rickbcolorado

I received the Bofors from Veteran, and am working out the build and the configuration for the date (1945 Tokyo Bay/surrender scene), so I will not build them with all the bottom armor. Photos soon. I got some solid brass props that look much better, too...

got my Bofors in the mail...they look beautiful and it will take a while to build them, but I am excited. Pics when I have something worth sharing.

Ken: I found the Veteran stuff at Pacific Coast and ordered a few....did not know how many Bofors per box (who does labels these days?), so your info is really helpful. With all the $$$ I have invested into the build, I will be able to trade the finished ship in for the real one in Hawaii....working the front deck right now, trying to fused three separate pages of Trumpeter instructions along with the Pontos information about what needs to go and what needs to stay. On some of their prints that come with the PE, the information is really clear, but the deck diagrams are pretty cryptic. I am really grateful for all the good information and advice I am getting from all the folks on Britmodeller. If any of you are ever in Colorado, I have some native home-grown brew to tip your way.... Another question: if you only had one visit to a modeling store in the UK to make during a planned vacation, which store (greater London area most likely) would it be? Rick the Newbie... Rick

<Message>All access to this object has been disabled</Message> too bad....I am working on the Trumpeter 1:200 version, Mike....do you get an error message now, or is it just my system? rick

crazy winter weather all over the US....but I am getting things done.....got the main guns, waiting for the resin Bofors from Pontos... rick

Status Update: After a fair amount of business travel, I have been able to put a few good build sessions together. Right now, I have finished all the 16-inch guns, made ten of the Mk 28 Mod 2 5"/38, and have many of the smaller guns built. Because I heard that Pontos is coming out with a set of the 40mm Bofors in fully molded resin form, I am waiting on that. So far so good on the PE related to all of this. Help Needed: The way that Pontos wants you to build rungs embedded into the side of a hull or gun is difficult for me. You use a PE template, drive some tiny holes, and put in your rung--different than gluing an entire ladder mechanism in PE, which is not too hard too pull off. How are you doing on this? For me, by the time I get all the holes drilled, one or two are invariably off a micron or so, so the entire set of rungs (which should look like an embedded ladder) looks like a drunken sailor installed them. Anyone having any luck with these fittings? I would hate to miss this (the Pontos pics on this are stunning), but my attempts on some of the guns are just not that good. Trumpeter part M2 (the ropeline connector thingees--I am not a sailor ) is way too big for some of the fittings on the deck. I had to get the Dremel out and shave off the sides and the depth to fit in the pre-cut boxes in the deck (see pics). And because all of these are now metal, it has to be repainted when complete (trying to do as little on-deck painting as possible. that being said, I am having fun. The Bofors enclosures are a test, lots of PE in three layers, three levels to put on, so they are taking a lot of time. I am trying to get all the parts for steps #9 #11, and #13 put together so I will have the major deck parts of the front end of Missouri done...then I will move to the back and do the same, then attach the superstructure parts. I am growing in my respect for all you guys who do this with regular perfection. Here are a few pics to show where I am now.... you can see the 16" in the background, and the 10 Mk28s. Trying to cut and trim all of one part, then store it under a cover until I need the parts. Painting the front end of the deck. I have still not attached it yet, but that will come soon. Trying to glue down custom-built collars for the two guns sets I have built (not to mention the resin Bofors) already so that they will rotate (surprised that Trumpeter did not think of this). Question: was there a standard way that the guns faced when not in combat? I am looking primarily for the Bofors and the MK38s.... it's only when you put some paint on things that you see what a lousy job of sanding some of the parts you've done. For me, the larger scale makes it easier to work with, but the little trim jobs that don't get done are more easily noticeable. Back to the xacto knife or the sander! this gives you a sense of some of the trim work that you have to do even after you have assembled the PE. The top part is raw assembled PE, and the bottom (the one that fits) has been sanded on 5 sides. Good to have a Dremel for this kind of careful work. And so I learned that most of these have to be sized and repainted again. Anyway, this part of the build is a bit of a slog, but I am hanging in there. I appreciate all the input, feedback, and reaction. I would love to hear from any of you who are building your 1:200 Missouri, too....I did get to put the movie "Battleship" on my PVR to get a sense of how some of the guns look. It's a current configuration, though, but it still looks pretty awesome. Rick

