Stryder Kennset

Hate to say it guys, the promise of updates have been shoved and this project had entered into the dry docks for the time being......Life sometimes just isn't fair. Wife recently just found a job. I can't say anything about it cause for the past two years, she's been taking care of our two boys and she wanted to work for quite a bit now. So these days, in between my own job, taking care of the boys, sometimes till midnight, which means in the mornings make me feel as if I got hung out to dry means I have less and less time for anything else, much less modeling (sigh, at my growing stash)...Also, it does not help my two year old son threw my SD card and all the progress pics in the toilet and flush it down into the septic tank!!! (GRRR!!! Almost spanked his bottom right off but SWMBO was watching.....kids and their terrible twos.......to assuage me, my wife got me a new 32G card. Does not make up for the losses though since all three turrets are made up and all the nice shots of "how it came to be the way it did" pics are gone). I will try to find time, any time to waddle through...But the triple whammies is I just bought Bravely Default 3 weeks ago and that game is sucking whatever life remain right out of me right now! GRRRRRRRRRRR...... Will try to find the time! Anyway I can!

Hi guys. Sorry to disappear for the past few months. But if you watched the news, well, the winter here in the States have been how do you say this, NUTS!, even here in the Atlanta area (Which supposed to be down south and supposed, mark words being SUPPOSED to be warm).....This means both of my kids one time or another have came down with the flu and/or cold. This made for some very hectic time. Now that daylight saving hours has begun, my oldest one clock has shifted one hour early...Meaning he doesn't sleep until 12! Sigh, well, I'll see about doing some update. Not much, but getting all three main turrets done.

Internet explorer on Window 8 with the latest update.

Ohh well! Guess till they fix the issue, I'll keep on slogging away at it. Yeah, a lot of small parts that goes just about everywhere, especially when you add in that pontos set! Plugging away at the 2 turret. This Sat. will head to my local IPMS meeting...I'm hoping to get turret 2 finished then and then get started on turret 3 before getting started on those pesky dual 5 inch turrets!...I might not even try to get those hand holds on there though!

Hello, administrator......Something seriously wrong with the site! Paste will not work....Both right mouse button or "CTRL V" will not work and the image button is broken. I can paste the HTML link into the slot but the "OK" button does not work....Something broke during the new year holidays? Hello? Can't post pictures worth a damn here!

Got something to post real soon! The thing is, SWMBO and the kids are eating up my time here but pics taken and PS'ed.....Just need time to put it up on photo bucket and then here....Ohh, some mistakes made, and also a couple of things that almost made me want to throw stuff up against the wall! Ponto's instructions and sometimes cutting corners BITES to say the least! Ohh, check Rick's concurrent builds also.......I'm taking his experiences into my own build also. It's a good comparison!

Ohh yeah, Rick! Forget about doing the details on semi-circles steps on the side of the turret and in front..... Trust me! I've tried.....Was a HUGE PITA and almost made me threw the entire thing up against the wall. The details are so small you can't even get it on with an optivisor and all it does is make the details thinner...That's it......You can try if you want, but for me, for turret num. 2 and 3, I will leave those alone!

Ohh yeah, those blast bags...... Do not look at the cut off diagrams on the Pontos instructions! It would have you cut off too much...Which is what I did. The end result was I had to putty up the seams along the gun joint...Bummer......Do what Rick did. Cut off the major pieces, then test fit, test fit and test fit....Afterwards, sand it off slowly to make sure! I'm slowly finding out that I'm starting to hate Pontos instructions!

Actually, never EVER trust Trumpeter's color call out! They are always wrong. Put down a coat of Tamiya's Mica Red to lighten it up a little. It's a bit too dark. Don't know what period you are trying to paint. But if it's after WW II (You got the teak deck right?) The it should be haze grey for the upper works, and navy blue for the hull sides. Watch it though. As by 1950, I think she completely went with Mica (hull) red bottom, black demarcation line, and Haze Grey completely on the side (no more navy blue) and superstructures. Also, the radars and antennas were also painted black at this point in time (1945, all haze grey). Check your references.!

Good luck! We both can share tips and tricks and stuff! Now, just to tell you, between you and me, I'm really not that big of a ship builder...Mostly do Armor and Planes but it's the history of this ship that broke me down and made me buy it. Ohh well. It will become the center piece of my collection...When it's completed somewhere near 2016! SHEESH! What with Pontos set and all!

And now the Pontos set. Due to the high number of frets and pieces in this set, only a select samples are shown. Box cover The wood deck. The best I can do here. It peels right off and then you can just stick it onto the ship! The turned brass barrels (16 inch and 5 inch) along with two masts. Best I can do since these brass pieces have given me hell already. There are a lot more, including stanchions, bitt, 20mm pedestals and antennas but those are too small to capture effectively. The resin bits. There are a few more but they are too small to capture. Notice the details on the Pontos blast bag, compared to the ho-hum Trumpeter's one. And finally, the etch frets. There are 18 of them total so these are just a sample. It's comprehensive to say the least And ohh, I hope this picture tells the tale of the shape issue with the 16 inch barrels. Left, Pontos brass, middle, Trumpeter metal, right, Trumpeter stock. That's it for now. Now to batten down the hatch, flood the torpedo tubes and get started on the 16 inch turrets!

As promised, the pics! Lets start off with the Trumpeter's set. Back flap with instructions...If you can't figure this out on your own..... A comparison shot of the metal pieces and their kit's counterparts.

Yeah, Pontos barrels are drilled deeper, giving you more of a perspective. Still, it's no problem taking a Dremel with a good drill and drill it out. However, what I'm talking about are the shape issues. Hope I can get the pics turned out right (so far it aint. Brass and metal just does not want to turn out right, especially something this thin, on camera). Pontos recoil holder are thinner than the Trumpeter ones. You can tell by compare both of them with the kit's stock barrels. Yes, That's what I've heard, some people also got two sets of 40mm barrels while missing the 20mm from the first shipment. I got both with mine though.

You can still make a comment here or two in case you have any questions. But yes, if you are going to or want to show off your own build, please start your own thread so we can keep various builds separate to avoid confusion. Anyway, can't wait to see how your ship builds up so we can compare! P.S. Took a bunch of photos of both the Trumpeter's set and Pontos massive set. Gonna go to PS soon to clean it up and then posted here. P.S.S. After looking at various photos, I think Ponto's 16 inch barrels are slightly more accurate. Trumpeter's are just slightly more exaggerated but still good. Anyways, will do a comparison pic soon.

Well Rick, I guess it's time to start your own WIP thread!