foeth

Yeah, she was really fun. That paw action in the pic was used to steal everything she could and get into every cupboard she wasn't supposed to; before last week she started knocking off the trees of our just-completed Lego Eifel tower. A bit too curious & mischievous this one

I put up a few here https://ontheslipway.com/hms-warspite-at-prussia-cove/ https://ontheslipway.com/hms-warspite/ Nothing new but a few nice closeups.

Thanks folks... For sentimentality's sake, here she his helping me upgrade my milling machine 🙂

I've been busy building the Lego Eifeltower and when I wanted to continue modeling one of my cats ran under car which took the fun out of the hobby for a while. I was already working on a small set and added a few more parts. Just sent in a few etch set to etchworks.eu; hope they are still around! I added a new mesh with a denser lattice (two spacings) for the other boats. The parts for the picket are bottom right (spot the small propeller). A few other parts were added as well, mainly more Denton floats (far right), missing admiralty ladders top center, and re-etched stairs from the aft superstructure down going down as the previous versions didn't fit. The tiny bunch in the center is an etchperiment for the Whaler davits. I always end up with parts that are too small to use, but no harm done if they do not work out.

Ah, I found the listing on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144722850236?hash=item21b22771bc:g:DFsAAOSwYdRhrkA2&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoGLp%2FX5Mjckxy3YBMsM3bFcxRBEluJofh2MTIUO5%2BrDX7qJuuULX3cvW3UW%2BdusboPqPeuxN9Uk%2FosyIk%2FneYh4LuwdIzGQreakikHzPVkb1nb6ejAw57B0iyGsWzI8SCk10UbzHmInPXlFk8AgNN1Z5SNjCTnZ%2B3CQBqNI%2FTZ9EX7Dn39aMatT3l4xa7eA2Kqlix%2FDLjcPzFzpufdYnl0s%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7KshrS1YQ It's not the pre-war Ark Royal but a 1950s launch. I used to think the prices of this particular seller (AMGARCHIVE) were excessive and I put him on my blocklist, but now I see they are in fact just right; I only find fault in his placement of the comma.

This one is HMS Prince of Wales, pic from: https://ontheslipway.com/the-launch-of-hms-prince-of-wales/. Not my copyright (Wirral archives / BAE systems) but I got permission to post them. A similar range of pics of Ark Royal was on Ebay a year or two ago but €€€. Ah yes, that is correct.

I suppose there isn't much need for draft marks if that draft corresponds to a displacement lower than the light ship weight...? HMS Not Ark Royal Incidentally, the draft marks on the builders planers match this photograph perfectly, so it would be a good guess to not add Ark Royal's marks below XII.

Ah yes, that sounds familiar 🙃

Ah thanks and no, something flu-ish!

Right, I used the pic above to draw the cover for the engine room and the base for the 3in Hotchkiss gun. Various etched parts will be added later. This center layout matches the photograph, previous post bottom right, so I'll go with that. The two "superstructure" parts were made from styrene sheet and then filled with Magic Sculpt. This was really tricky and I needed four sessions to apply these otherwise simple shapes. The arrows indicate pulleys; a wire runs around the outside of the hull connecting the rudder till to the steering wheel. Only a quarter image before I continue with the cabin, but this was such a pain to do---while I am sick---I need a small celebratory post... 🥳

HMS WARSPITE. © IWM (FL 22103) IWM Non Commercial License FORCE A OF THE EASTERN FLEET RETURN TO KILINDINI FROM COLOMBO. 23 JUNE-2 JULY 1942.. © IWM (A 10996) IWM Non Commercial License I can see differences between the upper and lower turrets, but nothing on the barrels (in any photograph; most are 1942+ though )

I seem to have been caught with a classical case of overthinking. I was trying to make a small overview and was confused by all the images. For a part that's going to be about 14mm long why, why?! 😣 Anyway. The layout of the cover over the engine room seems to be different for each picket. Ramilles' picket (top left) has two hatches aft, opening forward. (A) Two air intakes are grouped around two hatches opening inboard (B) three scuttles are fitted in the roof between the intakes and the funnel (D). Royal Sovereign's picket(top right) shows only two scuttles in the roof and has an additional hatch just behind the funnel (C). An unidentified picket (bottom left) also shows three scuttles in the roof and a small hatch behind the funnel; pinnace 199 (bottom right) has only two scuttles in the roof and no hatch behind the funnel. These are all pickets of Hood. A previous image showed that Hood's pickets had a stepped and a flat-roofed cover (shown here); but on closer inspection of the top image (beneath the inserts) it seems that Hood started carrying two flat-roofed pickets (A). A few decent shots were found of the port side picket; this is picket #2 as indicated by the two brass rings around the funnel (B). This picket has the forward vent on the same side as the aft vent (C); an earlier shot (bottom left) shows the vents in other positions (plus other arrangement of steam pipes around the funnel), so definitely not the same picket #2. I noticed that the scuttles in the side of the engine room cover is not the same for the small insert and bottom right image (E) suggesting these are not the same picket either but both have the vents on portside. So, both pickets were replaced or modified? The hatches in the roof open forward on all versions (F), in contrast to the pickets in the first image. The bottom right also shows a pair of scuttles in the roof. I will use this layout for my model and not the one shown bottom left. I drew a few etched parts and I think I'll add a few generic meshes too; I'm not happy with finest mesh I could find (Flyhawk) which is not fine enough and is too meshy and it should match a wooden lattice more. Should be better looking for the other boats where I have to use more of this mesh. After adding the roof parts to the picket I'll probably switch to the 42 and 45 ft launches, trying to fill up the etch set.

