Hi All,

DKM Z-31, 1943 - build

I need to have a new ship model ready for our High Planes model contest on October 8th.
For anyone in Colorado who have not been to our show, it is a one day, good times event. With plenty of models and venders.

Since there are several DKM destroyer builds going on, I thought, I would throw mine in the ring.


Dragon: 1/350 Z-31
ABER: DKM destroyer barrel set
ABER: DKM torpedo set
PE DKM railing & various bits and pieces

Paints:
Primer: Vallejo gray primer 73.601
DKM primer : LifeColor LC 32
Deck: Vallejo RAL 7024 71.054
Boot strap: LifeColor UA607
Camouflage: AK ship paints 732 & 734 (RAL 7038, 7037)
Weathering: AK ship oil paints

Harry,

Looks interesting. If the Z31 kit is as good as the Z32 then you should have a relatively easy go with this build.

Will be following with interest.

Dave

Ooo, now this should be one to watch.

Hi Dave and Littorio,

The spur gates are what bother me. The part is 1mm the gate is 3mm.
I am using a ex-fine PE razor saw to remove them no problems yet.
Dave, have you found an easier way, the AA guns are a real pain to clean-up.

Nice choice Harry! Looks like a healthy pile of goodies too!! Bring on the building!

Well, it has been some time since I worked on a plastic ship.
Have had a really good time preparing some for the sub-assembles.
Now what did I do with that Mr. Surfacer 500
More later................

Cut, sand, paint and repeat! Looking good Harry!

Harry,

Your progress is coming along great.

As far as your question, no I have not found a better way to clean up the AA guns. They are small, too many pieces, and over engineered. I work one at a time over a period of time so that I do not get frustrated with them and make a mistake.

Looking forward to seeing some more

Dave

Thanks Dave.

If the AA gun barrels hold up, I see no reason to replace them with the brass ones however I will replace the main guns as the Aber ones are nicer.

I think after the show I will place the Z-31 in a European dock setting. Does anyone know of any 1/350 German railroad box or flat cars?

Got a little more work done on the kit. Will post pics later.

Harry,

nice topic, kit and add ons - I`m definitely in, looking forward to your build! Very nice start so far!

Cheers,
Jan

Hallo Jan,

Da war jemand in Deutschland der "Deutsche Reichsbahn" Zug Wagen in 1/350 herstellte. Wissen Sie wer das war?

Danke Schön im voraus,

Harald

Moin Harald,

auswendig nicht, aber ich werde versuchen, das herauszufinden - sollte möglich sein!

Cheers,
Jan

Nice subject Harry,

Good start on the build, the quality and engineering of the dragon kits is interesting to say the least.

Bit of a Zestorzer fest going on.

Will be following with interest.

Cheers

Si

Harry,

no joy with the Reichsbahn in 1/350 scale - I was checking some sources, but 1/350 is pretty bare when it comes to model railway.

However, I assume you are aware of the somewhat generic 'steam loco and wagons' from L'Arsenal, are you?

Sorry I could not offer any better help, I'll keep my eyes open anyway should I see something.

Cheers
Jan

Hi Everyone,

Hi Simon, been watching your project with great interest.

Thanks Jan. If I remember correctly it was a PE set and I think his name is Petr.

Not much was accomplished this holiday weekend, with two birthday parties and a BBQ to attend.

I did decide to use LifeColor UA 605 Dunkelgrau for the RAL 7024 as the Vallejo paint was just a little too dark for my taste.

I did get all the doors on and finished up the mast and did not even loose a single minuscule part.

Started work on the one very small area of wood decking with a base coat of Vallejo surface primer 74.613 dessert tan (a great wood tone to start your wood deck). I like the box art with that entire main deck wood???

Well off to the workroom need to pour some kits…..more later.

Hi Harry,

1 - there's a german online shop, Petr Osipov, (PetrOs Modellbau), he has an unbelievable huge amount of stuff on offer, most things not in stock, but he can order almost anything for you. Through him I got some kits that I could get nowhere else in Germany. He has lots of model railway, as well, but I couldn't see anything in 1/350. Maybe something is hiding in his 1/350 ships section, more than 850 items only in "Schiffszubehör 1/350", didn't check it all the way down. I was very happy every time I had business with him, one of my places to go when I'm searching for something a little out of the box.

2 - I don't think the box art is correct. The main parts of the Z decking was just painted steel. So either that is meant to depict brownish painted steel or it's just fantasy...

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks Jan!

That is him. He made a PE set of 1/350 RR cars, I will drop him an email and see if they are still available.

The comment on the wood deck about the box art was "Quatsch gemacht"

...wrote that reply before leaving for office. WAY to early in the morning for me to catch your joke...

I'm glad however that I could point you in the right direction with Petr Osipov. Actually, his was the first shop that I checkt when I was looking for the 1/350 Reichsbahn, but I couldn't find one...

Cheers
Jan

Hi All,

Just a little update more later.

I clean the PE with vinegar. Then I used my old stand-by Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 Gray. I was going to try out the new black formula but forgot. I then bake it for a couple of hours. This makes the surface very hard to scratch or peel off. I really enjoy using the surfacer products, they go on smooth and perform well.
I spray the PE with my trusty Bager 150 airbrush the clean-up is a breeze with isopropyl alcohol this cleans the airbrush and anything else it gets on. Then I run through a little Vallejo airbrush cleaner and it is all set to do the next paint job( Todd you might suggest to Vallejo to produce some larger sizes of the airbrush cleaner I run through it very fast) .




I painted the back side gray-black as all the vents will be turned outwards and I wanted a shadow behind them..BTW, Vallejo airbrush cleaner works very well as thinner for their model color paints.



Thanks for looking....more later.

Harry,

You have me extremely intrigued with your Mr. Surfacer process.

Can you provide a little more detail on how you accomplish this?

Dave

Hi Dave,

I have to think this through, so I will go one step at a time.


1. Soak the PE in pure vinegar overnight. Then rinse with water and let dry.

2. In your airbrush add the Mr. Finishing1500. Put on a lite coat wait a few minutes and repeat. Clean-up is with isopropyl alcohol. The isopropyl alcohol will also clean up dried Mr. Surfacer products so it works extremely well in seams.

3. I then let it air dry for a few hours. I then place it in the oven at 170 degrees and let it bake for several hours. I use an electric oven. I do not know the effect it would have on a gas oven as the fumes may ignite.
Once dry the Mr. Finishing primer coat is rock hard.

4.I then paint the PE the appropriate color.

I have not tried the Mr. Finishing products in the spray can, so I do not know how well they spray.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Harry,

Thanks for the run down on the process. I will give that a try.

One additional question, what is the impact on bending the PE once you have baked it?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Seems to be negligible.

Interesting process Harry,

Might give it a try, great thing about this site, always seeing new techniques.

keep up the good work.

cheers

Si

Hi Simon,

The primer coat does not peel with masking tape, nor does it flake off making bends or circles.
I think you will like the results.