Hobbyboss 1/350 Dunkerque

[S-boat 55]

So slow but continuing progress, lots of railing going on, decided to do it before some of the deck fittings, search lights etc go on just so its easier to get to both sides of the rail. Not sure what others use, but loctite has proven good so far, gorilla glue less so, seems to take longer to set which I guess has it uses. Aside that the main parts of the superstructure are now fixed to the deck which while not evident in photographs is a key milestone for the build. 

 

 

Lastly, much like the other day with HMS Hood, today marks 80yrs since Bismarck was sunk, in fact little more than 20 minutes ago as I write this (based on GMT+1). So again I thought why not bring her out and do a little on her, so hull together and deck laid in place for a quick couple of shots, she'll likely not see the light of day again for another year until I've worked through a couple of smaller things in the stash and learned more on how to work with PE. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking

 

Sam

[steve5]

just caught up with your build sam , really clean work mate ,

[S-boat 55]

1 hour ago, steve5 said:

just caught up with your build sam , really clean work mate ,

Thanks Steve, very kind, 

[S-boat 55]

So the catapult, this was neither fun nor relaxing to put together, but its together I guess, and having tried to do it with a steel rule and blade I can see that there may be benefits to a etch bending tool akin the hold and folds, 

there's still a few bits to go on before I can fix the cat in place and it wants a bit of paint touch up, on the home stretch now though, 

[Faraway]

When I come to build mine, I'll look forward to that...........

Jon

[S-boat 55]

1 minute ago, Faraway said:

When I come to build mine, I'll look forward to that...........

Jon

To be fair mine got a bit mangold when my youngest decided to empty the draw I keep all my etch stuff in. As a result things that were perfectly straight weren't any more and so getting it to join was a pain, plus I had nothing to really hold it secure in while I fixed it so it was kind of my own making really, plus its the first kit with etch I've done so there's learning curve as well, 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

1 hour ago, S-boat 55 said:

So the catapult, this was neither fun nor relaxing to put together, but its together I guess,

Gidday S-boat, despite your trials and tribulations with the catapult I think it looks very good, and better than anything I could make. Regards, Jeff.

[Faraway]

27 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday S-boat, despite your trials and tribulations with the catapult I think it looks very good, and better than anything I could make. Regards, Jeff.

I forgot to mention, but I agree with Jeff. Splendid piece of work.

Jon

[S-boat 55]

39 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday S-boat, despite your trials and tribulations with the catapult I think it looks very good, and better than anything I could make. Regards, Jeff.

 

11 minutes ago, Faraway said:

I forgot to mention, but I agree with Jeff. Splendid piece of work.

Jon

 

Thanks both, thats very kind, im quite eager to get her finished now...hopefully not long

[S-boat 55]

I really do have to stop saying silly things like it wont be long, it invariably is when I say that! 

 

Anyway, various small bits of photo etch going on, Jon word to the wise these steps weren't fun either, bot sure if its something with hobbyboss etch but they'd not been thought through, they were effectively asking you to twist the connected rail though 180 degrees to get it the right way up to connect to the deck, ended up just snipping it and doing it as two pieces, 

 

The long ones were easy enough though, you can see atop the range finder there is a round bit of railing or something, rather foolishly I blithely followed the instructions, from what i can see its a fictional bit of railing, cant find a picture of the actual ship with it on. Mines stuck firm now though so it may stay,

 

I had thought about having the hanger open with the second plane folder away, turns out that isnt as easy as you'd think, there are two 'bulkheads' from the quarter deck that run into the anger space, id geuss for ease of engineering the kit. As a result to fit the other plane you have to chop the front half off, see pics below of what I mean,

 

The red lines denote the bulkheads within the hanger part of the model, they do come a good way in, you can likely see it earlier in the build photo's, but i didn't realise until now and cant be faffed with chopping a plane in half then trying to make it fit etc so hanger door on, 

 

 

If any one else wants to do it with hanger open and second plane in id say beware its easier to modify the bulkheads right at the start of construction

 

Hope you're all well

 

Sam

 

[Faraway]

6 minutes ago, S-boat 55 said:

Jon word to the wise these steps weren't fun either,

Sam. The more Hobbyboss/Trumpeter I build, the more I realise they print the instructions with no clear idea as to what they are actually asking the builder to do. I’m beginning to learn to REALLY read (not something I’m any good at) and form a plan of attack. I’ve been putting off building my Dunkerque, in preference to building smaller ships. On the, probably misguided, principle that if I can do smaller, then bigger will be easier 

I have to say though, your build is looking very impressive.

