king derelict

So the only assembling that got done at the weekend was putting together a treadmill for a friend who doesn't like walking in the Florida summer. Back with Geisenau I thought I would knock out the remaining brass barrels and start painting. I hadn't realized how many barrels there are to install and how small they are. I did think I might just stay with the plastic barrels because they look quite nice nut when you put the brass barrels next to them they look a bit clumsy. These are the 105 mm guns I believe And the 10 In the end I managed to do half the 105mm and about the same for the 150 mm guns. I think there is another package of barrels lurking in the box still to be used. I did complete the catapult PE and mounted it along with a few other miscellaneous parts. The pile of parts is lowering a bit and I'm looking forward to getting some primer in place. Its slow because I'm generally having to evaluate whether I can build up an assebly or find I've complicated my life when it comes round to fitting the wooden decks. Thanks for looking in Alan

I'm a novice at airbrushing so I'm happy to be contradicted here. I use Vallejo acrylic thinner and it seems to work well with the Tamiya and AK acrylics I use. It is low odour too. I learnt that keeping the nozzle nice and clean is a big contribution to a decent paint session. I think you can use window cleaner or Chlorox cleaner too instead of the proprietary stuff. I haven't got brave enough to try that yet. I'm getting results that I am happy with, certainly much better than the brush but I still have a lot of learning to do. Alan

This is starting to look very good, well it always did really but now its really taking on some life. It gives me a real goal to aim at. Alan

Thanks Yves In another interesting twist I couldn't get the Creality Slicer 4.2 to open. It apparently downloaded okay from the flash drive but trying to open it just brought up the opening page as you show and got as far as "installing plug ins" and then it just disappeared. I'm beginning to feel a bit victimised by all this 😄 I did download the Slicer 4.8.2 from the Creality website and that opened okay. Curiously it gives error messages too for hull sections two and three but it does allow a skirt to be placed around the print. All very curious Thanks so much for your help Alan

I think you will be fine. With 1/700 scale its not like you are hosing the place down with paint even with a big beast like the Hood. Small areas to paint and short paint sessions. I seem to spend as much time cleaning the airbrush as painting with it 😄 Alan

Thanks Craig. I bought the Creality pad and it should be a direct fit to the heating plate. The filament feed is a concern on the long jobs when you canine watching full time Alan

I made a spray booth from foam boards from the dollar store and duct tape along with a desk fan to blow the fumes out into the garage. Alan

Thanks for the advice Craig The treated glass that comes with the V2 has a smooth side so I am thinking of flipping it and trying it. Who knows I may have a sticking problem. I took your advice and bought the magnetic pad you suggested. Many Thanks. I would really like to get the reliability of printing improved. Its spoiling the fun at the moment. Thanks again Alan

Hi Mark Its set by screws tensioned by springs, one at each corner. The springs feel quite weak and there is quite a lot of backlash so screw a quarter turn to close the gap and it takes nearly a turn to get back to where you were. This may be the quality variation I mentioned. Researching on line suggests this can be a problem area for levelling so I have sent off for a set of springs with a higher stiffness. That supposedly improves repeatability and seems reasonable to me so I made the $6 investment. Thanks Alan

