CDW

Right up front with this post, let me apologize for being such a lousy photographer. I tried to get some closeup shots of these small AA and secondary guns before I painted them, but just couldn't get the correct distance to focus properly. Maybe I should mention how I handle the painting of small parts like these as someone asked how I kept from obscuring small details. First, the parts are all airbrushed and not painted with a brush. Second, you want to use a good quality paint with fine pigment. I happen to use Vallejo paints but there are other equally good alternatives. Vallejo are readily available for me and they offer a large range of color choices. I buy a handy product at WalMart (in the office or school supply section) I call "blue tack", but it is known by a trade name as seen in this picture. It only costs a couple of dollars and it lasts a long time. What I do is cut a small little 1/4" square piece of this "blue tack" and place it on the end of a toothpick. The small part can then be set down on the blue tack and held in place for airbrushing. The part is easily removed when painting is finished. Here are some photos of just some of the guns and gun turrets. Many more besides these. It's quite a chore getting all the little pieces prepared to go onto the deck.

They say these small, detailed plastic parts are possible because of a new "slide mold" technology. Now, what exactly is different about slide molds from the former molds we knew as kids when we built Revell, Monogram, and Airfix kits, I don't know. But I do know the difference is night and day. Instead of plastic blobs that remotely resembled a particular object, these are detailed down to minute things, like facial expressions on sailor figures, precise recessed rivets, and so on. And in such a small scale.

I've been working a little every day on the Scharnhorst, but it's slow sledding with all the little bitty details that go on the ship. I must say that this Dragon Scharnhorst is by far the most detailed and finely made parts I have ever seen on any plastic model. It is extraordinary what the company has done with this kit. I'll have some pictures of a lot of small parts up, soon. Not quite ready yet. In the meantime, I have studied the net to learn what paint scheme was used on the ship in 1943, and to try and get some close up views of some of these small sub assemblies. The instructions are not really adequate. Through this study, I began to worry I might not find too much that would help. Then, came across a site that said to look on the bottom of the kit box, as there are color drawings of the paint scheme and CAD drawings of the sub assemblies that greatly help in properly assembling some of these features. If I had not read that, would have NEVER thought to look on the bottom of the box. But lo and behold, there it was!

For those who might be following or just reading through this thread, I thought maybe some of you might be unfamiliar with photo etch (PE) and particularly the micro small stuff. Lots of times, PE must be folded to represent a 3D object. When folding is required on micro small PE, some special tools come in very handy, maybe absolutely necessary to get an accurate fold. I wanted to show you a couple of the tools I use and how I use them. 1st is a magnifying light combination. I am sure most of you have something like this but if not, you will need to acquire one if you are going to work with small PE parts. My daughter bought me this one quite a few years ago for my birthday (what a sweetheart). The next essential tool is a photo etch bending device. It measures about 6" x 4", is made of a machined aluminum plate with a spring loaded steel machined plate that slides up and down by turning a set screw (the large black knob). This tool I acquired about 15, maybe 20 years ago. I am not certain it is production anymore as it was a cottage industry product when I bought it. In any event, this or a similar tool is a must. Next I am going to show you how to use the tool. The PE is slid under the steel plate precisely where it is to be bent. It is then clamped down and using a single edge razor blade to slide under the part, then bent up to a 90 degree angle (or whatever angle is required). If a second bend is required as in the case of my example, it is unclamped then repositioned where the second bend is required and the folding process repeated. The finished product looks like this. These are ammo box racks that are glued to the AA guns. A little plastic ammo box fits inside the ammo rack. At the present time, I am still laboring to finish building the AA and secondary guns. Next post, I will take some photos of the built, unpainted guns. Man, these things are so small! It's very tedious work to say the least, but quite fun in a certain masochistic sort of way.

I'm a plastic builder from way, way back. But I enjoy just about every facet of scale model building no matter the medium. Plastic does often give a quicker satisfaction as the turn around time to build can be much smaller (for me) than say a wooden ship. My HMS Victory sitting in dry dock comes to mind.

Well, I have been giving my family "hints" for far too long saying I really wanted the Byrnes table saw. So, within the next few months, I WILL acquire one. Not going to ask anyone permission to buy it, either. Would rather do it and ask for forgiveness than ask for permission and be told, No.