Jon

[S-boat 55]

1 minute ago, Faraway said:

Sam. The more Hobbyboss/Trumpeter I build, the more I realise they print the instructions with no clear idea as to what they are actually asking the builder to do. I’m beginning to learn to REALLY read (not something I’m any good at) and form a plan of attack. I’ve been putting off building my Dunkerque, in preference to building smaller ships. On the, probably misguided, principle that if I can do smaller, then bigger will be easier 

I have to say though, your build is looking very impressive.

Jon

As ever you're very kind to say so, 

 

I'd very much agree re their plans, i think the steps for example were intended to be cut but there was no clear way of seeing that, Its certainly been a learning curve, I'm looking forward to doing a couple of smaller things next...when I finally finish that is, when i peruse the forum though i am buoyed to see others stop and start much the same as me, 

 

That blue beauty by the way came out very very nicely, i've been eyeing one up on amazon...though shouldnt give bezos more of my money really, 

[mick]

good progress

[S-boat 55]

So the kit has obviously got its own AA guns along with basic photo etch for them, I must say I'm not convinced, granted I've thrown it together but it looks rather ropey, 

 

So ive been bold and ordered some of these of model masters range along with the twin mount, - wish me luck, i may need it, it all looks very good rendered on a computer, we'll see how they turn out, 

 

 

Thanks

 

Sam

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by S-boat 55

[Faraway]

Sam.

I’ve got to agree, the kit parts do look a bit ‘crude’, not a patch on the replacements.

This site is always worth a look, bit expansive regards postage, but incredibly detailed parts.

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/micro-master

Jon

[S-boat 55]

13 minutes ago, Faraway said:

Sam.

I’ve got to agree, the kit parts do look a bit ‘crude’, not a patch on the replacements.

This site is always worth a look, bit expansive regards postage, but incredibly detailed parts.

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/micro-master

Jon

that is so very nice looking bits of kit but good golly gosh they aint cheap, 

[robgizlu]

Fine work going on here - good luck in anticipation for those Model master guns!

Rob

[Faraway]

2 hours ago, S-boat 55 said:

that is so very nice looking bits of kit but good golly gosh they aint cheap, 

Sam.

You’ve got that right, and they get even more expensive when you add postage. I bought some 1/700 Oerlikons for a cruiser, from them (which I now doubt I’ll build as 1/700 is just too small for me, so I will probably sell) and the detail on these guns is amazing.
Jon

[S-boat 55]

Well they've arrived, I hadn't appreciated quite how tiny some of the parts are.....I shall have to be brave and give them a go over the weekend, given I originally wanted to complete this one in December I'm now foolishly saying I'll get her done in the next couple of weeks, that would just give me time to get HMS Zulu finished and maybe the u-boat before my next 'proper' sized project arrives at the end of August

 

 

[Faraway]

I've got the main gun barrels and practice guns for mine, I shall watch your progress with much interested.

Jon

[S-boat 55]

So little has happened other than correcting an issue with the kit, there is an inaccuracy with the rear anchor chain, in essence there isn't a holey bit for it to go in, i.e the chain starts magically at the capstan, from looking at photos of Dunkerque this should actually be roughly in the same position as where the two deck hatches are, those hatches are a little too far in board. So it was either remove at least one hatch or jimmy something up, I chose the latter. It should be almost directly in line and sitting the opposite side of the run of chain but that wasn't possible. 

 

The other issue is the kit is missing two deck hatches from the the opposite side, roughly where the chain now comes out, had I of noticed bits like this earlier I could have tried doing something about it but its all a little late in the game. 

 

Before;                                                                                             After;

 

It doesn't look quite right, better in person than on a screen but it'll be under the catapult so hopefully shouldn't stand out too much

Edited July 13, 2021 by S-boat 55

[S-boat 55]

So i must confess I've not been brave enough to give the aa guns a go, I'll eventually have to, although the etch parts want 3 odd coats of paint before i can really start them, and that's waiting on working out the main deck railing so i can paint that at the same time. Still plenty of other little bits to do though, this took about an hour last night;

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by S-boat 55

[S-boat 55]

Et Voila - a bit of French seemed appropriate, 

 

 

I'm not at all happy with the search lights but don't know what else to do with them, 

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, I think you've done an excellent job on that bridge/director/rangefinder assembly. Regards, Jeff.

[S-boat 55]

Thanks Jeff, I've the rear one to do next, slowly getting there,