Ships of the German Flag GB 2020

Ta mate.

Ok. The decks are in place. I have a roll of black paper inside to prevent the see through effect from the drain holes. I have also got some material glued in place to take the brass rods I intend using to support the beastie on the display stand and have used a lot of filler around the aft torpedo tube. Once the glue sets sufficiently on the decks I will begin the clean up process.

Hey Steve. Apparently I'm the last bunny on this build and you are probably waiting on me to close it. This is the first group build I have done and I lost a lot of time. If you want to close it with my entry unfinished, I really won't mind. I'm enjoying the build immensley, but I'm aware I'm holding things up. If you want to pull the pin thats all good with me. I anticipate finishing this project in late March. Your call old mate.

Your not quite the last Dodgy, i still have my U-Boat which i have just gotten back to this week. Going to be a good 2 months more on that one i reckon.

I'll post an update this weekend.

Not to worry Dodgy, you're not holding anything up mate. There is no closing date for these ship builds for many reasons, one of which you stated. The only end date is the two year window to sign up.

Ships take time and cost a lot of money, especially if one buys PE and AM. They tend to drag on and the builder may get bored during the build and want to take a hiatus for a few months. Heck I still haven't gotten back to my Prince of Wales or North Carolina, noyt to mention, haven't opened the plastic on the Revell Bismarck parts bags yet (I'm still waiting to save enough for the Pontos set)....and I have the Japanese Ships starting in Aug!

Just take your time, do the best you can and improve your skills or try out some new ones. Unless I'm either kicked off the forum for some odd reason, FSM goes away or I pass beyond this mortal coil, I'll be here to encourage, answer questions to the best of my ability and one day, even complete an entry of my own 

Dodgy I'm still in as well. I have the Revell Bismark to build and plan for it to be a big'n! Although I may build my Balao class sub before that so glad this GB stays open

Thanks Steve. I have a few other distractions, house, large garden, 1/1 scale timber boat and volunteer work with the Australian Naval Association. So time can be a bit of an issue, well at least thats my excuse until I can come up with a better one......

Bish can't wait to see some more on your U Boat.

Mongoose, the Balao class sounds very interesting.

I'm having a bit of a sub thing at the moment. I recently purchased a kit of the Hunley and another of a Jap midget sub. About to order the Das Werk 1/72 WWI U Boat.

Mach, I believe, built the Hunley a few years back for my Subs GB. It turned out nice but he had to do some filling and shaping if I recall.

I'll have to look that GB up. The Hunley kit certainly looks like its going to be a challenge. Thanks again Steve.

GS...if you can fit something in the 18-20" range, take a look at one in 1/144.

I got back to the u-boat a week or so ago, focusing on the conning tower. On the top piece i have sanded away the molded on wood sides, added the loops where the crew can hook on their saftey harness by drilling out a small indentation and useing some fine wire. Also used some styrene for the 5 braces around the front of the tower.

The same for the other side. The 4 small white buts of styrene are the hinges for folding seats. From what i have read these were in different locations depening on the boat, on the 552 they were on the port side. There are no clear images of these seats or a clear description of them. I am guessing they are wood rather than metal or fabric, so i have cut them out from some spare pieces on the nautilus deck kit.

I have also decided to replace the kit periscope bases with some 3D printed ones. Unfortunatly they are not sold seperatly, they only comes with some snorkel parts, which i won't need, and a UZO which i already have. But i can use my other UZO for my Type IX. I am going to order that next month.

The bottom of the tower has been finished, no scratching needed here, just PE and kit parts.

I will have to scratch some tubes which carry the radio wires and are at the back of this piece but not included in the kit.

The Eduard deck gun is complete, all resin and PE. Rather intricate but a nice looking piece.

And finally the railing around the back of the tower. These are 2 thick and its recomended to make a new one out of wire or live with the thick parts. I took a 3rd option and simply sanded down the whole thing to make the railings thinner. I am happy with that.

I have since primed all this and painted the inside of the tower, its now in the shed drying. I have just started on the hull to get that finished off and hopefully get both parts togetehr soon.

Excelent work Bish! Very precise. I'm surprized you were able to get info on the seat placement. I would assume they were wood as well due to the enviroment they were used. The little wires used for the tie downs are a great idea. I'm not sure I would have thought about putting them in.

This is going to be a stunning build!

Thanks Steve. I can't take any credit on the seats or tie downs, its all in the article i have by Dougie Martindale and Wink grise. The seats are shown in the Kagero 3D book but not very well, and you can just about make them out in some photo's, but not in any detail. So i have had to take a guess.

I love those Kagero books. They are invaluable for my ship builds and if available, they're part of my AM purchases. 

That's interesting about the seats. Those will definitely add some flavor to the kit.

modelcrazy

I love those Kagero books. They are invaluable for my ship builds and if available, they're part of my AM purchases. 

 

I don't uaully buy books for subjects i only have 1 or 2 kits of. But i made exceptions with my large scale ship kits, S-Boat, U-Boat and Bismarck. The kagero books were deffinetly must have for those. Which reminds me that i should try and get the Spee book.

thanks Chad, i think they will be a nice touch. I am thinking of having one folded up and one down.

I hear many of the Kagero books have inaccurates in them but then it seems some of the other guides also have issues.  So what ever reference guide I purchase for that build that is how it will be build out. 

