Another 1/200 H.M.S. Hood with Pontos Detail Set

[Mark]

It is with both sincere apologies and heartfelt thanks to Pete (Morty_3333) that I would like to start my 1/200 H.M.S. Hood build and post the progress here. With apologies because it was Pete's original thread that inspired me and I do hope that he is not offended with this 'imposter' coming along and starting another work in progress thread of the Mighty Hood in 1/200th scale. But the thanks is due because it is after having read his initial thread here and been inspired to learn more about the history of H.M.S. Hood and the ultimate sacrifice of 1415 crew members on that fateful day in May, 1941, that I became more and more tempted to spend the most I have ever spent on a plastic model kit.

 

My personal interest in the Royal Navy has been piqued by my son joining the senior service recently as an aircraft technician. I am very much an aircraft modeller, with the occasional foray into cars and motorbikes, but the last ship that I ever built was probably Airfix' 1/600 H.M.S. Fearless around forty years ago! So entering the local model shop recently and leaving with H.M.S. Hood under my arm was both somewhat of a surprise to me and the shop owner! A "30% off everything" sale helped the decision making and with the rear seats of my car folded down, the huge box and I went home.

 

It is my intention to correct as many of the obvious inaccuracies in the original kit and there are many online references that are available. I have found this site, which is a very good review of the model and what to fix to get the finished kit as accurate a s possible. I have also been badgering Jamie at Sovereign Hobbies to keep a Pontos Detail-Up set for me to collect from his their stand at Telford this year. My final thanks must go to my long suffering partner, Zuzana, who has allowed me to indulge in this rather expensive project; I truly hope to do it full justice with the caveat that I haven't built a ship in years!

 

Now, I would never had known where to start had it not been for Pete's thread and once again, many thanks are due to him for his excellent description of where he started and how he approached the build. You will see from the following photos that I have copied his approach and  started where I would normally finish with an aircraft build, with the display base.

 

For the base, I have alway had my eye on an oak work surface at the local DIY shop. The original piece was 180x60x2 cm and is made from small sections of solid oak to form a large single sheet. I already had plenty of oak moulding, which will be used to frame the board. So, with an idea in my head, I got to work!

 

The oak work surface was cut into my required size by the DIY shop. I settled on 1400x225 mm which will be almost all occupied by the huge size of the kit, being 1318 x 163 mm. with the outside frame edging adding another 10 mm to both the length and width dimensions. With ever increasing grades of sandpaper, I got to work preparing the board and once happy with the finish, I started cutting the edge pieces from the oak moulding, attached them with a strong wood glue and clamped them in place whilst the glue set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the base completed, I now went back to the DIY shop to search for an appropriate colour stain. I did not want to varnish the wood as I preferred to have a more natural and matt finish, so I chose a mid-colour oak oil and after carefully building up the finish, I was really very pleased with the final result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After having seen how Pete approached the mounting of the hull to the base, I basically took complete inspiration from his ideas and then duly copied him! The brass pedestals were sourced from eBay and were located in the United States. Here's the link to where you can find them, here. The pedestals are extremely high quality and are made from solid turned brass; they are certainly not lightweight either! The main problem was that the internal diameter of the hole was 10mm and the screws that I had chosen, along with their corresponding captive nuts, were 6mm. After trying to find a similar rubber grout that Pete had used, I settled on a 10mm rawl plug, drilled out with a 6mm drill bit.

 

With "measure twice, cut once" in mind, I measured, measured and measured again ensuring that the placement of the holes in both the base and also the expensive hull, which is, as you can see, a huge single piece moulding, were all accurately marked prior to drilling the first hole. Patience paid off and the hull now sits, perfectly centred, atop the pedestals.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that is where she will sit for the foreseeable future! I will be visiting Sovereign Hobbies in November at Telford to get the Pontos Detail-Up set, along with the correct shades of Colourcoats paints. In the meantime, I will start to build a 'dust tent' similar to Pete's; what a brilliant idea that is! After all, this will not be a weekend build and will take many, many months to get the best from both the kit and the Pontos set and to preserve my sanity I will have to grab an aeroplane or two from the stash to stop me from getting fed up with just one subject on the bench. So, thank you once again to Pete for kick-starting me into starting this project and please don't expect daily updates, they will be very few and far between!

 

Thanks for stopping by to look and please, any comments or advice on what needs to be done and how to achieve it, will all be gratefully received.

 

[morty_3333]

Hi Mark!

You can't have enough Hood builds!

No problems whatsoever,My intention with My thread was to try to share the methods I am learning on this build to try to help other builders of the kit,and it's always nice to have somebody to go crazy with You at the same time!!!!!

