NOVA73

Hello, I have just finished the drawings of the Photo-etching board for the rear deck of ISE. As many people ask me how to create your own PE, I will explain how I do it. First, I start from a reference such as a photo of what I want to reproduce or a scan of the part where I have to do the PE. In this case, the scans of the rear deck of ISE. To do the PE, you have to draw two sides, the FRONT and BACK of the Board. Then there are two colors that are used: Black. At this point the acid will not attack the metal. White. At this point the acid will make the metal disappear. If you have white on the Front and Back sides, you will have a void on your board. If you have white on the Front side and black on the Back side, you will get a hollow on the Front side. I mark the folds of the parts by making a line of 0.17 to 0.2 mm depending on the thickness of the metal. Normally the line will be white on the back side. However, if your fold exceeds 90°, the white will be on the front side. On an empty surface, you should not make a line less than the thickness of the PE board. In my case, I will use a 0.16 mm board, so I do not make a line less than 0.2 mm. However, it is possible to cheat. For example, on a ventilation hatch, I would make lines with a thickness of 0.1 by making white on the back side. That's it for the basic principles. As you can see, it's very simple. I start by making a drawing including both sides of the board. To do this, I use a color code to make my task easier. The elements in Blue, which are the supports, will be black on the Verso side and deleted on the Recto side. The elements in red will be white either on the recto side or on the verso side. Then I make both sides. It is from this moment that the most boring phase of creating a board begins. On the other hand, you have to be very careful, because the final result of the board will depend on your attention and concentration. Do not forget to vectorize all the texts at the end of the process. Once both sides are finished, I save them in pdf. These will be sent via email to Hauler. The delivery time for the engraved plates varies greatly. Before Covid, as a general rule, the delivery time was 2 weeks. During the covid period and after, it took 2 months. On the other hand, Hauler is a service provider. It does not check your drawings. If you have drawn anything, you will get anything. I speak from experience (LOL). Best regards. Alain.

Hello, very nice montage. The ship is great and the sea superb. Best regards Alain

Bonjour Pascal, Toujours aussi impressionnant comme exploit. De plus vous nous expliquez comment fonctionnent les différents systèmes et sous-systèmes sur un tel navire. Très intéressant. Bonne chance. Bien cordialement, Alain.

Hello everyone. Fujimi favored its parts injection problems rather than reality. So I'm going to completely redo the ship's rear deck in PE. Drawing the boards shouldn't take much time. But, I don't control the current deadlines at Hauler for engraving the boards. I will take advantage of this delay to make the 3D modeling of the crane of the Kure arsenal. Best regards. Alain.

Hello, Superb montage. It's a treat to follow. Best regards. Alain

Hello everyone. Thank you for your feedback on this montage. I used to participate in model exhibitions as an exhibitor. But I had to stop due to illness. Now I stay at home and share on the forums. For the PE, I will make a tutorial of the process of creating the drawings and give you all the instructions to have the engraving done at Hauler Ltd in the Czech Republic. There are other service providers in the United Kingdom. I don't remember their names. But you can contact one of your compatriots Mr. Jim Baumann who I know uses the skills of one of them. The essential prerequisite for doing PE yourself is to master vector drawing software. Personally, I use Illustrator. Best regards. Alain.

