Bummer, I don't see any pics Scott.

Hi everyone, just checking in during this hectic time.  I am very thankfull for having to work 80 hour weeks as of late instead of being quarantined. 

Mach, I like #3

Great work Mongoose on the landing craft wave actions.

Ben, more interesting research that is paying off.  

I have had some time late at night to try to finish up a project I have been working on since 2007.  Since this GB is "Ships of the American Flag", I though this post would be fitting to add as its an American ship, and I spent a number of days making this 1795 American flag using an experiment of foil paper on my Alps C5000 printer, I wanted to share my progress.

Next was the commodore flag.  I built the ship to somewhat reflect the actions of the First Barary War. I say somewhat, because like the Arizona, the Constititions appearence before the Civil War is quite vague. The flag is of Captian Preble, who addressed himself as Commodore when challanged by the British while sailing towards the Mediterranean.  

Stern view. 

I built a new jig to make about 100 rope coils.  And started painting the figures.  I hope to get this old boat finished soon.  I could use the space.

And at last, after tiring of looming rope coils, I added some microscopic details to the Kansas.  

That's intresting Ben, I knew the guns were missing but didn't know the tubs were elevated 

Its nice to see Mach71 back with us. As for your sub base, I also like the shoulder patch as previously echoed by others.  And I knew modelcrazy (Steve) had another agenda going on here,..... moving some of us to the dark side of ship modeling. Mongoose, your detail work on the beach landing is outstanding, nice work on the water too.

Not much for me to report today as everything I tried failed terribly on the first couple attempts. I did manage to get a new fore mast support structure folded (different than the first one) and added beneath the fore mast control tower. A couple of the braces were either removed or folded differently. I see in the photo one of the braces is not square just off a very little bit, I'm OK with that as you will not really see them unless you turn the model upside down and look specifically for it.

And next was the two gun tubs that sit off the lower rear deck. These little suckers were the bain of my existance today. Some of the ribs were actually off the PE before I removed it; others came off simply by removing the PE; I tried twice to fold down the remaining ribs on the outside of the shields but some would snap off, etc. This waas the first real frustration in the build as even two sets of PE were no help....

Anyway, I think I have a solution for the reinforcement ribs that I will show next update. Here are the two tubs sitting on the lower deck. The kit had the thick gun shield molded in and flush with the lower deck. The actual gun tubs were elevated above the deck as shown and without any guns during Pearl Harbor. 



Short day at the table, but at least it has some positive results.   

Ben

Nice finish on your dio Mongoose. Now you have confidence to tackle water. My evil plan is coming together.

Mustang, thanks for the complements on all the work going on in here. I can't come close to building a car like you can, so I understand.

Ya know......there's no way in HELL I'd ever tackle a project like alot of you are doing in here....but I do like pokin' my head in and just admiring all the great work going on. This is just fantastic!! 

What I did during C-19 by TheMongoose!

1st, I turned the base 180 degrees, muhahaha. Added the first coat of varnish over top of the cotton. Then I added a tank to see what it would look like. This is going to turn out great. Glad I put it away until I could get a good lesson on how to do this...because as usual I went all-out and didn't start with something small that only had some water in it. Thanks MC, I'll buy you a pizza if we ever meet up at Nationals

and this one has better focus on the tank...

I have a basic green screen program so I'm going to try and put some sky in the background later.

had a 1st today, had to take this out to the garage utility sink in order to wet sand it! Once I have this done I'm going to start cutting out vents and create the 3 haus openings on the bow. My theme is going to be about adding to it with nothing more than what I have already, aside from the hose reels. That's what really finialized my strategy. I went out to look for those and got caught up in all the PE and upgrades available for this behemouth. Wow, I coulda spent $200. had to reign it in and decided i wasn't going down that rabbit hole now. that should also help me to get it done this year lol

I'm with Mongoose here, #3. Once you're done with the base, put a pic up and I'll update the wall.

mach71

Wow! Some ambitious work going on since I last checked in!

 

I have some back reading to do!

Amazing PE, sctatch building, and Dio work!

 

As I said it's been a while since I checked in, I've been wanting to do a base for my 

USS Blueback. I have a round wood plaque and a few patches. Can I run them by you guys?

 ...

 

3rd, scraping the boat patch and going with the shoulder patch:

 

 

This moves the boat closer to the center of the plaque, but lacks the color of the boat patch.

I really like #3. After looking at all of them I think the color in the boat patch takes my eye away from the black sub. As a bonus the layout of the whole display seems to flow better with the shoulder patch and the boat moved forward some. Also, I agree with you on #2, with the boat patch angled it struck me right away as weird, even before I read your note.