Anyone heard when the new resin parts for Missouri are coming out? I had heard March, but I am not sure..... It's tough to stay focused on modeling--the important stuff--when your day job keeps taking you out of town....but soon I'll be back and after it. I promised some photo's too, so i will take and post them..... Rick

OFF TOPIC WARNING: Did anyone watch Season 2 of "House of Cards" on Netflix? Was it cool or disturbing that the lead actor, Kevin Spacey, played a nefarious politician whose hobby just happened to be scale modeling? building a Civil War diorama was his pastime. Rick

Dear Lloyd: Thank you for your time and thoughtfulness in your recent post. Must say that most of my accidents with sharp knives have happened in the kitchen rather than the hobby room, but the ones I have suffered while modeling usually involve CA and the thumb-forefinger interface. That depiction of your xacto "hara-kiri" through the foot was absolutely frightening! Not sure I will ever forget that when carrying stuff to the paint room for spraying....maybe leave an exacto in each room. I very much appreciate your candid sharing of the health challenges you are facing with your chemotherapy. Makes my bitching about some missing PE from Korea look really whiny. I too find solace and relief from life's stresses by visiting the hobby room, but never facing the kinds of challenges you are facing. Not sure if you are a man of prayer or not, but I am also a deacon in the Catholic Church, and this Sunday when I preach (all three services), I will lead our parish in prayer for "Lloyd, my modelling buddy", for the difficulties you are facing. Hope you feel the love of family and friends--even ones who have only known you through this e-mail--during this time of testing. You will have thousands of people in Black Forest, Colorado, sending up some hope and prayer to the Grand Modeler in that hobby room in the sky (when we finally have time to build all those kits Hang in there, buddy! Thanks for the tip on the hawse holes in the hull---I will find some baffling to separate the two spaces so there won't be that "see-through" effect. Strange that Trumpeter went through all the drama to have the barrels movable, and yet did nothing on making the 16" able to rotate. I am going to use some sort of tab that I will glue at a 90 degree angle to the shaft so that they will rotate. Even the kiddie models (the ones I have a lot of experience building) can rotate. take care, and keep in touch...I know you are in the thoughts of many at this time. Best, Rick (don't call me "Rev.") Bauer

thanks, AgentG....this is helpful.

Lloyd: Yeah, sooner or later the deck has to go on, and I think you are right. I did not even know that Pontos was planning some resin parts. Having an alternative to these smaller assemblies might be nice, but I can't wait much longer, either. I finally got my barrels yesterday from Korea, exactly one day after I posted my frustrated rant on the turn-around. Always works that way. I felt bad about Kim, but maybe he is dealing with things that we just aren't informed about. I thought it was so cool that we almost had our own "inside man" with his participation here. Maybe some beanhead boss has him doing more "productive" stuff like not helping out his best customers and market influencers Again, i will have some pics soon on the larger guns I have been working on. thanks for all the good advice here. I feel like we are travelling in uncharted waters here, and having the collective wisdom of some real pros is incredibly helpful. Anytime you guys are in Colorado Springs, I owe you your favorite adult beverage (you may have to get your legal herb somewhere else, since I do some work with the government that would not allow me to help you out in that way Have a great day--its a nice Sunday in Colorado (highs in the 60's F), and I'm looking forward to getting some work done on Big Mo after a nice hike with my wife and the Shelties....always get lots of "release time" for modeling from the missus AFTER taking care of things on the home front. Best, Rick

