Chewbacca

Wish I'd seen that German site before I did my GLAMORGAN conversion from the Airfix. I was about half way through it before I realised that the superstructure was way too far aft and that in turn pushed everything else further aft. If you do go down the 1/600 route, Peter Hall's Seaslug and 965M are works of art in their own right

This might show the ringbolt a bit better albeit it's a Frigate flight deck, 19 years later and nylon lashings rather than chain but the ringbolt hasn't changed: This link will take you to the full size version hopefully:

Little more progress. I must be mad, but since the photo etch set I got for the liberty ship has a full bridge equipment set (wheel, telegraph, binnacle) I thought I mght as well incorporate it into the bridge given that there are open windows and doors so some might be seen. Note to self: must remember to add the door to the bridge flat before I button this all up I've started work on the foc's'le, adding the bollards and windlass, plus the forward masthouse further aft, just forward of the bridge screen. And since the 3D printing wasn't going especially well, I've started to scratch build the cowl ventilators from evergreen tube. First five just placed roughly in the right place around the funnel. More filler and refinement needed before they are ready for spraying. Scary thing is there's only five weeks remaining to the deadline and it looks like most of my Christmas leave is going to have to be cancelled. How I'm going to finish this in time I do not know.

And there was me thinking that was sort of slightly more shrivelled up raisin...

Thanks all. My first thought was that they are hand and foot rails (because like Crisp I've been up on them in pusser's war canoes), but they seem too low. The upper "rail" is scale 5mm below the top of the funnel which in reality is just a tadge short of 6ft. I suppose it could be that that's the footrail and the top of the funnel the handrail but even so the dimensions seem a little odd. Hence I concluded that they are potentially just strengthening ribs. Either way they are on now from stretched sprue and first cost of primer dry. Not too much additional rubbing down which was good. Whether that will be the same after I've sprayed 507C is another matter but that's probably for the weekend. In the meantime I've got to try to make the bridge front from clear acetate so that the windows are clear

Agree with everything said above. 1mm below the waterline in 1/600 (approz 2ft in real size) is usually enough for up to about SS 3-4. If you're doing something a little more dramatic you might want to allow more below the waterline. However, I would always cut lower than that and then when it is all together with the weatherdecks added before you fix the plasticard base, get a large sheet of quite coarse glasspaper and gently rub the bottom of the hull to get a nice flat base and bring it up to the line you want, then add the plasticard. 40 thou is about 1mm, 80 thou about 2mm. In the extreme you might even want to leave the whole hull and build up the base around it. This is an early photo of HMS ALACRITY (from the AMAZON kit) representing as she was in February 1983 whilst in a Force 12 on passage from Port Stanley to South Georgia. When it's finished the whole hull forward of the 184 sonar dome will be clear of the water. There is a very dramatic photo of ALACRITY on her way down south just like that but I can't find it currently or I would post a link. There are two ways of cutting the hull that I use. One is to cut the hull halves before you assemble them. The other is to build the hull up to the main weatherdecks and when it is all set, then cut the waterline. The advantage of the latter is that you'll probably get a more accurate cut but with a greater risk of damage to the hull whilst the former offers less risk of damage but greater chance that the two halves don't quite line up (maybe that's just my ineptitude). Of course, if the waterline is marked on the inside, I'd do the latter every time but few of the old Airfix kits have that luxury.

The carley floats will be - thanks. The LCVP are all the more modern designs

The build on this is now well underway and is being documented over in Group Builds I posted this yesterday in that forum but thought I'd highlight it here as well as its very much a maritime query. I had planned to 3D print many of the small fittings, cowl ventilators, anchor windlass, carley floats and boats but although the CAD files look okay, we're having problems getting them to print successfully. So I have resigned myself to having to scratch build some of them such as the cowl ventilators, but I know that in the past 6 weeks or so I have seen resin carley floats and LCVPs in 1/350 advertised on line. But after a pair of hours yesterday trawling the internet, I could not find them anywhere I thought it was either L'Arsenal, Gold Medal Models or North Star Models but I'll be blowed if I can find them now. I suspect its my ineptitude and choosing the wrong search terms. Does anyone know of anyone who makes these that are available to order in UK? Thanks