Wow! Some ambitious work going on since I last checked in!

I have some back reading to do!

Amazing PE, sctatch building, and Dio work!

As I said it's been a while since I checked in, I've been wanting to do a base for my 

USS Blueback. I have a round wood plaque and a few patches. Can I run them by you guys?

1st, the boat patch flat:

I think this pushes the boat back too far on the stand.

So 2nd, mounting the patch at an angle resting on the stand:

looks a bit odd

3rd, scraping the boat patch and going with the shoulder patch:

This moves the boat closer to the center of the plaque, but lacks the color of the boat patch.

Last, getting greedy and using both:

Nice but a bit busy.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Mark

Ben & Mongoose: You guys are knocking it out of the park!!! 

Sorry, no idea if the AFV Club LCT is any good. My LCT kit is by Iron Shipwrights and all resin. And I really need to get some work done on her... 

Ben, no experience but there is a link to a review in Scalemates:   https://www.militarymodelscene.com/afv-club-lst-in-1-350

I checked it out and it's of the test shots. Has good pictures tho.

Good update Ben. How do you bend the rails so round and perfect. That is one area that I just can't seem to get consistant. I use something round like a rod, sprue or paint brush but can never judge if it's too much or too little. Also that ladder looks a lot like mine turn out all the time. While removing them I'll usually destroy something else in the process. One problem I have is I have the shakes from the meds I take. I'll bend a railing quicker that you can say oops do to them. Some days I's good, other days not so good.

getting two sets of PE may not be a bad Idea. At least a spare set of rails and ladders.

I have no experence with that LST

Hey everyone, I was looking on the web and saw an LST in 1/350 that looked really neat. It is a WWII US Navy Type 2 LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship model kit in 1/350 made by AFV Club.

Has anyone here built it or have any first hand knowledge of it?

Ben

Mongoose, several ships to also include a beach landing and Tamiya Big E? Were you always an over achiever your whole life? Looks like you are giving Steve a run for his money... Seriously, it is great to see all of us enjoying this GB. I am learning a lot from many of you, to include many who have already built thier items and left the GB. 

That water landing looks great! Are you going to add air support and people? (just kidding)....  I have always wanted to build the Tamiya Enterprise so watching your build will be really fun.

And still another PE update for me... lets talk main mast and fore mast. As of my last update I started to finalize the completion of the main mast. In the photo it was still missing the last (landing) platform, numerous stairs, ladders, the main fire control top, etc. 



Now I have finished the platforms, their stairs, ships bell, main fire control tower, handrails, and more. All that remains is a few ladders, paint, searchlights, and a couple odds and ends. I found the two most difficult steps were adding the stairs and the control top; more specific the base beneath the control top to the tripod main mast. I am leaving the range finder and searchlights off until this sub-assembly is painted. There are also the four 50 cal M.G.'s on the birds nest to complete (yes, they have PE as well).





And just to show you that things do not always go to plan (goofs), here is what is left of one of my stairs.



The story: after adding the stairs between two platforms I noticed it had a small drop of glue between two steps causing them to fill-in and look bad. After no success at trying to remove the glue with a razor knife, I decided to tear it out and add a new one without the unsightly glue blob (success). One more time the second set of PE really came to the rescue.

Next I started on the fore mast assembly. My last update with it was some time ago with this result.



Since then I've corrected the PE on the futtock platform. It was folded the wrong direction (up when it should've been down). I then added the fore mast M.G. platform and other items. The M.G. platform proved to be a difficult assembly as the reinforced armor was one piece and it was very difficult to fold the extremely fragile reinforcement ribs without breaking them off. It was also difficult gluing them without leaving residue around them on the vertical armored plate. Last, the bending of the ribbed armor plate was much stiffer after gluing the ribs making it much more difficult to fold and arc the PE to match the three straights and two clover leafs. After numerous attempts and a few words I am finally happy with the result. The aluminum tip of the fore mast front post is to add length to the mast as it was approximately 1/16 inch short according to ships drawings. It also added strength as well as a level base to the fore mast fire control tower and will be out of sight (between the bracing beneath the structure).





Here is a teaser shot of the fore mast tower on the front mast leg.



Still much more to do to the fore mast, until then... be safe, take care of yourself and loved ones. 

Ben

LOL Mongoose, the gel will be on your fingers for a day or two. It feels like your fingers are made of rubber  I wear gloves nowadays.

Now that is really looking good. The gel will dry clear but the cotton will survive. I've found that if I like the way it looks prior to drying I will add cotton to where the gel dries.

Good job, now it's not as hard as it looks is it. I am looking forward the the finish product.

