Maritime Content

Not as egregious as some other Aoshima box arts that show the main subject sinking in the background 🤨

Put up the catch mesh and fishing line reels. Still a few more reels to go and rollers too and the boat is almost complete. Started the build of the pier as I take breaks from working on the reels. Fixing the locations of the vehicle stoppers and boat bumpers. I will experiment with using gritty plaster to make the concrete look.

I would have expected the RN sailors lining the guard rails, ready to board with cutlasses and boarding pikes. 😁 Off North Cape. 🙂 Regards, Jeff.

That's a great comment, Richard. I also think the figures breathe life into the model and illustrate the incredible size of these ships. The ION sailors are also truly outstanding. Today, it was all about properly securing the masts to the deck. I’m always a little nervous before such important steps. That’s why preparation is key to ensuring everything goes smoothly. That’s how I did this small plate that serves as a support for the stop angle. By placing it on the bridge house, I can quickly check the angle of each side of the mast. This is important because the time window is very small. I use superglue with a long setting time, but it still has to be done quickly. I won’t keep you in suspense, but it worked. I laid some more rope next to it and had a sailor check the ropes. And everything went smoothly at the rear as well. Phew… The deck amidships is slowly filling up. Now I can continue working on the bridge houses.

Just a little something I picked up cheap second hand and was building in between other models. For 1/700 is pretty nicely molded with the rails for the hull and conning tower molded to their respective sections. Painted with WEM enamel in Hellgrau 50 and PSBF III, the standard for early war subs. Deck is black. The base even has the nice writing on it already printed. I think I went cross-eyed trying to paint and weather it though!

G Ah, it helps to take a sniff of the good stuff first. With so many claiming that they moved away from enamels because of the smell, it is distinctive to find a genuine medical reason. I recall Jerry Scutts telling me of a friend who had to stop modelling for medical reasons - before the days of acrylic paint and exotic resins, I have always assumed it was the paints/thinners to blame. Possibly my nasal sensors have been deadened by years of abuse, my wife being much more sensitive in this area. I don't have any problem smelling fresh coffee or a single malt...

Don't worry they are both too busy trying to avoid the iceberg! 😉

That box art must have been inspired by Hollywood movies: exchanging broadsides at less than 100 meters...

No Graham, it's not that bad. And I prefer drinking the stuff, anyways. Might deserve a swig right now after a 2 hour stint masking 4 tiny 1/00 Skywave MTBs, assembling a Flyhawk 2cm quad for one of them (yes it did drop to the floor; repeatedly), and spraying the hulls.

And a general question does anybody know how to scratch 1/700 oval fairleads? I've seen this done in 1/600 by drilling and then carving the end of an Evergreen strip. To get the smooth look, dip in Tamiya Extra Thin.

I'm done. I'll add the other crew figures some time soon, but for now I'm finished. I did try to add the decals, but they have not survived the passage of time, and refuse to come off the backing paper. As much as its nice to be able to see, and fairly easily handle the parts in 1/72, I think I prefer 1/350. Thanks chaps for your comments, as always its nice to know you are out there. Jon

An old kit, but has gone together quite well. Greatly improved by adding wood detail, although there is some doubt as to whether some of the wooden slats were in reality wood, and not checker plate steel. Also I added the Eduard PE set, which has given far more detail. I changed the railings from the kit supplied ones to brass stanchions (slightly over size) through which was threaded brass rod at the top and steel cable through the lower hole. The paint used was from Resolution Hobbies https://resolutionhobbies.com/ KM10 Schnellbootweiss and KM05 Schiffbodenfarbe III Grau I I do have some crew figures, that I will add at a later date, but for now I'm done.

Hi All, I need help with physical aspects of this ship as she in at the Falklands period and I'm using this pick as reference: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/An_elevated_port_bow_view_of_the_British_destroyer_HMS_BRISTOL_(D23)_underway_(330-CFD-DN-SC-87-01109).jpg On the platform between the 4.5" & the Ikara I see dishes on poles, HF cones? On the same platform, I have seen a small mast with a box on it, is this something to do with Ikara? There is a rotatable something on a platform mounted beneath the forward bridge windows, is this again something to do with Ikara? On the forward life raft platforms there are 20mm Oerlikons, is there a ladder or door access to this platform? Someone told me that the bridge deck(?) between the bridge and the forward funnel was wood, can anybody confirm this? The mast near the aft funnels, does this mast have ladders running up its forward or aft face? And a general question does anybody know how to scratch 1/700 oval fairleads? TIA Stuart

Incredibly impressive and inspirational model making but the "gilding on the lily" is the placement of the right figures in the right places doing the right things which helps creates a replica of a working ship being operated by its crew.

Hi Steve It's truly amazing what a wonderful scratch build you've shown here. Your flower is truly wonderful. 🌸 Respect for your model-making skills.