Guy: I think you are right, Guy, about the painting sequence. I heard elsewhere in the chats on this one that the stuff should be all painted as sub-assemblies first, then glued down on the deck. I have not heard about any problems with adherence to the deck....there are a lot of pre-drilled hoes on the wooden Pontos deck, so I am not worrying about that....I did have to put some more glue on parts of the deck that curled up, but not big deal.....I have not glued the deck down into the hull yet, I figure that may be reserved until rigging and such....any thoughts on this by others building this bad boy? As far as the Pontos PE is concerned, most of the time, I am such an inexperienced modeler that I tend to blame myself for problems (and I have more than my share)...so i am slogging along with the Pontos PE (I put each piece in a numbered plastic bad with the number sequences written in large letters, so it helps me sort through the stuff)....i did get their PDF's set on a large flat screen PC monitor so I can see them enlarged--very helpful. Given the fragility of some of the parts, I so wish they would have added one more extra part to a series of parts, because it's happened more than a few times that I lose one in cutting, or it gets horribly bent (the ladders, the turret PE on the 40's is really delicate), and then you end up missing one PE part....can't blame them, but it seems so easy to add one or two extras to these sets.... I specifically put linoleum tile on the flooring of my hobby room when I had it built so I could not have to deal with "the rug monster" and lost PE, but maybe my eyes are just getting old, you can lose PE on a tile floor, too pics to come Rick

Folks: Been away for a while, but I have been busy. I have the 40mm gun assemblies all done, with all the PE attached, but I have yet to receive the barrels fro Pontos that did not come with my initial order in early December. I am not a big complainer, and I absolutely am in love with the Pontos PE, but I feel like I have to set up a brand new account, order another complete set of PE, just to get the 40mm barrels that I never received. If this were a small $$, maybe I would be more patient, but i have been waiting almost three full months on this. I travel on business to Korea a few times a year, so maybe i have to come there myself to buy them Has anyone else faced a similar experience? Not wanting to throw anyone under the bus here, but I have sent Kim from Pontos 6-7 e-mails, pleading, begging, flattering, frustrating, and finally, just concluding that this does not matter to the company. I had already cut the plastic barrels off the parts in anticipation of the brass barrels needing to be glued on, so i am facing the prospect of having the glue them back on and trudge on. i had a sense of how this would proceed, and each sub-assembly would be sequenced, and I wanted to get all the guns right before moving onto the deck and superstructure components--just kind of anal that way--so I am a bit frustrated and have lost some time now. Anyone else building this is a different sequencing, it would be good to share a way forward for me....I hate to make my beef with Pontos public, and I have given Kim warning for about three weeks that this was coming. Sad. One upset customer+social media=a real blot on your reputation. In my job, if I would have ignored a customer for this long, I would be called to account by my management. Or if my shipping department could not send a part in almost three month's time, I would get a different shipping department....or just ship the whole damn new one to the customer--it's called good will...and it's a fragile thing with a new customer. I'll have some photo's of what I have been up to soon....sorry for my rant, and it will be on my FB and Twitter accounts, too..... Rick

most impressive....best use of water I have seen in one person's work

enough for me to handle.... http://pontosmodel.com/manual/23002f1-page1.pdf

thanks, Dave....good to know.....feel like such a rookie at the NFL All Star game.....learning a ton from this list serve.

Ken: I have worked in 1:350 for most ships, and found it fine, but I'm just not that good a precise modeler, and need more patience. For some reason, the 1:200 scale is a bit easier, even if the $$$ is more. I want to go to the Arizona in 1:200 next (Trumpeter has that, right?) but only if Pontos has the wood deck overlays....IMHO, that is a serious game-changer--trying to mask different color strips to simulate wood on a plastic deck never quite got it for me, but the Pontos stuff is simply awesome. I am going back and forth on the Pontos v. the Trumpeter PE....the Trumpeter is really well prepared, with plastic peel-of on either side, so things don't fly away....the Pontos seems more precise, but the build sequences are a bit more masked, and figuring out how to put them together takes a bit of intuition (maybe it's just my brain)....it would be great to get high-res photos of the sheets they give, so you could load them on a high-res monitor, zoom in, and understand the folding sequences a bit more. Maybe that's just me. take care....I am in that phase of building a lot of smaller sub-assemblies....not exciting, but it's a chance to improve (sometimes i guild the PE from Trumpeter first, then go to Pontos...sometimes not.... will take some pictures this weekend.....coming back home after a long week on the road. Rick

yeah....they are pretty bright......going to spot black those pins......

