1/350 USS Chevalier + Alliance Modelworks PE and Resin

[Guest PetrolGator]

Had this deleted after the kit took a NASTY fall and break, but I've fixed it...

 

So, 350 bug has fully bitten. I'm still going to build in my 700 tiny scale, but I absolutely LOVE the Dragon destroyers. My first build was a 1/350 Laffey about two years ago that I, well, spray painted and never came close to finishing. It was boxed and has suffered enough damage to be a parts source.

Having finished England (sans repairs from show,) I've moved on to the first of these ships with all the PE that I needed.

The Alliance set is amazing. I'm not sure if I'll use the PE anti skid pads, but the rest of the frets and resin are well worth the cost. The turrets are only SLIGHTLY better than the DML equivalent simply because Dragon did such a good job on them to begin with. I'm going to save these and try to get my hands on two more frets of turrets for an Alabama I have planned for sometime next year.


Note few, if any, differences. Really, the biggest change comes from the awesome blast bags and better detail along the base. Minus that, damn fine job, Dragon.


Here is a so-so picture of what you get. The AA guns, alone, are worth the cost. I'll save my Dragon bits for another build I'm sure I'll need it for.


You can see the VERY loosely dry fitted Chevalier with my England in the background, for size comparison. Her bottom and top hulls mated well and I took this just after yanking the masking tape. I'm still going to have a task of sanding and putting, but nothing like the Trumpeter kits I've built. I've also assembled the bridge and superstructure, but have not attached its top, or the bridge to that. Funnels are fresh off the fret.

Tomorrow, I'll work on fitting the base superstructure together, putty, and begin assembling the bridge components into their sub assembles. I'll also prep the resin turrets, and maybe have some sub assemblies ready for paint.

I will be asking a ton of questions, regarding filling seams on this super detailed kit, so be prepared. :big_grin:

That's all for now.

[Guest PetrolGator]

I've finished the forward funnel and glued most of the major superstructure parts together. I've done some sanding, but there are MANY seams to fill before I'm satisfied.







Pictures showed that a platform on the forward funnel had fallen. Remedied.

[Mark Deliduka]

Looking great! Man, I don't envy you those seams! Good catch on the platform; cameras are awesome modeling tools.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Well, the process of sanding/filling/sanding has taken up a large portion of my day. I also scribed hull plating, which will appear a LOT less apparent once I prime and paint. Right now, it's REALLY apparent. Once I prime/paint, these lines will be barely visible, much like my England.

I wanted to say a few things on the Alliance PE set. Design wise, it's wonderful. The PE bits fit well and are easy to bend without being brittle like some Eduard sets I've messed with. HOWEVER, their instructions are horrible. I had to do a lot of guessing and research to complete the 40 mm gun in the picture. Keep in mind that the gunner's seats and a few other small PE parts have not been attached... simply wanted to make sure all the resin and brass fit in a way that made these worth using.

Alliance Modelworks, if you HAPPEN to read this thread, please revise your directions. Also, a set of ladders for this kit outside of those allocated for the turrets would be nice. Many of us like to scratch off the plastic and replace them with etching. For $75 bucks, these are an absolute need. Honestly, I'd rather have them than the anti skid pads. Still, I do love this set. The resin turrets/AA are simply fantastic.

Anyway, I've put the base of the gun director together, done some filling, and used some surplus ladder material in place of the molded option. As before, major sections have been dry fitted.

Pictures:

[Guest PetrolGator]

Small update. I've added her shafts, rudders, and all the PE doors that the kit came with. I debated using Alliance's doors, but they didn't quite fit on the frames as well as the stock doors. I was planning on modeling them closed, anyway. Additionally, I've added the ladders to the 5 in guns and done a TON of filling/sanding on imperfections on the hull and superstructure. I was going to start work on the aft tripod, but that's going to be a LOT of work... gonna spend some time working on it.

 

Oh, and I fitted the deck. It SITS well once glued, but good god it was a total pain to force into place. I used thick CA glue, beaded along the hull to mount it, then used a thin CA/accelerator to ensure the deck was secure. Im thinking it may be a good idea to attach that aft deckhouse around and forward of the funnel. I want to try to eliminate that huge, ugly seam before I proceed. Placing on the deck won't increase the complexity of the masking too badly.

 

Anyway, pictures:

 

Overall view of where I am.

