olympic1911

High time for another update! Here''s what she looks like today: The lower gun-deck still missing its guns: I don't do the sculptures myself, I have a pro doing them for me. He's far better at it than I am. They're not cheap though (and they don't look it either): Shrouds are wormed and served, just like the real ship: Cannons cast in bronze, still need cleaning up though: Sculptures are gilded with gold-leaf: Inside the great cabins: Thanks for checking in! Peter

Well, I've got her off the shelf again, after more than a year. One thing I noticed is the top surface of the flaps don't fit properly. You can see the top surface of the nacelle protruding over the flap surface. Bilder hochladen I have seen a number of build-logs on the Airfix Mosquito but this issue seems to have never been mentioned. You can see here I have used the edge of the nacelle as a template to draw its outline onto the flap with a pencil. Bilder hochladen What would be best? Surely to trim the nacelle would be the simpler Approach, but somehow I believe that to cut this area away from the flap will be the more difficult but better solution. Regards Peter

Thanks everybody. I haven't got a clue what it will weigh once it's done, but at the moment the hull weighs about 45kg. In the meantime the planking of the hull has progressed, only some small areas beneath the waterline need to be taken care of. While the hull is still upright I'm hammering wooden treenails into the hull. My sons now are on their School holidays so they can help me: foto hochladen I have finally decided how the paint the hull: with Oils. A tube of Burnt Sienna was mixed with a tube of Van Dyk Brown and this was thinned with turps. I'm pleased with the result: foto hochladen Here are some close-ups. Heavy round- and flat-headed bolts are also being driven into the hull. This was a characteristic feature on Dutch 17th Century warships. foto hochladen foto hochladen More soon so stay tuned! Thanks Peter

Wohoo! Kate Bush Album cover as an Avatar! Your my best pal already! I did some further research into the object we found back then but as it was about 20 years ago some details surely aren't present anymore others may be incorrect. However, now I'm certain that it was stamped A M (Air Ministry - obviously!) with a white crown underneath and not Crown Property as stated above. My best bet it was from a Halifax after all and it was this here: It is an auto-pilot speed steering lever so it would make perfect sense that there was a sprocket inside. The finds that this retired schoolteacher made back then were truly amazing. He dug up several B17 Bombers finding crew-members' belongings such as navigational instruments, rulers even parts of a wrist watch. On a Lancaster site we found several one penny coins which were most likely good luck charms. We also found parts of a browning .303 machine-gun at a Lancaster site near Iysselsteyn in Holland. This aircraft had the codes "JO-Z" I don't recall the serial-number anymore. Anyway - back to the Mosquito The Radiators will receive a layer of Humbrol silver later on today and once this has fully dried it'll get some wash to bring out the mesh. I have masked parts of the wings for here too the radiator area will be painted in silver. I'm planning to build an all-silver RAAF version of the Mosquito. By the way: All paintwork has been aibrushed and none of it has been painted with a brush (yet), apart from minor details and the washes of course. A few bits and pieces are being prepared for a coat of surfacer, filling if necessary and final painting I found it easier to attach the rear bulkhead to the wing-spar rather then to the fuselage as advised in the instruction booklet. This would ensure that there are no gaps between the pieces after the wings have been joined to the fuselage. I have to say though that the general fit of parts in this kit is superb! More soon! Peter

Work on the Cockpit is progressing well. I'm trying not to over-do the weathering as this can ruin a model The clear safety-cap was glued with PVA to avoid messy stains I might be able to glue the fuselage halfs together this weekend. Regards Peter

Why would you want to get your boots between them? They are there to prevent exactly that. Peter

Today I added details to the instrument panel. Though I have the Airscale instrument panel decal I decided to use the Airfix offering after all. Alle instruments received a blob of Model Master Glosscote. Peter

First seatbelts are in place. Those Eduard seatbelts are quite a challenge! I found it far easier to thread the belts into the buckles BEFORE the buckles were cut from the fret. This made them far less prone to loss. Now for the bottom halfs! Peter

I'm wondering if those really thin strips on the floors of them boats should have been the spaces between wider strips, and the strips themselves should be where the wide gaps are now. Makes me wonder if something went wrong in the PE-designing. You're doing a great Job though I drop in here after every update. Makes me want to build my Corvette which is still untouched in my stash. Peter

