1/350 HMS BULOLO scratchbuild ***FINALLY FINISHED***

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Bad luck!  We’ve all been there at some point, so we feel your frustration.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[steve5]

just caught up with this build Chewbacca , some really nice work mate , I also feel your pain . just finished the kongo , put it on the floor in front of the shelf where it was going ,went to work , my daughter in law , came over with her dog , my wife let it in side , no more kongo . 😭

[robgizlu]

Chewbacca - sorry to hear this!

Feel your pain - but it will all come together

Rob

[Chewbacca]

On 11/04/2020 at 03:42, steve5 said:

just caught up with this build Chewbacca , some really nice work mate , I also feel your pain . just finished the kongo , put it on the floor in front of the shelf where it was going ,went to work , my daughter in law , came over with her dog , my wife let it in side , no more kongo . 😭

Really sorry to hear that.  At least mine was fixable.  I did keep finding more bits yesterday that suffered in its running aground on the shelf but most are now rectified  Somewhere on the floor there is still a small cowl ventilator but I've almost got the replacement ready to go on.

 

Managed a really good session yesterday afternoon after a very liquid lunch celebrating both Easter and my birthday though I was tempted to put the whole thing down for a few months and start one of the new models I was given for my birthday - Atlantic Models 1/350 PUMA and BOXER.  It's great having a daughter who's now earning but due to the lockdown can't spend any of it!

 

Anyway, apart from rectifying the damage, I continued work on the rigging.  Halyards done then the acoustic noisemaker before onto the aerial array.  The forward end is reasonably easy to see what i needed to do but aft of the bridge the source photos are so small or blurred it is incredibly difficult to be certain what goes where.  So there is a degree of artistic licence now going on.  Sad thing is, the Uschi line is so fine it's almost impossible to see it in these photos even after I've enhanced them.  What I forgot to photograph was the flag locker.  I realised when I put the halyards on that I'd forgotten to put it on so I made one from some Evergreen rectangular box with the edges thinned right down, a length of WEM 1/600 County Class destroyer flight deck netting to represent the individual flag pockets and a small piece of card with dots of different coloured inks to represent the flags.  It works reasonably well though I say so myself.  I'll take a photo later today.

 

 

 

 

(if you follow the image links to my Flickr page and blow the images up, the rigging does show up a little better)

 

 

[robgizlu]

Chewbacca - that looks pretty unscathed!

I think the rigging shows up fine - your brain just processes it.  Without any there's a deficit (if that makes any sense??)

It remains a great looking vessel and one that you have done considerable justice 

Rob

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

I’m with Rob; the rigging looks excellent (even though - or perhaps because! - it was such a pig to do.

 

P.S. Delighted to hear you have a Boxer; you’re 99% certain to build her before I get to mine, so I plagiarise mercilessly!

 

Surprised to learn that you’re *cough* mature enough to have served in Puma, though... 😉

Edited April 13, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[Chewbacca]

Nearest I ever got to PUMA (or it may have been JAGUAR) was Navy Days in Chatham in the late 60s/early 70s when I was still in short trousers.  I'll always remember the day because it was in the days before Health and Safety and you could sit in one of the close range mounts which had its power on and spin it around!  Great fun.  

 

The reason for getting a model of her was so that I could have a practice on a full resin kit before i tackled one of the really expensive ones that I had actually served in!

[Rob998]

Sorry to butt in at this late stage, but have you seen this?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-U-S-Navy-Blueprints-British-HMS-Bulolo-Normandy-D-Day-HQ-Landing-Ship/163563639986?hash=item26152714b2:g:absAAOSwaAlccuJX

Fantastic model btw. Is it me or is the transition from the bow to the rest of the ship a slightly unusual design?  It looks a bit, erm, awkward to me, but I have literally no ship knowledge at all, so I’m probably talking bulwarks...

 

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Rob.  Yes I did see those (see post #49) but at $235 and fairly limited details, coupled with the fact that they represent BULOLO in in her 1942 configuration and she was refitted/modified in late '43/early '44 and again before she deployed to the Far East in early 1945, I thought they were of limited benefit.  They do highlight some areas where I have got it wrong that wouldn't have changed but it was too late when I found them to modify her.  I did change the aft most gun from a 40 mm Bofors to 6 inch based on those plans because I couldn't be certain from the images I had exactly what she had fitted on the after gun deck in 1945 but every time I look at her I keep thinking that is wrong and that a 40 mm would be more appropriate.  But thanks for finding them.

 

And yes, you're right, the bow is wrong.  I modified a generic set of merchant ship plans for the hull lines and didn't get that part right, but again by the time I realised what i had done, it would have taken major structural work to rectify so I decided to live with it.

