Steve D

4D came through with the etching on Christmas Eve, let the detailing begin... Love this stage.... Merry Christmas! Steve

A NORWEGIAN CORVETTE KEEPS AN OLD CHRISTMAS CUSTOM. 24 DECEMBER 1942, LIVERPOOL. TRADITION DECREES THAT A CHRISTMAS TREE SHALL BE HOISTED TO THE MASTHEAD OF EVERY NORWEGIAN SHIP IN HARBOUR AT CHRISTMAS. Seemed fitting 78 years on, curtesy of the IWM collection Wishing everyone a safe and merry Christmas in this difficult year with my thanks for all the kind words and positive encouragement of my efforts. Posting here has helped me navigate the combined challenges of Covid and retirement, helped by you all. Let's hope 2021 is brighter and the vaccine sees this nightmare off Cheers Steve

Little infill jobs still, today was the binnacle. I've actually been looking forward to this one. Actually quite easy to draw, I did two versions, one with the cover plate open and one with it closed as I wasn't sure the free-standing cover plate would print. The body is hollow (0.6 mm thick) so I could install a compass card (maybe...). Glazing is a challenge, but I've turned a short length of Perspex rod that is a nice snug fit if a little cloudy, even after 1500 w&d, but varnish should fill those scratches Here are the two 3d models, the holes are for brass grab stanchions to support the ring that runs around it, not sure that would be strong enough to print plus it allows me to finish it be hand so its not so cheating They both worked so I'm going with the open version. Here is a terrible shot of it before painting and a much better shot after priming. The glazing plug is at its base There was a little base damage removing it from the print carrier, still that's covered by duck boards... With these resin printers, who needs kits? Steve

Great close=ups Arjan, very helpful thanks Steve

While waiting for the etchings, there is still plenty to scratch build. Completed the copper and brass work on the three engine room vent covers and tidy up on the mines (in the background below), a focused post on those later Another shot with the rubber dinghy in place. The rounding wire is 0.5 mm flexible wire, paste soldered in place (as fiddly as it sounds...). The timber support structure will be covered in .2 mm aluminium, one already done. The copper bears some small tooling imperfections, but I actually like that as real vessels also have plenty of knocks and dents, you don't want it looking too perfect or it will seem artificial (he said making the usual excuse for imperfect work...). Overall, this will be OK I think Steve

Ah great, that was it, Fock, page 205, "Main deck and foredeck are covered with boards of Oregon pine or fir of 90 mm width and 23 mm thickness. The deck is planed and covered afterwards with canvas stuck to the wood by a special plastic paint material..." Perfect, thanks for suggesting and for the drawing of the smoke buoy. I've seen those on the sides of the decks in some pictures Etching makes sense, daft, I'll have a go at that valve assembly and see if I can make it look reasonable Cheers Steve

Thanks Arjan, Those look to me the same as the other type (composite below). The middle image is from a German build thread I found, do you know what WEM-Atztelle means? That hand wheel on the top looks the same as the drawing I'm working from Interesting point from the first picture is the deck surface. I'd read somewhere (but can't remember where now) that the anti-slip finish on the deck was a glued down canvas and it clearly shows on that picture. Do you know anything further about that and was it also used on the forecastle? I intend to apply it to the main deck, at this scale, I think the texture will work OK Cheers Steve

Does anyone have any drawings or even a decent picture of the smoke generators carried by the s-boats? I can see on Shapeways there are two types available to buy (in the wrong scale) but I want to make my own. The GA drawing I have shows one that loks similar to tone of the types, compilation picture below. From the GA I can scale the size etc, but wondered if I anyone has any further details that can make this item better Thanks Steve

Nice finish John, looking forward to your next project Steve

Stuart I use 4D model shop in Aldgate, they're probably not the cheapest, but they offer a great services and (in normal times) 24 hour turnaround which helps with my impatience Here is the link to their etching page which explains the stuff they do and the tolerances for each metal thickness. If you are doing very small davits that need strength, perhaps Nickel Silver will work better than brass, you can see the information on that too on the link below 4D Modelshop If you need help on the artwork, just shout, I'm always happy to help Cheers Steve

2 days of artwork later, the first etching sheet has gone off, hopefully in time before they close for Christmas. There will be a second sheet for the guns and torpedo tube assemblies and storage rails This one is ~ 150 parts on an A5 sheet It covers: all the windows, mostly 2 part frames The four doors for the bridge assembly The windshield The three hatches that will be modelled open, including the inside framing The torpedo tube doors and edge frame The bow gun tube cover and flange The torpedo tube bulkhead flanges The skylights in the long engine room vent covers (these will be added to the 3d printed hatches to add depth and lightness Some steps The bow frame The mine rail supports (I'm building it equipped for fast mine laying, the most common service they performed. I've already drawn the mine and 3d printed a few tries, will post on that next week when I'm happy with the result) The rail supports hold channel section on its side as a track that the mine wheels run in Some surface rivet straps and covers The bridge floor (lower floor) The lookout platform base The armoured framing for the torpedo tube platform (sheeting will be in ali with pin wheel rivets). This is me being super lazy and I should make this from brass section, but if the etching works, it will look fine Skylight deadlight covers The wheels for the target computer Hatch wind breaks and the Nav light boxes (again lazy of me, but there was space..) For those who've not seem me do this stuff before, this will be etched in 0.45 mm brass, black is leave alone, red is half etch from the front, cyan half etch from the back, white is cut through. So the back dots on the red background are rivet heads in relief. The black frames with cyan inner frames are glazing frames where the glazing is mounted in the cyan enclosure and then the whole thing stuck to the frame mounted to the work, in black. This creates a 3 layer effect. The rivets on the window frame sin the full size do not work at 1/48th scale, they are just too small to etch. All drawn using TurboCAD 2020 and printed as a 1200 dpi PDF. The scale on the bottom line helps them etch it all accurately The real challenge is working out what is possible and making sure the lines are the right size, after breaking the objects down into components that can be etched. Then of course drawing them to scale where not all of the dimensions are shown on the drawings, the balance is done by eye. The rivet heads here are 0.52 mm across, 0.4 mm which I tried last time etched away so the effect was lost. 0.6 mm comes out a big chunky, it all trial and error with the emphasis on the latter and @ £90 per sheet (inc the photo-tool), you really don't want a lot of errors... However, once the photo-tool is done repeat sheets are only £35 for an A5 sheet or around 23p per item on this sheet Fingers crossed they can squeeze me in before the Christmas break Steve

