SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Progress From the Duke's Shipyards.

2945 views
22 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Progress From the Duke's Shipyards.
Posted by Duke Maddog on Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:55 AM

I decided that I'd been away from the shipyard for too long. It was time to get some progress done on some of these ships that had been lying around for awhile.

Case in point: The Dragon 1/700 scale USS Porter Arleigh Burke class destroyer I started for a Destroyer Group Build that has long since ended. Well, I found this puppy lurking under a box and decided it was time to get more work done on it. So, I painted the main deck in preparation for more progress:






Next, I decided to get more work done on my 1/600 scale French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. I assembled all the side sponsons, elevators and decks to the main hull, and then glued the flight deck down on the main hull:



Next I started assembling the island. This was very tough as these pieces were all slightly warped. I'm surprised it turned out this good! Still, there are alot of areas where some filler and sanding will be needed.





Here are a couple of pics of the main hull and the island dry fit together:





My apologies for the glare in the one pic.


Finally, since I was building a French aircraft carrier, I figured, why not a French battleship? So I laid the keel for my 1/700 scale French battleship Richelieu. Here it is built up to the main deck:






Well, so far that is all I have to show. Thanks all for looking, comments are welcome.

 

I've also made progress on some helicopters and an artillery piece. Feel free to go to the Helicopters and Armor Forums to see my progress on them as well.

  • Member since
    March 2005
  • From: West Virginia, USA
Posted by mfsob on Sunday, July 12, 2009 8:57 PM
Some day I'm going to figure out how to build more than one thing at a time. as a way to thin the stash if nothing else. All of your builds are looking good so far.
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Monday, July 13, 2009 1:01 PM
Thanks! I didn't think anyone would comment on m y ships. I appreciate it. I did get a little more progress done; I'll try to post later.
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 12:00 AM

Not too much more progress to show. Here I just aassembled the mast, and then some other attachments got added on. I also took some time to fill a couple of seams as well:

Thanks to anyone who wishes to comment. They are very welcome.

 

More pics forthcoming.

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: Fort Worth Tx.
Posted by Austyn95 on Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:52 AM
i hate to rush you but... hurry up and put some more pictures on. I'm curious to see how they turn out. They look good so far
So your gonna clean that up right? No, i'm just gonna let it sit there. It'll give me something to do when theres nothing else to do.
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:33 AM
Thanks! No worries about rushing me. I just need to find time to get to my bench. Got a ton of stuff came at me at once and so I'm having a hard time getting to the bench lately. I'll keep you posted, and thanks for the enthusiasm and encouragement!
  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: Fort Worth Tx.
Posted by Austyn95 on Thursday, July 16, 2009 8:49 PM
I'll be watching this thread
So your gonna clean that up right? No, i'm just gonna let it sit there. It'll give me something to do when theres nothing else to do.
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:15 AM

Okay Austyn, I got some more progress for you.

 

Okay now, here is the latest on my ships.

I filled and sanded some seams, and then added a few detail parts to the destroyer. Then started painting everything. After painting everything, I lost one of the yardarms. Two steps forward, one step back. Story of my life:



After seeing that come off, I just didn't want to deal with it. I moved on to my Charles de Gaulle.

On the Charles de Gaulle, I filled some holes, sanded things down, and then shot a basecoat of gray over the hull to see where I needed to touch up. While that was drying, I finished assembling the island and filled and sanded some more gaps in that. When that was ready, I shot that in gray as well. Here it is with the first coat of gray:





Kinda hard to see that it is painted. It looks the same as before in these pics, but I assure you it is painted. The red on the island is from my trying to sand some rough spots smooth with a red sanding stick....


Well, that is about all I got done for now. Feel free to check out the other models I made progress on in the Armor and Helicopter Forums. I'll keep you posted on further progress.


Thanks for looking, comments are welcome.

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: Fort Worth Tx.
Posted by Austyn95 on Sunday, July 19, 2009 11:41 PM

looking good!

thanks for the update!

So your gonna clean that up right? No, i'm just gonna let it sit there. It'll give me something to do when theres nothing else to do.
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Monday, July 20, 2009 10:58 AM
No problem. I'll probably have more tomorrow or the next day.
  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: NJ
Posted by JMart on Monday, July 27, 2009 10:17 AM
very good progress Duke; will you paint in subassemblies or at the end?

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Monday, July 27, 2009 12:41 PM
Thanks JMart. I actually paint in subassemblies. I still have the carrier's island separate for painting. The destroyer is completed except for a couple of detail parts that I'll paint separately then add afterward. I still need to make mmore progress on my French battleship though. I'll post pics in a day or so.
  • Member since
    July 2009
Posted by Ausmosis on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 7:09 AM

I'm also going to keep an eye on this thread as I just finished my 1:700 Richelieu and would like to see how yours turns out. I have only just started modelling and very keen to learn from the experts!

Pics of my Richelieu can be found in the following thread:

/forums/1165362/ShowPost.aspx

 

Rgds

Ausmosis

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:30 AM

Aussie, welcome to the Forums, and thank you for the compliment. I'm no expert here; I barely get any comments at all when I post my ships because there are so many more masters here that far outshine me and make my models look like toys.

 

I'll keep going though, and hopefully have soemthing later.

