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1/72 HMS Brave Borderer


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Coming down from the glaciers of Mont Blanc, where I had been for a week. The first thing I did was come here to get the news. And here's a photo of a great new job! Excellent!

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John - what more is there to say than has been said above :clap2:

The radar and overall detailing is superlative.

Pleased to have given one tip back your way - Lord knows, I've picked up enough from you and the handrails really do look the business :coolio:

This build is really going to be beautiful

Rob

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I'm heading into uncharted territory.  :unsure:

 

I've started to add details to the exterior of the bridge superstructure.  This included laying out & drilling a lot of holes for handrails & other details.  Unfortunately, what seemed like an easy job, resulted in some rework.  A few holes ended up out of location due to my drill (or drill operator :blush:) wandering, quite noticeable compared to long lines of the correct holes.  This meant filling the incorrect holes with CA glue, sanding the glue smooth, & redrilling the holes.  The reworked areas are visible in the last two photos, below.

 

Also, I've also been experimenting with how to build those small details on the side of the superstructure as shown in the next photo.

 

49610236971_f500f5c259_c.jpg

 

I don't know what the function of these things are.  I considered leaving them off the model, due to their size.  They are quite visible in most of Brave Borderer's photos, so I decided to trudge ahead & try to come up with something that looks the part.  I'm guessing these parts have something to do with mounting & connecting the temporary fuel tanks mounted beside the bridge superstructure, as shown in some Brave Borderer photos, .

 

The next photo shows my first attempt at building these parts.  I've used the model train handrail knobs again, along with Evergreen plastic channel & angle.

 

49609721188_8e26614849_c.jpg

 

 Once they're painted, hopefully they'll look close to the parts shown on the actual boat.  What do you think?

 

49610481156_c2097e950d_c.jpg

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

Edited by JohnWS
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John

When I saw these extra fuel tanks in some of the photos, I thought they were some kind of rescue equipment. The number of parts they match with the tanks. You're probably right.

 

Dmitriy

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"

So, (thinking out loud here) if the chart room is where the two square windows are on the port side, and the door you can just see the edge of in your 'radar' post is the entrance, there would be a ladder inboard of that door leading to the bridge.

Looking at your pic that would line up quite well!

Tom

"

 

Are you talking about this door? Am I correct?

 

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Edited by Dmitriy1967
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On 2/26/2020 at 3:56 PM, JohnWS said:

I purchased a number of sizes of handrail 'knobs', shown below, to use as brackets for my handrails. 

I've GOT to get some of those! 

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3 hours ago, JohnWS said:

I'm guessing these parts have something to do with mounting & connecting the temporary fuel tanks mounted beside the bridge superstructure, as shown in some Brave Borderer photos, .

 

As I was reading down your blog I was thinking fuel cells! (Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ 😉 ) When you look at the cells they are crying out for support at the top. 

Great portrayal of the supports

 

Kev

 

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55 minutes ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

Are you talking about this door? Am I correct?

 

spacer.png

 

Hi Dmitriy,

 

I don't think the above photo is Brave Borderer.  The drawings I have show storage lockers, & not an access door, on the bridge at the location shown in the photo.  Brave Border's bridge access door is at the forward port corner of the bridge.

 

For comparison, here's a link to a photo of Brave Borderer taken from the same angle as the above photo - https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/SHIPS/The-Royal-Navy/FAST-ATTACK-CRAFT/i-swkKDwD/A

 

John 

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39 minutes ago, longshanks said:

 

As I was reading down your blog I was thinking fuel cells! (Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ 😉 ) When you look at the cells they are crying out for support at the top. 

Great portrayal of the supports

 

Kev

 

Thanks Kev,

 

I was surprised when I first found out that the Brave's were designed to carry external fuel tanks on deck.  They'd make easy targets.

 

John

 

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8 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Hi Dmitriy,

 

I don't think the above photo is Brave Borderer.  The drawings I have show storage lockers, & not an access door, on the bridge at the location shown in the photo.  Brave Border's bridge access door is at the forward port corner of the bridge.

 

John 

 

Yes, John, this is a photograph of the Sobjornen ship. It was built later. And it already had such a door. Probably then realized that it is more convenient. I thought there was a conversation about BB having this door. Sorry if I made a mistake.

I will continue to follow your interesting work.

 

Dmitriy

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7 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

... this is a photograph of the Sobjornen ...

I was wondering if the later boats that had a wheel/chart house located in front of the bridge also had the additional door aft, leading up to the bridge.  My Perkasa model has a door on the aft bridge bulkhead.  I'm guessing door located on the forward bridge bulkhead (similar to Brave Borderer) on later boats was used to access the wheel/chart house. 