Hi everyone I have had a log term interest in the Flower Class corvettes; ever since first reading the Cruel Sea as a teenager. I have also had a growing interest in 3D printers. Seeing Yves log start building a Flower Class corvette using the Creality Ender 3 printer seemed to bring it all together so I ordered a printer, downloaded the Bensworx virtual kit, bought some filament and set off on the adventure seeing myself knocking out flawless parts one after the other. Unfortunately it hasn't quite gone like that. I think I have the printer assembled correctly but getting a print is proving problematical. I got a good test print from the Creality files first shot and then started the hull sections of the corvette. This will probably be a slow log because of the physical time to print each piece and then the time taken trying to work through the failures to get a good result. I hope the log might show the problems of someone perhaps less skilled trying to use a 3D printer to make this model and with luck maybe learn some techniques and produce a model. I have two younger colleagues who both have Creality Ender 3 / Pro printers and their results are also mixed. They are both skilled modeller and artificers, one a precision machinist working on racing motorcycles so they are not completely hammer thumbed but still do not have predictable results with failure to get the print to stick being a frequent problem. It seems that there is a lot to learn. So to the corvette. I made nine attempts to get the first hull section to print without success. In each case the initial layers failed to adhere to the build plate and the result was a mess of string. I tried a variety of increasing base temperatures, higher nozzle temperatures and slower build speed. I level and clean the base plate between attempts and I let the pre heat temperatures have time to soak up the base plate. Eventually I added a brim and with a slow initial speed I was able to get a decent print although it leaves me with the need to cut away the brim carefully to get a clean interface with the next section. Initial attempts to slice the file for hull section 2 wouldn't allow a skirt or a brim to be added; I assume because the size of the print does not have enough space around it to allow the extra area. I made fourteen attempts to print the hull section all resulting in failed bed adhesion. The bed was levelled between attempts and it is a little disturbing that it is necessary to adjust between attempts rather than just check. Somehow the bed drifts out of level after some very limited running and that may be the problem in essence. Each attempt was run with changes to print speed (which seemed to help) down to 20%, nozzle temperature up to 215C (which didn't) and bed temperature up to 70C which may have helped a little. Within three passes the nozzle was dragging a mess of detached plastic around and the print was stopped. I went back to Cura and found there was enough room on the bed to allow a 4cm brim (default 10) and this is creating a print as I write. I started the print with a speed of 30% of file speed and then returned it to 100% after the brim was complete, This seems to be progressing. I think Hull section 3 is a larger section so it may not allow any brim in which case another solution will have to be found. I have some glue sticks ordered that may help I am going to try using shim stock instead of paper for the levelling I am thinking of installing the spare nozzle in case the nozzle is not feeding a consistent filament to the bed I am going to order a new glass plate and more nozzles from Creality I have heard some suggestions of quality variation in the manufacture so the final thought may be to decide how badly I want to complete this project and buy another machine and discard this one as unusable. The changes in level settings after only a few passes of the print doesn't seem to be an indication of consistent quality and I think Yves has noted he hasn't had to change his since initial levelling. Thanks for looking in and I welcome any comments and advice as this (hopefully) progresses. It looks like being an interesting journey Alan Alan

Thank you Yves It is a continuing struggle. After fourteen abortive attempts to print the second hull section I added a small brim (there isn't enough space on the plate for a full one) and that is currently printing. I hope to be able to continue this project although the success rate is making me think of just giving it up. I would like to understand why our results are so different with the same machines and same files. I am thinking of starting my own build log to note the experiences of the "less gifted" to clear my rubbish from your build log if that is acceptable to everyone. If you have time I would very much welcome your input there because I have a lot to learn. Before I go I have a couple of non machine questions about the files. When I imported the Hull #2 stl file into Cura I got model error messages. Did you get the same thing and just ignore them or fix them somehow? Your photo shows hull section 2 printing with a skirt I think. When I tried to do that it wouldn't slice the model; I assume because there wasn't enough room on the plate for the skirt? How did you do that? Sorry for the detours to your log. I am solidly in awe of your progress. Alan

It all looks great OC. I am so impressed with how the exposed brickwork looks. It looks like the model is made with individual bricks. Reading the updates on this build is one of teh highlights of my day. Alan

Hi Craig Many thanks for your advice. I'm levelling between attempts and trying it both hot and cold. I was initially aiming for a good level of friction between the paper and the nozzle but I was worrying I was too close and was bulldozing the filament off the plate. I have been aiming now for a light rub between the nozzle and paper. I think you are right about the cooling. Maybe the house temperature (76F) is too cold and I should try a print in the garage which is a balmy 85F. I have upped both the nozzle temperature and the bed temperature and dialed the print speed down for the first layers to try to avoid the nozzle dragging the plastic off the plate. A thought just occurred to me - could teh nozzle be partly clogged and the plastic is not extruding thickly enough Thanks again and once again sorry Yves. Alan

Alan I have the opposite problem. The centre is tight when the corners are set. 😄 Alan

Hi Yves Very many thanks for taking the time to respond so fully. I have been a keen follower of your posts so some of your suggestions have already been adopted. 1 - I'm levelling with a sheet of paper that is 0.004 inches thick. Today I used the sheet you recommended (0.0035 inches thick). I level between each attempt both hot and cold to get a light drag on the paper. I may try to use a 0.004 inch piece of shim stock as being less of a variable. 2 - I clean the bed between each attempt with alcohol and let it dry 3 - I actually increased the bed temperature to 65 and I let it soak for ten minutes after reaching preheat because I assume although the sensor may have reached temperature the glass is lagging 4 - I'm using grey Overture filament 5 - -I check the spool drag especially in the initial layers 6 - I stripped and rebuilt the printer using the tips in Vlads video 7 - sticking parts are not a problem 😄 I added a brim to the bow section of the hull and got a successful print. Using a brim on the remaining sections is a problem because of the size of the print. I have just abandoned the ninth attempt to print the second hull section. I am thinking of trying stick glue and a lower bed temperature, buying a new glass bed and nozzles from Creality. Thanks again for your advice and my apologies for hijacking your thread. Its frustrating that your printing at a high success rate out of the box and I'm at about one in ten and dropping. As I said you have the masterful touch. Alan

