anchor chains - how do i do those ?

If you want to keep the moulded on chain, then you could try dry brushing it. I posted a question about real chain not long ago:

http://finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30448

If you want to add real chain, it is a real pain getting the right scale, (i.e. the right number of links per inch) at least in my recent experience anyway.

I typically remove the molded on chains...at this time of year, the malls are chock full of cart vendors selling jewelry chains...find something with oval, flat links, get yourself some 'Blacken It' from your local model railroad shop. For a 1/350 battleship, 10 to 12 links per inch is about right *if* you're considering the average battleship chain link length is about 3 feet. Model shops may also have scale chain in the armor section, or...in the model railroad section for HO scale.

Jeff

If you stick with the molded chain, it may help to paint mainly the "top" portions, then run a little wash through the links and around where it meets the deck plates. That helps blend everything together, siumulate shadows...and can camouflage minor paint irregularities.
Good luck.
Greg

Got to this site, and page down. There's a good selection of chains.
http://www.naturecoast.com/hobby/hfit3.htm
Mike

Reggiethedorf may have an unusual supply problem since he lives in Singapore, but American ship modelers can find an excellent assortment of chain in the catalogs of (drum roll, please) ship model supply dealers.

Bluejacket Shipcrafters (<www.bluejacketinc.com>) offers brass chain in seven sizes: 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 24, and 36 links to the inch. (That brass chain has links that are almost circular, but it's easy to make them ovate: grab the chain in both hands and stretch it a little.) Bluejacket also makes two sizes of stud-link chain, made up of individual links cast in britannia metal, but they're in large scales.

Model Expo (<www.modelexpo-online.com>) sells a wide variety of chain in several different metals, in the following sizes: 6.5, 7, 8.5, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 27, 32, and 42 links per inch. (The last one listed is the finest chain I've encountered.)

The stuff isn't cheap, but for a warship modeler a couple of feet go a long way. Have pity on us stick-and-string types. The 1/8" = 1' scale American clipper ship I'm currently working on will eventually need thirty or forty feet of chain in various sizes. But that's a few years down the road.

Anybody checking out either of those websites would be well advised to spend a little time browsing them. Different sectors of the modeling world have a great deal to offer each other. I spent several years working in a hobby shop, and during the numerous periods when business was slow I spent quite a bit of time looking through the model railroad, RC airplane, and even butterfly collecting departments. Almost all of them had something to offer the ship modeler. (Those bug collectors use beautiful long, thin, steel pins, which come in packages of a hundred and come in handy for all sorts of things.)

one of my main concerns is cost, so im afraid i cant afford spending money on purpose-made chain. i will however be going to the jewlery store to rustle up some cheap chains.

The chain from the ship model suppliers generally costs between one and two U.S. dollars per foot - pretty cheap if you only need one or two feet. But I imagine their minimum order requirements and shipping charges might be problematic - to say nothing of how long it might take them to ship the stuff to Singapore.

I noticed the other day that a new pair of reading glasses hanging around my wife's neck had a beautiful, stud-link chain. It would have been out of scale for any of the models I routinely build; otherwise I might have been tempted to abscond with it.

more chain questions ! this time specifically to the New Jersey. according to this picture



according to this picture and the tamiya 1/350 kit of the new jersey, there are some small linking chains that go from the deck to the main anchor chain. now i have looked around at some online walkthroughs, but i cant find any good pictures to see how the thing works. im usually an aircraft person, so i have no clue as to what the heck the smaller chain is for, nor do i know how the two attach. in the kit its just represented as one chain going into the other but i plan to do something nicer with some real chain.

the question is thus : does anyone have a better picture of the chain area ? also, can someone tell me what the small chain does and how it works, and hence how should i recreate this on my model.

thanks

Reggie:

Those chains off tto the side of the main Anchor chains. Are Basically tie-downs for the main chains. They prevent them from rolling around during heavy seas. ( hard to believe the could move at all).

Anyway I found this link for ya and don't know if you saw this or not. It has the sasme picture as you have, but it also has more of the area you asked about.

http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/john/nj/forecastle.htm

Sorry if it is the same link you have, but it's the best one I have.

Paul

ah. now that i know what its for, i can figure something out. thanks very much paul