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Post by Daniel C on Dec 28, 2010 14:11:17 GMT -5
Thanks Sam!! Your signing up here has got me back on track for my ship building. While I have gathered the 4 stalled ship projects on the desk to look and evaluate my progress on them, I got out this old Hasagawa kit of the Light Cruiser "Tenryu". This ship, like our Omaha class cruiser was pretty much obsolete and retired until war looked over the horizon. The kit is not bad, but shows its age when looking at the newer 1/700 offerings. There are a few modifications to make. The biggest is on the bridge structure. So much for me thinking this would be a simple build! I will use assorted p/e from LionRoar and GMM and instead of folding up the 25mm AA guns, I am going to use the new "Nano Dread" line of detail parts from Fine Molds for the twin 25mm AA. She will of course be mounted on a water base when completed. The ship in 1936. The kit Starting to cut away part of the bridge, the armored conning tower will have to be scratched as well as the deck, and bulkheads around the cut out area. bridge continues... The bits to make the conning tower and deck/bulkheads. Deck and bulkheads installed.. Conning tower added with a w/t hatch opened. That part didn't take long at all!
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Post by sammuel on Dec 28, 2010 17:28:49 GMT -5
Nice work.......I really am starting to enjoy scratch building and it is great to see how a fellow modeler takes on a re-fit project.
Looks good! Is that an older mold kit?
Sam
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 4, 2011 0:13:58 GMT -5
I am not sure of the exact date of this kit, but it seems a bit older. Work on the after deckhouse, portholes and w/t doors added. The horrible 5.5" main guns, the sighting slots on the front face are huge and will be sanded down, as well as a hatch on top of the shield, it will be replaced by p/e. Messing around on the stern, I drilled out a hatch and added a p/e hatch in the open position......... of course my big fingers knocked it off the next day ;D So, I will wait until the end to add it back! The bridge stack dry fitted.. During dry fitting I discovered a gap underneath the two levels, so I cut some strip styrene and will sand it down to the proper height tomorrow. Started working on the funnels, the rest of the main guns and the AA platform, hopefully more pics tomorrow!
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 6, 2011 14:32:45 GMT -5
Here is where work on the model began again.... The "NanoDread" box in the background is a new line of ship accessories by Fine Molds, and they are 200% better than the kit parts. I will use the 25mm from this series rather than bending and folding the photo etch ones. This is how the bridge structure turned out, I kind of wish I had cut it up some more and used the p/e windows...... next time! The 14cm main gun parts and after assembly.... see the p/e? After asking a few questions of a fellow modelwarships builder, I learned I needed to repaint the main deck. He told me that the whole deck is in the linoleum, not just the bow area I had at first, so after I repainted, I decided to change the boats and boat supports..... off they went, to be followed by filling, sanding and repainting. hehehe, sometimes we do it the hard way! Next up, the masts. They are not bad in the kit except they are way to thick, so I am looking at the rigging to see what materials I will need to replace the yardarms with. I am also looking at the "crows nest" it has a row of windows on the front, hmmmm, should I saw them out and use the p/e windows (or will that look funny since I didn't;t with the bridge?) or just paint them and the frames carefully? So here she is today, working on the funnels paint, boats, and smaller deck fittings midships. I will add the p/e railings on the midships superstructure now so they will be easy to do. Then finish the depth charge racks (p/e) and do the deck edge railings next to last.
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Post by mexmarine on Jan 6, 2011 23:27:08 GMT -5
Moving along nicely Dan!
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 7, 2011 0:58:32 GMT -5
it was supposed to be a quick, easy build..... looking to be done by end of the month
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 19, 2011 15:37:54 GMT -5
Back to Tenryu..... Todays task, assemble the foremast. Looking at pictures of the ship and what the kit provides, I decided to use part of the kit mast (the lower tripod section) since it looks very sturdy in the photographs and scratch the upper section of the foremast with plastic, brass and fibreoptic. Step one, dry fit and align the tripod lower mast, then glue together. As always, alignment is a major judging point on ships. Kit mast parts.. Lower foremast.... aligned?? hehehe we'll see once the upper mast gets added how well it is. Parts being made of the different materials... A jig constructed from a post it note... The completed mast..... waiting for the courage to lift it from the post it note..... uh, I mean letting the glue dry! The upper mast probably won't get stepped until the midships area gets finished with funnels and p/e railings. then the joy of constructing a main mast! Construction starts on the upper mast using a post it note jig.
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Post by mexmarine on Jan 20, 2011 1:02:32 GMT -5
oh... ok... now you give out the tips... I am learning
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 20, 2011 12:44:30 GMT -5
Guards! arrest than man who leaked the tips!!