Here we see one of two hand rails that sit at the rear of the forward elevated walkway. I gently bent then to confom to the shape of the walkway: and here we see both fitted: Next up is the front hand rails that run the full length of the walkway. It took many attempts to get this bent and fitted and it was only after the fourth or fifth time that I realised I was trying to fit it upside down! Not my best PE work; it was difficult to get the handrail curved to match the front face of the walkway. Here it is prior to fitting: and after: Now to fix the fog horns and their supports. Each horn comes in two pieces, machined from the same piece of brass. You snap the two pieces apart, no clean up required. Below you can see one horn still as one piece, one already separated and one of the support pieces: The next two photos show the horn assembly. Bluetac is my best friend on these occasions!: Here we are with the horn supports added: and finally the fog horns: Moving on to the rear walkway that provides access between the port and starboard searchlights. This comprises two pieces of brass; the walkway, with two (extremely flimsy) supports that fold down and the handrail: First up, we attach the walkway: Then we move onto the handrail. I changed my approach when forming the handrail to match the walkway on this part. I wasn't overly happy with the result on the front handrail, so this time I used my Mission Models bending tool: A careful application of pressure at the right points and I managed to replicate the curves at each end of the walkways reasonably well: There are a number of ladders to be added but those can wait until after I've painted the funnel and installed it. Five hours on the bench, bringing me to 335 hours.

Outstanding work. I hope that when I make my model of Johnston it will be half as good as yours.

G'day Vlad, I can see them clearly. Sometimes an image isn't visible to me, but is there the second time I log on. G'day Stuart, this is a great model, as is your 1916 German torpedo boat. They're both beautifully done. Regards, Jeff.

Steve, and +1 word. cant agree more, thats how i see my modelling, its a journey, in a way adventure, new things learn, not a obsticle or a struggle, have a helluva ride, therapy time, escape daily life, disconnect from it all, get analog, work with mind and hands....so more words could be written here. we all have our reasons. and the time well, i know, one of my builds took 1.5yrs to complete, an aircraft lol...can take all from 2-3 month to over a year...so hey, it takes the time it takes, nothing more. sorry for long reply. /Mal

Am I the only one for whom the images are all broken? 😟

Aoshima do a kit of Norfolk herself. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/aoshima-056691-hms-norfolk--1226519 I built their Dorsetshire, they are nice kits. I have also built the Trumpeter Cornwall. The Trumpeter kits have a small PE set, a bit more surface detail, YMMV whether this is necessarily a good thing (hull plating is overdone). But any perceived shortcomings of the Aoshima kit would be easier to overcome than a full conversion from a Kent. EDIT: do note the Trumpeter 1/700 Kent and Cornwall are also waterline only, so you gain nothing by choosing those and converting.

Thanks Mal. Two things make ship modelling unique in my opinion It is the oldest form of modelling. To sell a ship, the builder would first make a model. I hope in some small way, we continue that tradition here A ship model is not a task, or a project, it is a journey. Each model contains many small models each with their own challenges. So, while a model like this may take 18 months to build, it really is just a series of projects, collected together in a whole at the end. Sums it up perfectly, the break will help me clear my mind and come back re-energised Thanks for your kind comments Steve

Hi this is my rendition of G-37, a Grosse Torpedo boot of the German Fleet 1916. Kit is great. Tiny but great. Thankfully my fine motor skills are still pretty good so this was a fun little build. Thanks for looking Stuart

Hi all this is my little scene, of HMS Hotspur at anchor in Gibraltar harbour during 1941. This was a great kit, though it spent a very long time sitting in a box partially finished. I have modelled the ship with a harbour tug (Starling models "Thames" river tug, shhh dont tell...) steaming past. Etch from the kit, white ensign, starling models. Crew figures are 3d prints from Starling models. Thanks Stuart

The funnel assembly is finally starting to come together. I fitted the internal walkways and pipework (Pontos brasswork that I assembled eons ago) to one side of the kit funnel moulding and glued both sides together. I then fitted this to the funnel base and inserted the searchlight platforms. Both platforms come as one piece of plastic which fits into a slot moulded into the funnel. The platform support struts are courtesy of Pontos, and again, I added them a very long time ago. Here we are with the platform assembly attached, the external pipework added, along with a ladder that provides access to an elevated walkway on the front face of the funnel: A note on the external kit pipework; Trumpeter made a mistake on their instructions. There are five external pipes to be fitted but they omit one of them (C6): You need to take a little time here as it's very easy to get the pipes mixed up. Here is how the entire assembly should look when fitted with all that lovely Pontos brass: and: Starting with the elevated platform in the first of the Pontos assembly photos above: Fairly easy. Here you see the walkway and two support struts and above are the extensions that will eventually support the fog horns. Seven pieces of etch that required just a little bending and some CA glue. Here we can see the walkway fitted to the funnel: The funnel cap (another part assembled many months ago) has been painted black and will be the last thing I add after finishing the brightwork and paintwork. Hopefully more soon.