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Everything posted by Steve D
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HI Jon, I have my 3d model for German DC's that will print well @ 1:72nd. If you want some, I can easily add them to my next print job and post them to you, costs nothing really Nice looking model shaping up. I was tempted by the early E-boats but in the end found more information on the later type so went that route. The early boats show their luxury cruiser heritage Cheers Steve
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HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Mixed update. First, the paint plan didn't work. Tamiya Nato black spray and Tamiya Nato paint don't match. The paint is way more matt and even after varnish. the areas I had touched up stood out. So, I gave up with that and went back to Vallejo paint, as I should have done from the start. Then Vallejo Hull red was way too dark brown (imho), loads of Fire Red later and I'm sort of OK with it. Also, using the mask to spray the draft marks was also a bit of a disaster, the pattern I had didn't match the way Victorian's painted their draft marks. So, all in all, a bit of a bad start to the painting stage really. I'll post on the draft marks later, still worrying that one The hull after painting Meanwhile the Sea Grey for the turtle deck looks OK, thinks that's a keeper. I've also been busy making deck canvas edging strips from 0.2 mm Aluminium, cut into 1.7mm wide strips and indented with a pin wheel to give the impression of fixings, using 3inch lengths which at 12 ft seemed a reasonable stock length for handling and also trying to get that pin wheel to behave on longer lengths with these narrow strips is just a route to insanity. I'll post a couple of pictures once I'm happy with the effect,. The actual canvas arrangement is not obvious so I'm interspersing other stuff while I consider this all To cheer myself up, I made a cleat for the ensign, there will be more of these needed. At least that worked... Then as a distraction, I went back to the forward gun platform planking and tried a version with a margin plank, seems much better, three stage iteration below. The laser reversing burns the wood slightly, hence version 3, I may try one more to see if I can make it better, its hard as the planks converge so the reversing is inevitable. This will be painted, so any final burning will not be obvious (I hope). Anyway, I'm much happier with this So much so, that I remade the capstan platform planks, way better While I was on that platform, I turned my attention to the handrailing. This is permanent round the platform and then run in wire rope to the bow jackstaff. The stanchions here are very low and non -standard @ 28 inches. I didn't have that size but cut down some 20mm stanchions and fitted rings to get the height right, soldering frame shown below. The existing legs on the platform are 1mm thin wall tube so they can take the stanchion pins The curved rail (0.7 mm) was beaten flat at one end and drilled to take the wire rope later before shaping and soldering it in a template Trial assembly, more fettling needed. Note the deck lights on the turtle back polished brass rings. Anyway, it's still all a little rough, but coming together. Lots more detail to go on this turtle deck..... Cheers Steve -
Good to see more progress David, just think how, in years to come, you will look at the completed model and think "How on earth did I do that?.... Cheers Steve
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HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Not a build update. Stumbled across this channel on YouTube, amazing graphics, just sharing in case you've not seen these videos Another wasted afternoon beckons..... Cheers Steve -
Australian coaster Blythe Star - 1973 - 3D print - 1/100
Steve D replied to Iceman 29's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
It's only that I was enjoying that one.... Anyway, WOW!!, original drawings, {Holy Grail emoji} and a parental link thrown in, how can you not build it.... Cheers Steve- 134 replies
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Australian coaster Blythe Star - 1973 - 3D print - 1/100
Steve D replied to Iceman 29's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Excellent job Pascal, I just love the detail work and research you always bring to your projects making them a powerful resource for those following Now, can we get that battleship finished? Cheers Steve- 134 replies
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HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Thanks for the kind comments Stuart, once I get the colours right, I'll post more pictures showing the evolution of my thinking Meanwhile, to answer your question. This is a feature I recently discovered on the flickr picture editor called "Focus". It allows you to select a place and a radius to show in focus while the rest of the image fades out slightly. I thought a lot of my pictures were too fussy (mostly due to the inevitable clutter on my workbench, I try to keep it clear but fail each time....) and the point I was trying to highlight was getting lost. I'm glad it seems to be improving the story telling of the build Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