 

7 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

Sorry if I made a mistake.

No problem, Dmitriy.  Making mistakes is an integral part of my scratch building process. :)

 

John

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That is some great work on the rails my local hobby shop also has railway stuff will have to have a look see if I can get some of those Knobs  :coolio:

 

beefy

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I think I'm finally ready to apply the last coat of primer on the bridge superstructure shell, before applying the finish paint coat.

 

I've added the mast crutches (for the masts in the lowered position),

 

49636001867_8e7e0e5ffb_c.jpg

 

... and completed a few more details that will be added to the superstructure shell after the finish paint coat is applied.  Holes were drilled in the superstructure & a copper wire glued to each of these details so they'll be positioned properly & will stay glued in place.  It's not the best practice to glue parts to a painted surface, but having the copper wires holding the parts in place should prevent the glue from lifting the finish paint.

 

49636003747_386fef6f83_c.jpg

 

I still have to make the nav lights & four loudspeakers, plus a couple of bridge azimuth compasses, & rigid mast supports, to finish off the bridge & superstructure.  Oh, and the windscreen, but it looks like the end is in sight for this part of the build. :)

 

Thanks again for looking.

 

John

Edited by JohnWS
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As I was prepping the bridge structure shell for priming, I decided it was probably easier to build & add the bridge windscreen frame before the final coat of primer.  Whenever I glue parts in place, I usually run the risk of having to clean up the glue joint, so better now than later.

 

I used .5mm dia. round plastic rod to build the windscreen frame, and cut the windscreen from a discarded .2mm thick clear plastic box top.

 

Here's a photo of the frame glued in place, with the windscreen dry fitted.

 

49662345621_b3c7f382c9_c.jpg

 

Once the  wind screen was finished, I completed the superstructure prep work & sprayed on the final coat of primer. :yahoo:

 

49661805813_e909c0aacb_c.jpg

 

Out of interest, I thought I'd compare the Brave Boarder's superstructure to the original Perkasa model.

 

49662349921_8830143216_c.jpg

 

In hindsight, I underestimated the amount of work it would take to convert the Perkasa's superstructure to Brave Borderer's.  Being a devil for details hasn't helped. :winkgrin:   The rest of the build should be a little easier & (hopefully) faster, as all the major parts will be built from scratch.

 

Next up, I'll add the finish coat of paint to the superstructure shell & start adding the pre-built details.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by JohnWS
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Thanks Rob!

 

4 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

... edges all look so smooth...

Lots of puttying & sanding, priming, puttying & sanding, priming, puttying ... .  At last count, 3 light coats of primer.

 

John :)

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Thanks Stuart!

 

40 minutes ago, Courageous said:

... I don't think I'd like the  de-masking of the screens after painting...

If all goes to plan I'll won't add the ('U' shape, one piece) clear plastic windscreen until after I paint the superstructure & the windscreen frame.  I'll add the clear plastic windscreen after the paint dries. 🤞 No masking of the windscreen required.

 

John

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A short  in-progress update.

 

The bridge superstructure has received a finish coat of paint.  The window frames/seals were painted flat black & clear plastic was added to simulate window glass.

 

Handrails have been added to the superstructure bulkheads using stretched black plastic sprue for the rails & 1.2mm Markits brass handrail knobs for brackets.  The .45mm handrail knob holes were drilled out to .5mm to accept larger diameter rails.  The actual handrail brackets appear to be painted in some B&W Brave Borderer photos, while they appear to be bare metal in other photos.  I decided to leave mine bare brass, just for looks. :giggle:

 

Here's a photo;

49688143128_a0a49f0d97_c.jpg

 

The main pole mast & IFF aerial mast are painted.  A white running light on each mast was made from clear plastic stretched sprue, coated with Pledge.  The four red fighting lights on the pole mast cross member were made using clear plastic stretched sprue coated with Tamiya clear red paint.  Flag lanyards were added using light beige cotton thread.

 

49688677616_1ecd384ddc_c.jpg

 

Work continues on finishing the bridge superstructure assembly.  More updates to follow.

 

Thanks for following along.

 

John

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Nice John, the rail supports around the superstructure look most convincing, a super solution to that problem indeed. We haven't heard a lot about how Canada is coping with the Bat Pox thing, we tend to hear more of Europe & your neighbors to the south. We've just been given word that in 48 hours New Zealand will be in lock down for at least a month, hell, I  might even get to build a model. :unsure: I hope that it is not too tough for you & yours & all our Canadian members.

Take care,

Steve.

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