ArnoldAmbrose

Gidday All, yeah she looks a "Fletcher" to me. Looking at the movie trailer at 1.52 you get a good look at the ship - flush deck and the five single turrets. The previous classes had a raised foc'sle deck and four turrets. And my reference book confirms John's comment above that the construction of DD-548 and 549 were cancelled. It looks like Tom Hanks was given command of a whiff, and whiffs, of course, can sail anywhere. All that aside, it looks like it will be a good movie. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Thom, yeah they look good. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Thom, wings fitted to an aircraft is a milestone I guess. I don't know how much 'give' or snug the wing stubs are on your model, but a trick I tried when doing my Airfix build about a year ago to get the wings right. I taped the fuselage upside down across a block of wood and used spacers to get both wings with the same dihedral. The flat roof of the fuselage (I keep calling it the hull) of this aircraft lends itself to this idea. I held the block of wood in the vice to the left. (Notice the very tidy workbench). HTH. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday, why not just say "floaty thing"? You can't go wrong. Unless of course it sinks! Better stick with "vessel". But I have to agree, it is a super little boat ship vessel (whatever). And I am looking forward to seeing it come together. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Joel, I'd like to convert one of these kits into HMS Sheffield one day, so I'm interested how your hull surgery will go. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday, what about a Condor? Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Rob, hawse pipes. Hawsers are heavy rope, for towing (towing hawser), tying the ship to the wharf (berthing hawsers or berthing lines) etc. HTH. HMS Kent is looking very good, those PE guard rails enhance the model considerably. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Fergus, welcome aboard. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday All, I have a small amount of progress to report on IJN Yukikaze, namely the aft gun pits that replaced no2 turret. The lower level gun pit is glued on but the upper gun pit is dry fitted at present. The deck-house these gun pits are mounted on is off centre, to allow space for the aft reload torpedoes, and this caused me to glue the lower gun pit crooked, but I didn't notice until after the glue was dry. I tried to remove it and tore a great chunk out of it. I was able to salvage it however and didn't have to make a new one. The upper level gun pit is the second one I've made, the first didn't look very good. I think it's going to be 'fun' trying to glue it level and straight, plus the mainmast tripod legs (seen here also dry fitted) vertical at the same time. Those white strips of plastic at the edge of the hull are screens shielding some of the single 25mm AA guns I still have to make. You can see the holes I've drilled in the deck to take them, two guns behind each of the screens. There are more towards the stern and on the foc'sle deck abreast of the bridge structure. I've also painted the scratched deck levels to the rear of the bridge, plus glued the guns to the turrets and painted same, but no photo of them yet. Well, that's it. Tune in next month for another tiny installment. Thank you for your interest. Continue to stay safe, and regards to all, Jeff.

Gidday All, bear in mind the photos above are of battleships of 3-4 times the displacement of HMS Kent. I understood that the purpose of boot topping was to 'hide' any oil stains on the hull while in a harbour, not necessarily to mark the upper and lower limits of the water-line, when the ship is standard or full load displacement. So there could be variations between ships of the same type and size. But I could be wrong. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Rob, I'm no expert but if I was about to do the boot topping I think I'd have gone for 3mm. But I'm a firm believer of "quit while you're ahead" and not spoil what you've already done. But then again, if it bothers you being 2mm it could hit you in the face every time you see it. Confusing? I think it will come down to how difficult it would be to deepen it (if that's what you want) against the chances of spoiling a very good paint job. Ultimately your decision I'm afraid. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Steve, those two crew figures (I found 'em) show that the ship doesn't appear all that big. Nice drawings you've done. Regards, Jeff

Gidday Joel (or do you prefer the full name?), I'd build the model but I think I'd keep the box as a keepsake, considering it's age. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Kev, that's a rather poignant scene of a sturdy little workhorse that's somewhat neglected and no longer needed, but an absolutely superb model depicting it. You've done an exceptional job with this. Regards, Jeff.

Gidday Biker, I've only ever done two very small 1/700 subs, usually I do surface ships, some waterlined but most full hull. While building the ships I screw them to a block of wood or MDF, screws coming up from underneath into the hull. This gives me something to hold on to so I don't have to handle the model itself. Once completed I attach full-hull models to a smaller piece of MDF as a display base. This display base I paint black, which makes it quite discrete in my display cabinet, but I acknowledge black may not be the best in your case with the X-craft (I assume you mean the type that attacked the Tirpitz?) I HTH. Regards, Jeff.