Ships of the German Flag GB 2020

Looking good there Marcus. Not sure if you have already said, but whats the reason for the white circle on the turrest.

Marcus McBean

Overall this is how the SMS Kronprinz is looking.

Marcus, It doesn't take much to chew up time on ships. I know that's a lot more work than it looks.

Everyone,

Another quick update. 

Added another deck assembly behind the turret B.  Three pieces that if you don't align it correctly on the deck and to the barrbette the deck piece would not fit correctly. 

I was able to place it correctly the first attempt.  Also layed down the recognition marking (decal) for the turret. 

Doesn't look like much done but all the decking for the superstructures have been painted and masked and a waiting paint.  Will post those photos after painting.

Overall this is how the SMS Kronprinz is looking.

Until the next post.

Stay safe,

Marcus

Mongoose,

Nice effort on the rigging, really looks nice.  Never used stretched sprue, always Ez-line. 

That launch really looks like it moving at a nice clip, could water ski behind it..LOL.  Really nice work creating the wake.  Those two days were worth it.

Marcus

Excelent eater Chris. I've never tried to replicate that triangular long wire set up the Germans and British used  I might have to barrow that. At least you don't have to build the ring antennas the Japanese used.

Thanks Dodgy!

Heres a few more wip pics of the Tirpitz. 
my 1st major rigging. The Enterprise was easy for the little i needed to do. And now all of a sudden i have to do these dual lines! Made myself a jig and bent them oit of some fine wire. Tried a number of things before this that were all epic failures lol

Hopefully they look good after paint. They seem to be ok scale wise, although i was debating a thinner wore I didn't have anything smaller. This is about  0.3mm

And I'm pretty happy woth this. It's all stretched black sprue.

Lastly I finished up the Fjord and now it's ready for gloss varnish! I spent 2 days working on the wake for the launch. The wake is colored using a sponge dipped in gloss white. This method seems to have turned out well. I never did it all at once - i did some and let it dry, then came back later and made another layer. The background colors seemed to blend in nocely doing it this way.

Marcus and Mongoose, thats stunning work from both of you. I particularly like the stern shot of the Tirpitz. The  way you have done the water and the wake from the Captains cutter is awsome mongoose.

Sadly I dont think the decks on the Emden are going to look anything like yours Marcus.

I believe they raised it on the stern while at port and on the mast while moving, although I've seen them on the stearn underway. I'd say while in port it would be at the stearn.

When a German battleship was moored did they raise the flag on the stern jackshaft or was it on the main mast? Never thought of this before And I don't know enough about the military to know which one it is but I would guess that there is a standard established for diffe situations 

modelcrazy

Marcus.

That's a great looking deck! 

Mongoose.

Wow! I have to say that is just looking sweet. You have a knack for ships.

Mongoose,

Thank you.  Now to start building up.

Marcus

Marcus.

That's a great looking deck! 

Mongoose.

Wow! I have to say that is just looking sweet. You have a knack for ships.

ikar01

Does anybody know where I can get a replacement set from either a kit that was done waterline or aftermarket props.  These are 3 bladed props aboiut 1/2 inch across.

Yes. I can send you mine. It's and Academy kit but should work. Just PM me your address.

Ikar here's a trick that may help you. If you have an extension tube for the vacuum add it to the hose, then put a woman's stocking over the end with a rubber band around it. Now you run that all around the floor while standing up. If it's there that vacumm will suck it right up and the stocking will hold it there for you to grab 

I have the 3 from Tamiya's Tirpitz. May be of some  help. If I remember correctly tho 2 are the wrong direction, their design mistake. If that doesn't bother you then i can grab a pic and we can see if they are close to what you need. For some reason I'm thinking they aren't that big in diameter. Will have to check when i can get to the model room later today.

chris

Unfortunately I'm not able to get on the floor easily or without pain and getting up can be just as bad.  I have used a flashlight at different angles, a long handled sticky roller, and moved things around.  So far, nothing.

No help on sourcing one.  But take a flashlight and get down and hold it close to the floor and sweep it across the area. Anything there will be easier to see.

I've gota problem.  I was putting on a propeller for the Graf Spee and it went somewhere toward the garage floor.  I started a search for the parts and went as far as moving st[rage shelves and racks just in case it bounced under one but so far it has not turned up.  Shame I wasn't doing a diorama aboiut Stalag 13 because nothing escapes from there.

Does anybody know where I can get a replacement set from either a kit that was done waterline or aftermarket props.  These are 3 bladed props aboiut 1/2 inch across.

Mongoose,

Great progress, the diorama is looking awesome. Adding the house is a nice touch, reflects that the Tirpiz is sitting in Norway.

