mollythedog Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 I was quite keen to get on and finish the early RN bridge,and see if the PE bits I'd drawn would fit. It is quite fiddly but works,and looks ok,though as usual the camera is harsher than the eye and in real life I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Early RN bridge 1 by plastichacker, on Flickr Early RN bridge 2 by plastichacker, on Flickr I still have to trawl my photos and try and sort/date the sensors fit for several of these early Attackers, as I intend on having several models for my collection,and they will probably be different as per the prototypes. Ditto the camo schemes they sported. mtd 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 That’s unreal! Consider my gob well and truely smacked! 😮 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris B Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 What Bandsaw said. I'm looking at my own thumb and think you must be super human, how do you work on such small parts...microscope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Mental 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Blimey! How small is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 A lot of detail in one small thing beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salmo G Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 lost for words....... superb work! looking forward to seeing it finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 On 12/29/2017 at 17:55, mollythedog said: I think that for anyone thinking about building in a larger scale the boards look really promising ( maybe you are already considering it Steve,or are you sticking to wood?) Hi Mollythedog, I apologise for my slow reply on this. I am really keen to try some of this stuff but am having difficulty obtaining any in Western Australia. I think I might have a supply lined up though and might be able to get my mitts on some in the next few months. I enjoy working with wood but will happily change over if the advantages are as great as most people maintain. Composite decking is another option that I am looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollythedog Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Hi Steve, No worries. I am really interested in trying out this material too,though as I said before,I think it would be more useful for larger models and not really practical for 1/1250, or possibly even 1/700,unless the thinnest available material matched closely the dimensions of the hull of a ship in that scale. But 1/350 and bigger,and used with superglues I would think it would make for an extremely solid and stable construction. I have no idea of course how it is in warmer climes,nor with variations in humidity,which I would imagine would be a factor to consider in your case-like i know anything about Western Australia! I'll have to source mine in England, as there is no where in France or the rest of Europe that might stock it,under a name or product that I'll ever find. mtd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollythedog Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 With the basic bridge structure out of the way I could get on with detailing the hull some more. A lot of staring at photos, probably 15 minutes for every minute of actual modelling done, but unfortunately the photo documentation for these ships,or more precisely, "A" ship at "A" given time is not that good. Add that to the fact that they were not identical,particularly with regard to things like the external pipework,and that much of the detail I was looking for was in the shadow of the overhanging flight deck in most photos. These 2 photos show the master hull with about 80% of the detailing done-much of the work remains hidden in the photos. Repeat items like the 40mm twins were mastered then cast in resin, and the single 20mm and their shields will be added in PE later,ditto the other details,such as the access steps to the flight deck etc. The 5"/38s are fitted aft at this point in time (some months ago) and the large platform right aft on the port side is the LSO safety netting(crash hole)-more on this in a later episode..... hull and bridge 3 by plastichacker, on Flickr hull and bridge 4 by plastichacker, on Flickr mtd 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Inspirational ! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Amazing work and detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollythedog Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Bringing this WIP (and it is very much that at the moment) slightly more up to date, I did manage to mould and cast a couple of models. Unfortunately the mould broke but I had a couple of castings to play with,and I was in all honesty expecting problems before I started,so the breakage wasn't a surprise. I was really keen to fit them out and actually see a Royal Navy CVE in 3D,and the camo schemes promised to be interesting to work out and apply. And to be honest, I was going to a model show,to see some friends and wanted to show something off.... Based on the excellent series of books by By Alan Raven I chose to portray Attacker very early in her career,painted in a Royal Navy "type" scheme,but painted in the US yard using US colours,as per the Raven drawings. The colours I used were various mixes using enamels,Humbrol I think and are not "perfect",the problem being that many blues lack covering power and tend to be quite weak,requiring several coats.Not a problem on a large model but can drown a small scale model. All the PE 40 and 20mm are fitted and the deck is a decal I drew and printed myself-apart from "commercial" items like glue,paint and plastic everything is my own,mistakes included. Attacker 1 by plastichacker, on Flickr Attacker 2 by plastichacker, on Flickr Among the deliberate mistakes are the wrong layout of the port side single 20mm tubs,and I am really not sure if the US 5"/38s are correct. I also didn't paint the side of the island in camo,this will be corrected. To make it more interesting I added a couple of my Swordfish on deck,along with attendant deck crew. It is quite difficult to photograph,and the light wasn't ideal, I would have preferred to try out in natural daylight, but it is monsoon season here and I've forgotten what the sun looks like,so these will have to do. It is mounted on a simple base just with some double sided tape, not pretty but atleast I could hold it and photo it without breaking something. attacker 43a by plastichacker, on Flickr attacker 43b by plastichacker, on Flickr attacker 43c by plastichacker, on Flickr attacker 43d by plastichacker, on Flickr attacker 43e by plastichacker, on Flickr attacker 43f by plastichacker, on Flickr mtd 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 I class myself as one of the extremely lucky few who has had the good fortune to be able to visit this exemplary model ship builder at his home, and sit alongside him whilst he works on a model. These images do not tell half the story of the amount of effort, research and pure dedication is put into each of his models; every one gets the same high standard put into each build. MTD is not only professional in his approach to building these but he is also an enthusiastic modeller to boot! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangor Lad Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Simply superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Superb! Absolutely superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Absolutely fantastic! And if you have the skill, patience, eyes and time, you can get your whole collection in on one shelf...would keep the Mrs happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollythedog Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks and compliments. I hope I can show that if you put some effort in, just about anything can be made, and it doesn't have to be kit related. Luckily on BM there seem to be a number of others that agree and do much the same,though to a very high standard,and in the "normal" scales. As I mentioned previously,this is still a WIP and at the same time I built the Attacker I finished a second prototype to represent Battler, a little later time wise,but still with the same weapons fit. Both models were finished in time to take to a model show,and it was interesting to note that of the 2, the Battler attracted the most favourable comments,by a considerable margin. I can only assume that she appeared in more "traditional" Royal Navy colours (though I freely admit that the colours I chose were something of a guess,based on the time period and "typical" colours that were possibles. Thinking about this afterwards I concluded that if I'd seen,for example, an Essex or Midway class CV painted in Royal Navy camo it would appear "odd" and not right. Despite that fact that it appears well documented that several RN CVEs left the yard in US colours it looks "wrong" in most peoples eyes. But this is mere guess work on my part, it could just be peoples taste and nothing more. Battler 43a by plastichacker, on Flickr Battler 43b by plastichacker, on Flickr Unfortunately the pale green looks far too green in the photos, it isn't in "real life", ditto the weathering,which looks far too heavy and obvious,again to the naked eye it is much less so, though I am still playing with paints versus pastels on this. Anyway,this is how this version looks. Again,it has my Martlets (Wildcats) on deck,and has the prominent HF/DF mast forward, one of the very first and most important additions in RN service,but apart from the the 2 models are essentially the same. Battler 43d by plastichacker, on Flickr Battler 43e by plastichacker, on Flickr Next step is to try and correct a couple of areas that could be more accurate,and modify the weapons fit and emplacements on the port side. And try and cast it without breaking the mould,as the goal is to have several different ships of this important class. Battler 43c by plastichacker, on Flickr Battler 43f by plastichacker, on Flickr mtd 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I'd love to see your fleet at sea in a diorama........ Cracking work With no offence intended, you've got to think if he can do it in that scale, perhaps I can do it in a more normal scale! Kev 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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