Jump to content

HMS Rodney Build Log - 1/200


Recommended Posts

10 hours ago, Jerry L said:

Actually the Rodney had the JF Mk.1 your photo shows JF Mk.4 we are still researching which ship or ships were equipped with the Mk.2 & 3 and in what years😀

Jerry, I'm hoping that of all the people who see the finished model, you will be the only one who says "not bad, but they really should have done their research on the HACS version' !😁

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gidday Andy, if you're going to build the model then do it right, and that includes the HACS. So throw it away and start again! 😁         Or maybe not.     I know the HACS on my HMS Hood are not completely accurate, but that's because I scratch built them. But don't tell anyone. 🙂    Regards, Jeff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Andy, if you're going to build the model then do it right, and that includes the HACS. So throw it away and start again! 😁         Or maybe not.     I know the HACS on my HMS Hood are not completely accurate, but that's because I scratch built them. But don't tell anyone. 🙂    Regards, Jeff.

Jeff, my scratch building skills extend as far as cutting styrene rod. I can't imagine scratching the HICS. My hat off to you Sir!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Jerry L said:

Actually Andy, when finished I will just be staring, eyes bulging, mind agog, jaw dropping, at a great build!

Jerry, I'll settle for that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread has got me watching these kits on evil Bay, my wife may well divorce me if I give in, this really is coming together phenomenally well judging by your work so far the finished article will be exemplary 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, andyelbac said:

I can't imagine scratching the HICS.

Gidday Andy, my models are 1/600 scale, only 1/3 the size of yours so the parts I make from styrene are rather basic. These are the HACS I made for HMS Jamaica. The radar to be fitted on top of them are still on the cutting mat.

JAM370 gun directors 1

The kit HACS are from an Airfix HMS KGV kit. I'd used two for another model, leaving two remaining. But as I needed three for the model I had a go at making my own.

This detail is nothing like what you and others achieve with PE so it's ME taking my hat off to YOU and the others. 🙂

     Regards, Jeff.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Andy, my models are 1/600 scale, only 1/3 the size of yours so the parts I make from styrene are rather basic. These are the HACS I made for HMS Jamaica. The radar to be fitted on top of them are still on the cutting mat.

JAM370 gun directors 1

The kit HACS are from an Airfix HMS KGV kit. I'd used two for another model, leaving two remaining. But as I needed three for the model I had a go at making my own.

This detail is nothing like what you and others achieve with PE so it's ME taking my hat off to YOU and the others. 🙂

     Regards, Jeff.

Jeff, all I can say is that I'm struggling with some of the detail at 1/200. 1/600 seems a whole new world of micro modelling madness! 🤩

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, S-boat 55 said:

This thread has got me watching these kits on evil Bay, my wife may well divorce me if I give in, this really is coming together phenomenally well judging by your work so far the finished article will be exemplary 

Thanks. I'm hoping to get some work in on the hull this weekend. After replugging the scuttles I drilled out, I really need to push on and get the hull painted before the good weather is over, otherwise it will have to go into storage for the foreseeable future as I don't have the space to paint it indoors. I'm a little concerned I might lose the initiative. I'm sure we've all had, or have,  kits that were put to one side for whatever reason, and then you get carried away with building a new kit and the part built model sits forlornly on a shelf, awaiting redemption. My record was 6 years for AFV's Sd Kfz 251/20 'UHU' (1/35). I really wanted this kit when it was released. It was quite a mythical beast, being at the forefront of IR night vision. I even purchased an after market  resin generator to sit inside. I got about half way through and for whatever reason left it part built for 6 years  I finally finished it two years ago. I hope that doesn't happen to Rodney.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is my last post until I have finished off the hull, replaced all the scuttles and have it primed, ready for the camo scheme. I keep pushing the hull back and prevaricate on completing it. Every time I start work on another part of Rodney is just another excuse to leave the hull for another day. It may be just a few days or a few weeks, but I will see you all on the other side.😐