You are right of course Rob, see also that deck picture where the edge strip is clearly shown Canvas deck coverings have many challenges, the edge strips (which I must feature a this scale) not being the only one, or even the hardest! For instance, there are 40 deck lights they need to be perfectly cut round.....Still, I think I'm up for taking it on 🤞 State of play this morning before I top coat below the water-line (this is still red primer) with a few un-painted bits added for effect. Hopefully it will get better from here on. The black I'm using is Tamiya Nato Black which comes in a spray can and is softer than pure black. Grey is still primer Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Very cool -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
3 parts actually. Base and eye silver soldered, horns from a scrap of rectangular hollow section, drilled through and then filed away to create a deep channel section, soft soldered to the base I keep saying brass is easier that plastic Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Ok, last brass component for a while, the forward mooring rope fairlead. I bit like the rear fairleads, this one also has a secondary purpose, it provides an anchor for the bow jackstaff stay Once again these were filed from brass, worked OK. (note my cleaned up anvil, I was shocked how rusty it looked in earlier pictures so cleaned it up, ashamed...) The reason this came before painting, is I wanted it fixed to the bow before painting, this meant making the whole assembly and gluing it in place with the actual jackstaff and stays being removable This might help explain, very fine... I love the fact that in a model just under 4 feet long, I still need to make the jackstaff finial, 2mm dia and 0.8mm thick, finishes it nicely.... Anyway, painting The boat didn't fit in my primer bay First coat of red primer. This just showed up all the flaws in the hull plating, so two rounds of fine surface filler, wet&dry and primer, got me close to acceptable Next I applied grey primer above the waterline, which showed all the flaws in the deck plating, sigh... Note the scuttles are all covered with liquid mask As I write, its awaiting its second coat of grey primer, hopefully with most of those flaws ameliorated, you can see some of this tidy-up in the image below I was about to draw the draft marks for printing when I remembered that 20 years ago, I had etched a brass mask for this style of draft marks. A quick rummage discovered the mask, so I had to give it a try. Not bad for straight primer, this will work with fine brush clean-up, happy with that, no decals needed... I've been debating with myself about colours. Obviously, black features a lot, but the cover image on Lyons book (First Destroyers) features a vessel with pale grey turtledeck, a feature I really like So, back to staring at Havock images and I've convinced myself she also (at least at some point) had the same pale turtledeck. See the distinct tonal difference between the turtleback and the forward bridge extension. Also, even through the illustration I have shows a white sheer line, I can find no such line on any of the 10 pictures I have so its not going on. Lastly, the perennial debate over the colour of the iron deck. The Corticine company did exist, it was founded around 1890 (random fact discovered looking into this. However, I actually think certain sections of the deck, forward of the funnels and after of the boat station probably had some canvas covering as can be seen on this excellent image I just discovered This is certainly an early TBD, it may even be Havock. Further proof comes from the not very reliable evidence of builders models all of which consistently show brown decks with black or dark grey edges, some with actual panels that look like canvas, see last image So, I think this is the direction I will go, I like the idea of canvas panels, will see how I can reproduce the texture Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
This is always the main challenge, soldering is easy, set-up is tough as you can see from the gymnastics I go through to hold things in place. This is tougher still when soldering on the model, a step I rarely take, and hate when forced The last lesson when making stuff from scratch (tubing, wire, etc) is solder the joint then cut back the excess part to size. The number of times I've cut the part perfectly, only to realise it can't be held (or it just melts with the torch). I produce a lot of waste.... Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Ha, we've all been there. I always say the model is only as good as its worst component. If you've followed my builds, you will remember all the parts I've ended up remaking later. Such a common theme, I make something early in a build and then later on, decided its not fine enough, so a second or third gets made. I have a drawer full of attempts to remind me not to be so stupid next time, I should look at it more often... That place looks seriously cool, now all I have to do is think of a reason my wife needs to go to Southern California Go Jeff... That Flower is coming along nicely btw Of course Andreas, the brass on aluminium is a cool look, but I'm a ship modeller (or I try to be), not an artist. If I could make anything flawless, I might be tempted, however, there is no chance of that happening in this life Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Jon I'm really no expert, just the sum of 100's of errors... If there is a way to do soldered wrong, I've done it The first rule of soldering is make sure the surfaces are clean. Sand or emery paper