JohnWS

A short update. The 3D radar lattice mast is primed. Here's a series of photos showing both the 3D radar & main masts test fitted. I've included a paper cutout of a member of the crew to show scale. Next up, I have one more mast to scratch build. It's a pole mast located amidships. Hopefully, it'll be an easier & quicker build than those lattice masts. Thanks for looking. Stay safe! John

Thanks everyone for the 'likes'. Thanks, Rob. Yes, the lattice work is a wee bit of a challenge, but so far so good. Shapeways' quality seems to be improving & they have cut their delivery times almost in half. I'm sure the competition from other quality 3D printing providers has helped. John

Plodding along during a summer heat wave. Here's a photo of the purchased 3D printed parts I'm using on the HMCS Regina build. These parts include new modernization upgrades for Regina, plus replacement parts for the kit parts that either lacked detail or were damaged during the casting process. I've finished the scratch building work on the 3D Radar's lattice mast to bring it up to Regina's modernization refit standard. Using the kit's PE lattice mast as a base, I added additional lattice using .020" dia. plastic rod. Radar & searchlight platforms were made using plastic card & PE mesh similar to the main mast platforms. A PE ladder was added, as well as a radar wave guide made from rectangular plastic bar. I've used a 3D printed Thales Smart-S Mk II 3D radar from Shapeways, modifying it's base to simulate the actual radar base. I also added a Model Master searchlight from Shapeways to the searchlight platform on the front of the mast. The finished unpainted mast with the radar & searchlight dry fitted is shown in the following photos. ... and a couple of photos of the actual mast for comparison; Next up, I give the mast a coat of primer. Painting the final colour coats will have to wait until our temperature & humidity level go down. Thanks for looking in. Stay safe! John

I'm just grasping at straws here, but here's a photo of the stern of Falls Of Clyde. She was built in 1878 by Russell and Company in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland as a iron-hulled, four-masted full-rigged, sail-driven oil tanker. Note the curved section of the hull around the edge of the raised quarter deck that includes rigging connection points & portholes. Steve, I hope this doesn't add to the confusion, but it does look similar to the artifact in your photo. John

Steve, great to see this build is alive & awake. My first guess regarding the mystery section was that it looks like part of a boiler fire box. So, I'm afraid I'm not much help. John

Awesome job, beefy. Well done! John

Nice, Rob! It's funny, whenever I'm building, or following a build, I seem to pick one or two small (some may think insignificant) things that really tweet my interest. On this build it's the two life rafts on the stern. The detail & paint colours look very realistic. I'm getting a better appreciation of what it takes to make a 1/350 model come to life. John

Looking good, Kev! I prescribe this. It works for all kinds of malaise.

Nice work with the fuzzy stuff, beefy. I took a look at some of my old photos & found 3 taken of an LCAC at speed off the Virginia coast. Unfortunately they're not the best quality, but they do show the shape of the wake behind the craft. Looks like you're nailing it. John

A nice looking model, Rob. I'm green with envy. Looking forward to following along. John

Very nice, Rob! That's a lot of tiny parts. John

Nice job, Kev. There you go again, showing off your bottom. Looking forward to following along. John

Next up, adding a long range radar antenna & lattice mast to the bridge roof. Prior to her 2015/2016 refit, HMCS Regina (& her sister frigates in her class) were fitted with a 2D Raytheon AN/SPS-49(V)5 long-range active air search radar antenna, mounted on a lattice mast on the ship's bridge roof. During her modernization refit, the AN/SPS-49 radar was replaced with a Thales "Smart S" Mk II 3D radar, as shown in the photos below (note: you can also see the difference in the shapes of the main masts, before & after the refit). Adding the Thales radar included modifying the SPS-49 lattice mast by increasing its overall height and adding new search light & radar mounting platforms. On the model, I'll be able to use the kit's PE SPS-49 lattice mast parts but will need to scratch build an additional 5/32" to the top of the lattice structure. The search light & radar platforms will need to be scratch built, as well. I purchased a 1/350 scale 3D printed Thales radar from Shapeways. It looks the part. I've also ordered Model Master 3D printed scale signal lamps & search lights. So another mast build begins. The resin model had some large protrusions cast on the bridge roof. I assumed these were either walkways or wave guides/wiring ducts for the SPS-49 radar. In any case, they are not shown in photographs on the refitted frigates and had to go. After some filing, puttying & sanding, I added a rectangular raised panel, shown in frigate photos under the radar mast, cut from plastic sheet. Finally, I primed the bridge roof. Next, I assembled the kit's PE lattice radar mast & added .030" plastic blocks under the mast's legs to get the required height, in preparation for adding on the scratch built pieces. Here's a photo of the PE lattice mast dry fitted in position; Next up, I start the scratch build portion of the mast. Thanks for looking in. Stay safe! John

