James H

Nice, tidy job. I hate filler, so I know what you mean.

That looks real nice.

All gold ornamentation was painted with Vallejo. Scrollwork was sprayed with a gold rattle can and then sealed with acrylic clear coat to stop it coming off on my fingers.

Nope, I'm not thriving for a level I can never achieve, and nowhere have I ever stated that.....ever. My aim is to do the very best I can and not to cut corners if it can be helped. That's just making the most of our own skills and learning some new ones to better the outcome. For char removal, I use a combo of sanding sticks, sanding sponges and a 6inch steel rule with 400 grade paper wrapped around it. For the record, I don't think anyone needs to calm down. I can't see anyone getting angry at the moment. Just crack on with your builds!

Hi Glenn, I think Chuck's comments are more borne out of frustration that you could all make your models so much better looking with almost zero extra effort. It's not a case of using advanced skills. These are very basic skills, and I have to admit that I can't understand those who wouldn't want to use those very basic skills. Yes, it's a hobby! But why shouldn't someone want to do their very best in that hobby, even if they know they won't ever produce museum quality models. I know that I never will, but would hate to think I spent my free time creating something I knew could be better with no extra skills needed other than the very basic. Why shouldn't we do our very best.....even in a hobby? Because it's a hobby, it doesn't mean we should ever be tardy in our efforts, or cut corners in some mad rush to get to a finish line. If I only ever built one model again, I'd rather it was the very best I could achieve, than a dozen I was less proud of. I should be proud of showing my work, even if only average, to anyone who wanted to see it....including visitors to my home. Please take Chuck's words as more an effort to nudge folks into using the very basic skills, and not jumpstarting you into becoming the next David Antscherl or Harold Hahn. That wasn't the intention. He certainly wasn't there to belittle. Some things are so glaringly obvious that I have to ask myself sometimes why they were left in all their non-glory. As a member of said 'admin team', and someone who helped Chris with this development, I feel I had to reply. Until now, I've kept quiet publicly.

Are you tapering any of those planks?You'll never get them to fit around the bow otherwise. I see plank(s) that aren't sitting on the bulkheads. How well did you fair the frames?

Maybe a half plank strip top and bottom of that 'inner' part?

It's no biggie. You can (possibly) extend lower counter, or scrap it and build from planking strips.

It definitely needs to be higher. Approx 2mm above height of bulwarks. There's a note in the instructions about this and the need for the lower counter to be in the correct position.

That's a real nice appraisal/semi-review. Thanks for posting that!

I used the holes on mine, and also added more, so don't worry about it. A lick of filler in each hole and a 2 second sanding is all it needs to totally hide them. Remember though, some holes are for scuppers.

At this stage, I envisage it being new year before any further work can start. That's fine with me as it gives me a small break after my Vanguard Models stuff, before I dive back into this. I was looking through my files tonight and found 3 pics that Chris did of the original prototype. I'm not sure if these have been seen before, so I'll add them to my log so you can see what to expect as this progresses.

You're wrapping that around a compound curve, and there are small holes to allow you to pin it to the hull while it dries out. Alternatively, you can use elastic bands or tape to hold it around the the hull curve that affects the narrow width of the part while it dries.

That looks really nice!

That's a perfect summary.

That's quite possible. What would be the next step from a D5100 that would include such a feature.....but won't bankrupt me? The D850 you mention? That's probably more than I can stretch to.

I need to see if my D5100 does this. At the moment I'm doing the photos manually and stacking in Photoshop.

I'm building the prototype for the manual. This kit has been knocked back by over 12 months because of Covid. Italy was particularly badly hit to start with and all Amati's operations were put on the back burner....including those were closer to release such as Bismarck. No one could have foreseen what was going to happen, and we can't blame Amati for the delays. If you want to see this built, then check out my build log, and when it restarts again. This is the only site where you'll be able to follow along.

Not many know that I actually tore the whole stern out of HMS Sphinx when I was building her for VM. I had to carefully remove all my painted resin and PE and then git the back end to rebuild slightly for the manual. Despite that work, it still only took a couple of days, and that's not rushing. Fixing stuff up can be quite an easy and relatively quick affair, and it's always worth doing if you have the luxury of time on your side.

@Blue Ensign That looks absolutely spot on.

I just used a spray can, thin, light coats and about half a dozen of them. Spray from a short distance and not too close. Let completely dry before next coat. Et voila!

Those slots are definitely there. They are in the middle sandwich of the bulwark...the large side pattern you originally installed to the outer frame. Look here and you'll see them on the parts plans:

Those areas are just neatened, filled and finished, then painted black. There are no parts that fit there. The shed section between mid deck and forecastle gunwales, that's just the same with those little slots to fit the timberheads.

You can use thread for lashing, but I pinned in position first with a small length of 1mm brass wire.

I'm sure someone already did the heavy lifting before the kit was released 😉😝 I did try to make you a manual that showed everything in the smallest detail.