What I have learn over the years, even if you had the builders blueprints someone will dispute the accuracy.

Marcus

Marcus McBean

I hear many of the Kagero books have inaccurates in them but then it seems some of the other guides also have issues.  So what ever reference guide I purchase for that build that is how it will be build out. 

What I have learn over the years, even if you had the builders blueprints someone will dispute the accuracy.

Marcus

 

I agree, most likely, but I figure that no one can really dispute most of the ships portrayed because....well they're sunk. There are but a few existing pictures of the Akagi for example, so was there a rigging line here or there, a boat stashed on top of that one or the other as a mater of course? Mostly the same for the Bismarck, Kongo, U-boats ETC. It took until very recently to decide that the Arizona had red turret tops and light grey fighting tops, and it's our ship! Funny how history disapears so quickly. I look at all the resources I can find and make a desision on what I do, unfortunatly, nobody really knows anymore, heck most kids today don't have a clue what the day of infamy was let alone when.

Beleive it or not, World of Warships is a great resourse as well.

Marcus McBean

I hear many of the Kagero books have inaccurates in them but then it seems some of the other guides also have issues.  So what ever reference guide I purchase for that build that is how it will be build out. 

What I have learn over the years, even if you had the builders blueprints someone will dispute the accuracy.

Marcus

 

I did notice a few errors in the S-Boat book, but as with any referance, profile pics often have errors. I never rely on them 100%, but they are a good guide and and an indication of what to look for in photo's.

Hi Steve. I have been back to your old GB and read the whole thing through. I learnt a great deal and loved the models, there was some awsome work in there. One of my favourites would have to be Rigidrider's U-Boat wreck. He produced a fascinating model.

Yesterday I attacked my beast with a lot of filler. I'm otherwise tied up today, but will be attacking the beastie again on Thursday. Hope to get some primer on over the weekend.

Bish, your 1/72 U Boat is looking good. I have taken a lot of inspiration from your previous build of the U 99.

Thanks Dodgy. The U-99 was really a trial run for this,  especially as far as the painting goes. But i had no idea how much of a step up this would be compared to that. 9 weeks of work on this and i don't even have the hull together. I can see why it takes some people a year or more to build one.

Bish

Thanks Dodgy. The U-99 was really a trial run for this,  especially as far as the painting goes. But i had no idea how much of a step up this would be compared to that. 9 weeks of work on this and i don't even have the hull together. I can see why it takes some people a year or more to build one.

 

Crikey Bish. That is a real step up. Gives me an indication of what I can expect for the Das Werk U-9.

Alright, here's a small update as usual.

I finally got up the nerve to get the center prop installed. The replacement props are 3D printed and they look great. But know that for the center prop you're going to have to do some surgery and brother, they ain't cheap! The main thing to remember is measure, measure and then measure again before surgery. The old addage about measuring twice, cut once is great advice. I only ended up cussing about 40 times or so, so not bad.

The first picture shows the difference between the kit supplied props and the 3D props. The kit props on the top, are of the wrong shape big time.

And here's a side by side view with the kit props on the left.

The center prop needs to connect to the center rudder as shone here.

So it's time to break out the calipers. This is the measure twice and cuss multiple times. Because the 3D printed props are all have the tail. Also, it's important to note that one of the props is the reverse of the other two. This is the way it supposed to be, you just have to remember that the center and port prop are the same while the starboard prop is the different one. This picture also shows the suregery on the tail.

I cut the tail off a bit short so that I could file the difference as needed. It's always easier to remove than to add. In this case impossible except to buy a new set.

After numerous dry fittings and filing I got to here. As you can see, there is still clean up to do, but I think that it came out successfully.

After cleaning up the mess, I'll install the two outer rudders and maybe get some paint on the hull. Now it's back to the fore and aft decks and bridge.

Steve

Marcus McBean

Well everyone I am calling my SMS Kronprinz build completed.  She has her errors but I am satisfied with her looks.  This was a fun build, not to many weird issues to correct.  Didn't do any weathering as she will be on a display stand I would like her to look new, as built.

The torpedo nets are really parachute cord.  The child's round shoe laces I order were still to wide and tall.  The cord has a seperate center that unravel when cut so I had to use a lighter to melt the cords so they stay together.  I wish I had a better method to fuse them together so there wouldn't be those lumps at the ends.  They did look a lot worst but I trimmed them back as much as possible.  I can live with it.

Kronprinz has two rudders but I misplaced one of them and couldn't find it anywhere so I had to go with the one. Of course as soon as I get the single rudder installed I found the lost rudder in the bottom of a box for another build I started on.  By that time I had to much of the upper works installed to be turning her upside down to change it back.  So one rudder will have to do.

I bend the main mast during filming, didn't notice it until posting the photos.  Moved it back before putting her on the shelf.

Thats all folks.  Like I said this was one of my more enjoyable builds, but I am ready to move on to another.

Marcus

 

Marcus,

Dad gum that is one fine model sir! It is absolutely beautiful. One of these days I'll have to pull mine out and hopefully it will look as nice.

Steve

Dodgy,

Very nice work on the U-Boat! I'm going to have to catch up here.

Steve

Do, you're doing fine mate. Those prop differences are amazing, and the centre one is looking sweet!

Nice job on the props Steve. Those kit props have a ridiculous pitch on them.