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The story: This is a new 3D project initiated by friend Roland Grard and myself. Roland, who lives in Le Havre, has been in contact over the last few years with Australians who are interested in the sinking of the coaster Blythe Star. The ship sank very quickly without a distress message being sent out, but the ten crew members were able to get to safety in an inflatable raft. One of his Australian correspondents wrote a book about the tragedy, and was able to send them photos and plans of the boat. Other plans were "unearthed" from the Australian archives by another of his Australian correspondents who was also passionate about the Normandie liner. Last month he received a photo from her showing him with the last survivor of the sinking posing in front of a model of the Blythe Star. Roland knew that he had modelled the plans in 3D but was unaware that he had undertaken to make a model, and he was surprised to discover that this model had been partly made by 3D wire printing. Nicolas in front of his model and Mick Doleman on the left, last survivor of the Blythe Star. The model has been on display at the Tasmanian Maritime Museum in Hobart since the end of October 2023. https://www.facebook.com/MaritimeMuseumTasmania/ https://www.maritimetas.org/ He kindly sent her his various print files to produce another copy. That's when he asked me to print the ship. The problem is that the coaster is at 1/50 scale and it would have been complicated to print a ship of this size with a resin printer as I only had the final STL files at my disposal, which would have been difficult to modify in order to split them correctly. What's more, the printing technique is not the same between wire and resin, which is its own constraint. So I suggested to Roland that he redo the 3D drawing from A to Z with more detail, but at 1/100 scale, using the same plans he had available. The ship will be as she was in 1973. An extract from the plans: I've made good progress on the project since 28 November, a good week ago, I'm already at 50 hours of drawing, putting paid to my good resolution to finish the current projects, but at the same time I'm continuing to finish the battleship Bretagne. This project should be completed very quickly, a 'Flash' project. Here is some progress from the first 3 days:

SS Hydrograaf, 1/100, hydrographic ship of the Royal Dutch Navy. Shipyard: Fijenoord shipbuilding and engineering company in Rotterdam Keel laying 11 October 1909 Launched 26 January 1910 Employed 4 May 1910 Out of service 16 October 1962 Active status Home port Den Helder; 1985: Amsterdam Owners: Netherlands Owner 1998 - Rederij de Hydrograaf BV Weesp Charterer Dutch Glory Previous owners 1910 Royal Netherlands Navy 1964 Sea Cadet Corps, Rotterdam 1985 The Sailing Museum Ship Foundation, Amsterdam General characteristics 1910 Hydrographic ship 1985 Saloon boat Length 40.5 metres Width 6.70 metres Draft 1.80 metres Displacement 297 tonnes Passengers 200 maximum (since 1985) Propulsion and power 2 steam engines, two screws, 411 hp 1985: 2 MAN diesel engines, 2 x 480 hp Speed 10.5 knots Port of Morlaix (29), France. A little history: The ship was built in 1909-1910 by the Scheeps-en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord in Rotterdam . The ship was launched on 11 October 1909 and launched on 26 January 1910. As was customary at the time, it was a steamship with two coal-fired steam engines. With a draught of only 1.80 metres, she was perfectly capable of operating in the shallow coastal waters of the southwestern Netherlands, the Zuiderzee and the Waddenzee. On 4 May 1910, the Royal Navy commissioned the Hydrograaf . As a rule, the ship served as a depth survey ship in a particular area from April to October. Outside this season, it was not possible to carry out bathymetric surveys because of the weather. The vessel was officially commissioned and decommissioned for each season. During the winter months the ship usually stayed in Hellevoetsluis or Willemsoord, Den Helder . The ship did not sail in the grey colours of the navy, but had a black hull and yellow superstructure. In 1921 the ship was reinforced by the Eilerts de Haan, built at the same yard. The Hydrograaf was used several times as a royal yacht during visits of Queen Wilhelmina, Prince Hendrik and Princess Juliana to the waters of South Holland and Zeeland. There was a cabin below deck at the stern for this purpose. During the royal visit to Zeeland in 1921, the royal party spent the night of 15 to 16 September on board the ship, which was moored in the port of Vlissingen. In May 1940, the ship left Vlissingen for England. During the Second World War, the ship was used as an accommodation ship for the bomb disposal service. On 25 September 1943, the ship arrived in Harwich to serve as a depot ship. After the conquest of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the ship was placed at the disposal of the commander in Zeeland in October 1944. She immediately served again as a survey ship to better map the important access to the port of Antwerp. After the war, the ship returned to the service of the Hydrographic Service. As such, she was withdrawn from service by the Royal Navy on 16 October 1962 and replaced by the modern ship Zeefakkel. She was the last coal-fired steamer of the