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1/700 Orange Hobby Graf Zeppelin


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One benefit to having the hull glued to the wood at this stage is that you don't have to juggle the ship with your hands while you simultaneously try to super glue to affix some minor part, subassembly, or PE whatever. The board becomes the extra two hands that you need.

 

I admire your speedy recovery on the first solid water trial. The plaster water looks great even while still in white. One suggestion with the plaster mix for water is to mix your wet plaster with acrylic seawater color. Thus, you will have solid colored plaster base material for its entire thickness. When dry, you can still add different colors to the outer surface of the plaster for foam, green sea, etc., and your clear coats will just add to the illusion of depth.

 

Ed

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HM... good idea, Ed. Thanks. I plan on painting it a solid color once the model gets her dullcoat. I'm going to use some progressively lighter colors, thinned, around disturbed areas of the ship. I'll then use some teased cotton/tissue to make the "foam" part of the waves. The eventual goal is a VERY angry sea.

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Thanks, Adam. I love this boat, but man is it taking forever...


It looks the same, eh? No progress? That's how I feel.


Railing. So. Much. Railing. There's some temporary railing along the flight deck that I haven't done... not looking forward to that. I've also avoided a few ladders, the foremast, and finishing off the angled "mast" at the aft of the island...


...and figures, light AA guns (PE nightmare.....)


AIRCRAFT. :mad_2:


At least she'll have a good airwing. I'll just have less hair.


Anyway. Pictures. I've added all the railing that I can. I'm going to use Gatorglue to provide a seal along the base of the railings (seam elimination) and then touch up the PE to match the camouflage color that at point of the hull. It'll be gloriously tedious.


On the bright side, it's getting done.


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Can you see the little steps? Let's call them kitchen step stools, like Mom used to use. They're like that, only in 700 scale. I'm fairly certain Orange Hobby included them just to raise my blood pressure!

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Man, you are a true Master at this! I could never get my ships to look this good. I am really enjoying all the updates here. Keep plugging Chris, this is coming out better and better each time!

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I was tired of looking at a white sea, so I threw a base coat on it. Obviously, the water is rather dull at this stage, but at least it has a base color. The color is a 2:1:1/4 of Black, midnight blue, and forest green. My goal is a dark, stormy North Atlantic sea. I'll start prepping the actual swell and turbulence this week. I also did some remedial paint work on the railings, which is hard to see.


Hopefully, she gets her full AA load today.


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The PE is really looking good! Very interested in the process to manufacture some waves.

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I'm trying a bit of Jim Baumann's method. I've got three shades of "turbulence" that I'm adding, blending, adding. I've got most of the underwater bits done and will be adding teased cotton to simulate the air bubbles and foam. Once that's done, the water will be encased in resin. I'll add the bow wave and any other spray at that point.


I've also finished adding the masts, minus radar. The Zepp also has her forward AA platform and port/starboard radar stations. Railing is mostly painted and sealed with Gatorglue to hide seams.


Tomorrow: Add some crew/PE. I'll also start assembling all the tiny little AA guns.


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I checked on the Zeppy on the way out to work this morning. The paint dried a little darker than I like, but building this in layers is a GOOD thing. There's less of a chance for a catastrophic mistake.

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Experiment number... something. I've been talking with a lot of REALLY good builders like Chris (sargentx) on how to better work a water base. I've been trying to incorporate his excellent work into 700 scale with a little bit of my own flair thrown in for, well, some originality.


Here's what I did.


1) Painted base as shown. I started with faint lines along where major wakes would be seen off the ship. I then expanded it to the desired level of disturbance. Painting was done with thinned cheap acrylics and dry brushing. My goal is to provide a nice base for the cotton and upper layers.


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2) Teased out cotton, adhering it to the base with gel medium.


I started by tracing where I wanted retreating wakes to be located.

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This was followed by filling in the area with cotton.

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This is a slow process, but worth it.


3) (Current stage) I painted down a layer of gloss varnish to seal the layer into the base. I am still planning on doing a layer of resin for depth, but this gives an idea of what it will look like.


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Once I seal in the base, I'll build some "foam" out with Chris's method of gloss gel medium + cotton. I'll also use some of Jim's technique with tissue to keep it in scale.


The model itself needs a LOT of work. Some of the railing was damaged and I still have searchlights, AA guns, crew, and planes to place. There's also some additional detail and painting I want to do to clean it up.


That's all for now. Tomorrow is going to be a rainy mess so I'll be working on this quite a bit.

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Thanks Rick!


HUGE update, though it doesn't look like it. All the ships AA (minus two guns I forgot to make) have been added. Searchlights are on, and most of the construction is FINISHED (minus air group.)


I'll be adding her crane once I get the deck railing in place. If I have time tonight, I'll begin THAT job.


Biggest task left: Air wing. Once they're done, I'll clean her up a bit, rig her island, add some small details and dull coat the boat. The water will then be coated in resin. The final act will be finished off the bow wave.


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Last update. I installed this TINY little ladder to the AA gun platform and... tore some stuff up. I'm going to have to do some serious touch up painting. Still, glad I installed it.


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Here's the air wing. I'm seriously considering getting ONE more package of DKM naval aircraft. It'll look cool.


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I've installed the railing that would have been in place when she was not conducting flight ops. I also added some Caenis thread where she would have had her arresting system.


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The island her her full load out of radar. I'm only missing the rigging (scary) and figures.


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Bow view... just because.

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I honestly cannot wait to finish this build She's gonna be nice once I touch up any remaining brass and finish off the stormy sea. Her air wing will add more color.


Opinions welcome.

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Thanks, Mark.


I'm building aircraft which consist of a ton of PE and resin parts. I'm also adding crew here and there.


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This Bf-109T will be on a carriage for launch, hence no landing gear.

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All for now. I'm heading to the in-laws so I'll resume work next Wednesday.

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Oh boy. Long story. Planes were loaded on a cradle in the hanger, then brought up on the middle elevator. They were moved along tracks to one of the catapults at the bow. The plane would be launched, much like on a cruiser or battleship. The cradle was loaded on the platforms at the bow, which are elevators. These would take the cradles to under deck conveyers, returning them to the hanger for reuse.

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Wow. The Germans came up with alot of good ideas.

 

Didn't the Japanese help them with this thing, or is that an urban myth? Or maybe the Germans just didn't listen.

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Wow. The Germans came up with alot of good ideas.

 

Didn't the Japanese help them with this thing, or is that an urban myth? Or maybe the Germans just didn't listen.

 

 

 

German engineers did tour Akagi when she was in her three deck configuration, but I'm unsure of cooperation beyond that. Keep in mind that tours were also done on the USS Lexington, so this wasn't unusual.

 

The Zeppelin's design was based off of first generation carriers which were capable of fending off destroyers and small cruisers on their own with many being based on former capital ships. Keep in mind, a CV was ORIGINALLY intended as a scouting unit that preceded the battlefleet. Arming a carrier to engage surface units was, of course, fairly silly. If your carrier's deck is holed by a number of shells, well, it ceases to really be anything other than a large well armed freighter. I've been reading further on the Zeppy's "unique" launch system, and it COULD be efficient, barring damage to its conveyor system.

 

My biggest issue with her design comes from the armament arrangement. Casemate guns were unwieldy, heavy, and useless on most ships, let alone carriers. IF I were to build a "what if" refitted Graf Zeppelin, I'd remove them in favor of a much upgraded AA suite, additional aircraft, and a less complicated launching system. She could also use a little taller of an island.

 

Oh, and work will resume on this beastie tonight. I've been at the in laws and am itching to get back to work!

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