Ships of the American Flag GB 2019 -2021

JOE RIX

John: Your Kitty Hawk is coming along amazingly. Really tremendous work. I'm also impressed with your rattle can work. 

Scott sounds like great advice. No rod came with them Unfortunately. Very poor directions on these. Think i figured it out with all the help. like your jig setup idea as well so will use it in assembly line i need to set up.

John: Your Kitty Hawk is coming along amazingly. Really tremendous work. I'm also impressed with your rattle can work.

Mongoose: Looks like you've got a handle on the hose reels. Look forward to seeing them completed.

I can't even remember the last time I built a model with a clear sprue. I have an alternative though and it isn't very visible even though it is not transparent.

TheMongoose

Hmmm, I think i see it. These things must be 3x narrower than the kit plastic pieces. Makes it very confusing. The base is about .8mm wide, then the hose wheels get a piece of plastic rod between them and the assembled reel then fits between the posts. 3 pieces of PE and 1 piece of plastic.

thanks MC

 

Did the plastic rod come with the PE?  I made these when I built the Bismark, and I'm sure it from Toms, where I had to use Evergreen plastic rod because the kit rods were too short. The problem was getting the correct length cut to get the wheels and the base to align.  Making some sort of a jig will help. Place the base in the jig, build the hose wheel and use the base in the jig to test fit and adjust the width of the reel, and when its correct, assemble it to the base in the jig.  

Nice job John  I agree with Mongoose. Use a piece of clear sprue and stretch it ti make the stand. Drill a .07 or so hle in the deck and plane and CA the clear piect into the holes. This is what I did with my 1/700 Hornet.

Very nice work John, and not using an airbrush, is impressive.

Looooking goood keyserj! 
I would recommend clear acrylic rod. I used standard white plastruct rod for my Frigate and didn't like it in the long run. See my pic on pg1 or the close up build shots around pg21 to see the white rod.

Big update on the Kitty Hawk. Now that the hull has been weathered, the deck has been put on and got its final decals. I would post some images of the weathered hull but, the weathering does not show up well because of my camera's quality.

Below is a dry fit of the airwing. The plan for the display is to have an f18 taking off from catapult 1 and to have a Viking making its landing approach. What are everyones thoughts on what I should use to suspend the Viking in the air? I am pretty sure magnets aren't going to work due to their size.

I ordered the deck figures early last week and I should recieve them in another week or two.

There is nothing wrong with building a kit to gain some experience, Scott. My first ship was Revell's Arizona. It turned out pretty bad but I learned a lot from the build and I have used what I learned on my Kitty Hawk.

Your pre-shading makes me wish I had an airbrush. Going to have to try on a scrap piece to see if it is possible to do with a rattle can or brushes.

Hmmm, I think i see it. These things must be 3x narrower than the kit plastic pieces. Makes it very confusing. The base is about .8mm wide, then the hose wheels get a piece of plastic rod between them and the assembled reel then fits between the posts. 3 pieces of PE and 1 piece of plastic.

thanks MC

They appear to have a very skinny base. I would say it looks like two reels conneccted to the "base" and the the base is not flat to the bulkhead but perpendicular to it. I think 

Does anyone know how to assemble the Tom's Modelworks hose reels? There are no true i structioms in the package. Weird. Nothing easy to find online either. I have set 3577. 

what i find confusing is there appear to be 3 support posts and 6 wheels for each hose reel assembly. Not sure how to fold it.

Scott that's looking like a good start. Anxious to see how the preshading turns out. Decalsfor the deck sounds 'interesting'. Never seen those.

Scott, I corrected the achievement ribbon 

Thanks to John for pointing that out.

Alrighty, now for a real battleship! It looks like it comes with some PE.

Thank you so much for the compliments and support.  It makes my day.

I started the Missouri, which I also signed up for the 1945 GB with.  I wasn't going to build it because it is kinda toyish in the details, but then I thought that I need to gain experience and this kit would be a good one. 

I started pre-shading last night.  The kit comes with masks for the deck, which should be an interesting experience.  

Oh more than likely. Thanks John, I'll redo it.

Steve, I hate to say this but I think you spelled achievement wrong in Scott's badge. 

Congratulations on completing the Kansas Scott. It is truly a thing of beauty. I have greatly appreciated you sharing your talents and skills. I'm also very inpressed with your base. Very effective. Bravo to you!

Nicely done Scott.  I absolutely love the base.

I got you up Scott and great looking Kansas, the state I was born by the way.

That new eigging sure looks the bomb.

I will be starting the German GB the first of Aug and will be putting up the official thread in a few days. If you have anything Greman.....

Here is your newly designed Achievement Ribbon Capt.

BTW if anyone wants the new design, let me know.

I raised the commssioning pendant and the Kansas is now complete.  This model was a new experience for me in that it was my first resin kit and a chance to try a bunch of new techniques.

Steve, use the Second picture of this series for the opening page.

Next on the ways might be the Acedemy 1/700 Missouri.  Although I am needing to take a break from 1/700 and maybe try something in 1/350, if I can find the space to display something that large.

Scott

Keyserj

Glad to hear your surgery went well Joe.  Take care of yourself and I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

Glad to hear your surgery went well Joe.  Take care of yourself and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Ahoy There Mates. Well, my surgery went well and I'm on the mend. Albeit, I no longer have a navel, or Naval, as may be more appropriate here.. Today I'm actually feeling able to sit up at the bench comfortablely and get back to the Oakland. Going to work on masking the glue surfaces on the main deck prior to priming and painting.

But first I need to get caught up with all the goings on here first.

BBorBust: Welcome to the GB. Looking forward to your North Carolina. Can't get enough of that class for sure. Please enjoy yourself here.

Mongoose: The lighting looks terrific. Your endeavors are paying off in spades. Really impressive.

Keyserj: Excellent work on your airwing. They look great. Nice fix on the deck number. Keep up the wonderful progress. 

Steve: Thanks for the weathering example on your U-Boat. Looks the part. Concur with lack of good tutorials on ship modeling. What I found was lacking for sure. I'm a fan of pastels in my modeling/weathering. Although, I am looking forward to trying out my new set of AK weathering pencils for some new effects.

TheMongoose

keyserj, how did i just notice that your lower hull is grey! Ha, I'm so observant, not. In any regard, had you clear coated over the pastels yet in that pic? I've found some weathering products fade drastically and some get bolder with flat clears. Have gone to experimenting in unseen places to figure out if my weathering has to be bolder pr lighter so i know what it will look like in final form.

 

keyserj, how did i just notice that your lower hull is grey! Ha, I'm so observant, not. In any regard, had you clear coated over the pastels yet in that pic? I've found some weathering products fade drastically and some get bolder with flat clears. Have gone to experimenting in unseen places to figure out if my weathering has to be bolder pr lighter so i know what it will look like in final form.

I agree Steve, most of the tutorials are of a guy putting on some sort of ak weathering product. They don't really explain what they are doing or what they are trying to achieve.

If you ever decide to make a YouTube channel, I would subscribe.

Keyserj

I really appreciate all the help on the weathering guys. There is not many tutorials on YouTube like there is with armor.

No there isn't. Most of the one's that are there, I really would't recomend. I guess I need to make one 

Gamera: I have Bill to thank for catching that, his knowledge on ships is astounding.

Mongoose: Those lights look awesome! I will take it off your hands and fix that reactor leak if you want. 

I really appreciate all the help on the weathering guys. There is not many tutorials on YouTube like there is with armor.