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Nationals Themed Group Build 1: The Great War


Guest PetrolGator

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Petrol, you mentioned a while back that you would be working on the funnels. If you're not done with them yet, the inside is pretty visible and might need some black paint. Of course, you might already have this task on your agenda.

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Guest PetrolGator

Yeah. I'm trying to figure out a semi effective way to fix that that doesn't involve damage to the rest of the model... I think I'm just going to carefully mask and hit it with some black paint.

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Guest PetrolGator
Yesterday was one of those days where I feel like I got a lot done due to time invested, but didn't. The middle funnel's height was bothering me, so I significantly cut it down. I'm satisfied with it at this point.


Other accomplishments:


- RESEARCH. I could not figure out where the heck those aft platforms forward of the 3rd funnel came from. I located a picture form 1918 that show them and some modifications that I'll need to make to the Tiger to make it more accurate. The exciting/insane discovery came when I noted the B and C turrets:


tiger3_zps758bb663.jpg

Note the tick marks. Also note the mast on the funnel (or is it the crane? Can't tell.) I may also have to add one platform below the tripod. Not sure. I need to see what Artist Hobby provided. There is a lot on the PE frets that isn't on the instructions. Worst case, I practice scratch building.


- Searchlight platform. I pulled this off the resin and it promptly exploded. I had to scratch a large potion of the platform and still lost the ladder to the carpet monster. It is hard to see, but I used some Caenis and sprue to simulate cross beams between the poles. The middle support is made from styrene.


Tiger2_zps89c72b70.jpg

The picture is blurry, but you get the idea...


Tiger1_zps995ea29e.jpg

Here is a better view of the platform.


I want to send a BIG thanks out to Jim Baumann from modelwarships.com for providing me with the master pattern for his HMS Courageous demarcation turret marks. If you want to see work that puts EVERYONE to shame in 1/700, Google him. I'm now trying to find someone who can make decals. If anyone can help, let me know. I need a set for both the B and C turret.


Thanks. Comments are welcome.

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Guest PetrolGator

I like it, Dick! I'm going to post all the completed builds in Photos Photos Photos when we have 'em done.

 

Work done last night:
Good lord. The rear searchlight platform was possibly the worst bit of PE work I've done.
Pro: I soldered the upper level. This is the first time I got it to work and ultimately was how I came to a solution on building this.
Con: The intended internal structure, no matter how hard I tried, would not neatly fit into the main structure.
For those of you who build with this set: measure and cut the PE main body into its straight and curved elements. Attach each separately to the main body. Attempting to wrap is is nearly impossible. I wish I had done this last night.
Additional work: More research. I also attached the small structure forward of C turret. The bridge has been attached with her searchlights and I'm test fitting some brass legs for the tripod mast. I'm still working on how I'm going to effectively cut the legs, attach a small platform AND keep everything level. It'll be a challenge.
To do:
- Main tripod mast
- Scratch build her aft crane/mainmast assembly. One picture I have features a starfish. One doesn't. I have a small similar fish from a KGV build fret I may use.
- Amidships awning. I have to cover up that UGLY splotch on the deck aft of X turret. It's a huge eye sore when viewed up close. I'm either going to place some crates there or do the awning. Either one will work. She'll be moving at a slow speed, so having up a tent-like structure is believable.
- Railing, water, small bits and cleanup.
On the bright side, I'm going to have a completely unique Tiger. On the down side, I'll have less brown hair.
Photos:
CD5F4A59-67D7-47E7-B1CF-43D861BB0E4E_zps
Heh. Clay fighting top.
734F832D-0556-48B5-8A94-3B246C6B96E8_zps
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God. That spot. I HATES it. HATES IT, PRECIOUS.
1402230A-7306-48B1-98F7-49F1585A559E_zps
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Those pics give a good perspective on just how small and delicate all of the pe work actually is!

 

And, I am working on my two. Have got most of the cockpit painting done. Will try to post pics tomorrow evening of my progress.

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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I agree with John R! Chris, you need to create a mini-forge and forge your own in-scale chain links, complete with the manufacturer's stamp on each link...in scale, mind you! (That ought to keep you busy for a day or two)

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Uh, sure. I'll get on that as soon as I finish my mad science lab where I'll genetically modify spiders and ants to do all that for me.

 

Current state:

- Scratch built two platform under the starfish and fighting top.