will do this, wire brushing with a small wire brush is also good. If you apply heat to cyno, it smokes and leave a residue that will likely spoil the joint. If you are using self-fluxing wire (which I do when not using paste, sold for electricians use) always apply flux as well, it will help the solder run. Apply heat to one side of the joint and solder to the other, solder runs to heat, wonderful to watch, not sure who taught it to do that. If you apply the solder to the heat side, it will run to the iron not the joint, end up taking longer and using too much solder which increase the clean up needed. For really small items, paste is best, it needs so little heat and leaves not over-solder. I use TSC Solder Paint, and I add extra flux to that (Bakers Soldering Fluid), so its the consistency of actual paint. When it dries out, flux will bring it back. This will solder really fast, but make sure it bubbles and flows I also use cyno in some cases for final assembly, but hate myself for doing it. The rule I use is first sub-components use silver solder, then soft wire, then paste, finally cyno if I think more heat will make it all fall apart. The wonderful thing about soldering (even in some cases silver solder) is that heat reverses the process and you can go again.... Hope these tips help. Good luck with that joint Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Thanks Andreas, but I'd rather promote discussion than praise. I'm just doing what I know how to do, as well as I can. If some of this helps keep these more traditional methods alive and encourages others to use more metal in their builds, then I'm a happy person Thanks for the shower of likes, but you don't know until you try. Also, I have a lot of tools, I mean, a lot, 25 years and I'm still buying tools.... Styrene seems to only need a sharp knife, metal takes more investment, but the skill is the same, or even less. Thanks Stuart, but really, not so much. I always dip the parts in water to remove any flux and then clean with wire brushes in my minicraft drill (I do get through quite a lot of those), sometimes fine wire wool as well, . Then normal car primer will produce a very good clean surface for acrylic. I hope my showing all this work helps explain these techniques. After so many years, I take a lot for granted so please ask any question and I will do my best to show and explain Thank you for all the likes and views, I enjoy sharing my work (and mistakes) as much as the actual build process these days More later, watch how primer will transform it Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Thanks Jon, but I hate those close-up pictures, but without them nothing would be clear, warts and all eh! Cheers Steve -
HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Bit of a gap as I've been tackling the hardest part, the forward gun platform, and some other bits First, the chain pipes. These need lobster-back bends and the chain clamp making up. They are quite tiny, here they are soldered up. Hopefully, it is becoming clear why drawing the etch sheet took so long. Every one of these items had to be designed and the method of construction worked out. Takes ages and at the end, I still don't know if I will be able to put them together until I get to it. These just about worked Here they are resting on the fo'c'sle. They mount on small turned buttons that locate them. They will only be fixed once painting has progressed Next I added the capstan bars in their stowage racks. These are located on the inside of the breakwater extension behind the forward 6 pdrs. They are canted upwards as the capstan is quite short. Then I thought I'd put together some ready-use ammo for the 6prds. These 6 round racks sit forward of the capstan bars. Who needs brass paint when you can just use brass.... Last of these loose items is a vertical yard that sits on the outside of the starboard breakwater extension next to the gangway. So, after delaying as long as I could, I had to make up the forward 12 pdr gun platform. Couldn't put it off any longer This etching also suffered from being way too fine, making it really flimsy for no reason bar my stupidity The platform has 4 pillar supports, 8 single ball stanchions, and a continuous top rail that continues down the ladder The stanchions are Caldercraft 20mm fine stanchions which have a mounting pin of 0.85mm dia and are drilled for a 0.7mm rail. The pins were each turned down to just under 0.8mm so they would slot into a 1mm thin wall tube, which in turn sits inside a 1.4mm tube below the deck as the 1mm provide too fragile Here is the stupidly optimistic first solder attempt. At this stage I have already added the kick plated to the edge, same as the rear platfrom, no picture. This all became hopelessly flimsy and liable to damage and un-soldering. Still it proved strong enough for me to slowly pass the 0.7mm soft wire round, only took me an hour! as I gently worked it round in tiny steps. But, it was really all over the place so I did what I should have started with and made up a jig to hold everything in place to solder. Upside down so that the top rail is dead flat and its all straight(ish). This was cut out in the xtoool, I even cut the holes for the drawing pins. Ladder in the background. The stretchers for ladder had sleeves silver soldered to them to take the bottom of the handrail before soft soldering them. You can see the ladder handrails sticking forward towards the camera each of