Maritime Content

great work

There is nothing I can say except to agree with everyone else. WOW!! This is a wonderful demonstration of model making which results in an outstanding build. Five stars at least!

Yeah, poor bird! For example, Italian radars of WWII period were called significantly more picturesque: il gufo (for those who aren't from the Mediterranean, it's exactly el búho in Italian).

This is masterful, great to look at and study.

G'day Alain, to me modern Russian warships can look powerful, tough and purposeful, and these are no exception. I think this is almost a triple build, two warships and the pier, which has enough detail to be a model in it's own right. This is a superb diorama with a lot of interesting scenes included. You are a very talented modeler. Regards, Jeff.

I started this model about 45 years ago and was never able to finish it. Your work on this is fantastic! Everything about it is amazing but I wanted to especially note those sails you made, wow! Congratulations on an excellent Cutty Sark.

It was very nerve wracking cutting the canopy, even when I found out I had a spare one. They are so clear i often couldn't even see it as I was cutting. If I was cutting another one, I would first mask off the canopy up to the molded frame detail and spray it with primer. That would make the cutting and also the finer trimming with sandpaper a LOT easier.

That was masterful cutting to have them turn out so well. I'm certain I would have contrived to destroy one of them.

👍 I try to hide joins under objects when I can, too. Agreed. 🙂 Yeah, you'd better go and have a lie-down. 😁 That's beautiful work you've done. To me the building of wooden vessels from actual wood, without the option of hiding errors under copious quantities of filler is true modeling artistry. She's very well done. Regards, Jeff.

About 75% complete.

The instrument panel is now repositioned. I purposely glued in the plastic strip very slightly proud (better than being too low). I will level it with the nose when I blend the filler in. I also completely flattened the back wall of the cockpit where the headrest was, removing the cast in protruding panel which always bugged me a bit. I've replaced it with plastic card which is much cleaner looking. I will make a new panel for around the headrest later. I think the new position of the instrument panel and steering wheel is better, as I was concerned that the steering wheel was too far forward of the seat before. Perhaps the cockpit cut out actually was slightly too big originally.

As well as the cockpit opening being too big to be able to shift the canopy further back, the opening was a bit more to the left. Below is the solution I've come up with. I made the opening smaller using a plastic strip. I will fill in the void with body filler. The plastic strip will give a nice even edge for the filler. The strip has also corrected the uneven opening which was off to the left a little. This work created another problem though. The instrument panel was now too far forward, so I had to shift that back a little.

There were couple of things I wasn't happy with. The brass frame at the back of the cockpit should be on level with the top of the fuselage, but I had a slight step down to the frame. Another problem I was aware of was the rear frame of the canopy was too thick. The frame that's moulded into the canopy is hard to see in this photo, but the point of the red arrow is on it. The little white line indicates how thick that frame is. By the time that's painted blue, it would be quite a chunky looking frame. The simple solution would be to trim more off the back of the canopy, making the frame thinner, but then the canopy would be positioned further back. As indicated with the blue arrow, the opening of the cockpit is preventing the canopy from being moved further back.

Hello, Thank you for your comments on this assembly. That's really nice of you. In response to the questions. For the second question, I don't sell what I do for my dioramas. I design and print these elements to please myself and that's enough for my happiness. For the PE, I create the boards and have the engraving done at Hauler ltd. I usually assemble almost everything (Details, PE, etc.) before starting the painting. I work on the basis of large sub-assemblies. For the PE and resin, I use an emael paint of the former WEM type as a base coat. On these types of materials, it is the only paint that allows you to make masks for the later phases of painting. Primers and other acrylic paints do not stick to these materials. For the base coat I use shades like medium gray or black. Best regards. Alain

I worked on a 3d file and manage to get a printable version of a Super Vita missile boat. I added some PE details and a sea scape