I found something on the websites of the National Maritime Museum (NMM). This is already quite impressive as they seem to have three (?) different search engines and links you store end up dead before you know it (thanks NMM, great work!). Anyway, via images.rmg.co.uk (so not via the main website or prints.etc where you can't find anything) I found this image. The main cabin is about 0.35mm further ahead (on model scale of course, so no harm done), the center housing and gun support are different from Ough's drawing and match Hood's picket. I already made this outline myself based on photographs, but this is even better. Won't have to guess the two vents sizes either.

(random image link) Ah, total angle between the crests (39), versus half-angle wrt midship (39/2 = 19.5 degrees (= arcsin(1/3) [rad]) This angle is valid for deep, unrestricted water; in shallow water this angle steadily increases (to 90 degrees even). Also, for some ships (speedboats) the angle is much smaller; these ships simply do not generate the waves that create this 19.47 deg angle; so might be less, but not more. (also, thanks for the comments! 👍)

@europapete thought you were not referring to the hull colour of the picket but to Hood's anti-fouling colour?

According to the paint charts that should be close to Humbrol 244? (I like enamels, thanks for offering to MM version!) But I do not know what the exact shade should be, relying on Dick/Jamie here? Meanwhile, I found that strip near the waterline on Renown's picket as well and updated the image...

The bow received a bit more detail above the rubbing strake (or rubber) near the stem against the wash strake; this small area was often left unpainted and polished. The fairleads were another experiment using a small 0.2mm milling bit (a small 20Eur let's see if this works experiment!); I started by milling a small T in a wide strip and then milled away the sides. Each fairlead has a small asymmetry that is larger than the slack in the milling machine, but it's so small I don't mind. The milling was easy, I had to spend much more cleaning the part and scraping away excess styrene. The cleats are leftover PE from Hood herself for details scattered around the deck edge. A small strip is present on Pinnace 199 at the waterline; not sure if Hood's pinnace had one, but it should come in very handy when masking the hull. Positioning the strip was time consuming as there isn't a single line on the model that runs parallel to the waterline (They keel is a few degrees off). A bit rope was added—made from a pair 0.15 mm brass wires twisted using the drill—running over a small bump on the port side hull, I assume some cooling water discharge.

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, BRITISH BATTLESHIP. 1941, AT SEA.. © IWM (A 9830) IWM Non Commercial License (Not to argue 3 or 4, simply adding a pic with high contrast between tones)

I see at most 3 different tones?

Thanks! Good to read that the blog is actually read from time to time!

THE BRITISH BATTLESHIP HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH; 35,00O TON BATTLESHIP.. © IWM (A 16385) IWM Non Commercial License THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. © IWM (A 9257) IWM Non Commercial License THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. © IWM (A 9258) IWM Non Commercial License Some pics at the IWM; portside main dark patch appears quite uniform?

I've not studied this pattern that much (did notice the pattern/colour of patches may change over time), but what photographs I have do not show much of a difference between the patches you now have as blue and dark grey? (Much closer to your 2021 image?)

Thanks and indeed, these are wonderful subjects and the highlight of the real ship; makes sense to treat the submodels likewise! And, nice to "compartmentalize" a subject and finish this time vampire... Many small challenges to solve with this fellow such as the vents (seems solved but need to buy more stock for the rest), the cleats (small 0.2mm milling piece ordered and works just fine... two already visible on the stern)... I also made some more progress on researching the 42 and 45 ft barges; no full set of data but much more than before I started my boats page on my blog (out of sheer frustration of not knowing... 😅). I will have to stop at some point and started with other boats; I need a few PE pieces (hatches, portholes) and it's probably cheaper to collect part designs first...

Minor update on the small picket. I spent some time on work and procrastinated with gaming (how many times do I have to save Talos station?) The stem strip running over the bow was first bent, taped on a small plate and boiled a bit to maintain the curve ( the keel is a separate strip sanded to size). A small stern tube was added from from Albion Alloy's 0.4mm tube; I let it run into the cabin to help alignment. The wooden grating on the aft deck is the finest mesh I could find (not fine enough though). On the foredeck a few tubes were added for the flag post, a pipe to the chain locker and a small vent. I was worried a bit about making this complex shape. I started with a 1.0mm tube, added a 0.7mm hole/tube and soldered them together. After filing them to size with a bit of magic sculpt to round off the top the part turned out really well!

I wonder if they left that ball while towing the wreck (which is not exactly at anchor or moored)? I also noticed in the Solent image that there are also two balls in the line going towards the main aerials, above the pompom platform.