these ball-joints was paste soldered with an iron to restrict the heat input, it really was all liable to fall apart if too much heat got in. This was then trial fitted, note oversize holes for the pillars to allow for adjustment. These holes are now closed up with copper mounting plates It was at this stage that I realised that the gap between the timber platform and the inner flat section of armoured bridge roof was a perfect broken ancle machine and could not have looked like that. So I cut a brass disk to bridge the gap, this can be seen in the final pictures. I've just realised, I forgot to mention that the mast forward stays locate either side of the top of the ladder. You can just make out the tiny ring details on the kicker that will serve this purpose, silver-soldered to the kicker before it was mounted The platform is timber, radial planks that merge together but have gaps on the outer ends. I cut this in one piece and very carefully cut the gaps with a circular slitting saw. The round hole is for the forward crew flat stove chimney, which will be modelled stowed. The large opening is where the coxswain stood at a small wheel, if not in the armoured bridge. This is all very weird imho, there is no sign on the GA of a panel to drop into that opening when manning the gun, but there must have been one This was cut in 0.5mm ply, but I'm not happy with it and I will probably re-cut it in 2 ply boxwood, it may be scale thickness (~1 inch) , but on the model its too weak and flexible The ladder was soldered in place with the platform temporarily fixed in place to get it right(ish). and the handrails bent and fitted inside the sleeves on the stretchers So, in the end, this is where I had got to, still a little fettling needed on the little kinks in the railing. It actually looks fine on the model, these large images show every defect.... You can also see I've added the navigation light boxes and lights (turned up with Perspex inners. The platform is still removable at this stage as I would no doubt damage it when I paint the hull and just to give some effect, here is the gun sitting in place (the guns all need extra bits added and the shield of course), but this gives a good impression of purpose Very close to paint now. I have a couple of vents to make and some other odds and sods to sort, but hopefully some paint coming this weekend Exciting to see this in primer so I can move to the final tidy up of the plating, only possible once the primer is applied It's been a tough week so far, I knew that platform was going to be a nightmare but I think I can sort it when its fixed. It will have a canvas dodger in the end, which can cover a multitude of defects Cheers Steve -
HMS Abelia K184 - Flower Class Corvette 1942 1/350
Steve D replied to robgizlu's topic in Ready for Inspection - Maritime
Honestly Rob, she's kind of given up on me, as long as I have somewhere to put it. I have a slot that will work and not impinge on her space, so the plan begins... I'll explain more when the thread starts, I expect this to be April for the initial drawing stage. Many thanks for the offer but I have all the books as well, this has been in the planning stages for over a year now. Lovely model of Abelia, I still don't know how you work at this tiny scales Cheers Steve -
HMS Abelia K184 - Flower Class Corvette 1942 1/350
Steve D replied to robgizlu's topic in Ready for Inspection - Maritime
Just imagine it, 4' 3" long, all metal, more soon..... -
HMS Abelia K184 - Flower Class Corvette 1942 1/350
Steve D replied to robgizlu's topic in Ready for Inspection - Maritime
Such a clean sharp finish Rob, I'm very impressed. And in case you wondered, I'm reading Flower builds for a reason Cheers Steve -
I'm not the maddest person on this forum..... Wonderful stuff, crazy, but wonderful. Cheers Steve
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Australian coaster Blythe Star - 1973 - 3D print - 1/100
Steve D replied to Iceman 29's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
Very high standard of finish Pascal, I really envy the precision you achieve at these small scales Cheers Steve- 134 replies
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HMS Havock 1893 - A class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Steve D replied to Steve D's topic in Work in Progress - Maritime
The last few models have all had resin printed fairleads, quick and simple to produce. However, Havock has an interesting detail on its rear fairleads, they support a padeye to anchor the steering gear running block. This could be printed, but I'd break it, no question. Plus I'm going full metal jacket on this model, so brass it is There is really nothing more pleasing that taking some scrap brass and making components from them. No etching, just old school filing... A very humble start (note how tidy my bench is at the start....) Initial shaping and silver soldered to a base after drilling a pilot hole First one rough shaping Both shaped ready for padeye And finished after a little polishing. Even I won't be able to break these ones.... Brass phase ending soon, I promise Cheers Steve -
Hi Rick, No probs, see a PM from me. BTW. This thread is not dead, as part of the Havock etch sheet, I included the parts to complete the buoy. So, once Havock is more progressed, I will return and complete the buoy with a slightly different diorama idea I'm still developing Cheers Steve
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