_SalD_

i am missing the antenna

Ahoy dear model building community.
 
I feel very honored by this comment.
 
The dress rehearsal took place today.  
The falcon was screwed onto its threaded rod one last time for testing.
I did some light chipping and fading on the base plate and am now checking to see if anything is missing anywhere.
Take a look at the bird.
 

 
The front laser looks in exactly the right direction for me.
 

 
The height and angle of the falcon looks good.
 

 
Of course, it is unnecessary to paint any further details in the middle.
 

 
There is still a little aging missing on the lower plate, front edge.
 

 
Sides look good too.
 

 
And the upper laser also shoots in the general direction of the falcon.
 

 
Also a few little things that I will improve. I expect my model to be completed next weekend. 

Today I finished the glass case, and my wife was so kind to clean the glass in- and outside, as well as to help  carry and  swap some of the other cases to a new display place in my hobby office.
This closes the project
 
Here some final pics of the casing and its build..... This was my 11th  case I built this way and I`m pleased that to date there was no broken glass. I`m not so happy of the steadily increasing prices for glass, so I`m surprised of the glasser`s offers every time.
I would like to thank all that were interested in the build log, with many likes, wows, appreciations, comments and suggestions allong the ride.
 
 
Nils

the glass-panes are held with helping aids, such as the "third hand" clamped to the cupboard above, short fixing- and distance pieces, and preliminary self adhesive tape

the angles are well keep the panes in place
 

after the top panel is complete stained and framed, the 4 vertical profiles are stained an cut to length
 
 

now comes the final assembly.....

here again the clamped on "third hand"

the right angle corner

mounting the top panel ( lid) to the rest

metal corners fixed with stainless steel blackend philips flat cross-head screws (M1,7 x 6mm )

the glass bonnet set down on the base with the 6 interacting positioning pins, also the are 6 self adhesive felt patches  under the baseplate to enable a smooth contact.
 

Time to dive into the water effects, which will probably make or break the project.  After going thru a bunch of youtube videos on how to make waterfall dioramas, I finally settled on a hybrid technique that I think will work - caulk and cotton.  I took some caulk that comes out white but dries clear and laid down a number of beads on wax paper and a glass plate (I could not get it off the wax paper later, so glass is the way to go).  

 
 
Next, I unfurled some cotton from the ends of q-tips.  I like q-tips because the cotton is wound around the ends and you can get nice strings which work well for a stream of water like a waterfall.  While the caulk was still tacky, I gently pressed the stringy cotton onto the caulk strips.

 
Next, I took some diluted white glue and dabbed drops of it onto the cotton with a paint brush.  It was a bit tricky to do this without pulling the cotton strings off the caulk.
 
 
 
While the waterfall strips were drying, I worked on the base layer of colors for the waterfall pool.  The waterfall pool in the first pic below has the color shades I was trying to mirror.  The 2nd pic is what I was able to do after several days of trying, failing, and trying again.  The final result is varying mixes of green, yellow, and 3 different shades of blue. 
 
I will add a layer of clear epoxy resin  (maybe a slight tint) for 3D depth and then some mild ripple effects on top.


 
 
Finally, I had to take a preliminary look to see if I was heading in the right direction or way off track.  So I placed a few of the waterfall strips on the rock and got a rough sneak preview.

 
I'm not sure how happy I am with the opaqueness of the caulk.  I think it would look better if it was clearer and you could see thru it to the rock in the gaps between cotton strands.  However, to the naked eye, it looks a lot better than this up close picture.   So I may play around with that some more.  Regardless, it'll have to wait as I'm fixing to head out of town for a couple of weeks.  
 
 

This is how I got into woodworking. 
Had the wish from a young age already to make violins, and one day I just gave it a go.
This pic is the 4th violin I made, from scratch, just some drawings and some wood.
 

Very impressive Nils, great work as usual.  I love the figures.