Combination of having to arrange the stand for a major car club for Classic Motor Show last weekend coupled with finalising a presentation on the Battle of Taranto to be delivered twice last week has meant that I haven't touched BULOLO for nearly two weeks. But some progress has been made today - all of the scuttles in the hull are now drilled out and the major components are in the paint shop drying after their first coat of primer to give me an idea of whether I can progress or whether more sanding of the hull is necessary. Unfortunately my son is still struggling with 3D printing of the cowl ventilators and so I ended up scratch building the first two from Evergreen to avoid holding up the build too much. Those two are barely seen down on the quarter deck so I should be okay. Given that he's having issues getting the 3D printer to behave, I thought I would revert to plan A for some some of the other accessories - carley floats and landing craft (she appears to carry 2 LCVPs on the fwd davits. Now I know that I have seen these on someones's website in the past 6 weeks but I can't remember if its L'Arsenal, Gold Medal Models or North Star Models (or indeed someone else) and having just looked at their websites this afternoon it appears to be none of them! Anyone have any suggestions before I start convincing myself that I dreamt it?

Oops!

Thanks Crisp, will do. There's no rush - I've got NEC all weekend for Classic Motor Show and my ARK build is at lest 12 months away. Cheers

I've always thought the Ks were the most interesting of the early submarines ever since reading a fascinating book about them when I was about 15. I look forward to following this with interest. I must admit I agree with you on the issue of displays. Not just submarines but any maritime subject should really be shown in a seascape as that's how we see them normally (okay I admit we often donlt see the submarines at all but a sea scape with nothing in it would be boring!)

So while waiting for the sea scape to dry, I thought I would press on with doing some serious damage to sheet plasticard. Last night's efforts produced the basic outline of the funnel together with exhausts made from Trumpeter brass tube. First time I've worked with those and it went together quite well. Still a few little details to finish off on the funnel such as the two near horizontal ribs - at least I think they are ribs. It is possible they may be rails but either way they will be made from stretched sprue. there are also 3 grilles at the top on either side of centreline. I think they'll be best represented with decals. I've just had the first photos of the 3D printed cowl ventilators. They look more like Minions! More work is needed on the printer settings apparently.

Version 2 finally starting to cure. That's only 27 hours!

Certainly the A brackets are painted anti-fouling red. From what I recall when I brought a T42 out of refit, the shafts themselves were similar to the phosphor bronze of the screw but different. If you look carefully at the image of IRON DUKE that you've posted, you'll observe that the shafts are a greenish-greyish bronze. This photo, of a T23 screw at the NMM, shows a two tone effect between the hub and blades. I seem to recall that the shafts were closer to the colour of the hub. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=imgres&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwis7Ofr_73eAhUUO8AKHaMCCNsQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rmg.co.uk%2Fsee-do%2Fwe-recommend%2Fattractions%2Ftype-23-frigate-propeller&psig=AOvVaw26GFrP0z7HWDBwYiGRzr3R&ust=1541532938876008 As far as I am aware, the T23 propellers were not modified, although the image of IRON DUKE does show a very different shaped hub to the one at Greenwich. I would certainly expect the blades to look like those rather than a hook arrangement.

Must be an optical illusion then. My "upward curve" wasn't very clear. What I meant to convey was an upward slope from aft to a high point amidships position and then a downward slope to the bow.

I know this is a little late but I asked a chum at work what that pointy thing was as he used to be a DWEO on one of the V Boats and therefore he ought to know. Finally managed to catch up with him over coffee last week. And the answer is....that he hasn't the faintest idea! He did confirm that it's nothing to do with the TA and he added that didn't think that his boat (VICTORIOUS IIRC) was even fitted with it

Is it an optical illusion or does the flight deck really have an upward curve in it?