Your Richelieu turned out excellent and your boot stripe looks fantastic. Way to go. 

 

Thanks again.

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Friday, August 21, 2009 7:55 PM

And now and update from my Shipyards. I have made a small amount of progress on my two French ships.

The Charles de Gaulle has finally got a smooth enough join on the lower sponsons that run the length of the ship on both sides. I kept finding seams and imperfections for awhile. Now, after four attempts, and three coats of Mr. Surfacer, I am finally satisfied with the way the hull looks now:





Here it is with the island dry fit to the upper deck. You can see that I did a preliminary painting of the windows. Gotta touch them up next:



Now on the Richelieu, I installed all the deck fixtures. The only things missing are the stacks of life rafts and the weapons. Next up is the superstructure:



Next I figured since I was building two French ships, why not three? This is Heller's Jeanne D'Arc helicopter carrier. It is a it bigger in scale than I like, but  what the hey.....



The main deck and superstructure are dry fit on the hull. You can see there's quite a bit of fit issues on this kit. Typical Heller....

That's all I got going on in the shipyards so far. 

 

Thanks all for looking, comments are welcome. 

  • Member since
    August 2008
Posted by tankerbuilder on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 4:17 PM
  DUKE ----I like your moxie! The thought of working more than one project at a time scares the bejeepers out of some folks. I HAVE to work that because the clients come first,then pleasure. This takes the form of shipbuilding,scratch,paper,wood and dear old plastic. I also build cars,planes and an occassional oddball thingy from here or there. This truly makes the hobby fun. I am not comfortable working in anything smaller than 1/500 though (I have dabbled in 1/700) With the last I had a constant headache until it was done, guess what? EYESTRAIN! The bottom is now 1/500 and it,s getting close to bye-bye soon. Your builds look nice and clean and organized.This is good,very good. Good luck and keep the pics coming!     Tankerbuilder   P.S. try using acrylic paint on windows and ports,if you boo-boo, it cleans up easier!
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 8:37 AM

Thanks Tankbuilder. I have made a bit more progress here on these but haven't had a chance to post pics yet. I'll have to get that done. I'm still good with 1/700 scale, but I wish more carriers and battleships came in 1/500 and 1/600 scale. I'd love to have been able to keep a consistency in those scales.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I'll try to get some more progress pics up. And thanks for the tip on acrylic paints for the windows. I'll start doing that. 

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Thursday, October 1, 2009 2:30 AM

Well, I know it's been awhile but here is the progress I made so far on my Navy ships.

 

This is my Charles de Gaulle. I had taped off the deck to paint the lines for the landing strip area on the flight deck. Here is the landing area of the flight deck all hand painted:



Now when I can find the decals again, I'll get them on the deck and finish this bird farm up.

The last one I've gotten progress on is my Richelieu. The upper hull and superstructure is painted, as well as the deck. I just need to touch it up and then add the pattern if I can:


 

Meanwhile, I picked up a Hobby Boss 1/700 scale submarine and went ahead and got it built. Here it is, the Hobby Boss' 1/700 scale Russian Oscar II class anti-carrier submarine:






It was a simple and easy little model to build so I thought, 'why not?' Now I have an Oscar I and an Oscar II in my Russian Navy.

I had also completed a helicopter and four more armor models but they never stay on the front page long enough for anyone to comment so I didn't post them!! LOL! Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

 

Thanks all for looking, comments are welcome.

  • Member since
    September 2009
  • From: Memphis,TN
Posted by Traitor on Thursday, October 1, 2009 2:11 PM

cool subs!!! Could you post up some pics of your Oscar I?

Also, are you going to add any choppers to your Jeanne D'Arc?

[quote user="RESlusher"] Nothing like seeing "two palm trees humpin' a garbage can"!! That's what we called the heavy lift guys when I was on an EH-60 at Fort Carson back in '91. [/quote] I'll never look at garbage cans the same again.
  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Thursday, October 1, 2009 2:44 PM
Mark, those ships are coming along nicely! I really love the Oscar! I wont be going to this months meetings for AMPS or IPMS due to change in shift and days off, but I should have weekends off to go again in November and December. Think you will be at either of those and bring any of these along?

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Friday, October 2, 2009 12:43 PM

Thanks Traitor, I'll see what I can do. It does need to be re-worked as there is a huge seam gown each side that never got sanded smooth. After I get done with that, I'll post it.

 

And yes, I do intend to put helicopters on my Jean D'Arc. It would look too bare if I didn't.

Thanks again for looking and for the great post.

 

 stikpusher wrote:
Mark, those ships are coming along nicely! I really love the Oscar! I wont be going to this months meetings for AMPS or IPMS due to change in shift and days off, but I should have weekends off to go again in November and December. Think you will be at either of those and bring any of these along?

Thanks Carlos! I most likely will be missing the October meeting, but if I get a ride to Orangecon I'll be going to that. I should be at the November and December meetings though, now that things have improved a bit.

 Let me know what all you want me to bring and I'll have it all there.

  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: NJ
Posted by JMart on Thursday, October 8, 2009 7:48 AM
very nicely done!

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Rowland Heights, California
Posted by Duke Maddog on Thursday, October 8, 2009 1:13 PM
Thanks J-Mart! I appreciate it.
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.