- Added rangefinder to fighting top with support structure made from... a toothpick.

- Glued the mess together.

 

I'm pulling off the funnel caps to paint the interior of the funnels. I couldn't figure out a more efficient way to do it. At any rate, I want to modify the height of the caps, anyway.

 

D7E4A70A-B7A4-433E-A71B-949B88B8680E_zps

 

It doesn't look like it, but I got a LOT of work done on this yesterday. That fighting top is about six pieces of photo etch. I'm hoping to get it painted today with some added detail. Ideally, I'll have most of the main bridge built and can move on to the aft crane/mainmast.

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I hesitate to mention it, but I note that this vessel has a unique turret design. Two turrets must shoot laser beams since there are no barrels for "traditional" ammo.

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Well, despite my larger scale and lack of fiddly photo-etch....I'm still gonna complain about my two! These are two not so good quality WWI biplanes. First up, the interior for the 1/48 Roden Nieuport 28

005-25.jpg

Although it has decent detailing, it's misproportioned. The stick sits too high and the throttle lever and main panel are WAY too far forward. You can't see the last two once it's put into the fuselage! But, since I'm building this practically OOTB, THIS is what's going into the model! The only things I added were pe belts and brass bezels with decal instruments.

 

As for the old Glencoe 1/48 Albatross D-III, I had to build an interior from strip and sheet plastic and spare pe.

003-40.jpg

I did punch out some decal instrument faces and add brass bezels over them, as well as a set of pe belts for the pe wicker seat.

 

What's truly horrendous about this kit is its fit. It's engineered poorly. That forward fuselage top will take a ton of sanding to blend it in.

 

Although not pictured here, both kit fuselages have been glued together, so progress is being made! More pics when the airframes are complete!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Those are, quite literally, the SMALLEST chains made. I picked them up from a jeweler.

I'm sorry. Chris, I have followed your build and seen the silver chain post, but the chains still seem big to me, perhaps they don't lay flat enough. I use some 42 link/inch ones for 1/350 but for 1/700 (little I have done so far) I tend to use PE chain. (Not that I'm a big, well-known ship modeler or anything).

 

Please don't take my remark as criticism - perhaps they will look different to me when it is done and subject of a clearer photo.

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I don't know, John. I tend to shy away from PE chain, but that's just a personal choice and limited experience failing at making it look convincing. You can tell from my builds that I'm rather amateur, so perhaps when I can finally call myself "decent," I'll be better able to handle some more challenging stuff. I've seen some people coat them in CA glue and flash freeze the etch in baking soda. I've always just made a mess.

 

This will be my last update for a bit. I'm out of town this weekend and I'm going to have to fix a lot with this build to really be satisfied. That will require better scratch building skills and whatnot that I simply do not have. I'm more of an "assembler" than a "modeler," after all.

 

5D23F6C1-7A78-4EAB-88A6-E78821BA84EF_zpsPro:

Pro: Built up the mainmast/crane.
Con: The 2nd turret's barrels. I drilled the holes too low. This will be fun to remedy.

 

I've hit some areas with an oil wash. I'll be lightening that up sometime next week. Right now, I'm putting this away.

 

60CEAA28-D660-4F85-B459-73950AAC2B48_zps

 

Installed the ladders. Most of what I did yesterday was fumble with the mast. I tried soldering and failed. I ended up using superglue and made it look like a total mess. Until such time comes that I can competently build something from nothing, I'm putting away the expensive kit. I've relied too much on aftermarket and not enough on basic skills.

 

At any rate, I have until April to finish this...

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As to those anchor chains....I didn't notice it myself, not being a ship guy, and even after they were pointed out I still don't think they look bad. PE can come across as too flat sometimes, though in 1/700 it may be a small enough scale to work.

 

Made some major progress this evening in the construction arena....

001-24.jpg

 

003-41.jpg

This Roden Nieuport is basically an injection molded vac kit! It has little to no locating pins. I had to use interlocking pieces of sheet plastic in the fuselage (like a vac) to get it together solidly. The firewall came in two pieces and fit horribly, especially around the bottom. The white triangle at the rear of the bottom of the tail covers a large rectangular opening. I had to do this because the tail skid actually has a pin, but there was nothing to pin it into! By the way, the cowling is merely pressed in place at the moment. Note that the openings are not aligned with the step in the bottom of the fuselage. I figured this out while getting the best fit, and then confirmed this with references, as the instructions do not sufficiently show what position is correct!