Hello. I made this assembly before the release of the floating dock kits at 1/350 and 1/700. When I started this project, there was nothing on the market on this type of equipment and on the barges and cranes of service associated with this type of dock. By doing research, mainly on Navsource and on the sites of the archives of the US Navy and Congress. In total the US NAVY has put into service 7 floating docks of this type. By studying the photos, I made an inventory of the battleships hosted on this type of floating dock: • USS WEST VIRGINIA BB-48 • USS CALIFORNIA BB-44 • USS MISSISSIPPI BB-41 • USS IOWA BB-61 • USS PENNSYLVANIA BB-38 • USS IDAHO BB-42 • USS NEW YORK BB-34 • USS SOUTH DAKOTA BB-57 (entered the dock on May 6, 1945, following an accidental explosion in the kitchens) – Ship of the same class as the BB-59 And in 1952 the USS WISCONSIN BB-64 For those who want more information on floating docks. Attached is the navsource link on AFDB-1: http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/28/2801.htm First, I drew the base in PE to make a molding imprint of the dock bases. I then made 10 identical PE boards to make the side pontoons. I then engraved, cast and sorted the thousand (or more) various pieces that make up the details of the dock. Then I assembled the pontoons (a time-consuming operation because I had to repeat this operation 20 times). Then I tackled the dock cranes. I had to draw and engrave the crane boom 3 times before I got a decent result. After many months, I have completed the assembly of the dock. Once the dock assembly was finalized, I took care of the service buildings that were around this type of floating dock. For this, I was inspired by the drawings that Mr. Jean Mahieux shared with me of this type of equipment made in PE at 1/700. The 1/350 requires much more detail than the 1/700. So I completely redesigned this equipment for my needs. First, two cranes on barges Then, various workshop, storage and other barges. and finally an APL and an energy barge. The dock finished and painted. The barges and cranes are finished. For the ship I used the Trumpeter kit, the Flyhawk detail set and a lot of home made PE. And after 18 months of work, the final result. Good luck to you all. Best regards. Alain

Hello, Magnificent montage. Truly exceptional. A big bravo. Best regards Alain.

Hello Thank you very much for your feedback. Alan P the crane is the original crane. The developments mainly concern the position of the driver's cab and other small things. But the structure of the crane is the original one. According to the photos, there were 2 cranes with the same structural shapes in the arsenal with different lifting capacities. Best regards Alain

Hello Very nice montage. Super good. Best regards. Alain.

Hello, I am starting a new project. The Japanese battleship ISE after its partial transformation into an aircraft carrier at 1/350. The ship kit is from FUJIMI. I like this brand for its quality and the nature of its plastic. For the wooden deck, it will be the one from the Artwox brand and for the detail kit the one from Flyhawk. For the doc, I had in my library the book Japanese Hybrid Warships from Trojca. Very good as a book. For the book from Kagero, you have to take this type of book with a pinch of salt. Because the drawings are 3D interpretations of the designer. I also took a lot of products from Black Cat Models. I spent a good week removing the supports and cleaning the parts. But they are really great products (quality, finesse, etc.) The first step is to put the hull in waterline version. For the staging, I haven't made a choice yet. I would like to make the ship at the dock and in the background the crane of the Kure arsenal. I have quite a few photos of this crane. However, you have to be careful because between the photos from the 40s and the photos of the current crane, there are quite a few differences. I will already model it in 3D and I will see then. This is my occupation for the next 12 months. Best regards. Alain

Hello, Russian ships really have a magnificent line. In this assembly, there is everything I like, PE, parts modeled and printed in D3 and a great assembly. Good luck for the rest. Kind regards. Alain.

Hello, Superb achievement. I am not a fan of this type of ship. But the result is really magnificent. Sincerely. Alain.

Hello, Thank you for your comments on this assembly. That's really nice of you. In response to the questions. For the second question, I don't sell what I do for my dioramas. I design and print these elements to please myself and that's enough for my happiness. For the PE, I create the boards and have the engraving done at Hauler ltd. I usually assemble almost everything (Details, PE, etc.) before starting the painting. I work on the basis of large sub-assemblies. For the PE and resin, I use an emael paint of the former WEM type as a base coat. On these types of materials, it is the only paint that allows you to make masks for the later phases of painting. Primers and other acrylic paints do not stick to these materials. For the base coat I use shades like medium gray or black. Best regards. Alain

Good evening to you all, The very fresh photos of the current state of the USS New York BB-34. It is completely finished, all that remains is to add ropes and touches of matt varnish. The ropes for the signal movements were made of white lycra (dyed in coffee) of 0.068 mm in diameter. The other cables were made of Lycra of 0.091 mm diameter The quadruple guns, the firing directors, the rafts, the bridge binoculars, the planes, the figurines come from Black Cat models. Black Cat offers truly exceptional models in terms of quality and finesse. It is visible that these products are printed with professional printers with a resin that is very easy to work with. To compare with the products of many suppliers who offer products printed with the same printers that I have at home for my personal needs with a very brittle resin. I'm going to attack the base of the diorama. The sea is not my strong point. But hey, I've tried many different methods. But the result is always the same. Let's get to the Photos. Best regards. Alain.