Another great looking model Rob. The seascape looks very realistic. John

Another beauty, Rob! John

beefy!!! Nope, but It could be that you still have soapy bath water in your eyes from your LCAC build . John

Puma is coming along nicely. It's amazing how many fiddly little bits can be added to accurately detail models of postwar warships. Even more challenging is doing this at smaller scales. John

Rob, Terry & Kev, thanks for the kind & supportive comments. You're making me blush. No pressure as this build goes forward ... NOT! On long & detailed builds like this, sometimes it's hard to stay motivated. But, having your support makes it a lot easier for me to stay motivated & continually strive to match the high standards you have achieved on your builds. John

The main mast has been primed & resulting visible little defects have been corrected. Here's a photo showing the results. And, a photo showing the 4 sides. I'm really happy with the results. The main mast turned into a modelling project by itself. The challenge was to add a much detail as possible in 1/350 scale & keep all the visible parts of the mast distinguishable to the naked eye (in my case, the naked eye with glasses ). One final photo of the mast test fitted to the resin model. The insert is a reminder of where I'm supposed to be heading with this build. Thanks for following along. Stay safe! John

Well, I've finally finished making & modifying Regina's main mast. The last portion of the mast to be completed was the four legged lattice mast. This included modifying the kit's PE parts for the navigation radar support structure; making the two Reprogrammable Advanced Multimode Shipboard Electronic Countermeasures System (say that 5 times really fast ) equipment using the kit's PE & resin parts plus some scratch building; making simulated flag lanyard blocks from drilled out .030" diameter plastic rod; making the Raytheon navigation radar from plastic strip; scratch building two anemometers (used for measuring wind speed & direction); and adding a small antenna at each each end or the yardarm (cut from spare 1/350 PE handrail). Here's a photo of the lattice mast including the new completed parts, prior to priming; And, one more photo showing different views of the lattice mast; I'll be adding a coat of primer to the mast & parts, & then dry fit all the mast parts for photo op. Next, once my eyes & fingers have a short rest, I'll be building a second lattice mast for a 3D radar antenna mounted on the bridge roof. Thanks again for the supportive comments & 'likes'. And, as always, thanks for looking. Stay safe! John

Thanks for the book review, Rob. Sounds like it's a great addition for the reference library. John

Hi again! I trying to continue this build over the Spring & Summer months, but unfortunately what would be a normally slow build has become a snail's pace build. Enjoying the nice weather & Spring household chores have been the priority over the last few weeks. But there has been some progress building Regina's main mast. I've finished building the top portion of the mast including the surveillance & air defence radar antenna, I was able to use PE parts from the resin model kit for the antenna, but had to completely scratch build the mounting framework. It took a few attempts to get it looking right due to its small size. Here's a photo showing the top portion of the main mast 1) as built & 2) with a coat of primer. I've included a copy of a photo of the actual mast for comparison. Also, here's a close up photo showing the various mast parts dry fitted. Next steps will be work my way down the lattice portion of the mast adding some structural members & additional radar antenna. Thanks again for checking in. Stay safe! John

Very nice! Your photos look like they could be screen shots from the movie Cockleshell Heroes. John

beefy, the tank really shows how big these LCAC's are. John

Tom, you could be right. They do look like 4"'s. Unfortunately, all references I found for the LCG (L)'s indicate that they carried 4.7's. John