Royal Navy. From 30 August to 8 September 2006, the Hydrograaf was used as a stage for the theatrical performance of The Sinking of the Titanic, one of the open-air performances at the Zeeland Nazomer Festival. The audience was taken on a journey through Zeeland's waters from various ports, during which the story of the sinking of the Titanic was told as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilisation during a tour of the ship. Wiki. This ship often comes to France, in summer, during the various national maritime festivals, such as "Tonnerre de Brest", La semaine du Golf du Morbihan, Terre et Mer etc. Thanks to Roland for finding me the necessary plans to draw the hull in 3D. At 1/100 the ship will be 40.5 cm long overall. A nice model never reproduced in plastic, there is a paper/cardboard version. https://www.postbeeld.nl/vnhphydro100-stoomschip-hydrograaf Some nice examples exist in a large scale sailing version. I had the chance to see her several times, at Brest 2000, at sea, and more closely in the port of Morlaix, which is what gave me the idea to reproduce this elegant ship in 3D printing lately. The version will probably be the 1910 one, at least with the elements I have at the moment. 1/100th scale sketch of the hull, nothing final, nothing finished:

Tugboat USS Nokomis YT-142, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor 1941 This 1/100 model was made from scratch by myself. Documentation was not easy to find. I started this project with a rather succinct plan of the torques and the water lines of the hull in order to model it in 3D. It was not easy because of the low resolution of the plan. At the beginning this project was planned for a 1/350 scale. But the result was really exciting, so I decided to continue and to realize a model in 1/100, my scale of preference with the 1/200. Other plans were more complete, allowing me to continue the design of this historical ship. Thanks to Roland for his documentary contributions. A good documentation is essential for a serene realization. Thanks to Bernard Huc for his 3D help on the "Tug pudding", the front fender of the tug. It was a real pleasure of creation and assembly. My most successful 3D project so far. The design subject that lasted several months here: History: USS Nokomis (YT-142/YTB-142/YTM-142) was a Woban class harbor tug built in Charleston, South Carolina in 1939-40. General characteristics Class and type Woban class Type: District port tug Displacement: 218 tons Length: 100' 10" ( 30,5 mt ) Width: 25' ( 7,62 mt ) Draft: 9' 7" (3 mt) Propulsion: Double Enterprise Diesel electric, single propeller Speed: 12 knots Crew: 8 members He was assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1940. The Nokomis was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She was the first ship on the scene to assist the USS Arizona, and left the area due to the impending explosion of the battery below deck. It was then assisted to ground the USS Nevada, with the Hoga (YT-146), and the YT-153. December 7, 1941, just minutes after the attack was over: The grounding of the Nevada prevented the blocking of the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Then the USS Nokomis fought the fires and dried out the battleship USS California for three days. This effort made the California salvageable, to be put back into service later in the war. The Nokomis was also the last ship to move the surviving YC-699 barge before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Nokomis accompanying the CV-8 Hornet returning to Pearl Harbor after its raid on Tokyo After the war, the Nokomis continued to serve the Pearl Harbor ships until she was de-commissioned in May 1973 and then sold to Crowley, San Francisco. She was renamed Sea Serpent and served for many years in San Francisco Bay as a tug and pump boat. In 1989, after the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Nokomis and the Hoga (which had served the City of Oakland as a fireboat) again fought fires alongside each other. The Nokomis was renamed Panamanian and abandoned, like many other tugs, to decay and rust. It was rediscovered in mid-2002, in the mud flats of Hunters Point, San Francisco, by tugboat captain Melissa Parker. It was purchased at an auction for $50 to benefit the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society (HTERS) and was originally moored at Pier 80 in San Francisco. The 501 nonprofit organization was dedicated to historical research, hands-on engineering education programs for disadvantaged Bay Area youth, and cooperative programs among historic ship organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. HTERS acquired an operational sister tug, the USS Wenonah, with the intention of using the Wenonah as a floating class to generate interest in HTERS to help raise funds to restore the Nokomis. After falling behind on dock rental fees, the two tugs were moved to Treasure Island, but dock rental and insurance fees continued to accrue, eventually costing the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society both vessels. Sinking of the Wenonah (Sister Ship) The Wenonah was turned over to the Coast Guard for disposal, and Bay Ship & Yacht in Alameda took over the lease of Pier 1 at Treasure Island, which included taking possession of the Wenonah and Nokomis. Both vessels were scrapped in 2010 in Alameda. The Wenonah was a sister ship to the Hoga. It would have been a great resource of parts to restore it. The Nokomis was the oldest surviving naval vessel from the Pearl Harbor attack. The barge YC-699 in SF Bay and the tug YT-153 on the East Coast, along with the Hoga, are now the last surviving naval vessels from Pearl Harbor. http://www.runcornmodelboats.co.uk/USS_Hoga.html Some photos of this beautiful, typically American tug in 1/100 scale. Thank you all for your encouragement throughout this exciting project. The Nokomis' display case completed in February 2023:

I started this project in september 2021. A little help to my friend Alain Nova73 on his project of diorama with a quick drawing of the hull only which will be in waterline mode. Alain will continue with the superstructure design on Fusion360. The information is thin as for the original plan of the hull couples, I found a small triptych of the ship in low resolution and some errors, but it helped me to make the different couples, it is far from being perfect especially the back arch which requires a lot of information and... time. For waterline, it will pass. A bit of history: USS Nokomis (YT-142/YTB-142/YTM-142) was a Woban class harbor tug built in Bremerton, Wash, and assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1940. The Nokomis was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She was the first ship on the scene of the USS Arizona, and was recalled by the officers on deck because of the impending explosion of the battery below deck. She then went off and helped to beach the USS Nevada, along with the Hoga (YT-146), and the YT-153. The grounding of the Nevada prevented the blockage of the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Then the USS Nokomis fought the fires and dried out the battleship USS California for three days. This effort made the California salvageable, to be recommissioned later in the war. The Nokomis was also the last ship to move the surviving YC-699 barge before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Nokomis accompanying the CV-8 Hornet back to Pearl Harbor after its raid on Tokyo After the war, the Nokomis continued to serve the Pearl Harbor ships until it was decommissioned in May 1973 and sold for scrap to Crowley in San Francisco. She was renamed Sea Serpent and served for many years in San Francisco Bay as a tug and fireboat. In 1989, after the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area, the Nokomis and the Hoga (which had served the city of Oakland as a fireboat) again fought fires alongside each other. According to the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society, the Nokomis was purchased in April 1975 by Crowley Maritime Corporation, and its name was changed to Sea Serpent. She operated in San Francisco Bay as a commercial tug to assist ships in docking. Crowley Maritime ceased operations in the San Francisco area in the early 1990s and the Nokomis was renamed Panamanian and abandoned, like many other tugs, to decay and rust. She was rediscovered in mid-2002 at the Hunters Point mudflats in San Francisco by tugboat captain Melissa Parker[8]. 8] It was purchased at an auction for $50 for the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society (HTERS) and was originally moored at Pier 80 in San Francisco. The 501 non-profit organization was dedicated to historical research, hands-on engineering education programs for disadvantaged Bay Area youth, and cooperative programs between historic ship organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. HTERS acquired an operational sister tug, the USS Wenonah, with the intention of using the Wenonah as a floating class to engage HTERS to help raise funds to restore the Nokomis. After falling behind on dock rental fees, the two tugs were moved to Treasure Island, but dock rental and insurance fees continued to accumulate, eventually costing the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society both vessels. Sinking of the Wenonah ( Sister Ship ) While moored at Treasure Island, the Wenonah sank in August 2009 and spilled oil into San Francisco Bay. The Coast Guard asked Global Diving to salvage the vessel to prevent further leaks, and Global Diving approached the American Bridge/Fluor Joint Venture to use the Left Coast Lifter crane to salvage the vessel. The Wenonah was turned over to the Coast Guard for disposal, and Bay Ship & Yacht in Alameda took over the lease of Pier 1 at Treasure Island, which included taking possession of the Wenonah and Nokomis. Both vessels were scrapped in 2010 in Alameda. The Wenonah was a sister ship to the Hoga. It would have been a great resource of parts to restore her. The Nokomis was the oldest surviving naval vessel from the Pearl Harbor attack. The barge YC-699 in SF Bay and the tug YT-153 on the East Coast, along with the Hoga, are now the last surviving naval vessels from Pearl Harbor. http://www.runcornmodelboats.co.uk/USS_Hoga.html https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B32-8ZWvIt6USm9hV05adGNzNXM/view?resourcekey=0-2oWytSsFRNuIzFGqjQ2rbA I still have a lot of work to do. I have drawn the waterline in relation to the photos, you can see that this tug was ballasted at the back in relation to the horizontal plane of the plan. You will have to keep some in waterline to cut the hull.

