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Airfix HMS Nelson - with added WEM!


NotDaMama

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19 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

avid enthusiasm and being very keen.

I think you hit that one on the head! It's been a long time since I built a boat (term used deliberately). Last one was an S100 E-Boat 5 years ago, before that, about 20 years ago, an attempt at a very dodgy Revell U-Boat and before that I'd built the Airfix Nelson (badly), Italeri's Saratoga and what I think is a Revell 1/350 Bismarck. In between we have about 300 tanks and planes 😆. I am enjoying this something rotten though!

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Very brief upload as I was messing about last night to see where everything will go and what needs to be added/amended etc. This is mostly what she will look like done. 

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And a close up of the shelter deck work. 

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Today has resulted in much filing! I've thinned the HACS platform and cut the back off it (it will be replaced with PE) and thinned out the 2pdr and 20mm tubs on the main mast.

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I've also finished the shelter deck 20mm batteries and started messing about with even smaller, even more poorly moulded boats! 

 

There is no chance I will thin out the after 4in or 2pdr tubs as the cutouts on the deck are designed around them. I had considered thinning the 20mm tubs in front of the conning tower but realised I would have a hard time thinning all the walls so decided against it.

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@rob85 thanks! Not so sure on the level of nautical talent, most of this has been guesswork with blunt and pointy instruments, but I'm glad those more knowledgeable than I think the job is adequate! 

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@ArnoldAmbrose thanks very much. As Mrs Mamma points out, I am my own worst critic (in between moments of godlike overconfidence 😆)

I've been giving the tubs some thought tonight whilst fixing things on the desk (the infant broke something of his mothers so she's suddenly appreciative of all the kit I have!) I may be able to cut away and replace the 4in tub by putting down the deck and using the edges of the cutout as a template. That will be awkward, but within my skills. As for the 2pdr stern mount, it's more complicated as there is an insert that the pom pom sits on and the gap twixt the parts is roughly (I say roughly, nothing is anything but rough on this moulding) the width of the splinter shield. I may be able to work it a bit thinner, but not replace it unfortunately. Not without leaving a big gap in the wooden deck inside or outside the tub. If anyone has a bright idea, I'm all ears!

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Gidday again. Regarding the 2pdr stern mount, did the gun sit directly onto the wood deck or was it steel within the gun tub? If steel, then possibly replace the wood deck inside the gun tub with styrene sheet, a little larger to take up the extra space after making a new gun tub sides. If wood, replace the gun tub sides anyway and line the resulting gap on the inside of the tub with deck 'edging'. Not as obvious if on the inside.

     I must stress however, I've never done a wood deck on a model, these are just ideas, that may or may not be practical. But someone else may be able to expand on the ideas. But I would use caution now. If you have doubts about these ideas I would recommend DON'T. You don't want to ruin all you good work now. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

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@ArnoldAmbrose you make a good point about the deck. I shall have to take a long look at it! I am hoping it should be just steel, but as the 2pdr replaced one of those daft URP mounts it may be straight onto wood. Either way, I've filed myself into a corner as of yesterday whereby I now have to thin the 20mm tubs on the front of the conning tower and remove the aft tubs as I decided to have a go at the 20mm platform to the rear of "Queen Anne's Mansions"

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Now, if I don't thin or replace everything else, it will both look off and annoy me 😆 oops... oh well, nothing like some enforced motivation! 

I plan to get the Dremel out and use it to thin the fore 20mm from the inside to widen the tubs a little and to retain the general shape. If the Dremel is too large, out with the knife and straws! 

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For those of you concerned I may skip the Sunday night update and give you a moments peace, do not fear! Behold, there is more... 

 

So the Dremel didn't come out in the end as the mrs proposed watching Poirot and I'm a sucker for the old David Suchet series and wanted to hear it. Instead I assaulted the kit with a sharp knife and some files. I have now thinned the 20mm tubs on the conning tower, removed the after 4in tub and the 2pdr tub, and filed off most of the original raised deck "planking" effect. 

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As you can see I've added some colour too, using the anti-slip colour from Sovereign as both a quick test and to enable some work to be done building the rear AA tubs again. I had thought of building them then painting, but realised I may need the wooden deck in place to get the sizing right. I did mess up the painting a little though. As I do with most enamels, I added thinner to the pot. This time it was totally unnecessary and I've made it all a bit too thin! :doh: never mind, it's a learning curve. 

As for the deck, I've cut out all the various raised detail slots and have test fitted already, though I fear some fine filing may be needed as this kits moulding has definitely altered itself over the years... 

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@Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies as I've started some limited painting, and you're the expert, a quick question. The non-slip paint, common sense dictates its application on the inside of all gun tubs and the 20mm batteries, however this is the Navy we are talking about and I've seen quite a bit of convention and tradition overriding common sense. Can you confirm from your knowledge of the A Scheme whether the paint was sensibly applied or not? I know A, B & X turret roofs, as well as the 20mm tubs thereon, were anti-slip, but what about the 4in and 2pdr mounts? 

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Hi, the PomPoms etc had grated floors. By the time Scheme A came about there was far less emphasis on deck colour for camouflage purposes as the allies had established air supremacy everywhere - it was mainly submarines left to worry about.

 

There's a nice photo here of Nelson in Scheme A. You can see the whole Pom Pom mount on B turret is painted dark grey. That appears true for all of the PomPoms actually...

 

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@Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies thanks very much! Didn't know that about the pom pom mounts, I was going to do them all in G45 but shall now turn them G10. 

My knowledge of warships and their colours is minimal at best, so thanks for your patience and teachings. Its greatly appreciated. 