This was a very nice build, but a bit expensive
 

Bob,
I`m very pleased that you like the model and thanks for your kind comments. You`re right, I tried to put a bit of that 1918 oldie Laker-steamship "charme" into the build. It was not easy to start with, because I had no build plans, except a frameplan of an appr. equal tonnage and length Ferris type freighter. I was facinated of the feeling transmitted through the manyfold careful watch of the "Sea Chase" movie, german  movie name "Der Seefuchs". All details were adopted from stand-pics I made from the movie video (Free available on the web). For the figures, 1:87 (H0 scale) I preferably use chosen out Preiser figures, in this case also from Artitec
 
Nils

Great job! An interesting vessel and a model that is truly a work of art. By that I mean that it's details, particularly the figures, convey a sense of warmth and charm, a sense of "life," if you will, that doesn't seem possible to achieve with our highly accurate, but, frankly, "lifeless and antiseptic," "as built" technical modeling masterpieces. This model demonstrates how a viewer can indeed be "drawn into the reality" of a ship; by viewing a model of it. This isn't a criticism of technical "as built" models at all. They are a different thing entirely and magnificent in their own right. This model, though, really exemplifies that quality that distinguishes art from craftsmanship in ship modeling, two equally respectable qualities, which I've tried with only limited success to explain to others from time to time. 
 
What I'm talking about here is exemplified by the photo below. Nobody who's ever been to sea can fail to recall the feeling of facing into the wind that this tableau conveys:
 

FINISHED
 
The Laker-steamer Ergenstrasse of birthyear 1918 is now finished.
Will still have to build the glass case for it
Enjoy the pics. I shall choose out some of them and 
create a new album for these.....
 
Nils
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Nils - excellent work - I like the way the crew and passengers bring your models to life. I worry about the blond lady, she looks like her reserve of stability is somewhat suspect. She would be advised to take a step back from the rail.

Very impressive Nils, great work as usual.  I love the figures.

Very impressive Nils, great work as usual.  I love the figures.

Very impressive Nils, great work as usual.  I love the figures.

Very impressive Nils, great work as usual.  I love the figures.

'Have done a couple things on the GF - I'll have to finalize what's done on the bowsprit at some time, so started with  what appear to be jackstays on either side for a certain distance.  My guess is that they might offer some foot purchase until a cadet could get a hands on the stay cables.  There will be a long cable on either side going from the point of the bowsprit to the hull, and the ship has netting suspended from these cables going entirely under the bowsprit as a safety net - a wise precaution.
 
  Drilling for eyes and threading 22w gauge brass wire through before gluing is good practice for the jackstays that will go on all the yards.  Note that a pair of small turnbuckles are fixed by eyes on the fore deck, that will be for the 'split' lower forestay.  The breaker shield (already built) has yet to be glued.

 
  The larger turnbuckles are mounted in tow places (so far) on the port side.  'Found I had to bend hardened quilters pins into eyes, and the ends were forced into the hull as the original builder did.  The soft eyes (ship findings) kept bending  when I tried to force them in - so harder pins were resorted to - just that the eyes are irregular, but trying completely round tapered needle nosed pliers makes for better eyes ... I have no intention on pulling these out, as I prefer to go FORWARD (not back) - unless absolutely necessary.  Small holes were drilled for belaying pins (not installed yet), and the drill bit did mark the deck below (my bad) ... a touch of shellac will blend those marks.

 
  I think I'll have to pre-attach line to at least some of the belaying pins, since there will be 'tight spots' in certain areas - like when the stairs so in with railings.  'Lots of though still on which order to do stuff in.

 
  As usual, the ship yard is by no means my only interest.  And lately I thought it would be nice to look for a used telescope to at least look at the moon as the phases change - lots of shadows and craters seen clearly wherever the 'terminator' (lunar day-night zone), plus whatever planets might be available.  And I found one locally - an old Criterion RV6 - 6" f8 Newtonian on a motorized German Equitorial mount.  The scope itself was only $375 (assembly and tweaking required - like modifying a spare pinion to fix the focuser).  Another $125 bough some decent eyepieces and a Barlow.  The optical tube is lying on my wheeled project table.

 
  'Still some additional assembly needed for the mount pictured below.
 