This is my new project. Length: 79 m Launch date: 2 April 1921 Beam: 11 m Shipyard: Great Lakes Engineering Works Shipyard: Great Lakes Engineering Works, Detroit, USA IMO: 8971815 Flag: Portugal Documentation has been gathered over the last few weeks to get a good basis for designing this beautiful and atypical vessel in good conditions. This ship with its pre-dreadnought style has an extraordinary story to tell after 101 years of tumultuous life. Beautiful stories that motivate me, because in 1/100 scale, this ship will require a lot of work before being printed (length 79 cm, width 10.8 cm). Once again thanks to Roland who found me some original plans from the American shipyard archives. A bit of history: 1921-1942 - the early days Launched in 1921 at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Michigan, the S.S. Delphine was, at 78.65m and 1,255 tons, the largest yacht built in the United States that still exists today. Her first owner, Horace Dodge, of American automotive fame, designed Delphine's unique quadruple-expansion steam engines, which still operate today. Sadly, Dodge, one of the greatest yachtsmen of his time, died four months before the boat was completed. The yacht passed into the hands of her family, who cruised and attended all the major boat races. In 1926, Delphine caught fire and sank in the Hudson River. Five months later, in New York, she was revived to her former glory. 1942-1946 - the war years Like many other yachts of her era, when the United States entered World War II in 1942, Delphine was placed in the naval service. Renamed U.S.S. Dauntless (PG61), she served as flagship to Admiral King, head of the U.S. fleet and chief of naval operations, and unofficially as a presidential yacht. According to legend, the yacht went down in history as the Yalta yacht, where the world leaders of the time, Churchill, Truman, Stalin, prepared the Yalta convention. 1946-1997 - the formative years After the war, the Dodge family bought the Delphine from the Navy. She was almost permanently moored at the private jetty on their Rose Terrace property in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Anna Dodge sold the Delphine in 1968 to the Lundeberg Maryland Seamanship School, where the Delphine served as a steamboat training vessel for 18 years. Since 1986, the yacht has passed through a succession of owners, both commercial and private, and eventually ended up in Marseille, where she remained for many years in a state of increasing disrepair. In 1997 it was bought for scrap by the current owner. 1997-2003 - the years of restoration Although separated by over 80 years and an ocean, the first and current owners of Delphine have much in common. They are passionate yachtsmen, successful businessmen and have passed on the love of yachting to their families. Delphine's new life is the result of extensive historical research by the owner's daughter. Fortunately, the original drawings, detailed plans and photographs were available to work from during the refit and restoration. This extraordinary yacht, with its 13 cabins, vast entertainment areas, has artfully recreated the bygone era of the 1920's, with all the latest equipment and communication facilities. Renamed in September 2003 by H.S.H. Princess Stephanie of Monaco, the S.S. Delphine was inaugurated in September 2003. S.S. Delphine is one of the most unique and exceptional yachts in the Mediterranean fleet. In 2004, she received the annual showboats award for best refit. In addition to her beauty and comfort, the S.S. Delphine still boasts the distinction of being the largest steam yacht in operation. In 1921, she represented the pinnacle of technology and fashion with her quadruple expansion-recovery steam engines, each developing 1,500 horsepower. Today, she is a living example of how far yachting has come and, at the same time, how little has really changed. Steam engines are as reliable and have the same reaction time as modern diesel engines, without the noise and vibration. The 2 engines of the Delphine. https://youtu.be/456XAZslSYY https://youtu.be/28wO5ZF0QUw