I must confess, when I built GLAMORGAN some years ago, I had the same concerns about whether it was right to represent her as she was in the 24 hours or so after the Exocet hit. The concern was just as TallPaul highlights, in case it was ever seen by someone who was there and whether it would bring back the nightmares. Like Crisp, I was in the Falklands, albeit in an ambulance ship, and took around 80 or so casualties back to Montevideo for medevac flights home. None were from GLAMORGAN, but there were many from SHEFFIELD, COVENTRY and SIR GALAHAD. I reflected on this for some months but then decided to go ahead to build it specifically as a tribute to those who lost their lives. I am only aware of two people who have seen it as shows who have told me that they were on board at the time. Both congratulated me on doing the model so that we can continue to remember those events of 36 years ago and their shipmates who didn't make it home (though one of them did point out to me that her decks were grey, not green. Apparently they were re-painted in the March as she went south in the April!). I'm looking forward to following these "grown up" DLGs progressing

I'm no expert on former Soviet vs Chinese but a quick scrutiny of some reference photos show that the basic hull is about the same (though if doing a full hull variant I'd be very surprised if the Kotlins had a bow array sonar and some references seem to suggest that the Luda IIs were 6 m longer). Main armament is the same two 130mms and fwd superstructure and funnels similar. Aft superstructure of the Luda II seems to represent the early Kotlins as does the aft lattice mast. You'd have to scratch build all of fhe radars which can vary depending upon which era of Kotlin you are modelling. Good luck with the Headnet C if doing a late variant!

Fortunately, INVINCIBLE was about the most photographed ship of the entire conflict so there are lots of reference photos to work from and you can be certain of the timeframe. I plan to do mine as ARK as she came out of the builders for contractors' sea trials and getting accurate references for her in that period (1984) is challenging.

Unfortunately this week has been doubly frustrating, firsly because a combination of pressure of work and the need to complete a 60 minute presentation to be given to the local branch of the Royal Naval Association to commemorate the Battle of Taranto has meant that from last Sunday until yesterday afternoon, I didn't get any tome at all to progress this. But I did have an hour or so yesterday and so I thought I would star work on the base. I know its early but its easier manhandling the hull around the seascape before it has too much detail attached. I thought I would try something different. I usually use the plaster of paris method which sort of works although there are I concede much better methods. I was also concerned that the heat generated by the plaster curing could be enough to warp the thin hull plating. And so inspired by the excellent sea scape on Bandsaw Steve's HMAS AE2, I thought I would give the polystyrene method a try. Now unfortunately I didn't have any sheet polystyrene foam of the righ thickness or area, so I took some thinker smaller sheets and stared to cut them down with the plan of gluing 2 together with PVA glue. That was yesterday. All well and good. However, 24 hours later and the PVA glue shows absolutely no sign of curing. I thought I would give it another go and this time use a 5 minute epoxy to see if that would work. It did, although the second stage as explained by Steve is to tae a hot air gun to it and create depressions. In some places this worked, whereas in others, especially around the Araldited join, the heat was sufficient to met straight through as you can see below! Reluctant to make a third, I thought I would see if I could combine this with the tissue paper method, so I then filled the large holes with tissue paper soaked in a watered down PVA solution and then laid a single layer of PVA soaked tissue over the whole base. Will it work? Who knows. It all depends upon whether there is something in the polystyrene that is reacting with the PVA to prevent it from curing.

Impressed with the finish on that Alclad primer. Never tried it myself - I usually use a Halford rattle can but I may have to invest in some and give it a try.

Although I had a straight 8 hours today while wife and daughter were out, I didn't seem to make as much progress as anticipated. Nonetheless, anchor hawse pipes are now all drilled and ready for some reinforcement to be added from stretched sprue. I also managed to get the majority of the bridge structure complete although this photo doesn't show it to its best - I don't think my phone's macro function can cope with so much white! The GMM Liberty Ship PE set has a range of bridge fittings so the plan is to fit out the bridge with that. To that end I've cut the side windows and left one door open. I think I'll do the the main bridge screen from clear acetate and mask the windows although that is still to be confirmed. I may try to cut the windows and glaze them as per the sides.

Hi Crisp, Interesting to see this technique in practice. I'd read about using wire sennits in Griffith's book but never thought that it would look quite right; I think you've just proved that it does. I did find an alternative at the Bovington show 2 weeks ago - Master Tools 40cm universal chains set. The smaller of these has the correct 90 deg alignment between the links and is about the same as you achieved with the wire - 38-40 links per inch - which looks about the same as 1/600 PE but still may be too large for an FF/DD in 1/350 using Longshanks' calculations in the Eskimo thread. To the eye, it looks about right. I'll give it a try in BULOLO and let people know what it looks like