king derelict

Thank you Mark Its good to back and catch up on all the great builds again Alan

Thanks OC. It was great to spend time with family and see some old haunts but its good to be home too. Alan

You have made great progress while I have been away OC. The Abrams is coming out really nicely. I am very envious of your polarized vision blocks. I don't think I am going to be able to get anything close to that look in my 1/72 version. Excellent Stuff Alan

Sorry about the hiatus in progress. I've been back to Blighty for thed last three weeks visiting my dad and other family after a covid driven two year absence. The family was priority so I didn't get out and about as much as I had hoped but I had a great time. I did take my 96 year old dad out to the National Arboretum and we spent four hours walking about and making our usual stop at the Parachute Regiment memorial (his wartime mob), The cafe for coffee and homemade cakes afterwards was also a favourite. We have been there a number of times and still haven't seen a lot of the monuments. Great place. So back home and jet lagged it looks like everyone has been doing some marvelous work. I have so much to catch up on. After fending off my attention starved cats I did manage to spend some time on the next part of the Wasp build; fitting the life raft containers. My photos show significant changes from the kit layout to the ship configuration in 2013. Thankfully this meant I needed less containers rather than more. In 2013 the ship had considerably fewer containers fitted. After a lot of time studying the photos the containers were installed. The starboard side is 100% correct but the angles of some of the photos of the starboard side mke placement a bit obscure but I think its very close now. I gave the containers a white wash to make them a little more visible. In real life they are a light grey but they looked a bit formless with just the grey coat. Its good to be home and hopefully making some more progress. The netting will be the next job Thanks for looking in Alan

Thank you very much Dave Its starting to come together. I'm hoping not to fall on my face in the last stages. The weathering is going to be really interesting. Alan

A small update; its really all painting. i put down a coat of black Mig One Shot primer. I'm getting to like that paint; it seems to go on very evenly. Then a series of thin sand colour. I'm trying to get more shading in the paint by using the thin colours. Its bleached out a bit in the photos but it looks better in real life Now the road wheels and tracks Have a great weekend everyone Thanks for looking in Alan

The engine looks fantastic; The shading makes it very real Alan

Looks very promising Egilman. The test pieces look great. Alan

Back again after some days of annoying activity in the real world, renewing house insurance and the 2021 income tax return. PE never looked so good! There are two radar platforms that mount on the hull and are made up of six pieces. The instructions has you making up teh assembly and installing it as a complete item. That sounded quite good until I realised that this would mean getting six holes and a tab perfectly aligned. Not a a chance so I used medium CA glue and installed the platform and dome and then the braces and while the glue was soft moved each piece into final place. A big moment - I added the island. It seemed that the hull was going to get very fragile with the nets installed and getting the island down snug might involve a bit of force so I put it on. It went down quite nicely and suddenly this is starting to look like a ship. With the island on I added the deck railings behind it on the starboard side. Some very small pieces Next step will be to do a bit more touching up - and straighten that aft mast top platform Still a long way to go. I'm beginning to think this might deserve a seascape and a case of its own. I hope everyone has a great weekend Thanks for looking in Alan

Looking forward to a great build Alan

Thank you very much Edward. I used a pin with a bit of beeswax on the point but it was really still an exercise in patience and bad language. I just put the first paint coats on and haven't dared look to see if they are still there or even visible 😄 Alan

I was able to finish the turret as far as I want to go before painting. The 7.62 mg is another nice detail The kit provides some insanely small PE numerals to fit to one side of the turret. I'm not sure what they refer to as they seem to be independent of the unit markings in the decal set. I doubt they will be very visible after painting but I thought I would accept the challenge. Just cutting them out of the fret and getting them on the turret without losing them was a nerve wracking exercise. They are not as straight as i would like but they are in place. I used Future as the adhesive to set them. I would have lost them in the white Gators Grip glue. Its the first time I have tried it (I think @Landlubber Mike mentioned it somewhere) and it seemed to work well. Pure hubris! Thanks for looking in and have a great weekend everyone Alan

Thank you Egilman; that is more great advice. I will try that technique with the coloured Future using the ink as the colouring agent. I have some more clear sprues to play with before trying it on teh real parts. alan

Thank you very much OC. It has some very crisp detail. I'm enjoying how it is coming together. Alan

A day in tiny world today. I completed the catwalk access ladders that are set at intervals around the edge of teh flight deck. The parts are tiny making a small platform and a short ladder - repeat ten times The end result is barely visible but they are there on the real ship so.... I also tidied up the braces under the platforms. Next I plan to touch up paint before moving onto the last parts like the boat davits and a couple of radar domes and platforms before the dreaded netting. Thanks for looking in Have a great weekend everyone Alan

Thank you very much Ziggy The Eduard PE really enhances this kit Alan

The garden demanded attention today so not a huge amount of progress. I'm still on the turret. I added the last bits of PE and worked on teh baskets (for want of a more tank-like word) at the rear of the turret. Some nice PE gratings go into the very delicate railings. Its a bit fiddly but looks nice when its done. There is a second optional set that mounts onto the inner ones. I decided to go for it having already made it up before realising that it was optional. The plates on the forward sides of the turret and the additional basketwork at the rear pretty much locks me into my choice of markings given as options. Thanks for looking in alan

Thanks Popeye. I have a red and blue magic marker that I can play with. This is a great little kit Alan

Egilman; as always you provide great help. Many Thanks. I found I have some transparent photographic inks (for hand colouring black and white or sepia prints) and the colours look promising. On their own they don't lay on the surface well so I mixed them with Future which improved things but still not too good. I'm going to try again with a clear coat of some sort. I have some AK that I can try. I may be onto a possible solution. Experiments on the clear sprue. The magenta and blue look good. The red may be showing its age Thanks for the help alan

Many Thanks OC I'll try that. My initial experiment seems to suggest that with teh tiny clear parts in question I may get a better look by using transparent paint on the outer surface.. More experiments I think Thank you for the help Alan

I retreated from the Wasp PE this afternoon with shaking fingers and worked a little more on the Abrams as a bit of stress relief. I moved onto adding details to the turret. The lovely Flyhawk detail is there in large amounts. This is a lovely single piece moulded part for the main hatch It even has a clear insert for teh viewing ports There are several clear pieces for the viewing ports. I am trying to work with subassemblies that can have the clear parts added after painting before final assembly rather than masking. The 0.50 cal is another well detailed item. The barrel is hollowed and the individual rounds are visible in the belt More details added with the side rails and plates. There are still several parts to finish the turret and then its off to the paint barn. I have a naive question for the experts. the kit instructions has the clear plastic pieces for the viewing ports painted clear red. I'm not sure what that is trying represent. So far all the images I have seen don't show any red at the viewing ports. I had planned to leave them clear but would welcome input on this. Many Thanks Thanks for looking in Alan

Thank you Patrick Thats a good tip; I will follow that next time. Many Thanks Alan

Thanks OC. And this PE is quite low stress compared to the craziness on the Wasp. Its mostly textured plates and a few brackets so far. Alan

Not much spare room there Alan

After completing the catwalks yesterday, today was focused on the braces that support the smaller platforms. Lots of thin brass to bend and fit. I finished the port side but was losing my fine motor control and focus so I went over to teh Abrams for some light relief. The next task is folding tiny platforms and ladders for catwalk access from the flight deck - that are a depressing number of them too.😄 Etc, Etc - you get the picture Thanks for looking in and for the likes Alan