Hello Britmodellers, Have a break....now there is the break in England vs. Colombia! Built ca. 1971 two times, Army and Marines. Only one survived. Paintbrush of course at that time. Because the heli wanted to repel the decals i sprayed varnish over by spray can few months later. Yellow mellow....OH OH! England, England! May our/your Klopp be with you! Cheers, Tom

Hi all, Second Entry is the M3 Lee I'll not bother with a running commentary on the construction of this one, it all went together with no trouble and fitted well. As I said, there were no real issues building this but I now need to decide on the end user - The box artwork shows the subject in Soviet service, then there is always the option of American or British markings. These two would, according to photos, require the addition of some extra stowage boxes on the rear hull and, if going for the 8th Army option, the addition of sandskirts. Probably have a sleep on it... Kind Regards IanJ

Hi all, Quick little one to start with - Courtesy of the "Art of Tactic" series produced by Zvezda... This is what you get in the box - The engineering is a bit different from what they've done in the past in that the hull is built up around a frame. And as regards building - let's get on with it! Don't blink or you'll miss it Here's the frame that I mentioned - To this attaches the baseplate, diff housing, glacis plate and all the rear gubbins. Add the hull sides and top - It's all snap together but the manufacturer suggests that it can be glued if you like, TET used in this instance. Humbrol paint pot for size comparison. And it's built - Nowhere near my PB of 12 mins for a Zvezda tank but I took a bit more time with this one - couple of gaps to fill and some filing before priming. I now have to consider colours - Would I be right in saying that it's meant to be an M4A2 76(W)? In which case who used them? Thanks for looking IanJ

Hello all, Tis' I. Just thought I'd share what I'm working on at the minute. In a desperate attempt to get over the modeller's malaise that struck me hard within months of coming back in to the folds of those fanciers of plastic crack (leading to three incompletes on various Group Builds) I decided to dig this old lad out of the attic. It's a 1/100 scale F71 G-Cannon from the Mobile Suit Gundam F91 film. Originally released in 94 (I think) I picked him up off of ebay in 2001-2 when I was 14 of 15, badly stuck him together and then left him languishing in a box in my mum's attic for over a decade. Being that I've always liked the design and being, in my mind at least, partially complete I thought finishing him off might be a good way of getting myself energized again. And in it's own way it's working, though it wan't as easy as job as I'd first anticipated. Mostly because of the bloody awful job younger me had done to the poor lad. My overzealous self had carved some rather severe trenches in the plastic in an attempt to clear seamlines (very prevalent on these early Bandai kits, and always in awkward places) and absolutely destroyed his hands. Anyway, my best efforts with Mr. Surfacer, lots of sand paper and some primer resulted in this: Which really needed a rub down with some micromesh (which I'm not sure how to use, do you cut strips off it or just use it like a polishing cloth?) and a few touch-ups; but being the lazy and also impatient goit that I am I thought I'd just attack it with the airbrush (if I could remember how to use it and as of tonight this is how it looks: This is after two coats of future (which never takes on a glossy, glassy sheen for me like it does when you proper modellers do it) and needing one more before the decals go on (the early No Grade 1/100 kits actually came with both stickers and decals which is nice). Then it will be some more future and a panel wash. Now, here's where I need you professhunals help...how should I go about doing that last part? I've seen some great work on these pages but my last attempts at panel washes turned out a bit pap if we're being polite (check the sig) and so I'd like some advice. What are the pre-prepared washes like, and how should one use them? Also, filters: Yes/no? Help me Britmodeller.comWork-in-ProgressSci-FiandRealSpace-Kenobi you're my only hope! TTFN and that. Paul Kisses.