 

Bridge. Some of the hand holds on the forward funnel came loose, so I need to fix those before I prime.

 

You can see the ladders on the guns and the filling along the superstructure. I painted the seam line with a chrome paint and looked for gaps. Thankfully, I didn't see any. I've stripped it off and will clean it tomorrow for priming. Hopefully, I'll still be clear!

 

AS A BONUS:

 

This is my little workbench, constructed from one 1900's doctor's lamp, a deck from Hobby Lobby, storage drawers from Wal-Mart, and some collapsible tray I use for painting and extra space when I need it. It's not much, and horridly undersize for my 1/350 battleships, but it works for now.

 

Here are some of my builds. I have my King George, Harusame, and the Nagato in the living room. So far, shows have been pretty good to me, but I still have a LOT of room to get better.

 

Edited May 13, 2013 by PetrolGator

[VonL]

How do you keep the ships on that slanted shelf?

[Guest PetrolGator]

Anti-gravity. I'm secretly a mad scientist.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Not much progress. I'm starting to suffer a bit of a burnout. Additionally, it's actually nice outside, and I couldn't find a reason NOT to go for a nice little jog yesterday after the gym. It won't be like this for long, with how southern Louisiana gets during the summer (which, if you didn't know, could easily be defined as utterly miserable.)

Anyway. I corrected the forward funnel, thanks to Plastic Habit's PM. (Thanks dude.) Beyond that, I'd done some work on the after funnel, and continued checking and filling teams. I SWEAR this takes me the longest out of any activity. I despise seams.

I accidentally ran over a sheet of the anti-skid PE last night with my office chair, so I may not use it after all. I'll try straightening it a bit more and see how it looks. I hate to waste something I paid a lot of money for. Sadly, the sheet also has some 40 mm ready use racks on it. :dead: We'll see how it goes.

I would have gotten more done, but I had a huge fail with the PE kit's etched anti-skid pads.... I had to remove them and, well, sand down ALL the vestiges of glue. Hooray.

Only picture:

[Guest PetrolGator]

Well, I'm working myself out of my burnout by... building this thing's AA armament. Alliance's 40mm guns are very nice, but there seems to be a LOT of trimming to make the brass and resin fit together well. Still, once accomplished, these guns look fantastic.

I assembled one of the dual 20mm guns to see how I best wanted to construct its seven other sisters. Honestly, I'm torn on using it or the Alliance provided examples in PE. I also have the L'Arsenal duals that will not be used on my Johnston conversion. Opinions??

I'm finding myself struggling with this scale and I'm not quite sure why. I move much faster in 1/700.

Anyway, some pictures:

[Guest PetrolGator]

Well, I'm in the prime/sand/prime/repeat stage with the main deckhouse and hull. I'm satisfied with the hull, and it's ready to paint. That's the good news.

I'm horridly unsatisfied with the forward funnel and rather annoyed that the seam between the rear part of the bridge superstructure that I attached and the deckhouse is still visible, along with some others

Whelp, I'm gonna break out some Mr Surfacer. I'm debating actually doing much about this seam, as I'll have to resand/paint to attach the solid railing (?) underneath it.

Here are the Alliance 20 mm's. I have to attach ammo boxes, wheels, and one of the shoulder rests, but otherwise, here is what you get. From a normal distance and up to a semi close examination, they look VERY good. The folded brass only becomes apparent with a VERY up close shot. They are, IMO, an improvement on the kit parts, as I think the Chevalier carried the tripod examples... not sure.

Here's an overall shot. Taped on railing was just for test fitting along the deck.. like to know what filling I'm going to have to do.

Edited May 27, 2013 by PetrolGator

[Guest PetrolGator]

Small update.

I've finished building the fore and main mast.

Pictures tell a lot. Evidently, I lost one small brass piece. Thankfully, I found it on the floor and reglued.

Hopefully, I can do some painting this week. I really want to clear my workbench for a 1/700 build.

[GregWise]

It's almost a shame to paint over all that PE.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Greg, wait until you see my next build. I'm going to try to turn a goat of an old 1/700 Kirishima kit into a nice model. :)

Paint therapy. I always feel like I'm spinning my wheels, well until I start to add some color. I've painted the main hull in a hull red I made with Tamiya's flat red and hull red. 20-B, 5-H, and 5-N are from the new ModelMaster acrylic line that TOTALLY IS NOT POLLYScale. Nope.