 

As for the D-III...

006-15.jpg

If you look closely at the left tail plane seam you'll see the shim of sheet plastic needed to get them to even touch the fuselage sides! To top that off, there are NO pins, lines, or any other guide to help you position them. Also note the massive amount of superglue/baby powder "filler" around the back end of the fuselage/tail planes.The front top fuselage cap didn't fit much better, and the opening around the engine had to be opened up greatly to fit over it. Basically, this has been a "fill and sand heavily to get seams evened out" kinda kit. Since the entire fuselage will need rescribing anyway, this is merely tedious and not damaging.

 

You know things are bad when you find yourself wishing you were building the old Aurora D-III instead! There's a lot of drilling and pinning in my future over the next few days!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Well, no chain, anchor or otherwise here either ....

 

I'm back ... sorry, between trying to figure out the kit (see above) and a bunch of other things, this went low-priority - but it was not forgotten.

 

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure how to get the mount, trunnions, elevating gear, and cradle properly lined up and all. Then I woke up one day realizing that I did not have to have a real life operating replica - I needed it to look about right. So first thing to go was the traversing -- I glued the mount to the carriage nice and straight and when it was dry I glued the left trunnion to it and the carriage. I also picked, from some photos and plans, a nice angle to mount the elevating gear to the cradle.

 

And I seem to have lost any pix I had of that momentous event.

 

Anyway, I then started painting & painting & painting.

 

After that I spent some time fitting the right trunnion, cradle/gear and the carriage/mount together. Some modification of parts was necessary to get a clean properly located assembly -- when I had that, I glued the right trunnion on and here we are. The gun will still elevate but only for a short while.

 

ps35-6inblhow_12-assembly.jpg

 

ps35-6inblhow_13-assembly.jpg

 

The wheels are not glued on yet, and are still being painted as you can see.

 

So, I should be back on track .... if I can just remember to take pix and if I do, to not loose them ... and do some regular updating ....

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I'm still plugging on the USS Rhode Island kit. It took a lot of effort to get the deck right, and it doesn't show well in this light.

deck_done_zps328eb74e.jpg

 

Along the way, I have been working on another WWI kit as a bit of a warm-up for Rhode Island. The White Ensign HMS Chester cruiser has been a little more work than I excpected. It is presently 50-60% complete; still needing davits, railings, masts and rigging.

half_done_zps3b8dbf9e.jpg

Edited by RickH
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Finally I can post some pics! Okay, I made progress on two of the three models I'm building for this Group Build.

 

Here is my WWI Mark IV tank. This little beastie is all completed now; just waiting for paint:

WIP_IPMSGB_Mk_IV_Male_VII.jpg

WIP_IPMSGB_Mk_IV_Male_VIII.jpg

 

Next, I completed the assembly of my Mirage V-105 German Torpedo boat:

WIP_IPMSGB_V105_Torpedo_Boat_IV.jpg

WIP_IPMSGB_V105_Torpedo_Boat_V.jpg

It's a pretty basic model; I'm not doing anything fancy to this. I'll be painting it up next.

 

That is all I have to show for this Group Build so far. I hope to be getting paint on these sometime this week.

 

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

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I've abandoned the CMR BE2c for the time being. Straightening the bent resin without breaking it proved beyond me this time. I mentioned to Chris that I'd started an Eduard 1:48 Albatros Dr.1, but I have lost the PE seat belts. I suspect I threw them out, if it was stuck to some masking tape accidentallyI do have a habit of forgetting where I put things down, so they might turn up sometime, but I'm fully thinking that they won't. So, I started a Roden 1:32 Pfalz DIII, and that's been coming along ok. Then, last night, I opened a Blue Max 1:48 Bristol F2b Fighter. I like this for the Sunbeam Arab option. The decals look as if they're cracked, though. I don't know what I'll do for those as I don't have any in my spares. I might have to print some.

 

IMG_1895_zps641a3229.jpg

 

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IMG_1896_zps4b3b88d1.jpg

 

IMG_1903_zpsb5165a6e.jpg

Edited by Brews
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You could get a liquid decal film and paint it over the tops of these decals. That should hold them together. If not, then printing new ones would be a good option.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

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