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy, we'll be waiting on the other side... hopefully not six years😵. I know how you feel about putting off a particular part of a build, been there, done that. It might give me time to find more information on JF Mk 2 & 3!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ahoy there shipmates! it's good to be back and posting with positive news about my Rodney build. It's not been as long as I feared it would be and I resisted the urge to return to some of my part built armour kits, even though they were calling to me like Sirens, "come back to the light, come back" 🥰. It was a tough decision but I decided to stick to Rodders even though at the start of this build I said I would be building armour in between. Maybe it's the allure and romance of the sea.😍 Actually, I've always been interested in naval history and naval fiction, particularly in the 17th and 18th century. One of my 'heroes' is Nelson, probably because I was born on Portsea Island, just a few minutes walk from Victory. I once visited his tomb in the crypt at St Paul's Cathedral and it was a surprisingly moving experience, although I'm sure if the great man was looking down on me at the time he would have thought "What's wrong with that useless looking land lubber? I'll wager he's never been in the tops of a main mast being shot at by Frenchies whilst simultaneously fighting off an amorous Lady Hamilton with a belaying pin". To which my reply would be "True, my Lord. But then I'm still alive and kicking whilst you're lying there pickled in a vat of brandy, so let's call it a score draw shall we?" 😁 I am also, of course, a big fan of the books written by C S Forester and Patrick O'Brian. I still feel a wonderful sense of excitement whenever I read the section in Lieutenant Hornblower where the Renown is run aground in Santa Domingo and they have to kedge her off whilst under fire from shore batteries. Fantastic! Back to the build though. I've sunk another 30 hours into the kit, what with the HACS and the scuttles.  That brings total build time to date of 143 hours. How many of those hours are scuttle related; who knows? I'm not sure anyone else could have done a worse job. It didn't help that I let all those critics that inhabit the space between my ears dictate what I was doing. I'm never listening to myself again!😁Having started plugging and re-drilling the scuttles, I found myself actually doing them ALL again! The more I looked the unhappier I was with them. Perhaps I should have taken a leaf from Nelson's book; "Wonky scuttles?, I see no wonky scuttles"! Anyway, after questioning my sanity, I decided to replug and re-drill all of them....for the third time, or is it the fourth? So many I've actually forgotten. I am, thankfully, reasonably happy with them now. I'm not convinced they are perfectly level or that I have all of them where they should be, but if I start doing them again I think I will descend into a mental quagmire. If you spot any mistakes in the scuttles, do me a favour. Tell me how great they look. This is not a time for honest, constructive criticism 😁 Here we have a spectacularly boring shot of part of the primed hull:

2022-06-27_02-20-35

 I gave it an initial coat of primer to identify any areas of concern before giving the hull a going over with a 1200 grit 3M abrasive pad and a quick wipe with surgical spirit. I then added the scuttles and the missing cargo hatch on the stern, before finishing those areas off with MIG One Shot. You will also notice the deck has been glued in place, or you would do if I had remembered to take a picture of that!. It's starting to get exciting. Well, I'm excited; your probably thinking 'Bl**dy well get on with the build. Less typing and more building!'  I used a bog standard Halfords grey acrylic primer from a rattle can for the bulk of the hull, which I warmed up first for a nice fine spray, although it still produces a relatively rough finish, hence the 3M pads. For those of you overseas, Halfords is your go to one stop shop in the UK for generic car parts and accessories , camping and bike gear. By the way, you may recall me bemoaning the fact that Pontos don't supply enough etched scuttles if you want to replace those on the superstructure as well as the hull. Pontos give you 242. I ended up needing 229 for the hull. Somewhere in between all the drilling and plugging, as well as removing all the etched scuttles already glued on, I ended up with....229. Somehow I lost 13 to the Carpet Monster. Fingers crossed none of the glued ones ping off over the next few months of the build. We are then, ready to paint. My plan is to mask and paint the dazzle scheme first, then add the boot toppings and the lower hull with NARN42. I've gotten myself an A3 size print of the colour scheme from Sovereign Hobbies to help with the painting. I will post pictures as I work through the painting process. I originally planned on painting the hull outside (which is where I primed it). However, I would need a really still, pleasant day, otherwise most of the paint is likely to blow away. A still, pleasant day in the UK and a weekend at that....hmmmm. Not likely to see many of those. I can't do it in my man cave at the bottom of the garden as there's just too much dust flying around in there. It will have to be done on the dining table, with my vent pipe hanging out the window. This might involve purchasing flowers, chocolate and a few bottles, before I propose this solution to Ze Fuhrer!
Before I start masking though, a question: I'm puzzled by a discrepancy between the dazzle scheme example available from Sovereign Hobbies and a photo of Rodney in Man O'War 3. The Sovereign Hobbies artwork states that it was derived from "....numerous black & white photographs to determine the demarcation of the scheme..." and "...surviving colour cinefilm footage taken during OP Pedestal in the Mediterranean in September 1942." The area I have a concern over is the port stern. Compare this section of the artwork from Sovereign Hobbies and this close up of a photo in Man O'War 3. The Man O'War photo narrative says it was taken in late 1942. Normally I would take a photo over any other type of pictorial reference every time,  but by all accounts the people at Sovereign Hobbies have spent many aong hour getting their colour scheme right and presumably the same with their artwork. Is it likely Rodney's stern was repainted in a short window, late 1942? Here are the comparison photos:

2022-06-23_03-51-23

 

2022-06-23_03-51-11

 What do we think? Go with the artwork or the photo?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jamie,

I think you're right. Luckily, the scuttle and cargo hatch positions will provide a good indicator of where to mask. Your artwork is a lifesaver though, the colours in particular. I could have followed the artwork in Man O'War 3 and spent the rest of my life regretting it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, andyelbac said:

I am also, of course, a big fan of the books written by C S Forester and Patrick O'Brian.

Gidday Andy, I particularly like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books. He had an interesting style of writing. Also Alexander Kent/Douglas Reeman. Regards, Jeff.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Andy, I particularly like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books. He had an interesting style of writing. Also Alexander Kent/Douglas Reeman. Regards, Jeff.

Hi Jeff,

 

Thanks for the tip. I will check out Alexander Kent and Douglas Reeman; Two authors I have yet to read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, andyelbac said:

Thanks for the tip. I will check out Alexander Kent and Douglas Reeman; Two authors I have yet to read.

Gidday, actually they're the same bloke. Douglas Reeman wrote quite a few naval novels, all what I would call "stand alone" novels, in that each is a separate story in it's own right. Under the name Alexander Kent he wrote a series of novels about the career of a fictitious naval officer named Richard Bolitho who lived at the time of Horatio Nelson. Before I knew myself that they were the same author I had noticed that the style of writing was the same, and the cover illustrations were by the same artist, Chris Mayger I think. Regards, Jeff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Alexander Kent he wrote a series of novels about the career of a fictitious naval officer named Richard Bolitho

Good stories, very ‘Hornblower’

Jon

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, foeth said:

Yes, thanks for that. Am I reading it correctly; that Nelson had the HACS Iii fitted but no mention of Rodney anywhere, or is it referring to the Nelson class?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just found this thread and it's very helpful. I have the 1/200 Nelson myself and quickly found it to be a bit of a handful with the KV photoetch upgrades. I might have missed it in the thread but are you using a wooden deck? If so what's your method of applying it and painting it while preventing any damage/stray paint from other areas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, TeaWeasel said:

Just found this thread and it's very helpful. I have the 1/200 Nelson myself and quickly found it to be a bit of a handful with the KV photoetch upgrades. I might have missed it in the thread but are you using a wooden deck? If so what's your method of applying it and painting it while preventing any damage/stray paint from other areas?

Hi, glad the thread is proving useful. I do have a wooden deck. It's from Pontos. I haven't fitted it yet and the general consensus is that it should be fitted after painting the hull (which make sense). That way there should be minimal masking, if any, when attaching all the other parts. I plan on painting remaining parts separately and then adding them to the deck. I will have to ensure the barbettes are also painted before applying the wooden  deck. In respect of how to apply it; that needs a little more research as this is my first ship build, so I've never fitted a wood deck before. Which is somewhat daunting. I have been following the You Tube channel for the Mid West Model Shop's build of Trumpeter's 1/200 Titanic. One of the episodes dealt with the different wooden decks on the market and how to best apply them. They identified a concern with decks that had pre-applied glue, in that they had found some to lift after a while. One of the solutions was to attach the deck to very fine wrapping tissue and then glue to the kit deck using a wood glue. It's got me a little worried to be honest. I don't want my deck to lift after a few years but at the same time, if pre-glued decks can lift when fitted directly to the kit deck, what's to stop them lifting from the tissue paper? Perhaps wiser and more experienced minds can give some insight into that? I did also wonder about the geographical location of the MW Shop. They are in Illinois, and perhaps humidity might he a particular problem there? (I'm just guessing here). Not something we really have a problem with in the South East U.K.

Anyway, please follow along. Once the deck is painted I will be taking a small pause whilst I seek further guidance on fixing the wooden deck. One things for sure. It will he a heart in mouth moment!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...