I'm reasonably happy with how this turned out. This is without touch ups and there are only a few spots I'm worried about. I'll do some of that tomorrow, before I seal it with Future. The fan tail AA gun tub sort of sucks, but I can fix that up nice by hand.

Superstructure is, obviously, dry fitted. I'm -close- to finished with most of the building portion of the ship. There are a few platforms to build and some small detail parts to separate from the sprue, clean up, and tack on to my masking strips. I'm hoping to have the deskhouse attached to the hull and some weathering done before the weekend is out.

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Update:

 

 

Productive day. I'm painted all the deck fitting on the sprue or removed on masking tape, all verticals (with first coat), and build a TON of PE bits today. Alliance's SC-2 radar is intense. If you like extremely detailed and precise work, it's totally up your ally. Honestly, it's probably my favorite part of the model.

Guys, Future did something... odd to the 5-N on the hull. Spots came out super dark. I blended it with a bit of fine sandpaper, and plan on working it into the weathering, but why?

Main mast and foremast radar.

THIS little bastard was oh so much fun.

Edit: Decals and another layer of future + some mild washes. The damn anti-skid pads didn't want to stay down. I've never had this much trouble with decals... just seems the DML variants stink.

[WildBill50]

You've gotta love photo etch, especially for ships. I really like working with the stuff for some reason. It makes everything on a ship model just pop.

 

Another bang-up job. Keep us posted.

 

 

Bill

[Guest PetrolGator]

Small update. I painted 20-B on the decks, though I do have a few overspray issues. I'll fix them along with the solid railings (?) which came loose when I was removing the masking tape.

I'll start detail painting and attaching deck fixtures soon.

I HATE showing these intermediate steps where my model looks like a mess, but I hope it inspires others to move forward, even when there's some undesirable outcome from one's efforts.

[Mark Deliduka]

Your models are so incredibly good when finished that I appreciate seeing the intermeduiate steps where they are a "mess". That convinces me you're human after all LOL! :lol: Besides, even with your models as "messy" as that while under construction; they still far surpass any of the ships I've ever built! Not only that, but seeing them all "messy" helps us all to truly appreciate all the incredible work that you put into these masterpieces when they are finally finished. Keep up the great work; your intermediate pics are inspiring.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Thanks, Mark. If it was not for this site, modelwarships, and IPMS members in my local area, I'd know nothing. Everything I do, every trick, and every tool comes from recommendations from people who have done this FAR longer and FAR better. I merely emulate what works.

 

I appreciate the compliments. I'm hoping to have all her deck fittings in place tonight, and painted. If I have time after the gym, I'll clean up the superstructure and -MAYBE- get it glued on to sit overnight!

[Guest PetrolGator]

Sigh. Small update. I had planned on making this a "clean" build, but alas, THIS mess up ruined it:

I don't claim to be the most patient builder, but this... this was the epitome of stupidity and carelessness due to haste. Ugh. Heh. Ironic I got such high praise a day ago. Live and learn. It's been that sort of, well, the past 48 hours.

...so I weathered it with oils....

...then toned it down.

I've since toned it down again, but the pictures are horribly blurry. I'll post some tomorrow.

Here you can see the hull plating I've added. I like the way it turned out with the "faded" paint. I hate clean models. Ships should look USED and USEFUL.

Midships. Note the Alliance PE still needs another coat of grey. Her gun director has still just been primed. This is also true for the masts. I'll finish them up once I get to a stage where I can attach them.

All for now. It's not my best, but it's OK. I can't say it's up to standard, but I'm moving on....

Edit: OK LOOK! Port side grating detached again. Fantastic.

Edited June 6, 2013 by PetrolGator

[Guest PetrolGator]

I'm feeling a short break from this build for a while. I think I may work on something small and easy to keep from suffering my usual burnout.

 

What's left on Chevalier:

 

PE wise: 4x 20 mm guns, gun director, bridge items

 

Build: Small details, ammo boxes

 

Paint: Lots of touch up. This "linen" paint color I have that looks REALLY good on hoses is so damn thin that it runs like crazy... tired of touching it up. AA guns, Masts, Gun Director.

 

Honestly, there's a lot of detail stuff left. Normally, I love this stage but I'm been casually glancing at some smaller waterline kits I want to play with.

