Landlubber Mike

If you saw how many hours I spent fumbling around with things, it wouldn't have looked too easy But thank you for the kind words. I have to say that while dealing with gunport strips on Caldercraft, Amati and other kits can be a little of a pain, in the end they are much easier to deal with than cutting out your own. It might have been a lot easier if the bulkheads were arranged in such a way (and quantity) that the gunport fit equidistant between bulkheads, but that wasn't the case with this kit.

Really looking nice - love the pin up 👍 I have the Tamiya P-47D kit and am inspired to get similar nose art. With the Future, did you apply it over the whole model or just where the decals went? Not sure if you are weathering or not, but in your experience, is it worth applying a gloss finish before using washes, etc.? I think I’ve seen folks use the Tamiya panel line washes and oil paints over a gloss finish, yet it seems to me that one could use the Vallejo washes right over a painted surface without a gloss finish. Don't mean to interrupt your build log with the question. I’m near the point of decaling and weathering a couple 1/72 planes and am not quite sure I understand what is typically done.

Very nice Jack! Love the colors you settled on.

I got this one - seems to work very nicely. I have some larger kits that won't fit in there, but it works great for models on the smaller side. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MGGYH2W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm probably not the person to ask given that I've only used the airbrush I have now and can't really compare it to anything else aside from Tamiya acrylics. They seem pretty thin to me though, certainly thinner than Tamiya if that helps. They are designed to be used directly out of the bottle for airbrushing.

I posted this same question about six months ago and Kurt and others gave me a lot of good things to think about. For what it's worth, for the airbrush I went with an Iwata Eclipse and an Iwata compressor. I also bought a spray both off of Amazon. I've really enjoyed using Vallejo's air paints. I've used them straight from the bottle but will start adding a bit of flow improver because I tend to get dry tips (doesn't help airbrushing in the winter when the air is drier). I've used Tamiya acrylics and they are really nice too. Tamiya lacquers stink to high hell though, so venting is a good idea. For me, even when spraying acrylics I turn the vent on the booth so that the particles are pulled away from me. You can see a slight fog when airbrushing, so I feel it's better to pull them away from my lungs (and surrounding area) and into the filter pad.

One thing to keep in mind is the in and out feed from some tools like the band saw. Tools like those can't really be put against a wall, so a moveable table or some other option should be considered.

That's a nice set up. I have been thinking of making a hood for my Sherline lathe which throws dust everywhere.

I had a problem with my saw (user error!) when I first got it. I emailed Jim and he actually spent an hour on the phone walking me through the problem - on a holiday weekend no less. Well above and beyond what I would have expected. I've dealt with him and Donna since on multiple occasions and nothing but the best and most courteous service.

Craig, how do you find the Gator Glue on very tiny parts, or parts that have a tiny contact point? I tried using it on my current 1/700 destroyer build where the PE is ridiculously tiny, and had trouble getting it to work with attaching things like railings where the contact point is smaller than the head of a pin I might try it again. I've been using CA but CA dries so fast. The thin is way too quick for models I think. The medium is better set-time wise, but I find you have to smear it before putting it on a part or it's too thick. Then again, this is my experience with 1/700 scale which is a good scale to torture yourself and ruin your eyesight with 😳

Yes, I bought mine around that time and had to do that. It was a pretty quick turnaround. Well worth it I would say, especially if you are going to use Jim's sliding table.

Bob said it all - safety, accuracy with repeatable cuts. Is it necessary? Probably not, but makes the job a lot easier and safer. I'm very happy with mine.

I would ask him. I ordered mine last year and I think he had a few extra on hand at the time.

I recently picked up a couple Pocher and Revival kits. Must...stay...off...eBay...

I like the sliding table and the expanded fence. I haven't used the tilting table yet, and rarely use the micrometer stop. Get a bunch of blades and zero clearance inserts. One thing to consider if you have the budget and the space is to buy one with an expanded table top. Not sure if Jim is still making them, but with the wider top, you don't have to remove the fence when you need to switch to the sliding table for cross cutting. I ended up swapping my table top for the bigger table and it was worth it for me.