Thanks for your comments and likes! As I'm from Germany we get WWII historical sites and Crash sites by the dozens here. Many years ago a friend of mine and retired schoolteacher did what he called Aviation Archaeology, he dug up remains of crashed WWII aircraft. I assisted him on his trips several times. I recall we went to a site near Dortmund what was said to be a MKII 51 Sqdn Halifax bomber, one with a Tollerton nose fairing. I remember the surprising large amount wood-splinters we found at the site (amongst many other things) and I asked my friend if he's sure we hadn't found a Mosquito instead. He was obviously disturbed by my remark and from his reaction I could tell he wasn't certain that the wreckage we had found was indeed a Halifax. Anyway the site became known as the "Hurler Busch Halifax". The Hurler Busch is a small Wood near Dortmund. While we still at the site I found a very remarkable piece: It was a black disc about the size of the palm of a man's hand, maybe slightly larger. It was about2-3 inches thick, was from cast material, painted black with a White "Crown Property" (or something to that effect) stamp on it with a White crown in the center. The inside was hollow and there was a sprocket inside which was abviously some sort of fairlead of a bicycle chain. One side was open, something must have been attached to the open side once. To me there was no doubt it was part of the control column, though it was obviously too small to be from a Halifax. I'm certain the part we had found was this: Perhaps it was a Mosquito we had found after all? I no longer have this piece as all items went into the collection of the schoolteacher, who has now long since passed away. Perhaps someone here can post a picture of a real Mosquito column for me to see if I'm right. Like I said in my post above I'm planning to use Eduard seat belts for my model. On the Airfix pilot's seat the opening in the backrest for the seat belt is not central, it is slightly offset to stbd. I think on Tamiya's 1:32nd scale Mosquito this opening is indeed central. I don't know how the ends of the seat belt were fastened to the back of the seat. I don't wasnt to simply stick them on there, maybe someone here can shed some light on this. Thanks! Peter

Hi, here are some images of my 1:24th scale Mosquito. I started it last year, or perhaps even the year before that. I got it out again last Weekend ans since then progress has been good. I try to be careful with wash and weathering to avoid overdoing it. The scratch on the seat cushion will one day be covered with Eduard seat-belts. Hope you like the pics. Regards Peter

The pin-ups are by Gil Elvgren, they are avialbale all over the place, even at Ebay. I'm sure there's a book available about his work. https://de.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs3G7G75W.i8Ay5UzCQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Gil+Elvgren&fr=moz35 His work can't be beaten! Peter

When I had problems with missing sprues in my Soleil Royale kit in the early 90's Heller got me to send them the instruction booklet to prove that I had actually bought the kit. Did they get you to do the same? Peter

I bought this kit in the 1980s and there was a whole bag of sprues missing. My wife speaks French and that helped to get them quickly though. It was an awkward situation but I recall that Heller was eager to help. I have an old issue of Scale Models here in which all available kits of the HMS Hood are reviewed. The whole hull of the reviewer's Heller 1/400 scale kit was missing and Heller would only send a replacement should the reviewer come up for shipping costs. Instead this attitude was mentioned in an article in Scale Models which surely didn't go down well with some modellers at the time. Peter

Perhaps you might want to paint them in RAF blue? Peter

Ooohh I like this! Someone got the the cockpit-colours right. I think it was from 1940 onwards that every part of the Cockpit that was visible through the canopy glazing was painted in schwarz-grau. The rest of the interior was painted grau-grün, as we can see here. Love it! Peter

Thanks a lot Folks! I'm glad you like it! :-) I've spent the past few weeks working on the main gundeck and I got a little tired of fitting in deckbeams and knees and the rest so last week I decided to carry on with the hull planking.The planks are six millimeters thick so some of them need to be soaked in water before bending. They are then heated with an industrial hot-air-blower whilst getting them into shape. I drew the plank seams onto the hull a while ago and the lines now assist me when cutting out the planks from oak blocks. Here you can see how it is done: Small cardboard snippets are tacked to the hull using the Planks that are already in place as guides. Once each snippet is in place the plank seam is drawn on it. Cardboard templates for every plank are made this way. Yes it is laborious and tedious but the advantage is that I have control of every line of each plank. The result is great! Once the planks are on the hull and the glue has dried all I need to do is sand the planks and hardly any seams are visible. This is what a card template looks like when removed from the hull. It can now the used to transfer the shape onto oak wood. Especially at the curved bow many individual planks are required to plank the hull. Here a small plank has been shaped with water and hot air and is now tacked to the hull and left to dry. Large planks amidships present no problems, These don't need to be heated, they are glued to the hull and once the glue has dried the clamps can be removed and the hull sanded. Looking good: Peter

Thanks for your replies everbody, you're making me feel very welcome here. Here are some pictures of the original model which was built to the same scale. It was most likely built around 1660-1665 and doesn't represent a specific ship, rather a type of ship. Though the dimensions match the "Hollandia" of 1665 the coat of arms at the stern is very different. This is the coat of arms of Prins Willem III who later became King William of England thus some scholars believe the model represents the "De Jonge Prins" which was in reality a much smaller ship with less cannon. Apparently the comtemporary model found ist way to Berlin shortly after it was built but was sadly destroyed in an air-raid in WWII. However the model was very well recorded by a private enthusiast before the war who measured it and took numerous pictures. His drawings were put together to produce a set of plans which was published in a book in the 1960s. Though the plans aren't top-notch they serve well as a basis to produce an accurate replica. @seadog, yes I'm planning to fully rig her just like the original model. Fully rigged she will be 2.75m high which means she'll be displayed on the floor! I'm planning to make the topmasts to be lowered, just like on the original ships which will make moving here around (a bit) easier. @MikeyJ, no, with bowsprit she'll be 2,67m which is roughly 8 feet. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for checking in. Peter

Geez! I must have one of these - do you accept PayPal? Peter

Hi Folks, I'm Peter and I'm from Germany and like to show you my model of a Dutch Two-Decker from 1665. It made completely from wood, oak to be precise and it is in 1/22nd scale. The hull is about 7 feet Long (2.1m). I've been working on it for two years now, and I hope you like it. Peter ]