Haliburton

I collected the pieces for Merit-steps 11,12,13, 14 and 16 (middle deck furniture),

 
and steps 26 to 29 (details on fore- and aft deck,

 
46 to 51 and 63 to 66 (mainly small boats), in labeled boxes.

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Next I collected the Merit parts and Pontos wooden parts for steps 30 to 35 (front and rear bridge), 40 (main guns) an 43 and 44 (funnels).
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Now that a considerable number of parts have been detached and collecte into numbered boxes, it's time to start assembly.
 
Merit step 11: cleaned up the plastic parts with file and fine sanding stick.
Part B9: drilled out the 6 holes in the sides and chamfered from the underside.
I removed the centerpart drilling holes, one next to the other and straightened the edges is with a knife
I bent and soldered the Postos boat supports and glued them on part B9 with SloZap.
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Steps 11 and 12, all brass parts glued on ant the slots for the boat supports filled with Vallejo Plastic Putty.
Ready for paint.

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

I assembled and soldered all Pontos parts to replace the plastic parts of step 11.
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Merit Step 13: The bottom parts of the ventilationshafts have been glued together with Tamiya Extra Thin cement.
 

 
I cleaned up the seams of these parts, scraping with an X-Acto knife, using needle files and medium and fine sandingsticks.
 
According to my humble opinion, a maximum of 10 of the 14 ventilation shafts have "trumpet like" openings. The other four have a ring with crossed half round ribs.
According to contemporary pictures that have been coloured, the "trumpet like" tops have red louvres.
Although those "trumpet like" tops are present in the Merit kit, they are nowhere mentioned in the manual, and the gratings that are supposed to represent  louvres have diagonal holes and bands.
In the Pontosset there are round gratings with exactly the right diameter.  But these are for the searchlights.  However, this gave me an idee.
Previously I built the Trumpeter 1/200 Bismarck, with a lot of functions. In this kit there are 8 gratings for 7 searchlights. Those happen to have the same diameter.  And I also have a second Bislmarck kit, that I intend to upgrade with a Pontos detailing set to make a very detailed display model. Therefore I have an extra grating.  The Pontosset for the Bismarck also contains 8 gratings but those are fully closed.  In case I want to install LED's in the searchlights, as I did in the first model, those gratings are not usable, and thus available for Mikasa, giving a perfect illusion of clased louvres.

 
The half round ribs have been glued woth a dash of Pink Zap, and attached to the round tops with PVA-glue. Excess glue is easily removed with a damp brush.

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

I assembled the ventilation shafts from step 14
 

 
and jumped to steps 24/25 to finish theremaining ventilation shafts.
Those are mounted on the fore funnel base.
To finish off step 24 I cleaned the cutters, added the rudders and glued the supports on the cover of the largest cutter.
 

 
I also replaced part G39 by the Pontos equivalent and glued it together with part G44 on the funnel base, but forgot to take a picture. No doubt it will be seen in future updates.
 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Step 15: deckfurniture of the middle deck.
All Merit parts are replaced by Pontos Photo-etch, bent and soldered together.
 

 
Only the reels remain to be assembled
 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

So here come the 2 Pontos reels for the middle deck.

 
I then collected and cleaned up the midship bulckheads for step 16.

 
and finished the day by preparing the casemate sides by filling the recesses for the hinges of the shutters wirt Vallejo putty, leaving them to dry overnight.

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

I allmost forgot to put Pontos part 364 to the front of part B8.

 
The handholds were removed from the casemate sides , Pontos templates applied,

 
and 0,4 mm holes drilled usong the Tamiya electric handy drill.

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

The Pontos handholds were glued in with PVA-glue nd the Pontos shutters for the 4 rounded casemates were bent, soldered and glued with SloZap.
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Ladder rungs, casemate lids and anchors attached to the sides.


 

 

Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Browsing through the manuals I came across the following part for the midsection of the main deck.
 