 

 
 

Boring update here - prep work for painting.  The first step was using modeling clay to fill in a bunch of the gaps and then brushing a layer of Gesso over everything.  I left more visible cracks under the main channel of water for a bit of contrast.  We'll see how that looks when I paint the rocks their final gray. 
 
For the sides and back of the wall, I covered the areas with a thin layer of modeling clay and textured/contoured it a bit.  The idea was to make it look like a cross-section of a large rock wall without all the cracks and sharp edges that the exposed face has.

Update
 
The crew and a passenger have boarded, the flags are set and two lockers (1 each Stb. and port) for lifevests and signal equipment are placed at the aft end of the boatsdeck. the lantern are set, The compass on the monkey island will be attached this week.
I shall post a set of final pictures to round up this 8 month project and for the appropriate album in the next days
 
Nils
three crew members on the forecastle deck, sorry for the not so good quality (taken without flash)

capt. looking out from the bridge, first officer on monkey island and donkey-man on front deck winch platform

the blonde young lady on the front Stb. boatsdeck is miss Elsa Keller, the only passenger, (aka Lana Turner in the movie)

The nationality flag ( my wife did in no way allow me set the historic correct flag)

Hamburg is port of registration, and aft toplamp

flag of destination country (Sydney harbour), top of foremast and toplamps and lookout in crow`s nest

lockers for lifevests and signal equipment

 

taillamp
 
 
 

Completion
 
Fini!  Well, except for a stern lantern.  The britannia metal one in the kit was about as sad as the quarter gallery parts, so had to be replaced.  Found one the right style and size from Caldercraft and it's winging it's way from the UK so it'll get fitted (along with some cat head lions) when it gets here. 
 
I have not made this a detailed log so I've missed a lot of specific comments on this kit, so I'll try to summarize here.  All in all an enjoyable kit to build for me.  I'd say there were a number of design issues and plan mismatches (none too big) and some part quality (metal) issues that made it necessary to bash and scratch a little bit.  There were a few places where you'd expect a recently designed kit to have some parts laser cut at least a starter but expected you to make from stock.  Not a big deal, but if you expect a lot of hand holding and perfect detail in instructions you could get a bit frustrated.  Not a beginner project!   One nice thing is that where some parts might be a challenge to finish there were ample spares laser cut, and plenty of extra strip stock left over.  I strayed a bit in places like not doing the hammock netting (I hate those things).  Maybe not as accurate, at least not according to plan, but it pleases me.  I also didn't do the ship's boat, but the kit includes one.  It has it hanging from the stern davits, but I didn't like the look of it there, obscuring the stern works.
 
I'm going to take a short breather and build a plastic model of my Miata that I scored at a club raffle, then plow back in with the Shipways Mayflower.  That will be a different sort of challenge as I will rig it, but then I'll escape back into hull model world with the USF Confederacy.
 
Thanks all for the looks, likes, and comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update
 
Ergenstrasse is almost complete,
New are : Bridge awnings bothsides and frontpannels with stiffening out brackets, mokeydeck railings and front funnelstays, and several bracket supports for the  bridge and its wing cabs .....
Also mounted lifesavers with ropes in 8 places
Nils

sun protection awning

bridge wing pannels with supporting brackets and monkey deck railing

 

 
 
 

Work begins on the real waterfall.  I bought some foam blocks for floral arrangements, glued a couple together, and cut them to fit my base.  I affixed a couple of bamboo skewers to the base which will pierce the foam giving it some extra stability when I load it up with rocks.
 
 
 
The next step was cutting the foam to the basic shape of the waterfall's wall.  You can also see my large assortment of rocks to choose from as I build the wall.  

 
 
I started affixing rocks at the top with the rock heating/foam melting process I used for my test. 
 
Unfortunately, I got off to a rocky start (sorry about that  😁) with the very first piece.  It was a bigger than my test pieces so I decided to use a propane torch instead of the butane torch I used for the test.  Bad move!  When I heated up the rock and placed it on top of the foam, it started sizzling and sinking really fast.  I realized it was about to cause a mini China Syndrome and melt all the way thru my carefully shaped foam, so I grabbed it quickly and went back to the butane torch.

