SMS Emden by RGL - FINISHED - Revell - 1/350 - PLASTIC

[BANYAN]

Those guns look great Greg - looka like you are just having too much fun with plastic- any chance of a return to the dark side?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[RGL]

I don't mind the 6 month projects at the moment, but I do want to build the Atlantic. It comes down to what catches my fancy and allows my OCD to grab me. I was always going to do an Emden, but when I saw the Varyag I was like "Oh, shiny!", thus my foray into plastic for a while. . 3 masters take a LOT of time.

[Jim Lad]

Very nice work on those guns, Greg.

 

John

[RGL]

Moving along, there is a scuttle of some sort on the plans but not the kit. reproduced with a bit if etch and plastic strip.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Greg Lester

[RGL]

Next the portholes. I was a bit torn here as the 20 year old kit males no effort at making the eyebrows for the portholes and the photos have them fairly flush. I used 152 individual photo etch portholes which took several hours to get right with a file and tweezers. some keep falling off which means i have to check and re check to make sure they're still there. When painted they will hopefully not be so prominent.

[RGL]

Next are the shafts. I will put the props on last. I had to utalise some of the kit and drilled out the plastic shaft replacing it with brass rod. i hope this makes them more sturdy.

[RGL]

A one off is the torpedo tubes below the hull. Just a tint bit of etch to represent the hinges matches the plans.

[RGL]

Next step is the Anchor or hawser holes. Your can see strait through to the other side. as you can see from the tiny anchor its going to look a bit silly so using a bit of off cut etch and a mandrel I shaped some inner tubes.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Greg Lester

[RGL]

The final part of the hull before priming are the hull steps. These are about 1mm each, I drilled all the way through the hull, place the set then put superglue behind them from the interior of the hull to set them and fill any gaps. 

[mtaylor]

Those tiny steps and all the portholes are looking great.  Talk about dedication, perseverance, and a steady hand... You have it!!!!

[Captain Slog]

Next are the shafts. I will put the props on last. I had to utalise some of the kit and drilled out the plastic shaft replacing it with brass rod. i hope this makes them more sturdy.

 

Hi Greg,

 

Enjoying following this build.

 

Got an observation though, looking at the 3rd photo in post #36 with your brass prop shaft, they appear to splay outboard at an awkward angle.  I would imagine they would be closer in line with the 'hump' they exit from.  I am not an expert  just looks weird unless they used universal joints!

 

Cheers

Slog

[Canute]

All those tiny details. Well done, Greg!

[RGL]

Slog's right, the angle is wrong. I cut them off and reversed them. Still wrong! The placement of the braces on the kit does not align with the plans as the start of the prop itself needs to align with the rudder post. More cutting and sanding required. The props are about 2mm out (too big) which is a lot at this scale and would hit the hull. The Dresden props are much smaller and of no use to me (there were 4 of them). I shall post some photos when I can get the computer from my 10 year old who is currently battling the forces of evil. I had hoped to get the primer coat on today!!

[dgbot]

Do not worry Greg, to your 10 yr old the battle with the forces of evil can be tiring and he will have to rest a bit before he can continue.  As for the props, have you experimented with reducing the blade size?

David B

[RGL]

David, there are only 2 in the kit, so if I stuff it I'm stuffed. I used the brackets from the Dresden kit and a 1 mm shim which will not be visible on the finished product. The shafts are now appearing to run true and the props run clear of the hull.

[BANYAN]

Great progress Greg - looking very good indeed.  At this pace you'll be finished by NYD

 

cheers

 

Pat

[RGL]

Not NYD this or next year! as I posted above, I removed the shafts and reversed them. Nup, angle all sorts of wrong again when compared to the plans.

[RGL]

Now, a bit more cut and paste and I'm finally happy. Slog certainly save me a lot of recovery work, that's what happens when you're working upside down.

[Old Collingwood]

Slog's right, the angle is wrong. I cut them off and reversed them. Still wrong! The placement of the braces on the kit does not align with the plans as the start of the prop itself needs to align with the rudder post. More cutting and sanding required. The props are about 2mm out (too big) which is a lot at this scale and would hit the hull. The Dresden props are much smaller and of no use to me (there were 4 of them). I shall post some photos when I can get the computer from my 10 year old who is currently battling the forces of evil. I had hoped to get the primer coat on today!!

I feel your pain........

 

OC

[Old Collingwood]

In all honesty - i would have shaved the props down with a fine sanding stick/file and shortend the prop shaft supports, to bring it more in line with the waterline.

 

 

OC.

[docidle]

Great work so far Greg. I like your workaround on the hawser holes and prop shafts. I used a piece of plastic sheet painted black on my Dreadnought's hawser holes but I really like your idea. Looking forward for more updates.

 

Steve

[RGL]

Not brave enough old boy! It's aligned now anyway, just like the plans.

[RGL]

First primer coat. There are a few things I want to fix up that are visible to me, like a tiny gap in the bilge keel, which I may remedy by running some CA along the gap to fill it. This kit is a little bit smaller than the Varyag and requires a lot more bashing.

[RGL]

The hull is pretty much painted, just a few little touch ups to go. The Tamiya mask worked very well.

 

Huff's plans state that the pre WW1 ships had no boot straps and I can find no reference to them apart from the Revell painting guide. It is somewhat of a relief.

 

I am missing, however, a red pin stripe at the yellow and white border which was apparently 5cm and I have no idea how to paint a strip which is essentially 1mm thick. Open to suggestions or if anyone makes decals that thin in red stripe.

 

Next is the interior detail for the below deck guns.

[BANYAN]

Hi Greg - looks great mate!   Too late now I think, but the only option I could think of is to lay the red first then a single strip of masking tape of the appropriate width over it, then paint the other colours either side masking as required?

 

Alternatively, you might consider auto pinstripe (red) and apply it like a decal then a coat of flat clear over it to seal it? 

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited January 9, 2016 by BANYAN

[mikec]

Wow, you have been busy. glad I have caught up with this. Looks amazing. I have just returned to shipyard after building 1/32 scale F105 Thunderchief.

I posted pics on my Endeavour log. I thoroughly enjoy working with plastic, though it is less forgiving, it does sharpen up the painting and modelling skills.

 

I will follow your build with interest as i have a Revell Constition kit that I will be my next build, using combination of wood and the plastic hull.

 

re the 1mm red stripe- you can get 1mm pinstripe tape available in red, you will find it online or at your local hobby shop. If you can't i can get it here in NZ and postr to you

 

cheers Mike

[RGL]

I actually found some online! Just need to use the correct words! Who knew?

[RGL]

I have started on the deck. Given it is one continuous piece, it is far easier to cut it to bite size pieces. That way I can do the interior detail and amidships before starting on any of the housing. Firstly snipping it in three and filing it back. The adding a layer on top of the side storage which on the real ship was vinyl held down my 5cm brass strips. I have used cut off photo etch railing to represent this.

 

The deck is from Artwox.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Greg Lester

[RGL]

The side storage has hatches provided by Eduard which are lovely grates but just not accurate.This is the photo on the orange box.

 

The coaling scuttles are very nice though and were blackened then sanded to provide detail. The kit nor Artwox mention them. The B/W photos are from the Australian War Memorial website and show the scuttles and the side hatches.

 

I replaced the hatches with other spares, a little too big but they will almost be invisible after the kit is complete.  As you can see from my hand size they are pretty small.

 

I am in the process of making sinks which sit outside the toilets which are the first main door you can see forward.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Greg Lester

[RGL]

Quick Update, the sinks amidships. 1mm x 1mm card and a 1mm downpipe.