Marcus

Marcus all that detail is going to pay off. That whole deck is shaping up to be sharp.

On my end hit a major milestone today, all the major elements are done! 

in this one you can see the little control house i call it on the pier. I painted it to match a picture from 2008 so it has a modern day coloring 

Something else I've learned as part of this build - the red house and barn color is a signature of the region. red was the cheapest color to make. It came from local cod liver oil and ochre. this one in my diorama is all hand made. I printed the windows on 24lb paper so they would have depth on the house. Stippled the shingles with a sponge and 3 different gray shades and some nato black.

I'm going to have a crane pulling the motor launch from the water. Trying to set up the premise that they are preparing to get under way...that's why the captain is hauling butt to get back from his girlfrien's house to the ship haha

The water in this one looks good from 2' away. Up close and in the pics you can see my calm channel in the fjord has some flat spots in it. This experiment using gloss medium needs more work.
As always lots of small stuff to do. I'm 1/3 thru the rigging, have to do wakes and water effects, boats all need placed, lines dropped to all the boats as well, put on the cranes and planes, you guys know how much it takes to close these out! Look for final pics next week sometime!

All,

I finished the painting the hull and installed the upper deck, 152mm guns to the lower deck.  Now I can work on detailing and installing the superstructures, etc..

Layed down a couple of fine coats of Future to protect the paint but still have some touch ups to do.  Typical of ICM the upper deck needed quite of bit of trimming to make it fit and sit down correctly on the hull.  There are spots that will need some putty and paint touch ups.

It wasn't fun having to tape around all of those coal scuttles (hatches?) but the effect was worth it.  Anyway until the next post, stay safe.

Marcus

modelcrazy

Marcus, I did the same thing to the Akagi. I finially found a fine tiped awe rather than a drill worked better for me to make the holes for the rungs. I got tired of breaking my .02mm drill bits. I really like the alignment tape they provide.

I kept the drill bit as short as possible sticking out of the chuck and the plastic ICM used for this model is very soft.  The softest I have experience so far.  Very Fire does not provide any tape for alignment.  I used blue painters and Tamiya tape to hold the template down.

Marus

Marcus, I did the same thing to the Akagi. I finially found a fine tiped awe rather than a drill worked better for me to make the holes for the rungs. I got tired of breaking my .02mm drill bits. I really like the alignment tape they provide.

ikar01

The P.E. I've been using are from Eduard and their instructions don't cover everything in their set.  I have several parts that I have no idea what to do with them so they will go into the spares box for some future project.  The kit supplied its own set of P.E. but they don't show much  in the way of placment either

Thanks for the instructions link.  I did notice a couple things that I missed on my sheets and will be taking care of thes oversites soon.

 

When I explained in detail my question, they responded within a day and provided an answer within a week.

It was their mistake, but it solved the problem and gave me the info to move the parts they supplied and make the new ones I needed,

Bill

Marcus that looks like some real eye strain there! That tool was worthwhile, those are straight For sure. The pull-back shot was valuable. Even with the dime the shot from a distance shows how small they are.

Quick updated on the SMS Kronprinz.

I removed the molded on grab handles from the secondary gun barbettes and replaced them with a PE set from 'Very Fire'.  At 1/350 scale the replacement handles are very, very tiny.  The set came with templates to align the drill holes which if you don't secure it to superstructure really good they will pop off when removing the drill bit.  Which makes it very hard to realign the template with the existing holes already made.

The handles were easy to install.  I used extra thin CA glue and a glue looper with the small looper attachment. 

The photos are not very good but they do look better live and with a coat of paint will really add detail to that section of the ship.

Finished painting the hull and deck this morning and will post pictures tomorrow if everything looks good after removing all of the protecting tape.

Marcus

The P.E. I've been using are from Eduard and their instructions don't cover everything in their set.  I have several parts that I have no idea what to do with them so they will go into the spares box for some future project.  The kit supplied its own set of P.E. but they don't show much  in the way of placment either

Thanks for the instructions link.  I did notice a couple things that I missed on my sheets and will be taking care of thes oversites soon.

Ikar01 here is a link to the instructions If that helps? Didn't see if those railings were aftermarket tho so if this is useless my apologies - 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10094293/70/8

these guys often have kit instructions loaded so it's a cool, free resource.

Nice job on the Spee and I agree with Marcus, that is something you'll just have to play by ear.

Fine looking ship.  It always seems that you have to wing it when doing railings.  When using GMM PE they only give you a tier number as to which railing you could use  on this deck or that deck.  Making them fit is your problem, but then again I have come quite proficent over time  with installing them.

Marcus

Looking great. Some lovely work in there.