Lowered expectations

Mike, I think I can offer a couple tips that may help you.  1)  CA glue uses acrylic as it's main bonding medium.  What else do we modelers use that is acrylic based?...Future floor polish.  Yup, you can use Future as a very slow setting glue.  In fact the parts on the side of the turret in my picture were "glued" there using Future.  What the slow dry time means is you have time to fiddle a bit with placement before it will set.  2)  For precision glue application you can make a cheap tool.  I have a bunch of junk paintbrushes that have thick and long nylon hairs.  I lop a single hair off and glue it to a toothpick.  This hair will hold a tiny drop of glue, usually enough to set a part and if need be you can go back in and flow more glue in using the same "tool".  Also, if you plan things right you can usually go in with an exacto blade and gently scrape away excess glue.  Just be very careful!

Overall you did great!  Your water effects look nice too.  That is something I will be trying out soon myself for the first time.  I can only hope it looks as well as your water does!

Brian

Brian,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Your PE work looks magnificent!

I will simply have to train my hands/brain combo to work more methodically and think things through before cutting the PE from the sprue. However, I don't think I'll ever get to the point where the globs of glue don't show and I can't imagine my NOT bending railings or other delicate PE while rigging or working on the model in general. Just me .... a klutz by nature.

I do think I will improve however, and I do believe I'll get to a point where I'm satisfied with my own work.

It seems as if every two steps I took toward the finish of the Duncan (DD-485) I broke something and took one step back. I guess some of us just work that way .

Today, with the exception of the brass plaque I ordered (should be here in a few days) and a strip of styrene with a decal of the names of the 48 men who gave all on October 12/13 1942 which I'll attach to the opposite side, I'm done.

Here are the final pictures. First the actual ship 5 days before she went down - it's the image I wanted to try to represent, and 3 shots of my completed model

Mike

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Mike, I would not get too down on yourself.  Lets face it, photo etch can test the patience of even the pope!   I am a bit ashamed to admit that photo etch came pretty easily to me.  I mostly build armor and the odd aircraft, and those parts tend to be much bigger than ship photo etch, so when I recently jumped into a 1/700 Tamiya Yubari project (that I too am building for a friend) it was a fairly easy transition.  I am a bit of a neurotic perfectionist, and if something does not look right I will keep fiddling with the tweezers and CA glue until I think it is perfect.  Some parts I have had to break the glue bond on and redo a few times until I got it set to where I was happy with it.  And man oh man, the ever so gentle grip on the tweezers...after a while you get to the point where you could hold an ant in your tweezers tips without it even knowing it is being held!   But I think the hardest part for me has been dealing with parts that are about 2 microns bigger than a dust particle!



So don't fret (is that a PE pun!? ).  I am sure your friend will be quite grateful for the gift, and you already walk away with satisfaction and a better understanding for the next bout with PE!

Brian

John,

Thanks for the compliment and for allowing me to feel that some of you actually might have to use some of your exceptionally fine modeling skills when using PE on this scale. It makes me feel slightly less of a klutz.

You will note, however, that I dare not show anything too close up. The sloppiness of my work - at least at this stage - couldn't stand the scrutiny.  

I also realized this afternoon that I'd not attached the antenna brackets to the stacks for some of the rigging I was hoping to do. It's a good thing GMM supplied me with six of the brackets (obviously only four are needed, one each side of both stacks) because, in attempting to make "tripods" of the brackets I broke two of them

If I can just do some minor rigging - not too much!! - I'll feel I've done my best. The rigging at this scale is, to say the least, nerve racking for me.

When this model is finished - and I hope it will be done by the end of this month so I can present it to my friend sometime in January, I'll probably take a short break from ships in my stash and attempt an airplane. Then, assuming I can get the aircraft done in short order *, I'll do what I should have started out doing with my next ship - build a large scale, relatively simple kit. I have both the Revell Yacht America and the Pyro Gertrude L. Thebaud in my stash so I may tackle one or the other.  

Mike

* Wishful thinking on my part again.

This phenomenon of "unfulfillable expectations" is, I think, an inevitable consequence of the incredibly high quality of (some) modern kits - including that one.  I've got a Dragon Buchanan in my stash, and I'm nervous about touching it.  (That's with 58 years of modeling experience under my belt.) 

To me, the model in the picture looks like a fine one - and I love the water.  I also think the relative size of the base, and the ship's positioning on it, are exceptionally good.  (It may look simple, but it isn't.)

You have every reason to be pleased and proud of this model. 

Anyone who gets this model is going to be a happy recipient, thats for sure.  Just tell him not to touch the mast.

Gmorrison,

Thanks for the advise.

