Canute

I did not recognize it when I read your post, but now that you mention the title, I remember it from speech tournaments in junior high!  Yes, a difficult read and recitation.  

Glen, if you aren't familiar it's from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) by Coleridge. A bit of a difficult read these days, maybe then too.

That is captivating.  Thanks for sharing, Ian.

Looking at your model's tattered sails and battered hull reminded me of a ghostly ship in a certain poem:
 
...... ...... The western wave was all a-flame The day was well nigh done! Almost upon the western wave Rested the broad bright Sun; When that strange shape drove suddenly Betwixt us and the Sun. And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, (Heaven's Mother send us grace!) As if through a dungeon-grate he peered, With broad and burning face. Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) How fast she nears and nears! Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, Like restless gossameres! Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew? Is that a DEATH? and are there two? Is DEATH that woman's mate? ........
........

I start with an acetone bath, then blackening for 90 seconds, then a water rinse, dry and a slight buff with a soft cloth.  The acetone bath is an important step. 
 
I have learned not all blackening solutions, like CA, are equal in quality or results. 
 
Foe me paint designed to look like metal rather than just black paint works ok, but only if weathering powder is applied, and not as good as blackening for some things. 
 
 

My experience with blackening fluid is it seems to work better when dramatically diluted with water (think 90% water).  This slows down the chemical reaction and helps prevent the thick buildup of black that comes right off.  I dip it for 20 or 30 seconds several times until I get the color I want.  It is important to keep that stuff out of your eyes, etc. though.  Painting is easier if you want a pure black color.  I think most of the iron was painted black in real life.  
 
Adam

Well, 
 
New modules printed over the weekend, last night I finished cutting out the old modules and installing the new ones.  A good time to have a nice sharp, fine razor saw!  Almost a perfect fit. 

Great diorama Greg; have to agree that wake looks really convincing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Vert nice work. The wake is very convincing
Alan

Fore bridge:
I tried soldering the parts shown in the bottom left corner of the previous picture.
The brackets on part 138 went OK.
The handrail to part 139 however did not want to stick.
I had to clamp down this piece as it was bent due to the etching process.
The contact points were so small and the heat could not be applied in such a way that the very small amount of soldering paste woul melt.
So i glued the handrails with PVA-glue.

 
The rails to the sides of the bridge I glued too, in order not to mix them up (error in Pontos instructions, numbers are switched).

 
This was not a good Idea.
The handrails are easily knocked off when handeling the part.
More about that in a future update.
 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

I ran across a pair of these at a Naval Base in Norway 25 years ago.  They were in *rough* shape back then when the NATO fleet dropped in for a visit.  I wonder if they've done anything with them since then.  It was up near Bergen.  
 
Neat build!  

On an off white on many interior compartments is a pretty common practice because it does help to brighten up the work space a little bit and improve visibility.

I’m not certain but it’s a great suggestion - I thought white was an odd interior colour but maybe it was intended to make things as visible as possible?

If you going to open up the turret? you will want to take the white interior back to the rear rivet line, maybe even farther if your going to rotate the turret... The Turret has relatively large doors and when open, you can see all of the turret interior and quite a bit of the hull interior... 
 
It's a very nice Kit and can be built into a very nice example of an FT-17 of most any era...

A small start on the interior. 

Hi James,
 
This is my 3rd 1/35 scale vehicle...the other two were Tamiya. There are an awful lot of small, fiddly parts in this kit, with a fair bit of flash and ejector pin remnants on a lot of those parts. Also, the part to part location spots are a bit indistinct at times.
 
However, I find the subject matter interesting and important - that's mainly why I chose it.
 
Building up the chassis is taking a while...a bit longer than I had anticipated. And then there will be the 'when to paint' question ie paint sub-assembllies or wait till the whole model is finished..... I'll probably go with sub-assemblies.
 
I might (...very small might) add some interior LED type lighting) but will likely position the truck in a scenario eg top of a small rise for better radio coverage. But I'm a long ways from all that at the moment.
 
And Spring has arrived, the grass needs cutting, the garden shed/workshop has been re-roofed. etc..so a number of other 'attractions' are vying for attention.
 
Thanks for dropping in 🙂
 
Richard

Flagship had one in development, I believe. With Rusty's passing, that one is on hold.

Flagship Models had an extensive line of ACW ironclads, primarily in 1/192 scale, but the owner passed away. Luckily for modelers, the line was picked up by Squadron Models. I believe they intend to re-release these kits in the future. 🤞

Mike - I am really enjoying these kits.  I have vivid memories of building kits in the 70's and 90's and spending a lot of time and frustration trying to get things together.  I've been watching your builds and have been really impressed with how you solve whatever building issues come up with your kits.  There are a few downsides to the great engineering.  The tight tolerances make cleaning paint off joints really important, and I have created my own gaps and filling by not doing this well enough.  The other big gap is between my skills and getting the full potential out of the kit, but I'm getting better with each one I build.
 
Some more progress on the DH9.  This model has a lot of decals.  Not as many as DocRob's AEG, but still a lot.  I've been plugging away and have most of the applied except for one side of the fuselage.  Overall, they have been going on well.  There have been a few challenges, especially the roundels where there are some ~5x5x4 mm small nacelles sticking up under the edge of the decal, which I've had a really hard time getting the decals to settle over.  They seem too big for the decal to fully conform to.   I've got some splits in the decals and a few place where I cut them and am touching up with paint.  The tamiya blue matches well and I'm pleased with the lower ones after touch up.  The upper roundel has a white stripe around it.  I'm going to try to touch that up tonight.  There was a gas cap on the side of the fuselage that was almost as big, and I was able to get the decal to settle over it with 6-7 applications of softener and heat.  Not sure it would have worked with the bigger bumps.

I'll follow along too please Rick. Interested to see what the mini art kit is like and your thoughts. They have a few models that have caught my eye but I've never tried one. 

James,
 
That NEC show looks very good. And lots of cracking models being exhibited.
 
Very interesting that Pete Waterman is putting his clout behind it....bodes well.
 
Richard

In the meantime there's a couple of aircraft/modelling events coming up in the UK that I've bought tickets to go to.
 
First up is Model world live at the NEC in Birmingham. This has been set up by Pete Waterman, he's one of the producers behind Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley amongst many others from the 80's, and he's a keen model railway fan. The event has lots going on ... https://www.keymodelworld.com/modelworldlive
 
The next one is the Midlands air festival with the Red Arrows, hot air balloon displays, wing walking display, fly pasts from a Spitfire, Lancaster, Mustang etc. and large model aircraft too. 
 
https://www.midlandsairfestival.com
 
 
 

A bit more done today. Landing gear is on, rotors have been primed. Almost ready for his first coat of gloss. 
 

In case anyone is interested, I found this short video on the JRS-1 subject I'm building and how it went looking for the Japanese fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Amazing bravery for these guys - the JRS itself did not carry any armaments - the only weapons carried were rifles that Marine and Army volunteers planned to shoot out the back windows if they had to 🇺🇸
   

Evening all,   I have  been  working on my  LG  today  -  I converted his steeds  colour  from Brown to  Black,   the paint  is  still  slightly  wet  in places.
 
OC.