I will post some photos of the subassemblies...still waiting for Pontos for my 40mm barrels, which were missing from the order (Kim!).....right now, the day job is calling....but the holidays were a wonderful time to just get some of this done. Rick

confirm that, Stryder....can't use the CTRL V or even the "Quote" button in the lower right hand corner of the screen....I am forwarding this to tech support... looking forward to seeing your work. I am assembling lots of subassemblies (guns, reels, catapults) of BB-63, using a mix of Pontos and Trumpeter PE....having fun cutting the styrene off of very small parts in order to glue on PE...but it's a slow slog, and taking lots of time. Rick

the early versions of the guns take a lot of time. I still haven't started the 40mm....doing the reels and bitt details....lots of time..... Rick

The 16 inch guns....finally! Had to do a lot of work on the blast bags, and I did not use all the Pontos PE on the top of the turrets....too doggone small for my fingers to manipulate.....not going to be intimidated by those who will use every piece.... the weight of the brass Pontos barrels is a bit unwieldy in trying to pose the guns, and in trying to adjust them to exactly equal elevation, 3-across, or the eacxt spacing horizontally. I did not glue the guns down, either. down. The rings from Pontos (probably too fine to see in my photo) that go between the blast bag and the barrel are really nice. I am not an expert by any stretch, but I am pleased with the model so far. I am putting the 16 inch assemblies away in a dust free case until they are ready to install....going to try to make some sort of add-on so that they will move around, and can be pointed. Trumpeter, you don't even design them to rotate around? another one....I used the barrel plugs as was the case on Surrender Day 1945 in Tokyo Harbor so, I am going back to the sequence in Trumpeter's install manual, but not putting any of the assemblies down on the deck until the last possible moment.

Ok, guys, tell me if this is too much information. I have been (still) working on the 16-inch turrets...some notes on the gun barrels. I have all three types, and It would seem the the Pontos have a heft that feels more realistic, but you have to work for it a bit more in one aspect. When you put the barrel plugs (white) into the barrel's end (grey), they do not fit. I had to machine the barrel hole a bit bigger (used a Dremel 5/64" bit to hollow out the barrel pretty carefully). You really can't trim the plug without affect the perfect circle of the plug. I am building my version of BB63 for the 1945 WWII surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay, and the photo's I have found showed the plugs were in there at the ceremony. I am further told by a guy who used to drive this ship that the main gun barrels were normally plugged unless they had an expectation of combat, to keep corrosion and water vapor out. After the signing, there was a salvo in Tokyo Bay, but I am told thatthe salvo and flyover was the next day....so I want to keep them plugged. So I had to drill them....carefully. In summary, the Hasegawa originals fit best (barrels and plugs), but I wanted to use the Pontos, so I had to (carefully) drill them out a bit more. I primered the barrels, and then found that the blast bags were too tight (esp, with some primer and paint on the barrels, so I had to (carefully) hollow out the blast bags a bit too....I will touch up the barrels later, but I like to do subassemblies in perfect condition, and then carefully add them to the model--this is one of the last steps in the Hasegawa instructions. I have not contributed to a list like this before....is this too much information? Do you guys just sort of instinctively know all this stuff, and I am just pointing out obvious stuff? Let me know. pics follow.... Primer on the bags and barrels (figured with their being either brass or resin, they might need a very light primer coat) having to drill out the Pontos barrels so the barrel plug would fit. the plug fits perfectly; now it can be painted flat white separately..they had a black pin right in the center if you are a super detail person) the blast bags need a bit of sanding so that they wont strip all the primer off the barrels when you install them.... let me know if this is too much information. Rick