Pontos parts 29, 352 and 2x 353 are soldered together with a little soldering paste and heat applied from the back.
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Steps 20/21: boat decks.
I removed the protruding datails of the Merit parts as I did ont the main deck.

 
Then I soldered rigging brachets and boat supports to the baseplates,


 
and finaly used 5 minutes epoxy to glue the brass plates  to the plastic base.

 
After curing, I cut the excess glue off.
 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

Fore and aft bridge:
I started removing all details that will be replaced by Pontos parts.
I also filled some portholes that turned out oblong due to the casting techniques used.
 

 
Till next update, enjoy modelling.

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.

Time for a little update.
I drilled out the porthols and glued the messing parts.

 
Then I soldered the doors from the back and glued them with PVA-glue to the bridges (single doors to the front bridge and double doors to the aft bridge).

 
Until next update, enjoy modelling.

I took a second chance on soldering the handrails to the front plate as this has to be done on the aft bridge as well.
 
SUCCES this time.  In stead of applying the soldering paste to the pins of the handrail, I put the smallest amount on the points on the plate. First I soldered the ends , straightening the brass plate against a steel pin and then, one by one, the other points. (the knife is only for reference)

 
Next I bent and soldered the brackets to the bottom plate. The 2 outside ones are at a 45° angle.

 
Finaly I glued both plates to the Merit bridge, using both yellow (thick) and pink (thin) Zap CA-glue.

 
Until next update, enjoy modelling.

I pimped the merit brackets for the mast stays pith some Pontos parts (Nrs 157 en 158) 
  
and attached them to the fore and aft bridges.


 
Then I soldered the brackets (Pontos parts 513 and 514)together and attached them to the sides of the bridges with CA-glue.

 
Until next update, enjoy modelling.

I'm happy with today's effort eventhough my air brush played up badly with the low pressure required. So today I:
1. Masked the lower hull for painting.
2. Cut the hull pieces from the sprue because I didn't want to do 'fiddly bits' on big pieces. (NB: Scottish Guy!)
3. Did the first spot marbeling on the hull and tank tops. Used Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19 and 20A Thinner, (1:2), Retarder Medium at 10psi.
4. Did the second spot marbeling using Tamiya Sky Grey XF-19, Flat White XF-2 and 20A Thinner, (1:1:2), RetarderMedium at 10psi.
5. Applied the final coat of Tamiya Lijn Gray XF-77 at 20psi.
6. Applied a clear coat of 'rattle can' Tamiya Flat Clear TS-80.
Next time, I think I may add panel liner as well as stencil some tiny patches of a lighter colour onto the lower hull.

Researching family military history in the various records can be very rewarding. When I began doing genealogy work years ago, no one in my immediate family had any knowledge of our family's service prior to WW2. Through unit roll calls and a variety of other sources, I was able to piece together my 2x-great grandfather's service in the Palmetto Sharpshooters during the 'Late Unpleasantness'. I was very surprised to learn that the PSS were a highly regarded unit within the Confederate armed forces and fought in many of its bloodiest engagements, including Second Manassas, the Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, and The Wilderness. I'm sure my ancestor could have recounted many harrowing tales, but sadly I have no evidence suggesting he ever left any written accounts.
 
Good luck on both your projects!

For those following at home, my hobby time has been a little curtailed as of late last winter. Other projects took priority and time at the bench has been limited. I'm not yet ready to get back to it, since the weather continues to slowly improve, and the outdoor projects are stacking up, but I thought I would at least start a topic as a placeholder for when I get back into model building.
 
This particular project has come about as a result of another project I've been working on over the winter (and will be working on for a long time yet). It began with a google query made on the spur of the moment, and has since snowballed from there. To provide a little clarity, my great uncle was an officer in the 2nd Medium Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, during the second world war. He served in the Italian campaign as well as the final liberation of the Netherlands. He never spoke much of his experiences when he was alive, and even my uncles and aunt don't really know what he did during the war either. Just for a laugh, I decided to see if  the regimental war diary was available online. Well, I had great success there and I have discovered some amazing stories. Cross referencing the war diary with some history books, I've been able to put things in their proper context, and I'm endeavouring to create a more readable history to share with the rest of the family.
 
