warreni Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Oh oh.. I have run up against a slight problem that will hold the hull up for a while... The scuttle set is awesome for the portholes in the front half of the hull, but the portho;es in the stern half are a few millimetres bigger which means the supplied scuttles don't fit... Oh dear... Can't see me finding any 1/72 scuttles of this size to place on the hull, so I may have to fill the portholes and re-drill them... I posed the question to the esteemed manufacturer and we will see if he responds... Cheers Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Hi Warren, I was surprised to read of your problem with hole size ( ) I would not expect to see a change in the size of the portholes in the hull except perhaps a cruise ship I've checked ' Warship Perspective, Flower class corvettes in WWII by John Lambert ' in the back of which is a pull out plan and profile to approx. 1/100. The portholes are all shown the same size! Hope this helps Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Hi there Kev. Thanks for looking up the information, which is about the same I summised from my Anatomy of The Ship book.. Looks like I have a bit of work in front of me to reduce the diameter of the portholes. I may try an easy solutions first, and if that doesn't work a far more involved solution using plastic sheet and glue... Cheers mate and thanks againWarren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Greetings fellow enthusiasts! Welcome to another edition of 'The Little Grey, Blue and White Corvette'. First up, the porthole problem. Why would Matchbox decide to make the portholes in the rear half of the model a different size to the front half portholes? Who knows.. Did GLS pick up on this and put it in the instructions? They have been very thorough with everything so far but not with this one. Am I just a whinger who should shut up and get on with it? Well it is my blog and I will type anything I want (within reason) in it.. No fear or favour here my lad! Here are some pictures of a ruler sitting on a piece of plastic (the hull) and a piece of PE (Scuttle Set). Notice the width f the scuttle which is a little under 4mm in width. Then we have a scuttle in the forward part of the hull.. About 3.5mm which gives you a milli-bees-thingy to work with when glueing the scuttle in place. All well and good. Then we have a porthole in the rear half of the hull.. Hmmm.. 4.5mm which means that the scuttle just falls straight through the porthole when you try and glue it in position.. Marvellous... So after a little thought about filling portholes using plastic sheet and punches I came up with a plane which I hope will be much easier. Have any of you floaty thing buildiers heard of Canopy and Window adhesive? It dries nice and clear and has good gap filling properties. And this is what it looks like after you first apply it.. Don't worry it dries nice and clear.. And here is one half of the stern hull with the portholes filled with the adhesive. Then we have a piccie of the front half of the hull with scuttles installed.. We will see how it goes later. While I was waiting for that to dry I decided to bite the bullet and do the rest of the rivets in the deck with an old fashioned metal punch and blunt object (hammer) seeing the awesome automatic one I bought died in the bottom. The weird stuff in the last photo is the photo-etched anti-slip in the brass. That's it for now. Will do the rest of the rivetting after I go and get some breakfast. Cheers Warren 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 This was the bit I had been dreading in this build, soldering the edge of the deck to the deck after bending part of it up. I used the solder paste for the first time and it worked very well once I got the hang of it. Then I used a wire wheel and later a sanding disk in my power tool to clean it all up.. These are the biggest items I have soldered but it seems to come out fine. Hope the rest of it is as easy! Cheers Warren 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Hmmm.. Very quiet in here... (crickets)... Oh well.. here is another update on the build of the Little Grey, White Blue and Green Corvette. Last few days have all be about building up the foredeck with various layers of PE to replicate the real thing.. (I hope!) Here is the first layer.. The clamps hopefully hold the parts in place while the CS glue sets after it is applied. Even though accelerator is used there is always some that needs to dry. Next up we have the layers finished for the foredeck.. I am not sure what I am going to do to the wooden part yet as I have some wooden deck sheeting I bought with the exact plank width I need for this deck. But then there are others who say there was no wooden deck on the corvettes.. I have no photographic evidence either way yet. While I am here, anyone who thinks the manufacturers don't watch these forums would be very wrong. After I posed some questions earlier on in the blog a certain person from D J Parkins sent me an email answering the various questions I posed earlier. Wow.. this 'person' has been using PE since 1976!! Thank you very much whoever you are from the company (I suspect it may be Mr Parkins himself but he didn't sign his emails). Once I get the items he suggested and give them a go I will spread his words of wisdom to all and sundry. That's it for now Cheers Warren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 There was wood on part of the deck, as on the GLS PE, at the bow and at the sides of the rear of the superstructure towards the stern.This forum is a really good source of info on the Flower class -http://theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/I first heard of PE in 1973, an American company called Top Brass made medals and cap badges for 1/32 scale model soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Thanks Niall. I had a look at those forums but I couldn't seem to find many pictures of the Corvettes. Being a sucker for punishment I won two more Corvette kits on FleaBay, one about the same vintage as the one I have, and a Premium Edition one which I will take the wooden deck supplied with the kit and make my own wooden deck with the Artwox sheet stuff I have. The other Corvette kit will be packed away a wait for the short fo'csle kit to be released by D J Parkins. Cheers Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 There are a huge number of images in this section - http://theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/forums/70/Flower-Class-Corvette-Images/Flower-Class-Corvette-Images#.VX_r3CVRG9K They are listed by ship, so some have only a couple of photos, others have a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Hi Niall. The only thing I have found is that it gives lots of side views etc but hardly any close-up detail shots. I am not complaining just looking for more close ups of obscure bits, like the deck.. OK, time for an update. I filled those holes that were too big for the scuttles (which I believe are the correct size) qith the windscreen and window making glue and glued on the scuttles hoping for the best.. It seems to have worked fine! The clear bit around the outside will of course get covered in paint and hopefully disappear. Next up I built up the hawse tube deck plates.. The patterned parts above them were also installed. Brass, brass everywhere. I have the feeling I will be installing the deck on the hull soon as it is much easier to handle now without all the other stuff that has to go on it. I have come