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Shell Welder Coastal Tanker 1/130


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Greetings,

Originally issued by Frog many decades ago, this build involves the Modelcraft reissue from 1996. Firstly, this has to be one of the worst molded kits ever. This is not a kit that can be quickly or easily constructed - it demands many hours of tedious work and endless scratch building. Some of the parts are so poor, they really can't be cleaned up or corrected. Every one of the remaining parts required some work, in some cases significant modification. In several instances, I decided to discard kit parts entirely and scratch build replacements as this was faster and easier than struggling with the kit parts. There is a PE set available for this kit from Atlantic Models, but I used 1/125 scale brass railings and other parts from Toms Model Works which helped tremendously. I also used similar scale photo etched inclined ladders I had in my spares bin (can't remember who made these). Many kit parts were improved with scratch built details or items from the spares bin. Although there are many faults with this old kit, it has great potential. If you enjoy scratch building and have lots of patience, this is a great project of a unique subject in a large scale. Many thanks for having a look, your questions and comments are always welcome.

Cheers,

Bill

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Oh my lord..... what a great job you have done you obviously have the patience to match your scratch building skills, a very nice model congratulations !! :goodjob:

i am building one of these at the moment and its an Eastern Express reissue of the Frog kit and oh boy is it badly moulded , i have the Peter Hall etched set which i hope will lift it i have used clear styrene for the bridge windows and i have sanded and filled and repeated the process till i have lost count !

Anyone who hasn't built one will not have experienced its true horror for example when deck-housing structures etc are split horizontally so seams come across port holes and they don't even closely align

You really need to want one , i did see an original Frog issue in a mates collection and it looked super sharp......

Again i commend you very well done

Cheers

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Hi Jeddahbill

This looks really good and I remember building this years and years ago and thought it didn't go together very well as a child. I remember glueing on of my dads big spammers to the underside of the hull so it would float on the loaded water line. I have just returned to modelling and think you have done an Excellent job

Thanks for sharing

All the best Guy

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Thank you everyone for your kind words! I am pleased that you enjoyed the images and do appreciate your comments. This old kit was certainly a tedious project, but it was a nice change from a warship build and it is a favorite of my wife!

Cheers,

Bill

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  • 1 year later...

I have one of these kits,I have started this ship and gave up,so I know when I say ,Superb model.thanks for sharing.  

                                                                    :clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I watched the full size "Shell Welder" entering and leaving Poole several times during the fifties and sixties and it was her and similar tankers that fuelled my ambition to go to sea.

 

I built the Frog kit when it was first issued and a couple of Novo kits since and you have captured the character and atmosphere of this little tanker perfectly - well done.

 

Chris

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