Waterways and Scuppers Waterways and scuppers are two features of a boat like this that are usually neglected nowadays but the books on ship model making written in the early part of last century recommend including them. They are both small details that might be compared to 'weighting' wheels of an aircraft model or drilling out the exhaust pipes of a tank. Thos small details that add up to a big difference in the end. The side to side arch of the deck shoots any water that finds its way there off to the bulwarks. The waterways are lines of timbers which fill the corner between the decks and bulwarks and direct the unwanted water forward and aft to the scuppers. The word scupper simply means a hole, maybe a porthole of an access hatch between decks but these scuppers are drain holes bored from the deck edge to the outside of the bulwarks. They were lined with lead to make a waterproof pipe to prevent water leaking inside the boat. Think of these features as working like a kerbstone and drain by the side of the road. That's the section of the waterway, the chamfer facing inboard. This was 1x1mm walnut and the chamfer was hand sanded - very carefully! Sanding thin stuff is delicate work but at least it doesn't make much dust. I used 240 grit for the stock removal and 400 to smooth it out. This walnut bent easily and was easily clampable in the bow so no hot bending was needed. The piece on the other side was a bit stiffer so I wet it and clamped it in place while I walked the dog. It took up enough of the bend that I could glue and clamp it ok. I needed a joint to make handling the glued up pieces easier. I didn't want glue smeared over my deck. The joint will be hidden under a gun. The glue has been in that milk bottle top for days and was almost solid. This is another way to make Titebond set quickly and have a good sticky 'grab'. The short length of waterway across the platform was added for cosmetic reasons to hide the uneven ends of the deck planking. Really, there's no reason to have one there. Note how the curve makes the sliver of wood almost clamp itself. 'Almost' wasn't quite enough so I had to invent a clamping solution for it. I quite enjoy these little puzzles. It's a pair of tweezers in a 'gravity clamp' (heavy weight) with a rubber band back-up. Glued down and varnished. The join is on the left. It's a small detail but I think it was worth the trouble. The scuppers are simply holes. I had no information about Alert's scupper diameters so I guessed three inches which scaled out to about 1.2mm. I simulated the lead pipe and its funnel ends with thick Vallejo acrylic paint in gunmetal grey. The central hole is at the low point of the deck, roughly abeam the pump location (I've lost the precise pump position under the planking, dammit!). The two other scuppers are in case of the boat being trimmed nose up or down, or heeling in a wind which would raise the bows. I did NOT drill all the way through. The holes are just long enough to look like they meet in the middle. Looking at the photo as I type, I'm thinking that countersinking the holes slightly would have looked better. Live and learn, eh? So that's that; four bits of wood and 12 holes in a single day. I'm exhausted!

This isn't quite how the build order suggests, but I want to pre-paint things before sticking them to the wooden deck so... addition of photo etch to the floor of bridge deck: And adding the two major funnels and the 16(!) tiny vents. Photo etch half added. Will tidy up once the sundeck is added. All gravity held at present while Next step is to go back to the hull. Looking at multiple photos it doesn't look like the ship had anti-torpedo netting or struts (?) at the time of sinking but they are in the model... E.g. on this possibly earlier photo there appears to be some struts below the casement line. Also note a two tone colour - hull/guns dark grey/green? and funnels/bridge lighter Another photo dated to 1915 shows a similar colour scheme: By 1916 it is pale grey (Hausian?) and no obvious Anti-torpedo strutts/netting In contrast on Viribus Unitis it is really clear the anti-torpedo strutts netting/effects:

"Radar type 273 want's a cracker" just doesn't sound right. 😁 But the parrot's cage and the mast it's mounted on looks superb. Regards, Jeff.

Did they have frosted glass? Are they supposed to be white? I really benefited from your photo report about the booms on Hood!

My thanks to @beefy66 and @k7rkx I followed your suggestions of gloss varnishing the entire hull. I then applied the decals using Micro Set and then when dry, I have the hull a coat of matt varnish. And I have to say, this is the best ever result I've had with decals. No silvering at all. Another thing learnt. Jon

Technically speaking, it is a small enclosure for the radar to keep it dry. There were windows but these were not transparent. Great work on the derrick!

