The Velociweiler Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 (edited) Destroyed at Jutland, seven hundred feet long and in 1\200 scale, just a tadge over 42 inches long, here's my main entry to the GB. The wood in the top picture is cadged from work, and will form the main hull, which should be complete (shape-wise) in a month or so. T'will be a full-hull model, and hopefully I've got just the place to display it, but it's going to take some fairly diplomatic negotiations with someone else indoors... The main reference I'm using is a well-printed set of plans for the ship provided with the Publication 'Battlecruisers', by John Roberts. ISBN 1-86176-006-X pubished 1997. It's somewhat sought after, and there was a wee bit of competition for this book on Ebay when I bought it, however the plans are exceptionally well-printed, and are provided with the model-maker in mind. The plans themselves are in 1\250 (which is a scale which, surprisingly enough has a small following, in particular in paper card models) however, for various reasons I decided to build the bigger scale. There is also a kit of HMS Lion, which is a half-sister of the Queen Mary. It's a card kit, by JSC and is very good quality. I'm using that as reference alongside the scale plans since it helps in areas where the plans are a bit limited in use. These card kits are exceptionally well-researched, and for me at least, it's money well spent. That card model is listed here - http://www.marcle.co.uk/catap16.html but you'd be advised to contact Marcle direct http://www.marcle.co.uk/cataloguehome.html to ascertain availability. http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_direc..._queen_mary.htm Edited January 31, 2010 by The Velociweiler adding links
T-Tango Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Oh, my God, from a solid piece of wood, good luck mate.
Iain Ogilvie Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Crumbs - I'll be glued to this one! Iain
ollieholmes Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Im going to watch this one with great interest to.
keefr22 Posted January 31, 2010 Posted January 31, 2010 Wow! What a project! I'm watching too...!! Looking forward to this.... Keef
davidelvy Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Looking at all the knots in that wood you are going to need a lot of skill and a fair bit of luck. Should be a fascinating build.
The Velociweiler Posted February 1, 2010 Author Posted February 1, 2010 Looking at all the knots in that wood you are going to need a lot of skill and a fair bit of luck. Should be a fascinating build. The exterior of the hull will be skinned with very thin sheets of wood, foil, and in a couple of areas, thick card. This is the largest scratchbuild I'll probably ever do, I'd still like to get round to building a Renown in 1\200 and Glamorgan in 1\150 but y'know the thing about future plans... but scratchbuilds have been the majority of my builds for the past fifteen years. On this occasion, I'd just like to do a bit more of a special job. Thanks for the interest, gents, been looking forward to this one for a couple of years now.
crookedmouth Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Best of British! I'm watching. I think we should open a book - what are the odds that he'll finish it? ;-)
T-Tango Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Best of British! I'm watching. I think we should open a book - what are the odds that he'll finish it? ;-) But at least being wood, it should float.
The Velociweiler Posted February 2, 2010 Author Posted February 2, 2010 Best of British! I'm watching. I think we should open a book - what are the odds that he'll finish it? ;-) Aha! Care to back that up with a bottle of my choice...?
crookedmouth Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Aha!Care to back that up with a bottle of my choice...? Ooh! Ah! Er... where's me coat?
The Velociweiler Posted May 13, 2010 Author Posted May 13, 2010 Any updates on this mate?Deacon Hi - sorry I missed your query. It's proceeding - got some probs at the moment elsewhere which have to take priority. The hull has been shaped and every few days I get a new coat of dope on and manage to smooth it down. When I'm happy, I'll be drilling for and sourcing the portholes. Turrets are moulded and I've got the gun barrels and the ships boats, minus the steam pinnace are more or less done, and the base is also complete. Will get pictures out as and when I can - as it happens, that in itelf is a project which has a certain backlog. Someone at home has become too ill and frail to look after themselves so I'm leaving work very shortly to look after them. That being the case, I'll have a lot more time to work on this one, but sadly it won't be finished any time soon, but I do expect it to be complete this year so it's not conveniently forgotten about, and I will be posting progress notes and pictures when I can gather my time better.
T-Tango Posted May 13, 2010 Posted May 13, 2010 Hi - sorry I missed your query. It's proceeding - got some probs at the moment elsewhere which have to take priority.The hull has been shaped and every few days I get a new coat of dope on and manage to smooth it down. When I'm happy, I'll be drilling for and sourcing the portholes. Turrets are moulded and I've got the gun barrels and the ships boats, minus the steam pinnace are more or less done, and the base is also complete. Will get pictures out as and when I can - as it happens, that in itelf is a project which has a certain backlog. Someone at home has become too ill and frail to look after themselves so I'm leaving work very shortly to look after them. That being the case, I'll have a lot more time to work on this one, but sadly it won't be finished any time soon, but I do expect it to be complete this year so it's not conveniently forgotten about, and I will be posting progress notes and pictures when I can gather my time better. Good luck mate, I hope things go OK.
The Velociweiler Posted May 13, 2010 Author Posted May 13, 2010 Good luck mate, I hope things go OK. Thanks for that Tango - this isn't a sudden thing, it's been on the cards for a few years now, it's just come to this at this particular time so it's not exactly a bolt from the blue and I've had plenty of time to put the pieces in place to ensure that not only the person I'm caring for, but myself also, will be ok for the duration. I've got redundancy money, a Navy pension and multi-months of Ebay sales to keep me going for funds too. Dropped the Hull on my foot end-on on sunday and it bloody hurt. I was thinking of taking a hammer to it to teach it a lesson, but it's on its final warning now!!
Deacon Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 Sorry to hear about your predicament, but you seem to have done your homework and are well prepared. Well done. Look forward to updates on this, as and when you have time. Take it steady. Deacon
The Velociweiler Posted May 21, 2010 Author Posted May 21, 2010 Sorry to hear about your predicament, but you seem to have done your homework and are well prepared. Well done.Look forward to updates on this, as and when you have time. Take it steady. Deacon It's one of those subjects that just won't leave the mind - I've done so much mental preparation on it, it's become sort of unthinkable not to finish it now. I just want to get the hull right before I commence the superstructure, since those WWI Ships have fairly spartan uppers, and other than the paintwork corrosion and staining, just about everything on ships of that era were ruthlessly cleaned to a state of biological sterility on a regular basis, so everything above the nets will need to look just right. So long as it comes off as I've got planned in my mind, the next big scratchbuild in the scale will be the Escort Maintenance Ship HMS Rame Head - but that's obviously for a future time. Thanks for the interest.
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