Zvezda 1/72 English Medieval Ship Thomas - Fin 28 April 2014

The obligatory sprue shots of the kit.

Steve

Continuing

And more...

And more...

And the construction begins.

And continues.

No image

Last one.  Hope you all enjoyed it.

Steve

Good looking stuff, Steve!

Glad to hear you're feeling better, by the way!

It's funny, because I'm working on the Thomas right now, too!  And I'm approximately at the same stage...just got the castles *oiled up* this morning, and they'll be ready for install in a couple of days...I'm not using the Kingly colors you mentioned, mostly just woody kind of stuff, and I mixed a custom color for the tarred lower hull.

I found it interesting that the kit came with nameplates for the Hansa Kogge, and the Thomas, as well as two different tops for the mast, one square and one trapezoidal? Did Zvezda literally use two different boxes and sell the same kit under different names?

I'm also using a few aftermarket parts...I have a bag of brass eyebolts (from MS) so I decided to ditch the plastic eyes and replace the ones on the aftercastle and the base of the mast with brass ones...looks much better.  And I bought some hearts from Bluejacket to rig my own deadeyes, though the kit's molded ones look great, which is typical for Zvezda (not sure why no one else can seem to make good-looking molded lanyards and blocks, but they can!)

What are your plans for the sail?

Anyway, hope things continue to look up for ya!  It'll be nice to have you around again!  

Thanks Dave, I am definitely on the mend.

It just goes to show that you produce two to three ships to my one...... I must getting old!  When did you start your Thomas build?  I have been "working" on this for eight to nine months.

I agree, iT was a bit weird when I found not only the name plates but also the peaks of the mast.  One was the Hanse peak with the cross finial and the other a ball finial.  The tops I not sure about; there was the square one which is included in the pictures above and the trapezoidal were the two forecastles.  There was the smaller forecastle from the Hanse Kogge included but the Thomas should have the larger  forecastle since that would have accommodated more soldiers.  There are three incarnations of the Kogge but maybe four by Zvezda so we should not be surprised about the extra parts which will go into the spare parts box!  I would love to see pictures of your build.

I also made my own eyebolts on the Hanse Kogge since the plastic one broke in no time flat and I am with you, the metal now only look better but also work better with the rigging.  I rigged the deadeyes and stays using wooden deadeyes and hearts and I am glad I did since they look so much better; although Zvezda makes some really good plastic deadeyes and blocks.  I believe that they are able to since there ships all are in the 1/72 scale.  I also believe that Imai only included their blocks in the larger scale since my USS Susquehanna 1/150 does not have blocks and my 1/120 Constitution doesn't either but I'll have to check.

Since this a "How To" I am actually going to build the OOB as much as possible.  I could also include the deadeye rigging I did on the Hanse Kogge for more advanced modelers.

I'm including a shot of the large forecastle.

Steve

Whoops wrong one, that's the aft castle.  Here's the forecastle.

Steve

Ah...the smaller trapezoid is a forecastle!  It's so tiny, I figured it must be a different style of mast top...but now that I think about it, there would be no way to fasten it to the mast...interesting.

I started on the Thomas a few weeks ago...it's fun to see the same kit being worked on by someone else...in some ways they look similar, but the little differences in our style make it fun to compare!

I'll be sure and post a few pics pretty soon.  I'm taking pics along the way, but not posting a WIP here this time.

Once I finish her, I'll be switching gears from ships to build a new Tamiya Formula 1 Race car that just came out...then I'm trying to get the courage to build that Katy of Norfolk Model Shipways kit...if I do, then I expect I'll create a WIP, because I'll be counting on a lot of advice!!  Wood scares me!  But it's a solid-hull model, so hopefully I'll have a better chance with carving than with planking!

Steve

 Very nice.I'm really liking your weathering.keep the photo's coming.

Rod

I missed this one Steve. She is looking beautiful with the weathering so far. Watching with interest.....cheers mark

Thanks Rod.  I appreciate you keeping an eye on my posts.  Please feel free to suggest anything that would make her look better.

Steve

Thanks Mark again for the support.  The Yamato is looking awesome.  I would appreciate some pointers on photo-etching when I start on the Revell 1/350 Tirpitz.