I love the display base, I'm glad You put a link in for the pedestals,I forgot to,and they a bit of searching for,so very useful for anyone else looking!

My baseboard will be covered with self-adhesive flocked covering then put on a larger piece of Contiboard to provide a lip for the case.

As You can see I'm taking a break from Mine at the moment but will be picking it back up in the not too distant future,so if You crack on when You get Your Pontos set,I will be able to incorporate (pinch!) some ideas of Yours too!!!

 

Look forward to seeing Your Hood progress, and if I can help with anything I'm always knocking about on BM,just shout.

Another site well worth a look is E.J.Foerths 'On the slipway',

http://ontheslipway.com

 

Keep Sticking!   Cheers,   Pete

 

Edited August 13, 2018 by morty_3333

[Mark]

Hi Pete,

 

Thanks for the reply and your graciousness in accepting my thread alongside yours.

 

To be honest, I would not have had a clue how to punt the ship on the base without having seen your thread first, so all credit belongs to you there! It will be a long and slow process as I learn new techniques and skills and apply them to this model, as well as trying to figure out exactly what it is that badly needs changing in order to achieve an accurate model of the 'The Mighty Hood' on the day that she was sunk.

 

One question I do have is where on earth will I get a case made for her once she is finished? I need to find an excellent glazier/case maker that can manufacture what is effectively an upside down fish tank with the best quality edges and joins possible.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

 

 

[morty_3333]

Hi Mark!

I'm looking at two options regarding the display case:-

1- Getting a folded,welded polycarbonate box,but I'm not sure if one can be made this long,with possible 'pulling in' on the long sides (a chunky wooden rail bonded to the outsides may prevent this)

2- Slotted hardwood rails surrounding glass panels,I would have to outsource these as I do not own a router table. The other problem with this route is obtaining a good,strong invisible joint at the corners whilst keeping the rails to a sensible size (I want to have a varnished natural wood finish if possible.)

 

Oh, there is a third option, shields (  Al-a Star Trek) but the technology does not exist yet (but it might by the time I finish it!)

 

The Fablon felt wrap around the model baseboard will provide the dust seal against the inside of the case,and this board will be fastened to a larger bottom baseboard to provide a seating for the case.

On Your base,the case will fit inside the edging to locate it and provide the seal,maybe felt on the bottom of the case will provide additional sealing if required.

 

I'll be looking into the best choices nearer to the completion of the project,with having the temporary 'tent',it means I can keep the job clean until I get to that point.

 

I find that working out solutions to these issues good for keeping the 'grey matter'  mobile and may assist the general problem of protecting our models from our biggest enemy-dust! 

Anyway, enough rambling for tonight, I'm off to get My much needed beauty sleep!!

 

Keep Sticking!     Cheers Pete

[DarylH]

a project so big you had to create an ocean to display it on. 

[Mark]

Morning all! I'm slowly catching up with Pete's build of this gargantuan kit, which has attracted some raised eyebrows from friends along with the normal comment of 'Where the heck are you going to put it??' Little do they know that my cunning plan involves moving house... At least I think I'll have to if I want to put her on permanent display when she's finished!

 

A little more work in the man cave yesterday and I've started cleaning up the hull, which has some very prominent scars along the centreline of the hull, remnants from the injected moulding process. These were simply filled with Tamiya putty and are ready to sand smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I copied Pete's method of attaching the hull to the base and although I doubt that once she's finished I will never release her from her mooring, this method does allow the hull to be detached if necessary. The mounting 'brackets' were attached to the hull interior with Araldite.

 

 

And finally, the last piece of work on the base arrived in the post yesterday morning. I'm very pleased with how this turned out! It is solid brass, 40mm x 150mm and 2mm thick and is quite weighty by itself and was supplied with five small brass screws, one spare. I was also pleased with the service with a photo of the plate being emailed to me prior to posting to confirm that it was correct. I'm very happy to recommend them, https://www.engravefast.co.uk

 

Despite drilling locating holes, I managed to shear one of the brass screws and so drilled larger holes to accept them, many thanks for that spare!

 

 

Finally, for this post, here's the finished dust tent, design ©morty_3333, aka Pete, although I could not find out the finished height of the model, so I guessed, rather generously I think! As far as the final decision on the display case, I probably go for the slotted hardwood rails surrounding glass panels, as suggested by Pete. But that is a loooong way off and maybe the force field technology will exist by then!!

 

 

So apart from cleaning up the hull and removing the degaussing cable, moulded by Trumpeter along the top of the hull sides but much better represented by etched metal parts in the Pontos set (which will hopefully be waiting for me at Telford!) there's not a lot else I can do until after Telford when, armed with Colorcoats paints and the Pontos set, I can settle down in the cave and hibernate for the winter!