 
 
More progress...

 
 
And here's the face of the wall complete.  At least for now anyway.  It's got some ridges that are more noticeable in person than picture, but I'll let it sit overnight and take another look in the morning to see if I want to make them more prominent.  I also tried to visualize the flow of the water down the rocks as I was piecing it together, but I found that's a lot harder than I thought.  Hard to see the forest when you're working on each tree.  So again, I need to step back, let my brain refocus, and look at it with fresh eyes.

 
 
Viewing from the top, you can see I left 2 small channels on each side of the main channel in the middle.  I might have a couple of small ribbons trickling down paths from there.  Maybe.

 
 
 
 

Day 2
the boiler colour was to light and now i have gone too dark, but will stay this way now, after all would not be a Kevin build if i kept to the correct colours
 
chassis, made up of wood, MDF, castings and PE

 
Tender
wheels need the most cleaning up, from the tabs

just a test fit of the wheels, these are still to be made up, boiler in her new colour, and matt black 

 

started yesterday 28 December
the make up of the boiler was simple enough, as were the forward and after modules, all the MDF is covered in PE

here is the link to the wikki page
Adler (locomotive) - Wikipedia
 
i needed a short break from the Indefatigable so thought i would do a OOB kit 
 
here is a quick review of the contents
all the last cut material is quite good, in a few places the cut has not gone all the way through, so 9/10
the PE is chunky, and has been etched, and quite well detailed 9/10,
instructions, seam ok 10/10
casting need cleaning up to rid the seam lines 8/10
 
 
 

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and got to spend a lot of time with family and friends.
 
I've been watching a bunch of youtube videos trying to figure out how to approach the second half of this project, which is making the rock wall and waterfall.  In between videos, I decided to go ahead and make the base so I could at least feel like I was getting something done.  Nothing too elaborate.  It's 14" wide by 9" deep with the front beveled for a nameplate.  I added a 3/16" rim around the perimeter which will hold in the epoxy resin that makes up the waterfall pool.

 
 
On to the rock wall.  From the youtube videos, I got several ideas for how to make the wall, like stacking polystyrene and scoring with a knife, wadding up newspaper and covering with plaster of paris, making rock molds and casting rocks, or even buying plastic rocks and pushing them into modeling clay.  I did some trial and error on a few of these methods which ended up being a lot more error than trial.  I just could not get anything to look like I wanted.  
 
The video using cast rocks from rock molds seemed to give the best look for my purposes.  I was about to pursue that route when I thought why not use real rocks instead of fake ones?  There are places at my ranch that have these thin, flat reddish rocks with good texture (no idea what kind of rocks they actually are).  So on my next trip out there, I gathered up a few handfuls to try them out.  I decided to use some packing foam for the basic shape of my rock wall.  I took a small piece of foam and a few rocks to test things out.  

 
 
As you can see, it was kind of like putting a puzzle together.  But the next question was how to adhere to the rocks to the foam.  Because some of the best looking rocks did not have a real flat or smooth surface, I did not think gluing them on would be very secure.  So I decided to try something a little different - melting them on.  I took a small butane torch, heated the back of the rock, then pressed it into the foam.  This actually worked great because it allowed me to push rocks into the foam at different depths so I could make the outer surface as smooth or blocky as necessary.

 
 
I tested the melting method on one of the rocks and it adhered to the foam quite securely.  So I continued with melting the rest of the rocks onto my test piece.  Next, I mixed up a small amount of plaster and filled in the gaps.  After that, I put a thin layer of gesso over the whole thing to seal it for painting.  And finally, I mixed up some gray and white paint with plenty of water to make a thin wash.  I covered the rocks with the wash, then added some darker grays in places for shading.  Here's how the final test piece came out.  The second pic is the basic color and rock texture I was trying to match.


 
I think my coloring is not too bad.  But I think I need to have a few more sharp edges on areas of the wall to give it more of a blocky look like in the picture.  For a test run, however, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.