Iceman 29 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Pay attention to your PE sightglass, because of the cardboard wall, it can come off! 😬 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 You’re right, though I’ve already thought of that, Pascal - the cardboard only really grips the hull tightly below the waterline, well below any PE scuttles. In theory, that ought to be OK. As things progress the risk of damage to things that stick out (aerials, boat sponsons, etc.) will be much higher with a loose hull and clumsy hands, far outweighing the risk of a scuttle being dislodged by cardboard. At least, I hope so! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 Just to put Pascal’s mind further at rest... A milestone today as I fitted something that wasn’t a scuttle or weld seam (still plenty of those remaining, but a change is as good as a rest!)... Ta-Daaah! The first section of the de-Gaussing coil: Hard to get even, but luckily the original was pretty wobbly in places too! Busy tomorrow, but more soon Crisp 20 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Smart going, Crisp Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 Starboard DG coil now extends as far forward [not aft as originally posted] as the seaplane crane - 5 sections of Tetra brass (& a huge improvement on Merit’s original styrene): More soon Crisp 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Well worth the effort and looking very swish indeed. Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Good grief Crisp, that detail is amazing! Great job 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 The difference from the original is astounding Crisp. She's going to be very special indeed! Happy New Year to you and yours! Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I must agree with all those before me. The level of detail you have applied to this model is really going to set it apart. Happy New Year! Terry 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdave22014 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 This continues to be an outstanding build. Happy New Year Crisp. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I don’t know how well you can see this, but the starboard DG coil now extends from this point (beneath the front of the island) all the way to the stern. Not for the first time, kudos to Tetra, whose engineering is superb. Getting the geometry right as the coil curves round the 4.5” sponsons (compound curves a go go!) cannot have been simple, but they make it look easy: Sorry - not the greatest photo, but the compound curves I’m talking about are under the left hand / further 4.5” sponson. The DG coil actually runs along the railings of the upper opening you can see in the distance, so that gap will have to wait to be plugged. You can see it quite clearly here - or rather the gap beneath it is obvious [IWM photo] I’ve also glued some actual styrene today; the port boat deck will need some fettling to remove seams, so put in now. No photo, so you’ll have to take my word for it! Happy New Year, everyone! More soon Crisp P.S. Perhaps more clearly visible here (again IWM) 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Just love the level of detail you're putting into her Crisp, stunning. Stuart 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 27 minutes ago, Courageous said: Just love the level of detail you're putting into her Crisp, stunning. Stuart I have to agree with my once submarinal colleague (thats once a submariner, still a colleague), stunning stuff. Terry 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 So you've goosed (boxed) an Ark and gotten degaussed for New Year eh? In, may I add, an exquisite and measured series of updates that give us a real sense of involvement with the vessel and all her secrets. Unmissable. On 27/12/2020 at 16:32, Ex-FAAWAFU said: we are gradually approaching the point where some paint might appear Magic tricks as well! HNY Crisp. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Well Happy New Year Crisp, she wears that etchy stuff well and is becoming very imposing. Paint next? Almost a sense of loss here as I am enjoying the embellishment stage immensely. Oh well I suppose I can take it if you really have to... Lessons about aircraft carriers 138 If the big ship got caught in a big sea, which of course I know they did, and sea water flooded into those silly big holes in the nose how does said big ship avoid filling up with salt flavoured wetness? Does the water reach only just inside and then flow out of the back windows/holes? I suppose it may have provided provender for the galleys. *please note this is not a trivial time waster, I really do wonder. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The shear quantity of brass involved in this build is rather impressive - and neatly deployed too! I'm really looking forward to the painting stage, Crisp - masterful job! Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 You’ve answered your own question, Bill: in water-tight terms, the openings are just slots into the hull in which things like boats and paravanes are stowed without sticking out of the side - the water simply flows out again via the scuppers (drains), because the real boundary between wet and dry is the inner wall of the slot. [P.S. just read your post again, and you specifically mention the holes in the nose (bow!) The answer re flowing out again is the same, but this is what we’re talking about (Ark 3) ... and here a couple of examples of it coming out again (Hermes) There is still a fair amount of embellishment to go before I run out! But some paint might not be that far off, at least once the port side of the hull has caught up with starboard. All joking aside, the order in which things are to be done has been exercising my mind a lot recently. The paint scheme is quite complicated, because of the extreme weathering that much of her upperworks showed by 1941 (see sinking photos for evidence) - so it will doubtless involve chipping, oil dots, masking and the like. But there are numerous sticky-out-nesses yet to add - boat davits, W/T aerial brackets (not the aerials themselves), and the like - which are brass and delicate. Add them too soon and damage during handling is almost certain: add them too late and fixing them in place on top of paint will be challenging. The answer will be case by case - but a lot of thinking is going on at Schloss Crisp 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Thanks Crisp, seeing that photo reminds me that I have seen it (or a close relative) before. I did kinda realise even admirals aren't so daft they would order accidentally sinkable vessels, just without precautions but that photo you posted of the gaping holes in Ark's front prompted my query, I couldn't really see the bulkheads deep inside. Maybe better go back for a deeper examination... 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 A couple of examples of the dilemma re timing of sticky-out bits: [Nothing glued yet...!] 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, perdu said: I did kinda realise even admirals aren't so daft they would order accidentally sinkable vessels, It wasn't unheard of..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Captain_(1869) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said: It wasn't unheard of..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Captain_(1869) Yes, but even she was at least partly built as the result of political lobbying by someone with a huge axe to grind (Cole, who’d patented the turret design) backed up by lay “experts”... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 Starboard DG coil complete (except for the section on the railings midships, which will have to wait a while!): Incidentally, if any of you are still wondering whether all this brass is worth the effort, compare Merit’s original styrene for’d searchlight platform with Tetra’s... No contest! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: No contest Agreed! Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Well, I dunno... After reading that tragical account I think it is safe to say Admirals wouldn't. Politicians however... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Sometimes you wonder why designers decide not to bother with items that are pretty clear & well-documented. A case in point is Ark’s bow, where she had a prominent siren (billed on the drawings as a “Typhon steam whistle” - I presume a trade name) and an angular box structure which held a pair of steaming lights... clearly visible here in Pompey in late-1940 (since I am depicting her in heavy weather after a long time on the high seas, I will not be building the paravane chains, thank God!): Both the base kit and Tetra’s generally comprehensive detail-up set are completely silent on both of these items, so it’s scratch building time. The siren was built from a pice of styrene rod inside a styrene tube, glued last night and with Mr Surfacer dripped into the gaps and left to cure. [As always, really nasty in extreme close-up] Then today the shaft was gripped in the Dremel and a needle file used to produce a bell-like opening... then trimmed to fit the flare of the bow: The steaming light box is rather more complicated. I will be using Micromaster Vickers 0.5” machine guns, which means I have some unused brass disks of a suitable size (tiny!) - part of the PE magazines which I will not be using. Also last night, two of these were fitted to the end of some sections of styrene rod: Then today the three parts were glued into a sandwich, leaving brass semi-circles sticking from the end, and then filed into something approximating the right shape: All of which leaves us with this: The steaming light box is a bit crude and not quite the right shape, but you can really only see that in bonkers close-up. This is probably a bit fairer to me; taken from about a foot away: Happy with that. More soon Crisp 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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