 

I'll have to go back to aeroplanes in the meantime!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DarylH]

I sense a disturbance in the Force. When I saw the size of that dust cover I had a vision of it getting loose while you're trying maneuver it over the superstructure. I hope you have a gust free work shop and a handy first mate.

[Mark]

Totally gust free in the workshop Daryl! But when the masts are up, it will certainly need a steady pair of hands (or two pairs as you suggested!) to avoid hitting anything as she gets covered up again.

[morty_3333]

Hi Mark!

I  Think You've made it tall enough, if You do a Yamato in the same scale it should clear the Pagoda superstructure!!!

 

Yes, it's difficult to decide how tall to make the tent for clearence, I very technically measured the drawing on the side of the box, and using My cutting edge calculation equipment ( Abacus, sundial and Water Divining Rods!!), found the ratio of height to length and converted findings to the full size model, thus:-

L(x)=152+x2−−−−−−−√+252+(30−x)2−−−−−−−−−−−−√

L′(x)=x152+x2√−30−x252+(30−x2)√

0=x152+x2√−30−x252+(30−x2)√

x152+x2√=30−x252+(30−x2)√

x2152+x2=(30−x)2252+(30−x2)

x2(252+(30−x)2)=(30−x)2(152+x2)

252x2+x2(30−x)2=x2(30−x)2+152(30−x)2

252x2=152(30−x)2

252x2=152(302−60x+x2)

252x2=4(154)−4(153)x+152x2

(252−152)x2+4(153)x−4(154)

Using the quadratic formula, you get two values for x, but there will be a negative value that doesn’t make sense in this problem. So, I’ll only have the positive answer below.

x=−4(153)+16(156)+16(252−152)(154)√2(252−152)

x=15220

Lastly, put this value in the length function.

L(15220)=152+(15220)2−−−−−−−−−−√+252+(30−15220)2−−−−−−−−−−−−−−√

L(15220)=50

......and consequently, it looked about right!!!!!!!!

 

Oh, and try to keep things simple!!

 

Onward Mark!

Soon be Telford!!

 

Keep Sticking!           Cheers,  Pete

Edited September 5, 2018 by morty_3333

[Mark]

I know where I went wrong now Pete! I totally ommitted the quadratic formula...

 

Telford you say? Are you going? It will be good to meet up and pay you the royalties for nicking your ideas! Do you accept currency in the form of bacon butties and tea/coffee?

[morty_3333]

Hi Mark!

Unfortunately, the slave drivers  (Their currency is plastic vouchers!!) have Me working on that weekend (I work a 4 on - 4 off shift pattern 😭 which falls on Telford weekend this year), I meant Telford is Your PONTOS time!!

I'm hoping to get next year,because the shift pattern moves around.

 

Keep Sticking!       Cheers,  Pete

[Mark]

Hi Pete, shame you won't be going to Telford, but I'm sure we'll catch up at another time.

 

So, how are you getting on with your H.M.S. Hood?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Kev The Modeller]

Looking forward to this build 

[morty_3333]

Hi Mark!

OK, the penny has just dropped!

 

I thought I recognised  Your distinguished facade, from Your photo in 'Building and Detailing Scale Commercial Aircraft'!!!

 

An excellent volume , and one that I refer to on a regular basis, so My hat is well and truly doft to You as well Sir!!

 

And, talking of inspiration, it is You I have to thank (Blame?) for the Aningrad 1/72 VC10  and F-Resin BOAC Speedbird decals in My stash!!!!!

 

Have a great time at Telford at the weekend, I'll be thinking of You and everybody else having a great time while I'm at work!!!!!!    

 

Keep Spendin' !

 

Cheers,  Pete

Edited November 14, 2018 by morty_3333
Crap speling!!!!

[Mark]

Morning Pete! Yep, that's me and guilty as charged 🤣

 

What a fantastic Telford show this year! The work on display this year was just incredible and I wish I had now gone back on the Sunday too! But what was even better than the work on display and the trade stands that tried desperately to extract currency from me, the best thing was meeting up with so many friends that I have made through this hobby. There were planned meetings and then there were people I just bumped into again after not having seen them for a while. Next year I'm going for both days for sure.

 

Anyway, thanks to my recent visit to Telford, I now have the Pontos set and courtesy of Jamie and Gill at Sovereign, the legendary extra Fret 5 for the rear funnel and the Colorcoat paints. It'll be a while before I get around to getting on with this project, I have a few things to finish first, but then it's full steam ahead with H.M.S. Hood!