[Chewbacca]

Work has continued on the aerial rigging albeit slowly and I received a set of Begemot 1/350 ensigns yesterday from Model Dockyard.  Not sure of anyone esle has used these before but unusually I read - or tried to read - the instructions to see if they recommended wrapping the flag around the halyard before folding or folding off the model and then supergluing to the halyard once dry.  Sadly, the person who translated the instructions into English doesn't speak English as well as I used to be able to speak Russian!  They are unintelligible.  If I get 15 minutes later this weekend I shall dig out my old Russian dictionary and do my own translation to see what the original say!

 

In the end I wrapped around the halyard for the Ensign which sort of worked but it is proving difficult to get it to fly in the correct direction of the relative wind owing to the pull of gravity on the flag against the Uschi.  I tried the same technique for the Admiral's flag at the foremast masthead but having folded it, the CA on the top of the halyard let go and the flag fluttered down into the sea!.  So that is now CA'd to the halyard and actually flies much truer.

 

Interestingly, I knew that there was a precedent order for halyards for flying different flags/ensigns but couldn't remember what the details were.  So pinged an email off to an ex-Chief Yeoman friend of mine who provided a comprehensive guide to the different options depending upon whether there is a gaff or no gaff and one or two masts (he just said it "got interesting" when you get to three which of course BULOLO does have, but fortunately I think the mizzen mast is only used for aerials and the the aft cargo jibs)

 

I also had a play around with different techniques for the aerial insulators, sadly with no great success from any of them.  The photo below shows the results of those tests.  

 

• A is straight PVA glue.  It looked good at first but after 4 or 5 minutes just soaked into the Uschi line and near enough disappeared
• B is some very old (18 years +) PVA glue that I found in a garage drawer on Wednesday that had gone very thick and sticky.  It worked better that the standard PVA in that it didn;t soak in but just the 4 insulators shown here took an absolute age to do as getting the PVA into a form that I could use was near impossible and it wasn't consistent - as you can see some are on top while others underneath.  That's gone in the bin
• C is droplets of CA.  Better than A I think but again, because I use thin Zap it soaked into the Uschi too quickly.  I think it might be better if I could get some thicker CA
• D is the thin CA mixed with some talcum powder.  In a way it was a bit like the thick PVA in that it proved very difficult to manipulate and I wasn't confident that with the number that I need to do that I could get it consistent.

So I've now got some Gorilla Superglue Gel arriving tomorrow.  We'll see how that works and if no joy I shall revert to paint.

 

Also I said in #104 that I'd take a photo of the flag locker.  See below.  You will also see what looks to be a wayward bit of rigging zig-zagging across the bridge roof structure just forward of the locker.  That's just shadow from the flash and in fact that aerial is completely straight!

 

[Courageous]

As far as insulators on aerials go, I use my canopy glue and build it up to the desired effect and dab on a little paint to make them more pronounced. As a matter of interest, how big are these insulators in real life 'cos at 1/350 they would be very small?

 

Stuart

[bootneck]

If memory serves me correctly, they were about 25cm (10in) long.  My team had the task of removing all the aerial cables, from the top of the mainmast on HMS Intrepid, whilst undergoing maintenance in Portsmouth.

 

Mike 

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Stuart.  The issue I have is that there simply so many of them if I need to repeat the glue, the probability of messing it up starts to go up quite markedly which is why I was looking for something that would be a one touch.  I agree that they are reasonably small (based on my knowledge of later ones fitted to main roof aerials on FF/DD in which I've served, I'd agree with Mike that they're about 8-10 inches long but modern ones are a different shape being longer and more cylindrical.  All of the photos of BULOLO show them quite prominently as more rounded items - good example here:

 

That's taken in the Medway in May 1944 and although the actual mast/aerial configuration is different in 1945, they still seem just as noticeable. 

 

This second photo is taken in the Indian Ocean in late 1945 (I think) and represents her as I am depicting.  Although its rather grainy, you can still see them:  http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1511883

 

Or this one which has the correct configuration of masts/aerials and is taken in Grand Harbour, I presume either on the way out to the Far East in late 1944 or the way back in 1946

 

[robgizlu]

Chewbacca - I've previously done the same as you.  The aircraft boys seem to use PVA and CA glue.  

FWIW CA glue has never worked for me - PVA does it but as Stuart says you occasionally have to go back and add glue.  The Gators' grip Thiin blend is far superior to Mig Ammo Ultra glue or my Formula 560 Canopy glue.

I apply with a Acupuncture needle versus a cocktailstick which seems to make a difference

Rob

[bootneck]

I don't know if this is of help to you but it is probably how I would deal with those items.  This product is Liquid Glass and sets like a clear resin.

 

I've just done (rushed) this little demo to show the affects of some droplets.  The dispenser can produce quite tiny, very clear when dried, solid pieces.

The distance from the left droplet to the right one is 30mm and should give you an aspect of size.

 

Also ideal for car lenses and aircraft identification lights etc.

