RGL

David, there are only 2 in the kit, so if I stuff it I'm stuffed. I used the brackets from the Dresden kit and a 1 mm shim which will not be visible on the finished product. The shafts are now appearing to run true and the props run clear of the hull.

Slog's right, the angle is wrong. I cut them off and reversed them. Still wrong! The placement of the braces on the kit does not align with the plans as the start of the prop itself needs to align with the rudder post. More cutting and sanding required. The props are about 2mm out (too big) which is a lot at this scale and would hit the hull. The Dresden props are much smaller and of no use to me (there were 4 of them). I shall post some photos when I can get the computer from my 10 year old who is currently battling the forces of evil. I had hoped to get the primer coat on today!!

The final part of the hull before priming are the hull steps. These are about 1mm each, I drilled all the way through the hull, place the set then put superglue behind them from the interior of the hull to set them and fill any gaps. 

Next step is the Anchor or hawser holes. Your can see strait through to the other side. as you can see from the tiny anchor its going to look a bit silly so using a bit of off cut etch and a mandrel I shaped some inner tubes.

A one off is the torpedo tubes below the hull. Just a tint bit of etch to represent the hinges matches the plans.

Next are the shafts. I will put the props on last. I had to utalise some of the kit and drilled out the plastic shaft replacing it with brass rod. i hope this makes them more sturdy.

Next the portholes. I was a bit torn here as the 20 year old kit males no effort at making the eyebrows for the portholes and the photos have them fairly flush. I used 152 individual photo etch portholes which took several hours to get right with a file and tweezers. some keep falling off which means i have to check and re check to make sure they're still there. When painted they will hopefully not be so prominent.

Moving along, there is a scuttle of some sort on the plans but not the kit. reproduced with a bit if etch and plastic strip.

I don't mind the 6 month projects at the moment, but I do want to build the Atlantic. It comes down to what catches my fancy and allows my OCD to grab me. I was always going to do an Emden, but when I saw the Varyag I was like "Oh, shiny!", thus my foray into plastic for a while. . 3 masters take a LOT of time.

The next challenge is the 52mm chaser guns. These are to scale so it shows how much the kit ones are out. Not perfect yet but again they are beneath deck. I have not added a pedestal as they will be able to be put into the hull via the openings once most of it is complete and I will build a little interior ledge on the inside. I will put a bit more effort into the 4 that go onto the deck itself. These really are tiny.

I used the 47mm resin guns from the Varyag kit, and 1/700 150mm barrels as well as various offcuts from the photo etch spares box to make up the details. The sighting telescope was somewhat challenging.

As they will be interior, if one side looks crap I can face it inboard.

I tried to add a bit more detail to the 105mm guns for the remaining 3. There will be below decks to they are acceptable. I just need to paint them up now. I utalised a pedestal from a set of Complect Zip guns which I misordered. When I do the deck guns I will use the kit supplied pedestals which I will bash more than Mike Tyson would.

Impressive

OK, as promised, it's taken several hours, but my first attempt at the 10.5cm guns. I will make 4 on this pedestal to go below decks as you won't see the bottom bits. I think they will come up OK when painted 9compared to the kit ones) and put in at a later date. Now I know what to do i will be a fair bit quicker. Then there are four 5cm guns to fabricate. I will leave the above decks ones until I'm almost finished.

Thanks Steve, It's close, I used their guns on the Varyag, I'm going to try and man up and scratch build them!

Ha, no thanks, anything unusual, maybe the Dreadnought next

next are the Bow chaser gun openings. The kit has this silly little representation on a barrel. It took me a fair while to just figure out to put a bit of car behind the triangle at the front and create the angle into the hull with putty. That way the barrel can sit flush within the lines of he ship. Bit of tidy up to do and it will be fine, as there will also be the hatches folded down.

Continuing on with the inside of the hull, I know it looks messy but it's very sturdy and it will be invisible forever. The plans show how there is a remarkable lack of compartmentalization which means I will have to add a fair bit of detail to the inside behind the guns. 

I think they'll suit, but that's months away anyway, and a fair bit of scratch building anyway. A 20 minute drive to Australian War Memorial to look at the original helps.

Yep. Nothing is right.

The genre is somewhat limited in aftermarket, I will have to order the 4in guns from the Belfast to replicate the 105mm guns.

Joining up the hull is somewhat of a nightmare. As the hull homes in 4 pieces, as Revell have made one hul for both then some small pieces for the shafts between the Emden and Dresden kits. They do not line up. At all. I would feel somewhat less than adequate if every other build I had found on the internet did not have the same problem. Its seriously out of kilter.

I have braced the interior of the hull with offcut pieces of wood, so as the hull is not so laterally flexible and the joins won't break, as well as allowing for the two brass rods which i will use as stands as well as a painting brace. It also allows me to have a stable internal platform for the under deck guns which I will construct compartments for in styrene.I have run them along the centreline as these compartments will not be attached to the side of the hull because they would just snap off when I have to apply the deck.

As the plastic is so soft, sanding marks up the hull very easily. I masked up the joins so I could have attempt one at the putty then a quick light coat of primer to see my sins then attempt 2.

I have drilled some .02mm holes for the steps on the side of the hull before joining the hull. I will have to make up some anchor points for the prop guard, later. The hull itself is fairly self explanatory. The North Star steps have a little template to make sure everything lines up. There is no reference to the steps in the Revell plans.

And it starts. there is an imprint of the hull of 1995, so a 20 year old mold. The plastic is very soft so cuts well but does not sand well. I have cut out all the first deck holes for the 10.5cm and 5cm guns as well as the little doors amidships. The upper deck 10.5cm gun amidship is show on the draughts as requires the hull to be reduced.

The bow and stern guns have this ridiculous fake barrel attached to the hull which I have cut off and will place the guns internally.

There are some spectacular ones in 1/100 but nearly every 1/350 is straight from the box. Challenge set as I intend on learning from my mistakes in the Varyag. None of the fantastic builds by our contributors on this forum are open to the Internet (which I like) as we have some true artists here. In the plastic realm, Dafi is a master.

Now some of the original Photos, many are from the Australian War Memorial where they have one of the 10.5cm guns on display.