Admiralty Drifter with Barrage Balloon - Scratchbuilt 1/350

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Courageous said:

Good question but I can't talk.

 

Same here! I think you would agree Stuart!

 

I'm often tempted to question whether a particular WIP has progressed further but best not to in my case, or someone will start Vosper whispering let alone talk of multiple build syndrome.

 

Whatever though @robgizlu, this is a rather special little build ............................. just saying.

 

Terry

 

PS. Ooh look, page 4 already Rob .................................... just saying

[Steve D]

11 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

I'm often tempted to question whether a particular WIP has progressed further

I do hope I've not broken an unwritten rule of the forum by asking , take your time Rob, not all projects run smoothly

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[robgizlu]

57 minutes ago, Steve D said:

I do hope I've not broken an unwritten rule of the forum by asking , take your time Rob, not all projects run smoothly

 

Cheers

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, Stuart and Terry, appreciate the interest.

No disasters - but as Stuart correctly intuited, 2 weeks skiing back to extra days at work, commissioning a Garden room/gym and family home has meant zilch modelling time.

And this also jumped onto the bench as a minimum input project that's easier to pick up and drop than a ship where I always feel I have to be fully engaged

 

 

 

 

This is where the Drifter has got to.......

 

 

More soon.

Thanks

Rob

(Terry hope you are feeling better)

[Bobs_Buckles]

Looking tasty, Rob!

Keep on keeping on...

 

😉

 

Bob 

[robgizlu]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:19 AM, Bobs_Buckles said:

Looking tasty, Rob!

Keep on keeping on...

 

😉

 

Bob 

 

Thanks Bob

 

 

The aim is for muted worn colours 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after about 15 coats of Alclad with sanding down between using Micromesh cloths, I'm going to settle for this

 

 

Thanks for looking

Rob

[beefy66]

Glad to see you back at it Rob seems like an age mind you I am just as guilty of not doing much latley but a trip up to Scotland for the SCOTNATS this weekend should help that.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[JohnWS]

Looking good, Rob.   

 

Trying to smooth out the surface of some 3D printed parts is a real pain. Your work on the balloon is paying off.

 

John

[Faraway]

Coming on very nicely, that water is delightful.

Jon

[Steve D]

I love this subject, excellent work Rob 

[robgizlu]

Thanks Fellas.

 

On 5/12/2022 at 10:49 PM, beefy66 said:

Glad to see you back at it Rob seems like an age mind you I am just as guilty of not doing much latley but a trip up to Scotland for the SCOTNATS this weekend should help that.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

 

Beefy - hope you managed to get some pics.

Rob

[robgizlu]

The original intention was to "Glaze" the window with tranparent sheet but the recesses will end up too deep so I reverted to the idea of Krystal Klear.

Further window frames were added.  If i was to build further drifters I'd invetigate printing the wheelhouse in etch (Wahteveer that entails)

 

 

Depsite being tiny, these are all bits that willl need adding

 

 

The coal scuttles from White Ensign are added and give perspective to the deck

 

 

At the same tiime I begin the job of varnishing the sea surfce with multiple coats

 

 

Yesterday I plucked up courage and attempted to "fly" the balloon.  Sadly 2mm metal rod was far too bendy as was 0.33mm   The cofg is quite far back - there's quite a lot of weight in the fins, so it came down to 0.45 rod.  Slightly clunky but c'est la vie.  As Beefy suggested - clear rod arising froomm the side of the base and entering the balloon from the side was another option but not one I was wild about

 

 

 

I'll attempt to obfuscate the main rod with additional "balloon lines".

 

This is the first layer using 0.3mm Modelkasten "metal rigging" (Love the stuff )

 

 

Todays job was adding tyre fenders which feature prominently in the original photo.

Luis Hildalgo from Holden figures (https://www.facebook.com/HOLDEN8702) produced the 3D printed tyres

 

 

 

And talking of which - some of you might want to checkout my Review thread on figure comparisons including his range - I published in "WW2 Maritine discussion" but it immediately gets buried....

 

 

I hope it's helpful for some of you.