Anyway, getting more to the project at hand.
 
My great uncle and his regiment arrived in Sicily in early November 1943. As part of the wheeling and dealing that saw the Canadian forces in Italy brought up to Corps strength, they arrived without any of their heavy equipment (no transport, no guns, just the packs on their backs). They remained in Sicily until the end of the year, before moving to the mainland in January '44. While the regiment's time in Sicily was largely uneventful, one particular occurrence caught my eye.
 
On the evening of the 21st of November, a plane was seen to crash near one of the regiment's battery HQs:
 

 
My uncle was assigned to "Q" battery, so I'm certain he was well aware, if not involved in, the aftermath of the event. The war diary recorded few details concerning the plane that crashed, including the type and the serial number. This provided a great jumping off point and I was able to find some interesting information, and a bit of a mystery.
 
Researching the serial number, I found an online compilation of aircraft flown by the somewhat legendary 112 Squadron RAF. FR213, 42-45817 was delivered to the squadron as in July 1942, and assigned the code letters GA Q. It occasionally wore the code GA ? when used by squadron leader Billy Drake. The record I found doesn't note much else about the plane, other than it was a short tailed P-40K-5. The fate of the plane is recoded as "unknown".  
 
From my research, 112 squadron was based at a place recorded as "Mileni" towards the end of October 1943, and didn't move again until early '44. Although I can't locate the exact location, I think it was in the Foggia area. This brings up the first of many questions. If FR213 was still assigned to 112 Squadron, what was it doing in Sicily while the squadron was near Foggia (on the Adriatic side of Italy)? Secondly, it seems to have been quite an old plane by WW2 standards, almost 18 months, to still be in (front line?) operation, especially for the rough service conditions it would have experienced in the North African desert, maybe it's a good testament to the durability of the P-40 (its sister plane FR215 was struck off charge in April 1944, and some others made it until 1945!!).  The third mystery is who this American pilot may be. Nothing else is noted, so was the plane returned to the USAAF (which should have been recored somewhere)? If so when?
 
These questions aside, the thought of modelling FR213 (or at least, a version of FR213) proved to be very tempting. I will continue in part II with a description of the kit as well as some of the extras I've bought to go along with it.
 

 
Andy
 
 

The AEG got it´s teeth - hmmh, well - besides the painted on jaws I mean. The LMG 17/17 Parabellum are from Gaspatch, airbrushed satin black and then  I rubbed on steel pigments with a cotton swab. Stock and grip are painted with oil colors and after seeing the pictures, I decided to put on some varnish for a more realistic look. The kit guns are not bad and I used one inside the fuselage, but detail of the Gaspatch ones is absolutely fantastic. 
Positioning of the guns is not final. I also made some touch ups and detail painting and added the artificial horizon. 
Gun mounts and other details got sprayed aluminum, then covered with hairspray with the dark sea blue on top and finally weathered with a toothpick.

 
 

 

 
Cheers Rob

SalvinosJR is one of a few(?) companies who manufacture model kits in the USA these days, located in California. To this point their focus has been on NASCAR kits where they offer them for sale at major NASCAR events throughout the country as well as online. Recently, the kits have been finding their way into local hobby shops as well, including my local haunts. I've never been a big fan of NASCAR kits, but seeing the Asphalt Modifieds piqued my interest, so I bought one at a local shop. When I checked out the contents of the kit, I was very pleased at the quality of the model. When you pick up the box, you know it's substantial from the weight of it. Lots of plastic parts. 

 
Here is an interesting and informative video that explains the NASCAR Asphalt Modified series, it's history and the current cars racing in that division. 
 
 
 

The whirlybird is fully assembled now but I'm not finished yet...
 
I've started to build a simple diorama to sit him on, which needs some grass variation and some mud adding over the next few days. Maybe a few bushes.
 
Another lovely kit from Airfix and I'm pretty pleased with result.