up with a cunning plan to use the original plastic deck as a support as well.. But we shall see.. Cheers for now Warren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 The images section is ship by ship, so some provide more detail than others.This thread has a lot of detail photos and proved useful in my build(HMS Heather) -http://theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/reply/979/HMS-Freesia-Huge-Collection-of-Images#reply-979 However the ship covered has different types of 4" gun platform, bridge, Pom-Pom tub and depth charge rack to the kit and the GLS parts(This does not mean the GLS parts are wrong). Bear in mind that the class were built in several British and Canadian yards and modernised at different times and in different yards, so there is a large variety of fittings across the class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 That is the sort of thing I was after! Lots of good stuff there Niall. Thanks heaps for that. Regards Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Hello Warren WOW - I have only just got myself interested in your build and what a monster - you must have spent a fortune on all that extra white metal and photo-etch - other than the hull, will there be any of the host kit left !!! I am really going to enjoy watching this mammoth project you have taken on. Good luck. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Hello John and welcome aboard. I didn't buy all the accessory sets in one go so I stretched the pain out over about 6 months or so.. You use the hull, I am using the decks although you don't need to, and a few other odds and ends and that is about it. Maybe if brass just gets too hard I can use the kit parts instead... And when I finish this one I have two more in the stash! ( ) Cheers mate Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Hi Warren, this is looking to be an epic. You don't do things by half, do you? Looking forward to your progress. All the best, RAY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 I try my hardest Ray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin56 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 The images section is ship by ship, so some provide more detail than others. This thread has a lot of detail photos and proved useful in my build(HMS Heather) - http://theflowerclasscorvetteforums.yuku.com/reply/979/HMS-Freesia-Huge-Collection-of-Images#reply-979 However the ship covered has different types of 4" gun platform, bridge, Pom-Pom tub and depth charge rack to the kit and the GLS parts(This does not mean the GLS parts are wrong). Bear in mind that the class were built in several British and Canadian yards and modernised at different times and in different yards, so there is a large variety of fittings across the class. Great photos, those ships really took a pounding out on the Atlantic. Great weathering possibilities...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 All the pictures I have seen of the hose reels on the foredeck look very little like the ones I am making for my Corvette.. But they llok a loyt like the ones in the Anatomy Of The Ship book.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Hello again from the city of churches.Well the forward deck is resting peacefully on a shelf until it is required for the top of the hull, and that isn't happening until I fix the join between the forward and rear halves.Here are the hull halves together and drying after the application of copious amounts of extra-thin cement so it gets into all the nooks and crannies. Then I installed the stakes on the hull, which do not fit very well and required copious amounts of tape to hold them in position. After I got that done I started applying Mr Dissolved Putty to the join between the hull halves which is pretty horrific in places.Looks like the putty cracked at this join. Gap a bit too wide I think..I put that aside to let the first side with the putty dry and went back to the hose reels that go on the forward deck. The first one got slightly mangled when it fell on the floor and I stood up to look for it, but guess what was under my slipper.. yep, one hose reel frame.I managed to get it repaired, but with solder I shouldn't have needed, then discovered there are two spare reels included for other corvettes. Joy.. I put the rubbish one aside and built the two new ones.That is the frame.Then we have the reel itself..And finally the whole shebang.. The funny thing is no pictures I have seen so far of the actual thing look anything like that reel. The instructions can be a little confusing at times but it would be difficult to describe building these things without taking up pages and pages.That's it for now.CheersWarren 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin56 Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Mr. Dissolved Putty : filler of the Gods :bleh: :D Nifty work on the reel Mr. Inman, just remember not to dance on them. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 That was my problem the other night.. I forgot the hobby room isn't a ballroom.. damn!! Cheers Julian Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 That was my problem the other night.. I forgot the hobby room isn't a ballroom.. damn!! Cheers Julian Warren Was that the Tango or Foxtrot Warren that hose reel just looks like it came off the real ship amazing PE skills love reading your BLOGS to get some tips there mate Beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Warren, it could have been worse - you could have been barefoot! Cheers Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Warren, it could have been worse - you could have been barefoot! Cheers Ray Was that the Tango or Foxtrot Warren that hose reel just looks like it came off the real ship amazing PE skills love reading your BLOGS to get some tips there mate Beefy If I am too dance I need alcohol... then I become a very good dancer! Thanks for that Beefy. Any questions just give me a yell. Regards Warren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warreni Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Oh my goodness.. it's been 2 days since I posted an update.. lazy butt Warren... Too make up for it I have a nice little update here on the progress I have made on the Corvette, and a few other items of interest. First up, the two paint sets I had been waiting for turned up! This is the one I will be relying on for this build.. Yep, that's even a Corvette on the front. I still won't need it for a little while but it is always good to be prepared. Next up, look what turned up in the mail.. Yep, the Premium Edition of this one I got for around AUD$130. What a bargain! And it will provide the template for my fore deck wooden planking, if I go that way.. Then we get to the actual work on the ship... I decided to do some more deck details before I put the deck on the hull. First up is one of the water-proof hatches.. First the base with the subtle rivet detail I applied to it.. Then the hatch itself.. Top And bottom.. Then with the hatch glued to the base.. Then with the hinges and wing nuts applied.. After that I started on the wardroom skylight... Nothing is glued in that photo, just bent to shape. Then I thought I would try and take a picture on a very small area of one of the sheets, the part all these parts have come from. Notice that all the areas are clearly marked as to what the parts within them build. That's it for now friends. Cheers Warren 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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