 

 

 

The roof was stuck doown tonight - the superstructure had a pin wash and the stack some supports

 

 

More soon

And if you are interested in Radiohead - check out the Smile's new album 

Thanks for looking and all your very kind comments and likes

Rob

[JohnWS]

Nice solution to 'mount' the balloon. Rob.   

 

John

[longshanks]

Coming together very nicely.....

 

Love the washed out colours on the hull just Purfect

 

Kev

[foeth]

Good progress 👍 These drifters are fascinating little ships.

[Steve D]

Great progress Rob, soon be finished....

 

Can I ask where you get the Modelkasten metal rigging from, seems very expensive on my searches

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[TheBaron]

Highly atmospheric and splendidly realised- wish I'd seen this sooner Rob. Lovely work.

[Modelholic]

Rob,

In one of the pictures posted early in the thread it seemed there were several handling lines dangling from the balloon (above a barge i believe). Could you use multiple thin wires instead of just one to support the balloon? (1 thicker main line and then several thinner handling lines)

Tom

 

[robgizlu]

15 hours ago, Steve D said:

Great progress Rob, soon be finished....

 

Can I ask where you get the Modelkasten metal rigging from, seems very expensive on my searches

 

Thanks

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve 

From Ebay - It's hard to get hold of but at this scale it's really, really useful for fine rigging etc

Worth every penny!

 

Thanks Kev, EJ, and The Baron.

 

14 hours ago, Modelholic said:

Rob,

In one of the pictures posted early in the thread it seemed there were several handling lines dangling from the balloon (above a barge i believe). Could you use multiple thin wires instead of just one to support the balloon? (1 thicker main line and then several thinner handling lines)

Tom

 

 

Hi Tom 

Thats the plan though more to draw the eye from the main "stalk".  It would be too delicate without the central rod.

 

Rob

[robgizlu]

So with the RFI presented today......

 

 

This will be the close down thread.

 

Final Balloon rigging involved attaching 40G Infini thread to the upper guy points.  A single line runs from the nose scoop to stablize the ballon in a longitudinal direction and was tied to the gunwale

One long piece of Modelkasten wire was used to represent the "billowing" handling line.  

 

 

There is definitely some creative licence anchoring such as this. Wartime pictures seem to show these D7 ballons being tethered at several points which would have produced a modelling headache.

 

The deck parts were added as was the flag (from cigarette paper) and what I presume is a tiny staysail on the boom sheets.

The ship rigging ws a mixture of Infini thread and Modelkasten wire which is ideal for these short distances, it would likely bend over longer. 

Figures are from Black Cat Models US figures with some gentle fileing to their hats

 

 

It's been a hugely enjoyable build and has given me the confidence to try a Castle Class Trawler next.  Need to finish Colombo and a Centurion first 

I would have liked the main support to have been thinner but c'est la vie, at the start I wasn't sure it would even work without a transparent rod (which I desperately wanted to avoid)

Thanks for looking and all the support 

It's a wrap!

Rob

[JohnWS]

Very nice, Rob.  'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'.   Another great build, Mr. Tough Guy.  

[Steve D]

Beautifully finished as ever Rob, great subject, not sure how you get such fine work to look so clean, I wouldn't even contemplate let alone attempt such precision. 

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[Iceman 29]

It's really very successful! Everything is there, the model, the calm sea of the early morning, the very realistic balloon, with this fixation which is a challenge in itself. 

Well done Rob! 

 

[Courageous]

Fantastic work Rob. As Pascal says, everything is there. 

 

Stuart

[heloman1]

I'm not a ship modeller but this looks like a very interesting build. I'll pull up a chair. I do like the 3D printed deck 'furniture', going to save you a lot of time.

Well, as I posted my comments, the final page popped up. Congratulations, a splendid result.

 

Colin

[robgizlu]

10 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

I'm not a ship modeller but this looks like a very interesting build. I'll pull up a chair. I do like the 3D printed deck 'furniture', going to save you a lot of time.

Well, as I posted my comments, the final page popped up. Congratulations, a splendid result.

 

Colin

 

Thanks Colin, The likes of Black Cat Models and Micromaster are invaluable for providing detailed "furniture" and details without which this sort of project would fail.  The Availability of these parts and their fantastic detail has tranformed maritime modelling at this scale - at least for me and is why I get such a kick out of it currently.

Rob