king derelict

A step backwards to start the day. I realised that my interpretation of the forward raft rack did not really capture the look of the rack in the picture in the previous update. It was too far forward so I disassembled the Mark 1 version (after sticking it in the freezer for a while - thanks for the tip) and rebuilt it to look rather more like the real thing They have been primered and dry fitted and look quite a bit better. I have a bit more room for the boats too which is a help. And with the rafts temporarily in place. Thanks for looking in and the likes Alan

Moving into the details. Campanula life raft stowage is different from the generic kit layout; its more like the Snowberry as built by @yvesvidal. Actually the configuration on Campanula seems to have changed during her years of service. I have photos showing a set of double banked rafts on each side and other images show two single rafts stowed on each side. I am trying to stay with this version of the ship where possible So I spent time today with strips of styrene making up racks for the life rafts. Working with styrene and solvent glue was quite relaxing after dealing with PLA, epoxy and CA glue. The forward rack might be a bit bulky but it looks quite hefty in the pictures so I will go with it. The racks are just placed along with the boat, They go off to the paint queue now along with davits and other sundry parts. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thank you for the kind words OC. Its starting to feel like progress at last. Alan

Great work. Its hard to remember how small these figures are, Alan

After a long absence I am back. June seemed to be the time for visitors from the Uk coming over to take advantage of the beach and warm surf temperatures so there was rather too much of this and this Some progress was made on the Campanula but I didn't find time to update the log. As part of accommodating visitors the printer had to be moved from its previous home in the guest bathroom where it was safe from the cats and could run long prints undisturbed. I took advantage of the move to change the nozzle - been using the original all through this build. Naturally after setting it all up again I had trouble getting a decent print and it looked like the filament was slipping. I checked the extruder gear and it looked a bit chewed again so I replaced that. I think I have room now to use the filament heater instead of the spool holder. From the test prints I don't see any improvement from changing the nozzle so I'll hang onto the old one. I now get good prints but I occasionally get a kick back and click from the extruder which is supposed to be the result of attempting to over extrude but checks show I am extruding close to what is commanded. Other possibilities I read on the web include damaged stepper motors or drivers etc. I don't have much to print now for the corvette so I'll dabble in the voodoo on the side. So - the boat. I added the remaining two major elements to the hull. There was a lot of room around the decks. I think the original intent was to have the decks mounted on caulking so they could easily be removed if work was need on the RC components. I used superglue to fix the decks in place and then putty to fill the voids. I found Bondo Plastic Metal to work well although the useable working time is very short. About half a tube was needed but it bonded well and was easy to fair into the decks. Significant paint touch up then followed. My plan is to finish the corvette in a heavily weathered appearance; Atlantic convoy style so I have not attempted to get a uniform finish on the decks and hull rather the opposite with slight changes of shades and some simple chipping on the hull (with mixed results) The main weathering effort will be done at the end when I can make sure it all blends together. The railings have been installed along the fore and side decks. I used 0.5 mm brass rod for the railings on the engine room roof and around the bandstand but with no significant bending needed i used 0.5 mm plastic coated stranded beading wire which was easy to work with and didn't tie me to fixed lengths of rod. I have a nasty feeling I am going to be four stanchions short to finish the rear of the foredeck behind the boats. I'm now into unknown county with the details. Photos of Campanula have been great for locating the Lewis guns and the life rafts but do not show the position of lockers around the ship. It seems that there were very few on the engine room roof but there must have been some on the side decks and aft deck. There must have been somewhere handy to stash the Lewis gun magazines for example) I have started detailing the ships boats. I used thin strips of wood to cover the printed floor and slightly thicker strips of make the benches using the printed part as a template. These were then weathered a little. Oars are yet to be painted. I would like to add man ropes along the sides of the boats but so far I haven't found any good photos showing the size of the loops as a reference. Depth charges are printing. I need to source anchor chains and 1/48 scale Lewis guns Thanks for looking in Alan

Absolutely spectacular Dan. The nozzles really look good Alan

Thank you very much Jav. This was fun to build Flyhawk make very nice 1/72 AFV kits. The secondary weapons are especially nicely detailed on this one. I have their Tiger left to build Alan

Its looking very nice OC. I think horses are very difficult to get right. The colours and the sheen of the coats. You have it down nicely. Alan

Terrific work Dan. I'm learning a lot from your techniques. The panel lines are really neat Alan

Thank you Ziggy I'm quite pleased with the candy wrapper solution. It's a lot better than paint. Alan

Beautiful work Dan, the landing gear struts are spectacular Alan

It's coming together really nicely. The French soldiers look superb Alan

Beautiful shading and weathering. A fantastic model. Congratulations Alan

Thank you Kevin for the really helpful input. I think I need to try bed adhesives and cut down my dependence on brims. I hate cleaning them off the print. 3DLAC is about $40 so I might try Magigoo. I'm changing my set up around to get the space to put the dryer in line with the printer. Your serving machine looks really clean and smooth. Something to aim at. Thanks again Alan

Per Thank you. That's very useful to know Alan

Hi Dan Rigorous levelling and fixing the decision problem seems to have solved the bed adhesion problems. No stick glue or hair spray used. I added stiffer levelling springs,the metal extruder head and new Bowden tube. I still get an occasional print that doesn't stick or prints badly. Curiously test prints come out fine making me wonder if some of the problem is with the stl files I'm using. Generally I still like the Ender 3 V2 although I'm curious about the new version with auto levelling, metal extruder and other goodies. Alan

Definitely one of those point of no return moments. A brave decision and it came out very well Alan

Beautiful shading Alan

It's looking very good. The boats and rafts are especially nice Alan

Absolutely stunning. It's a fantastic demonstration of the capabilities of 3D modelling and printing. The log shows the underlying skills and effort that is required. It's definitely not a short cut to excellent results. It's the modern equivalent of spending hours with a jewellers lathe and micrometers after days at the drawing board phenomenal Alan

Thank you Todd, Building the major deck sections was beginning to feel like a bit of a slog especially as I found it difficult to get the decks level on some of the thinner deck sections. For better or worse most of that is done and the last sections dry fit well so working on the details feels more like the modelling I am used to and it's enjoyable. It going to be difficult to know when to stop. There is so much potential to add details but there are fundamental discrepancies between the real ship and the model. The lack of information about specific Flowers is a challenge. I have five decent photos and paintings of Campanula but some areas of the ship are not visible and the paint scheme, secondary armament and life raft layout varies between them. I've tried to stay consistent to one image and filled in the gaps from other ships. There is a single side image of Saucy in the Lambert book Flower Class Corvettes showing the paint scheme and the searchlight platforms on the rear gun tub and mast but that's all I've seem I look forward to seeing you building another Flower Alan

My progress is slow as I still spend a lot of time reading up on Campnulas details (or copying details from other Flowers where there are no images of Campanula). I painted the mounts and barrels on the Oerlikons and dry brushed a little bare metal to add some visual interest. The radar lantern has been completed and installed. I loaded up one of the depth charge rails. It took nine depth charges just like the real thing. With multiple maskings the funnel band and top section have been completed. Possibly not quite accurate but a bit of weathering and fading plus the addition of the ladder and steam pipes will improve it. Lots of work still ahead but its getting a bit less "industrial" now. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thanks Dan That is a good idea to put in some dedicated airbrush time. I need to do that instead of trying to learn on the current model Alan

Looking very nice OC. Good to see this progressing again. The Flyhawk plastic barrels are really very nice. Its a toss up whether to use the metal ones and risk having them out of alignment. Alan

Looks great.it's becoming a work of art Alan