Smit Houston Tug Boat (05239) 1:200 Carrera Revell The Houston was a Tugboat that was launched in the late 70s at Heusden in the Netherlands, delivered to and operated by Smit Internationale until 1990, where its innovative design and advanced technology gained a reputation for being and excellent vessel. She was powered by two six-cylinder Stork Werkspoor diesel engines each with an output of 4,600hp, giving her a top speed of 14 knots, plus a lot of torque, and berths for up to 32 passenger and crew. After serving Smit for around thirteen years, she was sold to Greenpeace and underwent a change of name to MV Solo, where she remained until 1995 by which time a helipad had been retro-fitted, ending its days under the name ETV Waker until a serious engine room fire in 2009 rendered her unfit for repair after years of solid service with the Dutch coastguard as a chartered Emergency Tow Vessel (ETV). The Kit This kit was originally tooled in 2007 and released first as the Smit Houston, then as the ETV Waker with new parts added to represent the upgrades made by Greenpeace and the then-new owners. The kit arrives in a deep end-opening box, and contains three sprues of white styrene, three more in green of various sizes, a single hull part in brick red, four strips of clear acrylic sheet that should be glued behind the portholes and windows, a length of stiff black cord, two decal sheets, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on satin paper. Detail is typical of a maritime kit from Revell of this era, with external detail, a well-moulded hull that could use some improvement to the bow thruster area, and a simple stand that you can use during the build if it’s not up to your usual display standards. Construction begins with the hull, fitting two ducted screws to the rear, corresponding prop-shafts, and rudders that are mounted on the rear of the shrouded section. Two additional parts are attached either side of the bow to give it a more bulbous profile, fitting anchors to the hawsers on both sides of the bow. The stand is built early to allow the modeller to keep the hull stable and off the desk, making it from four parts that join together in a butt-joint that is strengthened slightly by location tabs and recesses between the parts. The hull is shown being painted in four bands of colour at this stage, as is the rear deck that is predominantly bright green with brown sections forward, installing it in the hull and adding small parts after painting them, then surrounding the stern with a cowling that curves inward and has four cross-braces fitted across it. A diagram shows the colours for all the railings and lights, with another diagram showing the painting of the mid-deck, which is inserted next, adding the first of the railings and superstructure, then putting more deck equipment and railings in place over the following steps, building up to the bridge after adding the foredeck, which is also very green, studded with small equipment parts, and more railings. Each successive deck is painted, has holes drilled for railings, and various pieces of equipment added, including a fire-fighting deck above the bridge that is roughly T-shaped. Twin funnels are made from three parts each and are fitted behind the bridge with a ladder and mast base linking them together, making the two masts from several parts each, the more complex assembly sited between the funnels, adding radar and other antennae to the various stations. The fore mast is glued into the fore deck along with a crane, building a lifeboat from two halves for installation on the port mid-deck with its davit, aft of the superstructure. A rigging diagram shows how the anchors and other cables should be arranged on the fo’c’sle, wrapping the ends round the capstans moulded into the fore-deck, with another drawing detailing the rigging of the two masts. Markings The Smit Houston only wore one scheme during its time with them, and a full set of profiles are included spanning three complete pages. From the box you can build the following: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Houston was a well-respected tug during its time with Smit Internationale, and there’s adequate detail for most modellers, including clear backing for the portholes, and a length of waxed cord for rigging. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Two questions - how do you paint? I saw that all the PE was applied before horizontal surfaces were painted so ... you would need to mask them somehow, how do you manage not to damage PE parts? - cranes, 3d + etched parts - any thoughts about selling them as kits?

Or a parachute draped over whatever, with an irate parachutist in the drink, a couple of crew watching him while a crewman with a life-ring is deciding if he wants to get it wet. 😁 I'll get my coat. 😁 Regards, Jeff.

Have fixed LCT2627 to her base and will do micro filling with Liquitex when she is set. Stuggling to get appropriate decals for the pennant number (sorry @robgizlu thanks for your help but I’m to impatient to wait for them to arrive from the manufacturer and Hannants won’t deliver such a small order and I don’t need anything else to make it up to their cut-off point for postage) so I have ‘butchered some existing decals from Atlantic, they are slightly oversize and black (not the flat red that were actually used - like I said in previous posts I’m not a ‘rivet counter’ and plan to cover most of the offending decals with strategically placed ‘rubbish’). (i do love my parenthesis’s😍). While waiting I painted some extra figures and scratched a loose tarp covering something or other, this was ciggy paper impregnated with PVA and pressed down over some random bits of sprue - will get some paint when dry and set.