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

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.

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

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

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!! 

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.

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

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

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.  

Bummer, I don't see any pics Scott.

Number 3 it is! 

Everyone likes that one.

Thanks.

Mongoose: I LOVE that beach scene! I hope mine comes out 10% as well! 

Ben: That looks perfect to me. Personally I don't care if some judge wants to shove a flashlight and a magnifing glass underneath the superstructure.

Scott: It's weird- I can see your photos fine on my camera (Android/Pale Moon) but can't see them on the work computer (Win X/Chrome). That rigging is insane, looks amazing!!! 

Steve: I'd always thought of armour as the 'Dark Side'- aren't ships the 'Salty Side'? 

mach71

Number 3 it is! 

Everyone likes that one.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

I have to agree- 3 and 4 look the best to me. 

Nice work!!! 

modelcrazy

Bummer, I don't see any pics Scott.

 

Don't know what the deal is guys, I use imageshack, they show up on my computer and phone.  Anyone getting a ton of pop-ups on this site?  Twice while posting, when I hit Submit", it got sent to a website selling 3D printers. 

Reposted through imageshack again.  

scottrc

 

 

modelcrazy

Bummer, I don't see any pics Scott.

 

 

 

 

Don't know what the deal is guys, I use imageshack, they show up on my computer and phone.  Anyone getting a ton of pop-ups on this site?  Twice while posting, when I hit Submit", it got sent to a website selling 3D printers. 

 

I started a thread in the forum assistance zone! It's near impossible to use my ipad on this site any longer. Fortunately my desktop is able to block their ads.

Scott that ship is beautiful. I'm amazed when I look at the rigging detail props to you...or maybe it should be favorable winds in this case

Definitely thanks for sharing 

Today I put the cotton on the wave caps and around the ship and boats. Calling this done...unless I make some adjustment based on feedback, but in either case let's call it done lol

Now ignore the ship, it's 3 years old and the 1st ship I'd done in 20 years...The idea was just to use all the armor and aircraft that came in the kit to create a scene and learn something new.

Now here's where I could use some input. In the next 2 shots I was trying to arrange the cotton to show the spray coming up off the tank and hovercraft. I'm not sure it works close-up though. Any opinions?

 
edit-meant tank and hovercraft. Bad terminology lol hard to get feedback if you confuse the reader 

Scott, beautiful. I love the Constitution

Mongoose, good job mate! At that scale is very dificult to make cotton look any better because the nature of the fibers. The spray from the hovercraft look supper. I'm not sure which truck and RHIB your speaking of.

Each water scene you do you'll get more confidence and skill. This was my first try. I'm  still pretty happy with it and it gave me confidence to go further. I tried diffrent mediums before I finally settled on acrylic gel and varnish.

Mongoose: Yeah, that looks awesome to me! Love the water splashing off the tank coming off the landing craft in the second to bottom photo.

Man, there is some loads of mighty great stuff going on here,

Ben: Your masts are amazing. Even more outstanding PE work. I am greatly impressed.

Mongoose: Your Dio is absolutely fantastic. Excellent effort on the water effects. You seem to have got the hang of it right away. Overall, your dio displays some fine realism and activity. That's project you need to be right proud of. Also, appears your up and making solid progress on the Big E.

Mach 71: Good to have you checking in. Nice looking Blueback. I personally like #4 followed by #3.

Scott: That ship is absolutely stunning. Incredible detail and marvelous craftsmenship. The flag is amazing.  I am just taken aback. Your Kansas is also looking equally remarkable. I'm really enjoying your work.

Steve: It was always my impression, and that of others, that the dark side was reserved for those of us who resided in the world of 1/72 scale. My ventures into 1/700 has enlightened me to an even deeper sanctum of the dark side though.

As for my part of the armada, I am making slow but steady progress. I have to admit that I was becoming a bit dismayed with my ship building efforts. It was not the process that was getting me down but, rather the kit itself. Assembling without any guide pins or holes was bumming me out. The extra time and effort needed to get parts lined up and positioned was taking the fun out of it. It was, for a time, an effort to generate any ambition to work on it. Yet, I've stayed with it and am beginning to get momentum going. Especially since I've finally got all of the 20mm Oerlikons cleaned up and assembled. 

Here's some of the work and progress I've been at.

First was the cleaning up of the 20mm parts. The gun barrel attachment points were right in the shoulder braces. As such, I had to take the razor saw, xacto blade and small round file to them to look the part. Before is on the left and after some work on the right.

Then there was the pedestal/shield mounts. The front faces of each one had a sink mark on them. Or some were just a molded mess. 

Fortunately, the kit comes with 2 sprues of the armament so I had plenty of them to work with. Taking some Mr. Surfacer 500 I filled the holes and sanded them up. Much better.

It took me a couple of days to glue the barrels to the pedestals on all 16 of them. It took a steady hand to get each one set in place. They're not all perfectly centered between the shields but, they look the part. Glad to be past that tedious endeavor.

In between sessions with the Oerlikons I've been deepening the portholes by drilling them a bit to give them some depth. Still a number of them to go.

Also, yesterday my Scale Color paints arrived that I'm going to try out on the Oakland. Although I have some colourcoat paints I've been wanting to try out Jeff Herne's paints. I'll be giving them some test runs here in the next couple of days and let you know how they are working.

Thank you all for having a look and thanks for all the inspiration and support.

Cheers, Joe

Looks like the pics came through.  Thanks guys!

I'm still a noob at rigging, and this is probably my last plastic sailing ship for awhile.  I plan to start the clipper Sea Witch next in wood. Wood is so much more easier with in regards to rigging than plastic even though I put steel stiffeners in the masts.

Mongoose, thanks for starting the thread about the pop ups. I was going to but then I was a t work and had to divert my attention. Also, the wave action is coming along nicely.  Keep adding and experimenting.

Joe, thanks for the compliments.  The 20mm guns are worth the time you are putting into them.  Nice work!

Scott

Excelent work on the guns Joe, especially in 700!. The time you put in will really add to the finished build. That's the one thing that's a drag for me with warships, all the repetitive parts, especially on US WWII ships.

Man, there is some incredible work happening here. I'm picking up tons just lurking in the background.

Update on the Peleliu. I am nearly ready for primer. I should post up some update pics later today. Looking forward to getting this one done, the scale is too small for me to work with comfortably, but it will work.

BK

Not much to see here. It just has SO many tiny pieces. It took 3 hours to assemble the tower section.

Its going to look nice Brandon.  You are quite good at painting.  

Nice construction on the Peleliu Brandon. Look forward to seeing some paint on it. Looks as though you've some work cut for you with that pile Helos, Harriers and boats. Good to see you here.

Oh yeah, all those wee aircraft. She's looking good Brandon 

Lots done on the Enterprise but not much to show  3 days to fill and sand the hull, then get through a majority of the 1st 8 steps. I say majority because no supports, ladders or other small parts that would cause paint to puddle up were added. plus, I'd say 1/2 day was lost due to my prior build skills. I found a couple places where i put on parts but didn't remove the ejector pin marks. Ooh those were tough to sand and fill around the dang hangarr bay doors.
This baby is gonna take a full autobody spray can of primer. No .020 needle airbrush on this baby lol

just fits in my paint booth on a diagonal. Here I've got the supports in for the hangar bay

And here is the hull ready for me to fill the seams around the different sponsons. Most won't take much, all but 2 just need some perfect plastic putty. 

Mongoose, that thing is huge. I won'yt usually post a pic unless thete's something substancial to show. That't why my NC is still in the shadows