 

Quick test fit of the wooden deck, I've cut it away from the "sprue" and left the backing on for now. Most of it fits well, though I did have to separate the bow portion at B turrets weather shield in order to get the best fit. Some mild painting has been done too. 

 

@ArnoldAmbrose you will be pleased to know straws do paint, and rather well! 

 

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@stevej60 thanks very much! Never made it up to Newcastle unfortunately, but have heard of that model. Apparently it's quite something to behold. 

 

So work has been done on the PE. I've got some thicker CA due as the thin stuff isn't cutting it when it comes to spot applications and I think it's got a bit old. 

I've built the crane, added the brass to the funnel and likely messed up the boat crane cables, but one error isn't too bad, and it can easily be snapped off if needed. 

 

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I've also added the ladders to A and B turrets, X and the B barbette will be next, and added the WT aerial spacers. 

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I've also added the Carley floats from Belfast to the back of B turret and each of the 6in turret roofs. 

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Whilst the lad laughed like a daemon to the 2007 Transformers movie (he loves it when the bad guys are winning) I assaulted the PE some more -

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A good way to spend 2 hours! The guns are separated by strips of plasticard the right width (it came that thick, I have no idea what its dimensions actually are but I promise I did know when I bought it) and, to get them at the right height, there is a small square of same thickness plasticard under each turret. I must admit they were easier than I thought! That said, I'm having doubts about the shields now but I think they're probably as good as I can manage. I'll knock up a pom pom mount tomorrow as a test and see what that needs to make it look right. 

@stevej60 that link is fantastic. Thank you very much! So many hatches and so clearly marked!! Couldn't have asked for better research 👍

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And this weeks Sunday night update brings much improvement! Painting of deck fixtures has been done to allow the deck to be set down, the crane has been built and partially painted, the 6in turrets have received their first coat of paint and small filing has been undertaken on the 20mm and 4in shields to smooth their joints off. Unfortunately, until some painting was done I had no idea how rough some joints were. Some can be fixed, others there is no hope, but overall the improvement in this ancient mess is noticable! I've applied 8 of 16 available watertight doors, though I need another 9 based on the details from the photos Stevej60 provided. Fortunately I have the most obvious doors in place or earmarked. I have also build one of the octuple 2pdr pom poms, and a right fiddly devil it was too. I've added plasticard oblongs where the belt boxes should be. I did fit the left and right sides together the wrong way and I suspect the boxes have been cut too small, but it was done as a test. I'll hide it at the stern and pretend it was made by my lad 😆 

 

Unfortunately vgy.me has died at the moment so there are no pretty pictures, but once the site works again, you all gonna love this :wicked: *arrogance brought to you by over inflated pride and CA fumes. The opinions herein do not necessarily reflect reality of the job done or the skill of the modeller expressing them*

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@ArnoldAmbrose thanks very much! I plan to put the rest of the floats and the deck hatches on today, then hopefully be in a position to get the deck painting done before moving onto the masts and radars. Not sure on the deck edge railing yet though, from what I've read they were collapsed when the main battery was fired so may leave them off. 

 

For those in the know, did British battleships actually have "skylights" on them at all? The PE fret has little and large brass plates that are marked as skylights and I am suspicious of them and where they would go. Seems to me a large glass topped hole in the ship is inviting trouble...

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Gidday again, I found some references regarding these two ships having much natural lighting, (possibly through skylights), I would imagine in the accommodation, but that's a guess on my part. I also found a reference stating that conditions in the crew's galley intolerable "with the skylights closed during darken ship conditions". So I guess she had skylights but I'm not sure where yet. These areas weren't all that crucial to battle-worthiness, and could have been above any armoured deck. Again a guess on my part. HTH. Regards, Jeff.

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Looking mighty fine. The etched brass construction is awesome - just bought myself a fret featuring the same 8-gun pom-poms and I see you have added plastic chunks for the magazines - I was wondering about that.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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  • 2 weeks later...

@ArnoldAmbrose in the end I have gone with only putting brass where I can be sure it belongs and will live with that. I've gone mental looking for other info and it seems nobody was interested in taking 47,000 photos of Nelson in '45. Totally unacceptable behaviour if you as me, entirely inconsiderate! 

@AdrianMF thanks very much! I had been eyeing up the 2pdr parts and it suddenly struck me how to make it all work. Whilst the boxes are a little undersized I think that simply helps to enhance the visual effect of there being 4 box trays. I plan to mess about with the next one a bit as I think I can do far better than that prototype! 

 

And now for the update! As I'm sure none of you are fans of watching paint dry I haven't posted for a while. Much has been painted, some trials done as to what I can paint, what needs adding etc and I'm at this stage: 

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Much work has been done to get here. Beginning with the attachment of the brass hatches and their painting, and the assembly of the star platform. That drove me a bit mad as, for the first time in nearly 6 years, the Carpet Monster struck. Til now I have always managed to snatch back that which it tried to eat, but this time it devoured one of the arms of the star platform, forcing me to fabricate a replacement out of plasticard: 

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The plastic is thin enough that, now it's painted, it's totally unnoticeable. The deck hatches went on well: 

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I based the watertight hatches on the builders model, though found I was short a few that I needed. I'll work without them though. 

The HACS platform has been assembled, the shield completed and it's all attached. I've added the PE to the funnel though still have two small ladders to go. Other ladders will be added to the main mast at the same time. 

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I've also done some of the smaller ladders around the AA platforms and up towards the tower. The 20mm guns are all painted and just waiting for the opportunity to be added! 

I've also begun modifying the 4in guns to be more accurate and will build them up with card and putty where needed. 

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That's where we are now! I've also borrowed a technique from @Worms and started painting the railings and the 2pdr and 40mm guns before assembly. Amazing how much easier it makes it! 

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