amateur

Well the plate distortion is not visible in primer as you need some gloss for it to show but the weld beads are nearly done and the hull is primed to 600 grit , the portholes are all masked at the moment, all the running gear is hooked up and the prop shafts and props are almost ready to install for good. Some superstructure elements are removed for now of course.

Guns done 

Yes there are! I've put it on hold somewhat while I was building the Cove Isle, but have made some progress on small bit like the rudder and prop. Also got the deck laid out, just deciding how I want to install it: plank by plank or in one big piece. I might try painting it first and see how I like it.
 
Main point of progress: the paintjob for the hull is complete!

I’ve made the first international trip with O-13, to Nürnberg in South of Germany where there was a big submarine meet in a pool. Hung a GoPro over the Edge  of the basin and spend two days sailing. 
 
Done quite a lot of optimising ballast, tweaking the movement of the front diveplanes and much more. Also replaced the props with nylon/carbon 3D printed ones with much smaller pitch, to sail slowly enough at periscope depth. And found room to install an automatic leveler. Now the boat is near stable at periscope depth with the rear planes being controlled by the leveler and both front and rear planes also by the transmitter.
 

First, I want to say thank you to everyone that spent time following this build and an especially big thanks for all that provided me with their views and information that I would not have otherwise been knowledgeable of.
 
Second, I have gotten back home from an enjoyable couple of days at the 48th Midwestern Model Ship and Boat Competition. This morning, I was quite satisfied to see the model had earned a gold award in the advanced category; but later in the day, things got even better when it was announced that the Santos-Dumont No 18 Hydroplane had been judged as Best of Show! 

 

Hi Jan,
 
All my life I have been building models of historic buildings in addition to ship models.
These are all commissions from museums in the Netherlands. Sometimes also from government agencies.
There are currently 34. I have been building them since my childhood when I already had a great interest in castles.
Recently I built a large model of the city of Zutphen, my hometown, which indicates what the city looked like in 1485. It required an in-depth investigation that I carried out together with an archaeologist and a building historian. I am also a building historian. Before that time, we already knew a lot about the city through the many studies we have done here in the city over more than 30 years. If the three of us agreed on what a certain house should look like, I built that house on a scale of 1 : 500. And that happened about 1400 times. In total, it took me five years in more than 6500 hours. 
It was determined in advance where the model should be placed. Especially for that purpose, a Medieval gun tower from 1557 was restored and a steel floor was made in it where the model could stand exactly. That place remains the definitive city place. That tower is further furnished as a small museum and is open to the public free of charge.
In that tower there is also a cannon from that time that I built especially for that purpose on a scale of 1 : 1. I have already published the description of that construction on this forum some time ago.
The last commission came from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. For a permanent exhibition, they needed a model of a prehistoric Tell, as found in Syria, and which are about 6000 years old.
On my website there are a number of models and ship models, but I need to update that website.  www.constantwillems.nl
Attached photo's of the model of Zutphen. A one-hour documentary has been made about its construction. It has already been on television a few times and that documentary has recently won awards in documentary festivals all over the world (San francisco, Milaan, Oslo, Oxfort). The latter was the first prize at the famous Cannes festival.
An

Constant

The cruiser's hull after applying the preliminary primer.

Yeah, but the kit-designers all go the other way: more 1:48 and 1:64 scale.
Beautifully designed models, but won;t fit my bench (Nor living-room)
 
Jan

8
 
A difficulty arose in making the sails. The only store in my city that sold the right kind of cotton for the sails, I am very critical about that, no longer had the material in its range. I tried it at a thrift store and found myself among a large collection of cute women's blouses. And yes, there was one that was made of 100% cotton and in the right thickness and fineness. For 1.5 euros I bought it and explained it to surprised ladies who were also looking there, but for a completely different reason, for which I needed it.
I made the sails completely according to the procedure I explained on my website; www.constantwillems.nl
Just before that I had slightly bent the yards by securing them in the shape on a board. Then I steamed the yards through the steam from our cappuccino machine, and let it sit for two days. Now they look fine.
 

 
Making the main sail. After the fabric was colored in a paint bath and dried, I carefully stretched it on a piece of plasticized plywood. On top of that a piece of paper was fastened on which the entire sail was drawn. Apparently there will be no doubling in the corners as usual with Dutch sails and there is also no reefing band. The sails were not reefed. In heavy weather, a smaller sail was simply raised. I smeared the leech on the edge of the sail with very slightly diluted wood glue. As little as possible so that the glue does not shine after drying. I rubbed it all around and worked clockwise. As you can see here, about half of them have already dried completely and are not shiny.

After this I cut out the sail and attached  the bolt rope against the edge all around. Small loops are then placed in the corners. That attachment was again done with wood glue.

Above the sail I have placed the yard which I have bent slightly. It looks a bit strange if it can be seen dead straight on the model.
 
I can recommend this method to everyone. Especially if you build on such a small scale as HO (1 : 87). It all stays firmly in place and because of the glue edge it does not fray and that edge is already pre-glued when attaching the leech rope.
 