 

Mike

[Chewbacca]

Thanks both.  That's certainly the effect that I'm trying to get Mike.  I've got the Gorilla CA gel arriving today so I'll give that a try first.  Otherwise I shall look for some Liquid Glass

[Bandsaw Steve]

‘Liquid Glass’ - that looks like awesome stuff! 👍

[Chewbacca]

So I tried the Gorilla CA gel and when it adheres to the Uschi line its as effective as the Liquid Glass.  The problem is getting it to come off the pin or cocktail stick and attach to the line.  It was taking upwards of 10-15 strokes from the tip of the pin to get the drop to release on the Uschi; when I tried it against wire or stretched sprue it came off cleanly almost every time.  Now that in itself wouldn't have been an issue other than the fact that the rigging is now getting so busy and the line so fine that it is often impossible to see through the magnifying lamp that last night it took me 4 hours to attach 4 aerials - and re-attach the 8 that I knocked off in the process.  Having to work in the confined space that many times per insulator just increases the risk of damage to an unacceptable level.  So I think I am going to revert to the tried and trusted 1/600 method of using paint

 

With hindsight I suppose I should have waited until I had the insulator solution ready to go and then did each aerial as and when it was fitted while access was relatively easy, but hindsight as they say is always 20-20

 

I must confess I was also put off the fact that the first place I looked for the Liquid Gloss wanted £6.99 per bottle...and over £13 shipping 😮.  I did find it a little while later for a more sensible £4.79 with £2.40 shipping.  

[Chewbacca]

So having tried various techniques to give the insulators a 3D shape, none with any great success on the Uschi line though they do seem to work on stretched sprue or wire, I thought i'd try out the trusted 1/600 method, white paint.  Still not perfect, but at least you can see there is something there.  I can probably improve this if I can find one of the new 000 brushes I bought back in 2019 but packed way somewhere safe while the builders were in (along with a box containing about half of my paints!)

 

 

I also can't understand how I managed to get this far and miss the fact that on this iteration of BULOLO (ie after her post Overlord refit), there was an unusual array mounted on either side of the funnel.  So a little fiddly getting that in there but that's all done

 

 

And now a question of colour.  Another element that I missed earlier on was the very prominent crest that she carried on her Bridge screen.  You can see it in this photo on the IWM website:. 

 

Post the 1944 refit the crest was moved lower down on the screen but it is still there.  Now I know from another image that I found what the actual crest in the middle looks like (but by the time its printed it will be 3.5 mm diameter so detail will all be lost), but I cannot work out what the background colour is.  i want to say its green but none of my research in this area is definitive.  Is there any way that you can determine colour from a B&W image in this instance?  This is my first attempt but not too late to change the background if anyone has any better ideas

 

 

 

[bootneck]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

.

That is a great photo of the foredeck area, with good views of the various materials used in construction and reinforcement of the bridge front. I can see steel plating and bracings with associated rivets, vertical planking, plus those six aerial termination units.  There are two more ATU's on the extreme left with a good view of one of the glass insulators just above them.

 

Mike

[Chewbacca]

Unfortunately I don't have a similar view for post her 1944 refit.  The bridge screen was quite heavily modified and all of that reinforcement appears to the have been removed.

[robgizlu]

The insulators look the bizz 

Rob

[Chewbacca]

Think she's nearly there.  I finished off the aerial arrays yesterday and in the lack of any better information about the colour of the crest on the bridge screen, went with the green as in #119.  I also touched in the seascape where it become damaged around the edges through handling although that will need a final touch up when the edging goes on.    She's now in the spray shop having just received the first Vallejo matt coat.  One more coat of that, then the baseboard edging, then final gloss coat on the sea and she'll be done.

 

Before I start the next ship (still not sure which one its going to be. do I go 1/350 KENT, 1/350 PUMA to try my hand at a full resin kit, or back to 1/600?)  I'm going to finish off Wilbur, HMS HECLA's Op Corporate Wasp, though that will need a bit of shipbuildng as I've got to scratch build the flight deck.  That's not difficult, I hear everyone cry, but her flight deck was raised up above the quarterdeck so will need a bit of work, but after this it should be easy! 

[Terry1954]

Big catch up for me on this one, and she is looking superb, despite an "oh no" moment with the accident a week or so back. Would love to see the Puma build as I have the Leopard and probably won't start that for a good while yet. Lovely looking frigates IMHO!

 

And yes, I've discovered your Wilbur build ..........

 

Terry

[Chewbacca]

Thanks Terry.  I've had to put this on hold now as the the next bit I need to do is fix the edging to the baseboard.  All of my ship models get glass or perspex cases made to keep the dust off and I've been experimenting with different ways of attaching that.  This will be a new method using 3mm U shaped plastic channel into which the perspex cover can fit, but I really need an epoxy adhesive like Araldite to secure it and mine has gone AWOL.  I did look at using a Gorilla glue but discovered in a test piece that it expands and though it affords a solid joint between plastic and wood, it pushed the plastic edge out of shape.  So Wilbur's back into centre stage!