ccoyle

Great finish! Congratulations!

I have not been idle. The wing framing is complete -- all 71 parts of it. 😮

Yes, it is not cheap, but the construction method is different. Vanguard kits have a lot of laser-cut parts, but in the Shipyard kits, everything is laser-cut. As a result, there is almost no sanding to be done, other than smoothing the spots that hold parts in their frets. This also means there is no plank spiling to do. This makes Shipyard kits appealing to modelers who may not be able to deal with wood dust for whatever reason. So it's not really a direct competitor to Vanguard in the sense of being a choice between two POB kits -- it's more of a choice between two similar but substantially different construction methods.

Elevators completed. Wings are next!

Rik, your model is looking like it sailed right out of a painting by one of the Dutch Masters!

Great paint job! It does, though, kind of hide just how many pieces of PE you had to apply to the superstructure. I admire the skill and patience of anyone who can work with that stuff successfully.

Congratulations! I think that's a very handsome display.

Looks great!

Milestone moment: Empennage attached.

Work continues on the empennage. First I completed the rudder actuators. I used the dark aluminum pen from the Real Color markers set for these. Then we have the horizontal stabilizer framing (10 parts per side) and their skins. And the stabilizers added to the growing empennage.

You and a lot of other people -- who are all much older now and still waiting!

Agree! She looks pretty convincing.

I like them, so far. As I mentioned earlier, they're not exact matches in every instance. Some are better matches than others. The tan is pretty spot-on for the color printed on the model. The olive drab doesn't match the printed color very well, but as an edge color it hides seams decently. Very easy to use, of course.

I got the basic rudder finished and attached to the vertical stabilizer. I say 'basic' because I still need to attach the actuator rods. Just a dry fit for this shot.

She looks great! Congratulations!

The naming instructions are also pinned at the top of every build log category. For finished models, the word FINISHED in all-caps should be added immediately following the user name and set off by hyphens, e.g.: HMS Phlegmatic 1762 by jenny8675309 - FINISHED - Middling Models - 1:50 You can also add 'Finished' as a tag.

She looks very sharp!

I just learned today that Shipyard has released a new offering in their series of wooden kits (it's so new, in fact, that it's not yet even available for purchase in Shipyard's online shop). The new kit is the English revenue cutter Rattlesnake 1777 (the kit says '1776', but I think they got the date wrong). Shipyard have been highly regarded for years for their card model design, but they are relative newcomers to the world of wooden kits. Despite the fact that these kits are constructed of wood, they are designed -- and built -- in much the same manner as one of Shipyard's card kits, using plywood veneers instead of wood planking strips. That makes this type of kit a kind of 'wooden card model', if such a term makes sense. If you want to see what this looks like in actual practice, you can check out my build of Shipyard's Wütender Hund here and gallery images here. The prototype model is quite striking. If you're thinking that it looks rather like HM Cutter Alert 1777, that's because I believe the two ships were in the same class. There are, of course, several very nice kits of Alert already on the market, but this kit gives modelers an option to build something in a manner a little different from the usual POB wooden kits we see. As is usually the case, high quality comes at a cost; in this case, the Shipyard kit will set you back 1546 PLN, or about US$394.11 at today's exchange rate. That'd be eye-watering for a card model, but this is a wooden model -- with all wooden parts laser-cut. I hope we'll see more wooden kit offerings from Shipyard in the not-too-distant future!

I used to only build in 1/72 scale when I was a kid, but between my aging eyes, being accustomed to working in 1/33 scale for nearly two decades now, and seeing your hand in the picture for scale, my first thought was, "Dang, that's little!"

Normally I only do edge coloring. The quality of the graphic artwork varies widely among kits, from no weathering at all to photo-realistic artwork. Some designers color their own models, while other employ the talents of graphic artists. The team of Andrzej Halinski (designer) and Marcin Dworzecki (artist) is one well-known example. Some of the best artwork I have seen is done by Luis P. Igualada, whose models are available as downloads from ecardmodels.com. I have learned a few interesting tidbits about the 109 during the course of this project. If you zoom in on my last photo in post #28, you can see that each of the two parts of the stabilizer fairing has three small, red tic marks. Those marks are tail plane incidence indicators. The 109 had a variable incidence tail plane, which obviated the need for elevator trim tabs. Those Golden Age aeronautical engineers were extremely clever fellows!

Congratulations on finishing a stunning model!

Welcome aboard, Nick, from the author of the post you referenced! As I wrote in that post, it is not unheard of for a newcomer to our hobby to finish a project on the order of Indy, but it is rare. Nevertheless, you sound like you are well aware of the challenge ahead, and you will find as much help as you need here at MSW. Good luck on your project! P.S. You'll see in their signatures that many of our members also dabble in modeling subjects other than ships!

A small bit of progress. The vertical stabilizer is now skinned and glued to the last fuselage segment. I will complete the entire empennage before permanently attaching this assembly to the rest of the fuselage.

Yeah, this happens with a lot of my projects, too!

Greg does great research.