The sails ready to attach to the yards
 
First I rigged the model with only the main sail. Because the sail hangs down a bit limply, I decided to keep it in shape. A small hand fan was placed behind the ship (the kind of thing you need on hot summer days if you are a tourist). I let it blow and positioned it until the natural bulge of the sail was created. Then I carefully sprayed a number of clouds on the tarp with hairspray from a distance of about 30 cm (instructions). After spraying about five times, I turned off the fan and the shape remained in the requested shape.
 

 
I drew on the tarp with a black ballpoint pen. That didn't flow out because of the hairspray. And it smells good in the house for the time being.
In any case, it is advisable to make a test first to try out how much you have to spray on the cotton to get it stiff and whether the ink you used to draw on the sail does not flow out.  By the way, instead of such a small fan, you can also use a hair dryer (to immitate a storm?)

Then the mizzen was applied and the above process was repeated.
There was a question whether this will last long. I did this treatment in 2018 and now it's 2025 and the sails still feel stiff and stay in shape. So I am confident that it is long-term.
 


Mizzen is now ready. And also treated with lacquer.
 

 
There are still a number of things to be put on, the anchors, the outboard toilet, the deck cargo and a lot of coiled ropes.
 

Constant
 
 

Believe it or not, but today, exactly (almost :)) 20 years to the day I started, the hull is finally closed. All gunport lids have been installed.

now there remains the lanterns, four anchors and their cables, and two anchor buoys. Souns as a minor job, but at my present pace, who knows
 
Jan

My lion needed some severe surgery to get him im the correct position:
I wanted his claws on the bow, and his head where you indicated. So I amputated his front legs, and glued them on, almost a centimeter lower on the body (filling all the gaps with some putty)
I also discarded the metal sides of the galleon, replacing them with some cardboard material. That made it possible to get the scroll somewhat lower, the lion somewhat higher, so it matches (more or less). My bowsprit is on top of the scroll, should be slightly more space between them
Still not finished... everything boxed up for a move.....
 
Jan
 

So the final bookmark to this build 

Your Emden is becoming a real eye-catcher!
Jan

Your Emden is becoming a real eye-catcher!
Jan

The first 18 guns in the aft fort have been mounted. Five stern guns are still missing.

The model mounted on a display board now. I'm not sure I will add more to the model at this point; however, if 'new' information appears I am not opposed to modifying what has been done to this point.
 
Friday the Santos-Dumont No 18 hydroplane will get a ride to the 48th Annual Midwestern Model Ship and Boat Contest. Very interested in what kind of feedback I will receive - hope it is liked!

With a bit of photoshopping of the background, this can be used as a ‘rare picture of the original’ Looking very convincing!
 
Jan

With a bit of photoshopping of the background, this can be used as a ‘rare picture of the original’ Looking very convincing!
 
Jan

With a bit of photoshopping of the background, this can be used as a ‘rare picture of the original’ Looking very convincing!
 
Jan

Hi all,
thanks to your feedback and like's! I went on with the small items and after having blackened the brass machine gun and cannon muzzles, I finally installed them into their nose gun bays.

Then, I brushed on top of them some graphite powder to add some shine. After that, I prepared the propellers and started painting the spinners. I tried to reproduce a kind of spotted discoloration on the blades using the salt grains technique. The spinners sported bands of yellow and light blue colors and that was anything but trivial to paint. I can't remember how many times I tried with different methods, but eventually I managed to get a reasonable result by spraying the light blue first, then masking it with flexible Tamiya tapes and then spraying the yellow color last:

Hereinafter, please find few pictures of the finished propellers provisionally posed on the nacelles:

 


 
 
That's all for now,
best regards,
Dan
 
 

I second the suggestion of a pdf-version for future books. Shipping is twice the price of the book, importtaxes will be around 20% of total costs (book and shipping combined).  Even a 25dollar pdf is far cheaper for me than a 13 dollar hard-copy send by Ups…..
 
Jan

As a result of vacillating between kits I seem to have started a number of different things simultaneously. And so the next temptation, a white metal miniature by Art Girona

Judging by the size this is a drummer boy. The sculpt is nicely done and this should be a pleasant little project. I’ve assembled the major elements and given them a coat of black primer and the white directional spray 

After looking at the box art I was surprised to find that a dog is included. That will be a new challenge but he looks well sculpted.

I’m keeping the drum separate until the end of the painting.

Thanks for looking in.
alan
 
 

After further deliberation with myself, I changed my mind about the wire aerial and added one. I also added the pitot tube, which I had overlooked. And that means it's now time for the BIG REVEAL! You may recall that I forgot to add weight inside the nose. To fix that I simply glued the model to a display base purchased from Hobby Lobby. While thinking about inexpensive ways to add a name plate, I came across the reduced image of the booklet cover that is printed on the back cover of the kit. I thought that would make a nifty little badge of sorts. Enjoy the photos!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The planking of the hull is complete.

Thanks for all your nice comments. Getting close to completion. Boats etc done. Few bits and pieces missing still,but that will have to wait. Now making a box for a 850km (550mls) - one way - roadtrip, taking the model to meet some friends. I hope it will get there and back in one piece. So heres a few pictures of the current state of affairs.
cheers sascha