 

Chris

[Guest PetrolGator]

Well, a night out with the wife, friends, and beer made a lot of my frustration go away.

I've made some progress. MOST of the deck fittings are down and painted. Deckhouse and superstructure have been railed, thought I need to deal with some small gaps between the railing and the deck. I've also finished off the gun director. I need to do some painting but it's largely complete.

On PE: I need to add the 40 mm reload racks. I've been putting that off. The damned anti-skid pads keep coming up, even after a good layer of Future. I'll trim them and bet on the reload racks holding it all in place.

I also gave the funnels a light dusting with some soot I had. Beyond that, I'm getting close. I'm not sure what my next project will be, but I'd bet it was back to 1/700 for a spell.

Note that the foremast, gun director, and main battery are dry fitted.

[Guest PetrolGator]

So, I gave up on the damn 40 mm ammunition reload racks. I, well, should have read the instructions. I guess they're insanely specific. Chalk that up to my own inexperience and don't fault Alliance.

Anyway, bow view:

The picture is a little blurry, but it gives a good idea of the hull weathering.

Overall. All her 40 mm guns are installed. I'm going to "weather" them a bit, but beyond that, they're good. The next time I build one of these in 1/350, I'll treat each gun as a small model kit, paint it, and put it away. They'll look that much better.

Aft Bofors.

Alliance twin 20 mm guns. I've shied away from criticizing Alliance's PE set as much as possible, however, this is pretty annoying. Now, it seems MOST of the ship's bridge bits are overscale. Still, these guns are REALLY overscale. I don't know if it's the bases, or just the whole thing. Still, it'd look funny without them, so well, lesson learned.

Overall aft amidships view.

Now, I still need to build four of the 20 mm guns. I also need to add some small bits to her superstructure, railing, rafts, and supports. I also need to place her anchor chains and anchors. Finally, rigging. I'm close, but not done yet. I honestly can't wait to get back to 1/700 for a spell.

Comments and criticism are welcome, especially criticism.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Update. Finally.

PE is all on the ship, minus some pieces that took a dive thanks to my sloppy hands. I still need to touch up some of the grey, but that'll come tomorrow. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this ship and how insanely DETAILED it is with the Alliance set.

I still need to "bring in" the bow railing. I'm going to let the PE dry overnight so that the CA glue has reached a higher strength. This is the last BENDING I have to do on this ship. Thank God.

I used the stock DML depth charge racks. They're nice and I don't have the tools I need to accurately make replacement charges for the PE rack.

Things I MUST buy in the future:

1) PE Bender.

2) New detail brush

3) some sort of cutter for making small pieces like these depth charges out of styrene. Recommendations are always welcome.

Whelp, rip into her, gentlemen.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Harpy: Fit is good for a 1/350 kit for MOST purposes. I hate seam lines almost as much as I hate rigging, so I went a little overboard with the filling/sanding.

This is my first attempt with the Caenis thread. It's fine, real fine. I've used the clear thread, but will run some grey or black (depending on location) paint along it to help give it some substance. I've also installed the boat, hanging out to sea. I had planned on using some PE rope/pulleys from my USS England set, but it was too short. I decided to use some thread to build a new rope and attach the pulleys and tied lines to it. I still need to paint it brown in order to make it all blend.

I'm close. I'm going to do some last minute paint touch ups, add a few more bits of rigging, then dull her. Finally, I'll install the searchlight "glass", Future it for effect, and add her flags.

Next in line: 1/700 Maryland and an IPMS review I need to do.

Pictures:

That's all for today. I'm hoping to get her built out and finished by Wednesday. I'm heading to Pensacola for some deep sea fishing and shenanigans with the in-laws over the weekend.

[Guest PetrolGator]

Minus a readjustment of the aft railing and some naked brass that needs touchup, I'm calling this one done. There are a few smaller things I'm sure I could do, but I'll work on that when I feel like messing with it.

The build is NOT IPMS show worthy, but I did learn a lot about finishing models. The anti-skid never quite wanted to stay down. I'm bending and getting some decal applying stuff from the hobby shop in P-Cola. I also need a smaller paint brush, among other things.

I'm just trying to get better, one build at a time.

***MODS PLEASE MOVE THIS OVER TO SHIPS***

Chris