amateur

You learn something new every day. I never realized there was this 'slack' in the antennae.
Looks great (as everything you show us does)
 
Jan

Thanks once more gentlemen for your encouraging praise!
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Toolkit for the gun
 
The operation of the gun required quite a few different tools for handling the projectiles and the powder-bags, as well as for cleaning and maintenance.
 
There were two different wipers, one for cleaning with soap-water and the other one for greasing the bore after use. This still was the era of black powder, which means that the bore had to be cleaned frequently.
Loading required a rammer to push the projectile and the powder-bags into the chamber of the gun. The rammer also served to unload the gun by pushing it through the muzzle. It had a depression in the front so that one would not push onto the fuse.
 
The large-scale instruction model in the (former) Orlogmuseet in Copenhagen came with many of the necessary tools. Their look tallies with the description of a textbook on the Imperial German naval artillery (Galster, 1885). The length of the shaft was given as the length of the barrel plus some extra for one or two men to be able to hold onto it, while it was fully inserted. If there were not enough space for such long implements, there were also versions in two parts with a brass connecting sleeve.

Wiper (top) and rammer (bottom)
 
The body of the implements was turned from some 2 mm steel rod, as I had this to hand. The shaft is a 0.8 mm piano wire. The latter appears to be quite hefty, but seems to tally with the photographs.

Wipers and rammer before painting
 
As the gun will be shown undergoing a drill, the wipers are not needed and will be shown in their protective canvas covers, stored in the racks on deckhouse as per photograph below.

Wipers in their protective canvas covers
 
The canvas covers were simulated with some Vallejo liquid putty. According to Galster (1885) the covers were supposed to be painted black, but the above photograph indicates that they were white, which is what I opted for.
The rammer body has two copper-bands to protect it, which were simulated with paint. The limited space in barbette seems to prevent the use of a full-length rammer, so I gave the end of the shaft a connecting sleeve simulated with paint.
 
Tampion
The photograph of the instruction model in Copenhagen also shows the expanding tampion that was constructed from two brass discs with some fibre material in between that was contained by a leather sleeve. An internal screw operated by a T-shaped handle squeezed the fibres between the disc and made them expand to lock into the muzzle.

Expanding tampion for the 30,5 cm gun
 
The tampion is probably going to be the very last machined part on this model. It was turned from a length of brass rod. The handle was first turned as a thin disk and then the excess material was milled away to leave the T-shaped handle standing. The greased leather sleeve has been simulated by some brown paint.

Turning the tampion
 

Milling the tampion handle
 
 
The painted wipers, rammer and tampion
 
Next on the list are the anchor-crane, the flagpole and flag and finally the gun-sights
 
To be continued ....

Finally, my working table is ‘clear’ again!
 

Few more details added. Mostly just decals and railings left to do.

Morning(?😎) Keith. Yes, of course you may👍🏻. the stirrups are  6.5mm(0.25“??) so maybe the picture wasnt good. So here is another one where my inspector is being hoisted up.  Note that i tied the rope under his arms and not around the neck since his services will still be required 😎.  The shape of the ropes is work in progress, am still experimenting (off model) with varnish.
Edit: and i did cheat with the attachment points for the ropes  under the  platform, because i forgot to include them when building. Now its too late.

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Why don’t we see people runing around on the deck. Oh wait, its 1:700 plastic. Looks lery much like the real thing, but those little people can’t move.
This is so convincing!
 
Jan

Little progress in my work on Blagoev.

This model is built in the style of factory built models from the 19th and 20th centuries. Therefore, some parts will not be painted.

One thing has come to my belief, I could never, not in the course of a thousand years, duplicate the skill and craftsmanship on display here....
 
Just absolutely stunning...

I used glue….

I remembered the password. But I have to inform you that I have tried the usual "forgotten password" method several times in the past without success. I suspect that if I hadn't remembered, I would never have come in here again.

Hi Valeriy,
 
what a beautiful work.
 
I have a question: your hatches show hinges on all dides, and  post #130 shows ‘unhinged’ hinges. Was it possible to choose the direction in which these hatches opened? And also: the parts between the hinges, are those to bolt down the hatches while at sea?
 
Jan

Thanks, Ab, much appreciated !
 
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Installing the ship’s boats 2
 
It is done! All four boats are suspended from their davits and the work was achieved without major damage to other parts.
 
Good thing that there is not (yet) any brain recorder … because of the mental language that accompanied the process at certain stages.
 
Still there is a lot to be done, such as tidying up the loose ends, making and installing the coils of rope from the runners of the boat-tackles and the longitudinal chain-stays for the davits.
   

 
To be continued ....

Well this bit is done 

This is pure paint wizardry. Nobody will believe that this started out as a rough lifeless plastic blimp covered in red primer. Al that masking was worth the effort!
 
Jan

Sanding it again helped to give the surface less of a 'plastic' look. 
Just to get the scale right: what is the lenght of this blimp? Is it around 10 inch, or even smaller?
 
Jan

This is pure paint wizardry. Nobody will believe that this started out as a rough lifeless plastic blimp covered in red primer. Al that masking was worth the effort!
 
Jan

This is al deck and interior related pics I have.....
Pics were taken march 5th, 2010 when the ship was in Utrecht for a winter-overhaul.
Therefore most deckfittings (decklights) were covered in tarpaulin......
 



 
I hope they are of some use to you, as the requested structures are not in the pics
 
Jan
 
 

This is pure paint wizardry. Nobody will believe that this started out as a rough lifeless plastic blimp covered in red primer. Al that masking was worth the effort!
 
Jan