Yves You are working masterfully on this. I set up my newCreality printer and downloaded the Flower corvette files and so far have failed to print anything. Eight attempts failed to adhere to the bed and either created a ball of spaghetti as the filament detached or quickly deformed the hull section as part of the print moved on the bed. I have gone to using a brim around the part which may give me dimensional issues later but that has stuck to the bed at last but then nine hours into the print the filament snapped; looks like an air bubble in the filament. Attempt number ten is three hours in and we shall see what happens. 😄 Thanks for the inspiration to try this Alan

Not a lot of time to work on the Geisenau today but I did manage to finish the PE on the funnel. A lot of time studying the illustrations to get the correct positioning of the small platforms. I moved onto another small assembly which will build up the catapult. The folder made a nice job of the catapult and the tiny pully wheels were added. I think I need a PE break, get the brass barrels fitted and get some primer sprayed. Thanks for looking Alan

Thanks for the kind words OC. This kit is so big I am sort of losing my place in it a bit. It is all so nicely made that it is still highly enjoyable and I expect at some point its all going to make sense and go together Alan

Lou That is the set up I have. I didn't want to invest a lot of money in an expensive set up if it turned out that I wasn't going to be able to use it well. I have had it a year now and it still seems to work well and cleans easily. My skill level is still below the ability of the airbrush so I plan to continue to use it. The compressor is reliable and has a water trap and pressure gauge. My only issue is the tiny o seal on the nozzle got chewed up after removing and replacing too many times during cleaning and I cannot find a replacement. I bought a new nozzle for $5 which had an o seal attached and I try not to remove the nozzle for every cleaning now Alan

That must have done wonders for the heart rate. She looks beautiful. The details are very impressive. A spectacular model Alan

Absolutely spectacular Alan

The tank smooths out any pressure ripples from the compressor so it's a good thing. I got my first airbrush a year ago and it is a cheaper model but has been reliable. I practiced with water and then paint on scrap plastic. It didn't take long to be able to put a basic, even cost on a model and even that looks much better than hand painting. An early lesson was keeping the airbrush really clean to get good results. I'm still learning how to dilute paints and mix them. I have only used acrylic paint so far. I'm trying to work up the courage to try lacquer etc. I also have to learn finer techniques. I'm a long way from Craig and Greg skill level but I'm getting results I'm happy with. It's definitely worth getting one for getting a good finish on all that incoming PE. This is just the novice perspective so please disregard if it conflicts with advice from the experienced users. Alan

It has been a day in small world today. Instead of yesterdays plan I decided to tackle the radar array which is made of three pieces of PE two of which have some folds that present a bit of a challenge. With the folding tool it went quite well and was attached to the sub assembly. I stayed with the PE and worked around the funnel with a lot of very fine PE which was an exercise in breath control. Slow progress with tea breaks at frequent intervals but the PE fret is beginning to show some gaps. Still quite a lot to add in this area but at least these are steel decks so the wooden deck is not an issue. Thanks for looking Alan

I need to learn to keep a cleaner work table. I spend far too much time moving stuff around trying to find the post ping PE or part. Someehow the tools, glues. files creep back. Alan

Thank you for the kind comments Mike. I borrowed a lot of your PE tool information and tips and its helped a lot. The folding tool really neatens up anything that has long folds and makes the PE look good. I was quite pleased with todays radar array done that way today. I have moved to finer tweezers and the crossover type to hold the PE but I dread the ping and the disappearing fleck of brass. The hand held vacuum recovers some but rarely the vital stuff. I use the wax pencils but I find them a bit clumsy in tight places and hard to see the orientation of a small piece. I have been using a cocktail stick with the end rubbed lightly in a blob of beeswax. That seems to allow much finer control and positioning. A dressmaking pin can be used in the same way as well. The cat hairs are optional Alan