Looking forward to this one. I agree on going brown/tan I have a bunch of the old Monogram classic and Jo-han kits for cars like these (can find them for good prices on eBay). I figure if I can't own a real one, might as well build a model of one. I think cars from this period were real works of art. Not as into the more modern cars.

Looks nice - glad to see you kept the TV

Reason I ask is that I have the MS Charles Morgan, and I'm getting close to the coppering stage of the build. For what it's worth, the copper plates that Amati includes in kits like the Pegasus seem really well done. They aren't cheap, but I think they would look nicer and be more accurate that cutting individual plates from that tape.

Really nice job Mark. You're moving along quickly yet at your usual high modeling standard. Are you going to use the copper tape?

Looks well worth it! That would be quite a complicated tape job especially with the round surfaces. Really nice job. Can I ask what paint you're using for the Chromate Green? Is that the Vallejo bottle I saw in an earlier picture?

Bob, very nice work! I love the weathered look - looks amazing. Slim probably could use a little more food though.

Coming along very nicely Kevin!

Hey Jason, thanks for looking in! I don’t know if they are completely square but they are probably pretty close. The bottoms and tops follow the line of the deck, but for the most part there was only a 0.5-1mm change in height from one corner to another. When i built the ports, I just went ahead and made them square. I figured I could sand the inside of the vertical parts of the ports if necessary. With that little of a rise though, I don’t think whether the sides are perfectly vertical or not will be very noticeable. i think some kits set the bulkheads apart in such a way that the ports are either equidistant between bulkheads or abut the bulkheads. No luck here where the bulkheads are spaced at varying distances. Just very glad to be past this stage. So many hours spent transferring plan measurements to the hull, double checking and triple checking, etc.

Hope everyone is enjoying 2020. With the holidays, work, and a diversion into plastic models, I haven't been devoting as much time recently to the LAR. I did manage to line out the gunports on the gun deck level. All I can say is this took forever! The gunport patterns on other European kits like Caldercraft and Amati are a godsend. Given that there are 14 gunports per side, I thought it was important that there be smooth line to the ports, that they be square, and that they be even with each other. Hopefully the pictures below show clearly my particular method. Essentially, I spent many hours marking out the 10mmx10mm gunports by transferring measurements from the plans, drilled a 2mm hole in the center, and ran a brass rod through to make sure that the gunports on either side were square to each other and level with one another. Then after cutting out the 10mmx10mm gunports, I ran a square 10mmx10mm through to make sure that everything was still lined up. Since I'm lining the ports, i went ahead with adding 2mmx2mm sills, opening the gunports to 14mmx14mm. This was fairly easy using a micromotor with a small cut off wheel. The cut off wheel made for quick, straight work. The sills ultimately will be about 1mm, so I have an extra 1mm to overlap them with the second outer hull planking. I'm using padouk that I picked up from Woodcraft. It's an interesting wood - nice color (though will dull to an orange-brown over time, interesting smell when worked, and machines fairly easily. It does have pits in it like mahogany, but these fill up pretty nicely when sanded. Hopefully when I apply a finish there will be no visible pits. You have to be careful with the dust as it can be an irritant, so I worked using a respirator and a shop vac going at all times. It also can stain very light wood, so you have to be a little careful with that as well. To get ready for the inner bulwark planking, I decided to remove most of the gunport-level bulkhead frames. That was not at all easy but took lots of micromotor work. I was a bit nervous doing so, but I had rubbed PVA all over the first planking which kept the planking very stable. Next up will either be the inner bulwark planking or the exterior planking. Given that the interior bulwark planking will largely be invisible, I might start with it, so that when I do the outer hull planking, clamping and pinning issues might be easier to deal with.

Hmm, I have the Borodino in my stash. After seeing your build, I'll either be inspired to do it, or dissuaded from starting it and will end up selling it