/A11) mounted upside down. The portholes are to the outside and the upper outcropping goes inboard. The other outcropping goes outboard. Of course, in reality, the lower outcropping had been removed from Hood. So, if you want to fix this, you can cut off that section and fill it. There will be a splinter proof signalmen shelter very closer as well. Here is an image showing part of what I am referring to:


Frank

Russ, Dave and Todd,

thank you so much for your kind words and motivation!! Progress is slow, but there is progress!! Some more of that later on...if I find the time to post it, else tomorrow or Wednesday...

Frank,

great to know you are watching and checking, that's most appreciated!! And thank you again for each and any advise you have!!

As for your remark 2 - ups, I did not even see it. Of course it's upside down. But that was just a dry fit to get a feeling for the fit of the parts. They are glued in place by now, and correctly...
As for the lower outcropping, that it had been removed reaches me a little late. However, I am planning to build the signalman shelter that connects the structure to the mounting of the HACS. So I hope I will be able to build it in a way that the outcropping is an integral part of it, i.e. disappears. If this broadens the shelter just a little, it is probably less obvious than the outcropping as such. Quite some work ahed...and with all the fitting...well...

As for the flag lockers - that's helpful!! I had no idea what they were looking like (even though I have visited HMS Belfast before, but flag lockers weren't really of that much interest back then). So what I did was trying to build a flag locker as I am used to...(upper right corner of the picture).



That would be a flag locker on a modern German frigate, angled top and hatch, flags hanging down so they can dry. That RN design doesn't look too good for stowing wet flags...? Anyway, that's not too late, I will remove those four pieces and try to build something more like the correct ones.

Thanks again,
Jan

...and some work on the .50 quads.

So here is the 'kit' (North Star):







The holes for the barrels have to be re-drilled, which is no problem.



Next I glue the barrels in, that helps handling the little piece...





Bending the center part of the splinter shield around a drill (I used a 1.2mm, that looked about right):









Folding the rest in place is rather straight forward.







Glueing it to the gun mount, really good fit.



Splinter shields



installed



And some impressions, next to the BigBlueBoy one and the already painted NorthStar. The BBB is good, but the Sort Star is better...











That's it for the .50 cal - I have a little more to show, but no time to post, I hope I'll manage tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks for looking,

cheers,

Jan

a great little S.B.S. on the .50 quads, mate!

Hi Russ,

thanks mate!! They're actually fun to build!

Here's a quick one on the 4", painting, assembling and filling to fix the little short shields....













Next is again layer after layer of surfacer to fill the gaps between the shields and my little plastic stripes. I am doing that every morning now before heading into office and hope to have it in a condition ready to sand by the weekend.



Same process applies to the forward superstructure / lower bridge. Pictures of this I'll try to post either tonight or tomorrow in another update.

Over the weekend I hope to be able to sand down the 4" guns and give them their final coat of paint, including several touch ups and getting rid of the shining brass color inside the muzzles...

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

Amazing work and thank you for the side by side comparisons of the .50 cal. The trick with the drill bit is also beneficial, never thought to do that so thanks for that as well.

Dave

Wow, that's one way to start the day!

Ahoy Jan

Very nice work indeed.

Thanks for the SBS very impressive.

Cheers


Sean

"They're actually fun to build!"...you said it all right there!! Fine work on the .50's! Thanks for sharing the comparison...NS's do look pretty slick! As do the 4"ers! A regular production line you have going on!!

Dave, Russ, Sean and Todd -

thank you so much for following and commenting!! In a period that actually is rather slow - lots of filling and sanding to almost every detail, lots of re-work and re-construction to be done - that's extremely motivating and helpful!!

Yes, the North Star stuff really is fun to build and gives me some break from the more and more complex endeavour with the lower bridge and the PE additions, though I think I'm seeing something like a breakthrough here, too.
And using a few minutes with an additional cup of coffee for bringing a layer of surfacer is not the worst way to start a day

So here comes the last part of my update, before - hopefully - I can get some more progress over the weekend

Some paint - a first layer. That helps spotting inaccuracies (and judging whether it is necessary to deal with them...) and makes the final painting of the finished sub-assembly easier.