Thanks for the quick reply to my question. I would rather ask the question and be safe rather than make a post that breaks the rules.

Question, guys....if I paint and decal this model in the historical paint scheme, it will have a swastika at the bow and stern deck areas. Is this a prohibited photograph on this forum? If so, I shall photograph the model before applying the decals and flag.

These photo etch frets are included with the kit. Here are detail items being added to the kit contents. * A Cyber Hobby photo etch set that includes railings * Artvox wood deck * Set of brass gun barrels from Poland When I said some of this photo etch stuff is small, a photo of three different AA guns used on the model. The tiny photo etch parts that can be seen must be folded to represent ammo racks. In reality, these may prove too small for me to work with. Building each of these AA guns is a chore as the parts are so small.

Decided to drag this model out of the closet at build it to try and break my model building blues. I became a bit distracted by other life events and modeling took a back seat. Am hoping this will rekindle a fire. For starters, here are a few pictures of what I am building. Will add a simple photo etch set and a wooden deck to give a little flavor. I started by building the anti aircraft guns and secondary guns. The parts are so small and detailed, it's hard to believe plastic can be molded in that fashion. Plastic models have come a long, long way since I was a kid. For the youngsters among us, that was just after Noah built his ark.

I like this little ship and am thrilled to see you're building it.

Thanks for the kind words guys. A lot of things I built, I gave to this brother down through the years, including some real nice wood ship models. My sister-in-law asked me if I wanted them back but I asked her to give them to her grandchildren who have always admired the models. They were tickled pink to get them. I am going to be just fine. It's one of those things in life we all have or eventually will go through. At this point, two brothers and one sister have passed, but wow, we had great times together. Never argued and fought with each other. Always a closeness that is invaluable and treasured memories. Here is my brother and I, a couple of months before he passed.

My funk came primarily when my oldest brother passed away around the first of this year. When something like that happens, it makes me realize how unimportant some things are in the big scheme of things. The model building blues will pass and once again the good times will roll.

What a clever idea using the can with a candle inside. Also, the PVC with caps for soaking the planks. These are suggestions I will be sure to use in the future and I appreciate very much your sharing these things, John. I have been in a model building funk for the past months and have gotten almost nothing done. In due time, will find a way to become inspired to get back to it. Hopefully, soon. Regards Craig PS: Florida is my natural born home, but Alabama would be my next choice if I had one.

I've had a great time looking through this build thread. Wish I had found it sooner, but better late than never. Great job, Popeye! This is inspirational for some projects I have waiting in the wings.

Mike I am serious. That ship model has your name written all over it.

Mike Are you placing the tape on the hull first, then scribing and adding the "rivets", or are you scoring and making rivets before placing the tape? I tried the latter first, and it did not work too well for me. The tape was too delicate for that. PS: very glad to see you're back!

Thanks Yves. I will kit bash and scratch build a reasonable facsimile of the helicopter using the parts I have from both kits.

Yes sir, I do plan to start a build log. Right now, I am collecting the various items I need to get started. Will start the build log, soon.

Yves What is the make and model of the helicopter you found to replace the kit helicopter? The only thing close I have found is the 1:48 Academy Hughes 500. Similar in size, but the Hughes 500 is much more modern than the one on board the Calypso. I may be able to use parts from both the Calypso kit and the Academy kit to recreate a more detailed rendering but it won't be exact. One other thing is the kit hull. Being ABS plastic, I wonder if anyone else has ever tried apply planking veneer to simulate the wooden hull on the 1:1 ship? I am going to experiment a bit to see if it is realistic to do. I have some scrap ABS plastic that I will experiment with. I think some type of contact cement would work but I need to make sure it doesn't melt the plastic. Possibly there are some 3M products that will be suitable as an adhesive for the wood veneer planks on ABS.

I just bought a kit of this Billing Calypso from the owner of Model Expo (Mr Mosko) off Ebay. Really looking forward to getting my hands on the kit and start building it.

I managed to finish all the hull planking with the kit supplied planks. They supplied a supplemental advisory stating that all of their planking has been changed from Basswood to Birch. Maybe that has something to do with the problems I had, don't know for sure.

Your photographs make it appear that I could climb aboard the ship and stroll about the deck. Beautiful workmanship. It looks very authentic and real, not like a model.

Looks beautiful so far. Very neat and clean workmanship.

Me too!