Steve

Here a some more shots for your entertainment.

Steve

Lookin' good, Steve!

I have my rudder for the Thomas sitting here, couldn't resist hijacking your thread with a similar pic!

It's so funny to be working on the same (almost) kit...

Dave,

Looking good!  I like the wood color and the darker bottom color who came up with.  The brass fittings (pintles) on the rudder and (grunions) on the ship which I assume are also painted brass, look striking and the whole thing has come together very nicely. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I agree, it's interesting to see how the same ship can be interpreted in different ways and both look great.  Reminds me of playing guitar with a couple of other people using the same make and model and all playing differently and making sounds you had never considered before but adding so much beauty to the song.

I'm going to make a rope ladder for the fighting top because theoretically it would be pretty difficult for long bowman with bow and arrows and whatever other accruements they would need, shinnining up a stay.  I also plan on not using the tent provided.  It just doesn't look right in size or shape. I am not sure if I'll scratch build one or not since I do not plan on adding any figures.

Steve

Lovely work Steve. If I can help when you start the Tirpitz I would be glad too.....Cheers mark

Thanks, Steve!

I'm going to try to get the castles and rudder installed today, if I can find some time to sit down...

I like the brass for the pintles, too....and though I would guess that brass wasn't used for such items, I think it looks cool...sometimes I use bronze or even black for that stuff.

I like your idea for the rope ladder, makes sense.  And the tent?  I'm not in love with the way it looks, either...it didn't occur to me to replace it or just leave it off...something to consider.  We'll see if can get it to look okay, otherwise it might go bye-bye to live in the spare parts box!

Hey, I play guitar, too!

Dave

One chore of modeling that I've failed to attend to is the filling of gaps.  What do you use for the little spaces between mating parts?  I have some milliput that I use for resin figure repair, but I wonder if there's a better/faster-drying/smoother choice?

Got my castles on today (sent you an email with a pic), and soon it'll be time for the sail...but now I am starting to wonder whether I like the molded sail, or if I should try something else?  I'd hate for it to cheapen the overall effect of the kit....

What are your thoughts, Steve?

Interesting that you bring up filling gaps.  While I was trying to dry fit the aft castle, the hull got away from me and did a bit of crash and burn.  There are sprung gaps all over the upper and lower hull joint.  I am not sure how I am going to fix it at the moment.  I had an almost perfect join but not anymore......

Anyway, what I usually use for this type of gap filling is Mr Surfacer 500 applied with Tamiya fine pointed Q-Tips.  I let that dry about 10 minutes or so and then take a regular Q-Tip soaked in 91% Isopropyl Alcahol.  Tis can get rid of the paint in the area but if you do it right it won't affect the grain and painting is a lot easier that trying to scribe new grain.  After you get to where the gap is filled and there is no excess let it dry overnight and then apply more if there was shrinkage.

In regards to the sail, since this is a How To article/CD, I am building the Thomas Out of the Box, except for the stuff they call rigging line.  I will scan the coat of arms decal before using it so that I can go back after the article is done and rerig with wooden deadeyes, etc... Pretty much like the Hanse Kogge from last year.  If I can find a way to make realistic looking sails then I use the coat of arms I scanned.  However, if I have the sail set, then I will need to populate the ship, otherwise it will look like a ghost ship in my opinion.

Hope this helps.  I wrote an awesome reply earlier but it disappeared into the ether........

Steve

Dave,

By the way, what type of guitar do you play?  I play a 1970 Fender Telecaster, an Ibenez Les Paul Custom and an Ovation acoustic.  Although I really don't get much time to play anymore and the band years are long ago....... Kinda like my hair!

Steve

I have a Takamine G-Series....I play acoustic.  Been playing with a guy from work, having fun!  We play classic rock tunes, Beatles, Eagles, Pink Floyd...We actually put on a little concert for our co-workers last Friday!

Sorry you dropped your model...what a pain!

Got my sail on the Thomas last night...one of the neatest things about this kit is that the yard doesn't have any locator pins to attach it to the mast...this kit actually comes with a molded parral with trucks, and once it is clipped to the yard (around the mast), the lift and the sling rigging is what actually holds it up!  So, now I have it suspended by some binder clips and line, have to decide at what height to tie the yard...