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 20, 2011 18:07:13 GMT -5
Well, since the ship is moving right along, time to start on the base... I am really amazed at the detail and molding of these new "NanoDread" parts from Fine Molds. These twin 25mm mounts are the first I have used and compared to the kit parts and the "fun" of photo etch 25mm mounts, I will be getting more of these! The single and triple 25mm mounts are just as good. This is the base I will use, it is molded by Trumpeter (they have a nice selection of sizes) and very clear. I have used artist oils in the past for my "oceans" so I thought I would try some Vallejo acrylics for this ship. These are the colors I have on hand and will use.... I just use a used cap from a water or soda or in this case a grape juice as my "pallet" and another to hold my thinner/water. Cheap and effective. I just dab it on in random patterns to cover the base in my first coat, latter I will get a color picture of a ship (hopefully the one you are modeling if possible) from directly overhead and another shot from an aircraft but from a lower angle. This will help in creating a real looking ocean and wake. So many ship models are ruined by badly done wake and wave patterns! Test fit..... and color check..... One thing I learned about these new NanoDread parts..... they are as hard to find as p/e parts when they go flying onto the floor! ;D
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Post by mexmarine on Jan 20, 2011 22:24:39 GMT -5
I wonder if a magnet would work to find those flying parts I wont be able to resist using those nano-things
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 22, 2011 13:08:59 GMT -5
Yep, the nanodread are worth the money to me, at least the guns. The next set I want to try is binoculars for the bridge. Japanese ships had tons of large bino's on the different bridge level. I have a set from Hasagawa of p/e bino's and rangefinders. The rangefinders I can bend (as seen on this build) but the bino's are too small. Plus the Hasagawa p/e sets I have are done in S. Steel, they are hard to bend and to cut. I like brass p/e the best. So, good progress is being made on this little ship. I did the railings around the midships and after superstructures last night, I was a little worried since they are full of curves, but they came out ok. Hasagawa also molded the superstructure deck houses with slightly curved corners instead of squared up. grrrr..... The IJN also used two bar railing, but for this ship I didn't have enough of the "Voyager" brand two bar IJN railing and decided to use up an old set of Gold Medal Models USN 3 bar (which is good) and a partial set of old Gold Medal Models 2 bar IJN railing from an older "IJN Cruiser/Destroyer" set. The rails in this are very chunky, the newer Gold Medal Models IJN sets are much better. Here is the railing in place on the midships structure and the range finder from Hasagawa p/e. After much thought of using the kit boat davits or going with p/e ones, I decided to use the LionRoar p/e davits.... very small, but they fold up very easy. 8 davits made last night, they won't be added until the railings are on, they are very delicate! Whats left? Work on the stern depth charge racks, deck edge railings, finish the fore and main masts, rigging, and finally putting her in "water". The Liqutex medium gel will be put over the base and the white water painted on last. Will she be done by Friday? ? Maybe.... Then back to the Panzer III
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 27, 2011 18:04:02 GMT -5
As you can see, she has not been abandoned, work is going along.... Railings are on, depth charge racks are on, even that RDF anntenna is on ( ) , boats and davits are installed and the foremast is rigged and installed, with the mainmast being worked on as we type.... (Glue is drying). 28 hours to go and all that is left is the mainmast, some rigging between masts and mounting in her ocean to support the attack on Wake Island in Dec. 1941. Next up will be the adding the water, mounting the ship and her "portrait".
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Post by Daniel C on Jan 30, 2011 0:54:16 GMT -5
Tenryu is nearly done! This is how I do her rigging. I use Dai Riki 9X fishing line, it is .002 inch in dia, even something that fine still scales out to 1.5inches in 1/700 scale. The tools are simple, a permanent marker (usually) for painting, a wooden chopstick with a hole drilled in the end and a needle dipped in super glue and then stuck in the hole, I use this to dip in my super glue and touch the rigging when applying it. I use the plain Krazy Glue (it is the only one I can keep "fresh" between ships, must be the click tight case it is packed in). I put a drop on the water bottle lid and dip my applicator in as I need it. I have a pair of flat ended nail clippers, from Revlon. It allows me to cut flush against a mast or yard when trimming the rigging line. I normally use a pair of "helping hands" to hold the Dai Riki in place and maneuver the ship under it until the line touches the mast or yard I want to glue it to. That takes the hand shake and need to hold your hand perfectly still without getting to loose or to tight on the rigging. It can be adjusted for vertical or horizontal rigging.......... But, with the change in hobby rooms I couldn't find it for Tenryu. Hmmm, gunny said, "Improvise, adapt, overcome". So for this build, I started by drilling a hole in the bow and supergluing my Dai Riki in the hole. I then taped it to my desk lamp! oh, I used low tack blue painters tape..... ;D Then I maneuvered the foremast to touch the line where I wanted it glued and added a small drop of superglue with my applicator. I sat back and let it dry for a minute. Thats it, just keep maneuvering the ship under the line, touch the super glue and rigging is easy. The hard part is finding a rigging plan for most ships, I just "approximated" the lines on Tenryu. Next is the water, again simple tools and supplies to finish the water that was started the other day. I use the Liquatex Medium gloss gel, a disposable glove (keeps fingerprints out of your water!), an old paint brush for applying close to the hull, and a little bowl of water to smooth out your ocean or wash your tools/finger tips with. Put on your glove and start spreading the gel around with your finger, watch out for air bubbles in the gel, keep your finger tip wet to help smooth out the tops, you don't want your ocean looking like cake frosting. The thicker the gel is applied, the longer it will take to dry..... But then again, the thicker it is, the more "depth" your water will have! Your choice. Since I had to get this dry for the IPMS SD contest in about 5 hours, it was applied thin. About a hour and a half later it looked like this, you can see some spots that are still not clear (it is white when applied, don't worry, it will dry clear).... Thats all there is to it...... uh, well, almost. I didn't have the time to add a bow wave or wake. I will do that this coming week with some artist oil paints..... Once I get her finished next week I will post her final portraits...
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Post by mexmarine on Jan 30, 2011 0:56:54 GMT -5
And the quarterly contest winner is... should I spoil it?
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