- those flag lockers will go and will be replaced, as Frank pointed out. These are pictures from last weekend...

First paint on the armoured tower, looks not too bad...







Masking...



...and some corticene put on the deck.











Did come out quite well, I think.

A first test-fitting of the lower bridge. This alone took a considerable time of cutting, sanding and adjusting. The first 'putting it in place' was pretty discouraging. But I think I can work from here.





It was important to get the structure in place without any tension. Whatever gaps there remain need to be filled. Quite some work to do.

























The area underneath the lower bridge, nicely done by Trumpeter but no additional detail added - dry fitting of the lower bridge proofed that you can only see that 'something is there', and more than a simple straight hole. That'S fair enough and definitely adds depth to the model.



Now for the main areas of concern that remain with the sub-assembly itself (and are part of this weeks morning routine of surfacer...)







First layers added, meanwhile the gaps are pretty nicely closed and I think I can sand them flush during the weekend.







So once that is taken care of, another layer of paint, and installing it on the ship will require more filling and sanding... But I can see some progress!!

- and I will make another update to the Bismarck-Campaign shortly, that's not forgotten!

Thanks for looking and following!!

Cheers,
Jan

Great to see you pushing ahead with some really impressive progress there, Jan

Thank you very much, Ruuss!!
I did have a productive - and somewhat extended - weekend. Let's see what I can do tomorrow and Sunday. Definitely no extended weekend this time, but I hope to get some more progress!

Cheers,
Jan

All that filling and sanding is certainly paying off! Another excellent update! Looking forward to your next installment...enjoy the weekend!

Hi Todd, thank you very much!! This filling and sanding sometimes seems endless, though...

All right, up for this weekend's progress!

Sanding down whatever surfacer I have brushed on over the week...









Cutting away the flag lockers



Signalmen's shelter - first approach of connecting the HACS and the bulge of the superstructure with thin plastic sheets. I am very well aware that the shape of the shelters is not correct - I should have removed to bulges first, there was no 'V'-shape pointing forward. But I assume once installed together with all the stuff that will be on that part, it will be hard to realise.





However, I realised that I could not do it as planned - the HACS base needs to go



some sheet on top





and cutting and sanding in shape











I'll have to do the final sanding and touch ups 'in situ'...

Now for the flag lockers. I studied the reference that Frank Allen pointed me to - actually Evert Jan Foeth's build log of his HMS Hood, all scratch build. WOW - I knew he was building a Hood for some years, but looking at what he is doing there in 1 / 350...makes your own build look, well okay, let's not talk about it. What EJ is doing there is just unbelievable marvellous. Even the flag lockers are models of their own.
So understood how they would have looked like, but that's beyond my reach and ability to to. The individual boxes for the flags are about .3 mm wide according to his explanations.
But trying to find a quick and stupid solution to achieve the impression of a locker with multiple compartments, I abused some Eduard etch that I missed to use for the vents (simply didn't see it existed in time...). The size of the grit is pretty much the size of the flag lockers



and doubled up they should give some impression of depth





Two of those glued on a strip of plastic and then to the back of the signal platform





only hold in place by tweezers. Some surfacer and sanding should bring them into an acceptable condition.

Another layer of paint to the lower bridge, to check quality of my sanding. Not too bad, but not there yet either...







And the painted 4" AA, after sanding my improvised shield extension. Not perfect, but considering where this parts actually will be eventually (low to the deck and conceals behind splinter shields for the most part) that should do...











So that's the overall 'output'...



Next update will be in about two weeks, I hope I'll find some time here and there during the week, but I am busy over the next weekend.

Thanks for stopping by and looking!!

For now,
Cheers,

Jan

Jan,

Amazing work and ingenuity in fabricating the signal lockers. I am constantly in awe of this build and the level of detail you are bringing to it. Simply amazing work.

Dave

Amazing stuff there Jan! You will be the master of the micro-sand by the time you push your way through this one!! Great job improving the signal shelter and those lockers!! Looking forward to your next update in a couple weeks!

I am sure you have all the references you will need...but I do have a copy of The Battle Cruiser HMS Hood – An Illustrated Biography 1916 – 1941 on the shelf. If you need anything, just ask!