Ahoy, Mates!
With only a little more than three weeks into this most excellent campaign, I feel that the progress and participation effort by all has been great! For the late starters and those of us(including myself!) that hasn't had a great deal of progress need not worry...remember, this a nice, long, group build, and the pressure is not on yet! Have fun with this one, and report your progress(good or bad!) to keep the ship afloat...post your progress pics, and discuss your builds...Thanks so far to all the participants for the support!
Gunny

Blaster76
Thinks for the advice but if I even do it what I’m thinking of doing is making the railing out of some thin copper wire and solder it together. I shouldn’t be that hard just very time consuming due to the small size.


I don’t appear to have to work until this evening is at all so I’ll try getting the top part of the hull glued and see about cleaning up the main deck and turrets for when the paint arrives

Working my ass of to earn some money lol

No battleship in my docks yet

Still nothing............too busy getting educated, working and having a getaway home built in Kentucky....just too many irons in the fire...

Martin, Darryl,
Don't despair, gentlemen, your ships too will come in! :-) Don't worry, lot's of time, mates..
Gunny

Well, so far I have the hull and main deck assembled on my 1/400 Heller Hood and I have the hull halves assembled on my 1/600 Airfix Nelson. I'm in no hurry since these are the first ships I've built since I was a kid.

I'm really interested in your impressions on the Heller Hood. I understand it's a pretty bad kit, but that might be from experts who have higher standards than I do. As a relative novice at ships models I'm looking forward to hear what you have to say about her.

Halfyank,
Not being an experienced ship modeler....I'm not sure that my impressions will be of much value. But here it is, for what it's worth.
I like the size of it but the detail of the superstructure seems really basic. It comes with plastic railings, but I think they are not very good looking. It is not a model of the last ('41) fit. It is from an earlier time, but I'm not sure when, maybe '37? I plan on converting it to the '41 configuration. The WEM photo etch set will make it look really good and comes with the parts to update to the last configuration, even the degaussing cable. I plan on getting this set as soon as I save up the $$$.

I had to move the #3 main turret mounting hole to the rear approx 1/16" so the turret can traverse without the range finder hitting the superstructure. (see photo in my gallery) It looks like the forward stack may have to be moved to the rear a little bit also to clear the forward superstructure. Since I can't afford one of the resin 1/350 scale Hoods(if they are even available) this is, IMHO, a reasonable model, especially for the price. (I got it for $10 at a model club meeting about 10 years ago.) I'm not a rivet counter, so I can predict that I will be totally satisfied with the completed model. I have some WEM paints for the hull, but still need some for the steel portions of the deck. Anybody know what color to use?

I'm sure that with the WEM set, that Hood kit will look great. I'ld just go with steel whichever brand is easiest to find.

ZZZ....congrats on new job. Hey the build goes until end of March, there is plenty of time to get one down the slips, just don't try to wood deck it

Well I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped.

The 2 sides of the upper hull are glued in the front but I can’t get the back glued in place.
Anyone know how to hold it together? The instructions say to clamp it with a clothespin but that just slips off. I tried tape to but couldn’t get that to hold it ether.

I have gotten some small holes in the upper part of the hull filled with putty and the main deck cut from the tree and cleaned up so I did get some work done.

So as for now I have what appears to be a model of the words biggest pair of tweezers

Hi Jacob!

Try tape from the inside of the hull... place it in several places, to keep the strenght!

If it won't work (again) use a lenght of anything (wood coffee "spoon", like Starbucks) inside to keep the shape of the hull and use rubber bands to wrap the outside just to keep it in place - no need to "strangle" the hull or it will be deformed.
Combining the tape and the rubber bands might help...

What kind of glue are you using?

If you need anything - I am around as are the rest of the crew

Skipper

Another way to clamp it, and this would be good to have for any other modeling you do in the future; go to Wal-Mart to the hardware section and purchase three or four of those small plastic ratcheting clamps. I think they're a couple bucks per clamp. They work great for stuff like that. You can adjust the pressure enough to get a good squeeze on the joint and squishes enough melted plastic through the seam that requires little sanding or filling. They're not so hot on things that are really concave, but they'll workr on a ship's hull, aircraft, armor....
Steve

I'm thinking of doing the Arizona in 1/700. Anyone know who puts out a good one? What about PE sets for same?

Jacob -

Glad to contribute though I hope the kit doesn't cause too much heartburn. Not to worry as there are many like those you've already heard from that have/can provide help.

And for those that might be still interested, I have a couple more kits available for those that want them. Just send me a PM. I have several more 1/700 Waterline kits "hiding" in a packing box in the attic that I'll get to later this fall. Like Gunny has said, this is a nice, long Campaign and I hope this will help extend it out and give others a chance to join up as Garry had planned. For now, I've still got;

1/700th Fujimi German Battleship "Graf Spee"
1/700th Fujimi Japanese Battleship "Haruna"
1/700th Tamiya German Battleship "Scharnhorst"
1/700th Tamiya British Battleship "Prince of Wales"
1/700th Tamiya British Battleship "Nelson"

All awaiting owners. Just let me know. I'm going to get a later start on my 1/700th Aoshima USS Washington, after I finish "Tank Destroyer" and "Spahwagen".

Blade48mrd

Greetings, Jonathan!
Congrats on the new job, and sorry to hear that you're dropping out... Why don't you re-think you're decision and see how things go...remember that this is a long group build...entirely up to you though, if you don't think you can do it...
Gunny

How about it, folks? Mike has five model kits for anyone interested in joining up for the Dreadnoughts! Campaign...Free for the asking! Not a bad deal, if you ask me...C'mon, take the plunge, if you've never tried a ship model before, here's a golden opportunity to take a shot at a different model subject, and a chance to participate in a campaign with a great bunch of people!
Just send Mike a PM with your choice of the kits that he has left, and start planning...there's alot of time left in this group build, no pressure at all...Well, whatcha' waitin' for?!?

Gunny

Thanks skipper and Steve.

I cut 2 toothpicks and sticky tacked them in the hull to keep the shape and was able to clamp it with a wire.


UPS should be bringing my Paint today so as soon as I unclamp it ad wash it I should be able to start painting.

Hi Jonathan!

Congrats on you new job!
And what a better way to celebrate, than to take a small 1/700 BB to Alberta and make it slowly during those long winter nights?

Just a tought!

Skipper

That's a very good excuse for knowing your new neighbourhood
A 1/700 BB is not that big - And it will help keep you out of the (cold) streets
You don't nothing more than:
X-acto knife, a tube of glue, two paintbrushes and three tins of paint

When I was away (Navy time) in the Azores for 4 months I built a Vosper with this kind of "Modeler Emergency Pack" and it turn out pretty good! It is my model with the most navigation hours, and worst weather record! And it survived 11 meters waves!

Skipper

My company years ago did something like that to me. Snt me to some little hole in the wall town (IIndiana) near Pittsburgh for 6 weeks.in the dead of winter Wish I had the foresite to bring a model or 2 to work on. It got awful boring on evenings and weekends with nothing to do and no one to hang out with. So I watched TV and slept. I ventured into Pittsburgh once during the whole time I was there, and one Friday night I ventured into a bar that I heard about at work.

Hey guys...while the wife's away... I just got my first coat on my 1/700 Pennsylvania. The Dragon Arizona kit is great. I'd post pics, bt the wife has got the camera. I'll get pics of it Monday at work. We have a camera for the office.

Subhunter