Beautiful clean build John, crisp as you like packed with scratch details, excellent Steve

Excellent stuff Rob, but why is your room so clean? makes me look like a tramp, must get the hoover out today...

Steady progress on the bridge assembly, including more clean-up, installation of the rear roof section, the rear wall of the open bridge and a first attempt at the duck boards (not sure I'm happy with them but at least the torpedo sight assembly looks the part) Breakwater has been fixed in place and had a first stage of filler, ready to prime to check before second stage. The foredeck edge is installed now as well as the forward hatch box (primed hatch sitting there, its one of the engine room skylights but the right size in plan. The joint to the front of the charthouse needs a rivet strip cover still The forward panel of the open bridge will slide in once made so I can detail it outside (as the rear wall is). They will only be fixed in place after painting. I over filed a couple of the front windows (kicking myself, just stupid) but that mistake will be covered by the etched frames. I've decided to etch the doors so the first etching sheet needs work now. In the picture above you can also see that side moulding at the front of the torpedo tube, made from rectanular hollow brass section, ha been made and installed (both sides. Here is a better shot. The door will be etched and soldered to a turned brass hinge assembly One piece at a time... Steve

Excellent image, I'd not seen that one.. Do the Chinese supply those figures in 1/48th scale by any chance? Steve

Nice crisp work, this is really helping me Arjan, please keep up the posting (he said selfishly). Steve

Wow, outstanding, thanks very much Arjan, that's very kind Meanwhile, I've been stretching my copper-working skills to the rest of the bridge assembly. Gettign this right was the area I was most concerns about, but a few hours of struggling, fiddling, fettling and swearing has lead to this raw result This still need a bit more filing, filling and of course the window frames added, but I'm glad I got this far without it falling apart. Those window openings need more finishing I know, easier now that it is rigid but I was too frazzled to do it tonight I've added the binnacle and will add the engine controls through the doorway. The wheel assembly is mounted to an aluminium plate and is primed and the duck board is made, all fit in through the doorways (I checked...) I just noticed some horrible blobby solder in this shot, as I said. more filing needed to clean it all up. From past experience, I know this will turn out fine in the end, all that surface solder will go once I'm done. This assembly is covered in rivets, which is not really possible in copper, so I'm going to use the transfer type, a first time for me so any tips most welcome Steve

Very cool picture, I'd not seen that one. Excellent! more stuff to make 👍 Cheers

That makes perfect sense, many thanks. I'm guessing the window is to pass messages to the bridge, I can do that Cheers Steve

Bit of help required please. In the picture below (of the Italeri kit) I've highlighted two details with black rings. One looks like a window from the open bridge to the rear starboard room (radio room?). The other looks like a hinged slot of some sort with a thing in it ("thing" in the nautical sense of course), is it perhaps a shielded upward facing light?... I can't see these details on the drawings I have or any of the pictures. Does anyone have any further information to help my model them correctly? Thnaks Steve

That's disappointing John but it looks like you rallied well. I've not bought anyone else's designs from Shapeways, only my own and they have been fine, annoying when you spend so much money on a part. Anyway, she's looking great, excellent stuff Steve

Thanks again for all the kind comments, I have to admit to being pleased with the result. If we ever see exhibitions again, I will enter it to see what people think of it in the flesh.. Steve

I'm like a machine when the path is clear

Pascal Finally had the time to read this thread. I know a little about technical drawing from my 20 years as a structural engineer in the offshore industry and I can confidently say that your drawing skills are world class, just outstanding, I have to assume you are a professional. This is a master class in 3d drawing and rendering, a real pleasure to watch and learn from. If I may add one small note that might help for the future. If you study shell expansion drawings, you will see that they only ever place a single butt joint between each frame and even space adjacent butt joints 3+ plates apart. This is for strength as the butt joints are weaker than the continuous plate. Butt joints are always staggered and the bilge plate lines run out ~ 15% from the bow and stern to triangular connecting plates. If you don't have access to the shell expansion but know the frame spacing, it is not too hard to work out a reasonable approximation. From the shell expansion drawings I've seen, plates were generally 8 to 10ft long and around 4 ft wide (narrower to the stern) for ease of handling Steve

Happy to have you along, I hope you find it informative Cheers Steve