Thanks Rus, so far so good, I'm happy with the repaint. Just need to get another bottle of matt black to touch up the drop shadow on the number in one area and then respray part of the anti-foul.

Thanks Jan, well I can manage to complete it but as for another one I don't know.....could be all over after this one!!

Ned, great work on the frigate. Keep the posts coming!

You are doing excellent work, Ned. Working in this scale can be tough but you are doing amazing work.

Lovely work Ned and a great fix on the Flat Clear problem.....Cheers mark

Many thanks Thomas, Charlie and Mark, appreciate you looking in and supporting.

Finally got some more progress done with the repair on bow. Still needs another mask and spray of black and then fix up the black shadow on the number that peeled off during the first repair mask.

I think it will be OK, very hard to see any artifact now (and I know where to look!!)

Ned,

The repair looks great, can's see any difference.

Mark

After a bout of pneumonia and a stint in hospital I've finally recovered to the point of being able to catch up with all the goings on over here at the MSW dockyards!

Ned, HMAS Darwin is looking mighty fine! The repairs look great and are hardly divisible from the parent paint.

Hope to see more soon

Wow, that's bad luck Russell, hope you're back on track now.

Thanks, touched up the number with a tiny brush and its pretty well fixed now.



This ones HMAS Adelaide, the fist ship that RAN purchased from Todd Seattle shipyards (US hull number 17 in the Perry build numbers)

Nice recovery Ned,

Cheers

Si

Cheers Si.

Slow going but managed to get the fwd guardrails on. Needed a trim off the end then another PE post adding, paint then fitted.

Added the kangaroo decals as well. All RAN ships carry this on their superstructure or funnel. NZ ships have a black Kiwi and Canadian a red maple leaf.

Ned, you're getting really close to the finish line now. Nothing like the satisfaction that comes from sticking it out

Thanks Russ, I'm not sure about that.(the satisfaction part) but we'll see.

It is good to know there's not too many steps to go now and that I haven't screwed anything up beyond fixable. Each step forward makes the stakes that much higher when you handle it again as there's now more stuff to bend, break off and damage!!

The flightdeck nets and some port-side guardrails around the bridge ready for spraying.





The nets were an issue as they were starting to disconnect along the top of the PE section and become separate segments (as they are in real life) and as much as I hear that long PE runs are hard and you should cut them into sections, I needed them to be straight and there wasn't any reference line or flat surface to glue to. They fix onto the hull. They also required a bend as they are not flat in real life on FFG's. This did help to make the section more rigid where it wasn't split up.



Happy with that, need a touch up with paint, also a couple of the net holes have filled with paint and need "unblocking"



Therapeutic.........this aint!!

Ned,

Railings are never fun but when finish they do bring a lot of satisfaction. I disagree with the comment about long railing runs. I found it easier to install railings that finish a section no matter the length. If the length was long I just glued it a different points along its length and once in place run glue along the whole length to finish. The less PE I had to handle the better.

Mark

Hi Mark, yes agree they do bring a nice level of detail. The more I do the easier they seem to be getting and not as daunting as I first thought. I'm finding it easiest to cut each from the fret, test fit it and bend as necessary then spray and final fit off.

Can see an end in sight now as I cross each section off.

Stern rails and RAST carriage done now.

I hear ya, Ned

It gets serious as you move in for the finish. I utilize a number of methods to ensure there's no collateral damage: always take my time; only work one area at a time; and provide if necessary, hand rests to lift my hands to working height

Of course, the most important part: If I get the least bit frustrated: take a break

Hi Ned,

Very tidy work with the railings, especially around the bridge roof area.

Great job.

Si

Spot on Russ,

practicing all of those techniques especially the hand positioning. Taking a leaf out of the sign-writers book, definitely the way to get steady results with paint and positioning pieces.

Most certainly walking away when things go wrong too. That's why its taken 4 years.

Thanks Si

Well that's the last of the guardrails fitted finally. PVA glue really works well on those. Dries clear, gives you some working time and fills gaps. Needed to adjust the port side railing area to accommodate the extra whip antenna.

Added the SPRBOC launchers. This represents the early ship config. They ended up with 2 port and starboard later in their life along with other countermeasures.

Also fitted the STIR director and the SatCOM dishes.

Pretty nice PONTOS railing pieces, they include a nice plan view in the instructions that's 1:1 scale showing all the various railing runs as a guide.

Getting close now, Main mast, SPS-49 mast to fit, 4 whip antennas, 2 fwd antennas, the comms fans (hangs off the main mast), some life rafts and a few storage lockers.

I hear ya, Ned. My KGV has taken 5 years and is still going

Looking great by the way, nice to see you trying the PVA for the railings

Ned,

I just had that experience last night after an hour of trying to install PE railings on a turret.

Your work look great, those railings are sitting really nice.

Mark

Thanks Rus, what do they say, its all about the journey??

That's tough Mark, sometimes it just doesn't work out and then you come back later and its all good.

Added the life-rafts, not technically the correct layout for the time period but getting a bit over it now so they are stacked as per the PE provided instead of single mount. They did change shape and colour over the years. Typically grey colour nowadays. The white from earlier times adds some contrast.



Had a go at putting these tiny antenna together provided in the PE kit. If they didn't fly off into the ether I would fit them.



The copper filament is .19mm dia (.007 of an inch) used to add a tiny drop of CA glue.




Adding some paint helps to keep it together.



There are 4 of these onboard, (WSC-5 Fleet broadcast transmit/receive antennas.) Removed later from ships.

2 above the bridge.





2 on the STIR director

Ned,

Nice work on buiiding and installing those antennas. That drill chuck looks enormous, did you use a drill press...LOL.

Mark

Top notch work!

Great to see all these updates!!

Wow Ned,

she looks awesome!!! I was absent for a while, catching up just now. Excellent and crisp work, and you're getting there, very close! And what everybody said, when you're that close, it really becomes intense - sweating hands and all that. Take your time!

Cheers
Jan

Thanks Mark, its a 1/64 drill bit, only fits in my mini drill chuck and rotated by thumb and finger to drill the hole. I didn't have a pin vise, which would have been better.