This afternoon I just couldn't stand it anymore and re-broke the mast in order to attempt to fix the rake. At the expense of a ladder I had to cut and reglue , it turned out well . I had to use my "third hand" to hold the mast at the proper rake (which I couldn't do with the ladder I had already attached which is why I cut it) and I left it alone for about an hour. It now is at its proper rake. Even with the extra glue to re-attach the cut I made in the ladder, I'm glad I did this. It was really bothering me.

Now I just have some rigging and touch-up painting to do on the ship (I've taken care of the overpainting on the waterline base) and will use some Evergreen styrene to make a plaque for the sides of the base. I'll then use Photoshop to make some decals to put on the styrene plaque and I'll be done.

Thanks to all of you who have chimed in. I appreciate it.

Now, if anyone could point me to a rigging diagram for the Benson-Gleaves class of destroyers in 1942.......?

Mike

The model looks pretty good. You probably can solve the mast problem when you rig her.

As far as holding it, try to include a corner in any piece you install so that it can sit on its own. One reason why I don't do joints at corners. Also, you dont have to glue the whole thing at once. tape the ends and glue the middle, then switch etc.

Timothy,

Thanks for the compliment and for the tip.

 I guess the people who are good at working with PE have A) steadier hands than my shaky, 70 year old paws, B) have practiced with several models using the stuff, C) have learned from experience how to rig a temporary set-up for holding a part in place while the glue dries (and I do mean including CA which, at least from my experience, can take a minute or two to set well enough to let go of a part that gravity wants to unglue), and finally, D) has, from native intelligence and working experience, learned how to plan ahead far enough to make his/her job easier.

 I've still got a lot to learn and I may not ever come up to the standard that you and other modelers have regarding the use of aftermarket products  but, even with all the frustration of my limited modeling abilities, I'm looking forward to my next 1/350 with PE ..... Revell's S.M.S. Dresden. It's a fun hobby

Mike

I think you did a nice job. With PE, well some of us just never fully master it, myself included. One thing that has helped me with the railings is to use plain old Elmer's Carpenter glue. Pre-bend them dab a little on the bottom and set in place. The glue is tacky enough to allow some adjustments while you get it where you want and you can come back and use a pin to run some thin CA glue along the edge to finish it off. In most cases, no additional CA glue is needed.

Wayne,

Thanks for the empathy. I actually like working on this ship even though my post seems kinda whiny . This is a WWII ship, not a WWI ship as I'm sure you know - just a typo I imagine on your part.

I very much appreciate the thoughts on using EZ line. I bought both the "fine" and "heavy" 100 ft. rolls some time ago and they've been waiting around for just such a time as this .

I believe what many have mentioned to me whenever I post one of my laments regarding my skill set is summed up in what Stikpusher said above: both time and experience should improve my modeling abilities. Since I have most of my closet space filled up with my stash of ships and aircraft, I'll have lots of opportunity to get both . Of course I told my doctor I need to live until I'm 88 to get these models done. That was a couple of years ago BEFORE my stash grew to the size it is now. Now I have to live until I'm about 110 to get them all done! No matter, I'm enjoying learning this craft/skill and that's reallty what counts.

Mike

Wayne,

I just re-read your post and realized I'd not interpreted it correctly. I now feel when you mentioned WWI stuff with regard to rigging you were alluding to your own models and experience. Sorry.

Mike

i know how you feel. i am doing  1/350 late WW2 DD (lots of aa guns) and i haven't worked on it in months because i know it won't match even my standards i have for armor and artillery. and, in spite of 40 or so ships in the stash, this is really the first one i have built. also have 2 helos i am building for a friend in the same situation. the ship will be in a case on a shelf and the helos will be in a big COARNG display case so they won'y be contest scrutinized but still it irks me no end.

i post my builds all the time though not as many WIP as i intend to and never get the criticism i inflict on myself. maybe i need a bigger 2x4.

for rigging find some model RR EZ-line for telephone poles. holds with a touch of CYA, stretches without putting tension on small plastic masts and comes in colors. also, as i have learned with WW1 stuff, just put enough rigging on to be representative. every line does not have to be present because all non judges looking at it will subconciously add the extrta rigging.

That build is nothing to be ashamed of at all. I am sure your freind will enjoy and appreciate it as what it truly is- a gift from the heart.

As far as the rest goes regarding skills with new techniques and materials- it gets better with time and experience. But you have to put both in to get better.

Felix,

I wish I could blame the guy with the trident for the mast accident .

Subfixer,

I feel like I've accomplished something - even with all the glaring mistakes. I think my friend will like it. And thanks.

I think you should be proud of this model and the base and I am sure the recipient will love it, too.

Nice model. Ships are dismasted by the hand of Poseidon sometimes