Working away to finish up my dio. Today I put a layer of varnish on and then worked the cotton into it. After a session of coating my fingers in glue and cotton I think I got the hang of it. Dab with a wet brush to get it to stay down without turning into string lol This is a wet shot. I'm anxious to see how it dries as I really like the way it looks and am afraid it will all go away once dry 

For tomorrow's update I'll turn it 90degrees so you never get to focus on 1 side 

Oh my gosh Mongoose, you are really going all out. You can get PE hose reels online. They do take a bit of work but look good when done. You have some serious refrence there.

It appears that you are man with a plan.  Good stuff my friend.

...and it begins, again...lol

My USS Enterprise will be mostly OOB with the exception of pieces ive ruined in the past. If I remember right the hose reels are messed up from me taking them off the sprue wrong. 4 years ago i definitely wasn't capable of building this. another example below 

Heres what I'm starting with-

plus I have the FlagshipModels CD on how to rig lighting on this carrier. Plus this bohemian set of prints and instructions from Tom Pope on how to create the hangar bay. Now where are those decal files i bought for the wall hangings and mural, hmmm?

So 1st up let's redo the hangar bay floor. 4 years ago I didn't know you scored and snapped styrene sheet. Tried to cut out the basic shape and learned that wasn't possible without melting it lmao. Quque today and I have a set of plans and knowledge.

will probably jump around a bit this week as I need so styrene sheet and have to order it. May just read about lighting it before i get ttoo far on the hangar bay. anchors away

Your dio is looking great Mongoose. Your water effects are coming along right nicely. You're keeping my inspirational spirit high. I'm also very excited to see you finish up your Enterprise. That's going to be choice.

Wow, lot of stuff here.

Ben, again, you are really doing some incredable work on that tower,

Mongoose, if I understand what your asking, it would be the sonar. I'm looking forward to the cotton.

Mongoose, you're fine, I got you down. I've always wanted that kit and am looking forward to seeing you finishe it.

Admiral, Tamiya CVN65 USS Enterprise Requesting permission to come aboard.

This is the last model on my shelf of doom. Has been there for 4 years now. Given the fun and encouragement I see on this GB I know I can get it done...would even go as far as to say 'this year' lol

ModelCrazy give me an official verdict on my %done. The hull is assembled plus the elevators. I started to make a floor for the hanger bay and that's where it all went to Davey Jones' Locker!

Ben that's the bomb. Looking sharp.

 I'm making progress on my dio again. Today I put down 2 different shades of turquoise, mached up the blue around the bow where i had to fill the base because of the protrusion from the prow. Not sure what it's called but it's below the waterline. Anyhelp here? Added some lighter blue along the hull to cover the gel And added some surf by dipping a wet paper towel in a puddle of light blue and mostly white. Honestly it looks better in the pic then i think it does in person. I wet a soft brush down in water and did some blending to try and make sure there weren't a bunch of hard edges on any of the colors. Now to dry and then start the varnish and cotton. 

Nicely done Ben. Looks terrific.

Sweet work Ben. The PE looks fantastic.

After deciding on how to go forward with the main mast and fire control tower I started the assembly. In the previous update I already had the rangefinder platform attached to the rear leg of the main mast so I could begin sizing the other legs. 

Since then I fitted the searchlight platform and then sized the holes and connections of all three platforms to accept the brass rod. When researching the short leg issue in the previous update, I also noticed that the ring/hole at the back of the models main deck to accommodate the rear leg of the main mast on the model is actually not there at all on the actual ship (compare the 2 photos below), so I removed it. 




With the removal of the molded in eyelet I can now build the three legged main mast as a separate assembly as it will be able to be added on the model as one piece. After squaring the three mast legs I could begin detailing the platforms with ladders, stairs, handrails, etc. Regarding the handrails, I found that adding the three pieces to the searchlight platform was very time consuming because of the number of bends and arcs combined into each piece. I still need to add the futtock platform to the top of the legs, the bell, two more stairs, search lights, rangefinder, and the main control top, but as you can see it is getting there (the hard part is done).





See you next time...

Ben

Ziggy has that build going on.  Back about 3rd page in ships page.  Might be worth bookmarking for future use.  Hoo Yaa has answered a lot of questions already.

Bill, Ben is correct, I meant after.

Ben, that's excelent. There are few picture refernces.

GH, The deck won't really be seen too much, just what's under the surface. The topside damage is what will be focused on, but Deep sea is a fantastic source since he's the one that pretty much made the underwater drawings in that book, or at least provided the information for the artist.

MC- might get with hoo yaa deep sea when you start. He was a diver on her for awhile.  He's out around Bend now.