king derelict

Good reminder OC. I just ordered my wooden deck for Prince of Wales Alan

Only a small update today mostly adding small details. At risk of being repetitive I am amazed by the detail on the basic Flyhawk plastic. The masts are fine enough that I don't think they need replacing. I added the PE to the foremast and left it at that. I think it is time to start the primer Alan

Hi Craig Thanks for looking in. Your work sets a very high standard but I'm learning and i hope improving. Most of all I'm enjoying it. These Flyhawk deluxe kits are so well produced any frustration is of my own making. Your PE handling is giving me some great insights. Thanks Alan

That is excellent work at such fine detail. It looks so accurately applied. I like the Gators Grip for the extra working time and because it dries with a bit of flexibility so a slight knock doesn't ping the PE off the plastic Alan

Hi Popeye Many Thanks for looking in and the kind comment. The build log was an attempt to make me scrutinise and improve my efforts. The PE is a whole new world for me but I love how it dresses up a model. Just a set of railings on a ship lifts the model to a whole new level. I last built a kit in 1970 (Airfix 1/72 Harrier as I recall). Then you built what was available in the local shop (all Airfix) and painted with what they had (Humbrol). No aftermarket details; I remember it being exciting when they started stocking matt colours as well as gloss! A serious modeller was someone who knew to stretch melted sprue to add aerials etc. Revisiting the hobby now is amazing; seeing the range of subjects and scales available and what can be done to them; the range of finishes, aftermarket parts in resin and PE, 3D printing. It seems like every week I see something new I want to try or build. The internet provides amazing opportunities and this forum has such a great range of expertise and knowledge. Its a world away from building on teh kitchen table with the box top as the only reference material. Thanks to everyone for sharing the skills and knowledge Alan

Thank you kindly OC. I used the smallest two of these drill bits. I bought them for general modelling use a while ago and found they break extremely easily but they were really good for drilling the holes for the brass barrels. I didn't use them in any sort of holder; the coloured collar was sufficient to rotate the drill bit and allowed me to use very gentle pressure and avoid the bit skating off the part. I'm sure there are more sensible ways but this seemed to give me the best control and least chanced of accidently drilling my finger Alan

Thanks Mark You are correct. At the time of the camouflage scheme Penelope was under repair after running aground and under frequent air attacks so its unlikely she was all squared away for inspection. Actually I went back to look at correcting the alignment this morning and had to look hard to find it. The camera is a very exacting eye. those barrels are maybe 1/3 inch long total.

Another first today. I made up the brass gun barrels for the first time. The six inch guns went quite well although it feels like a irrecoverable step cutting off the plastic barrels. The four inch guns were very fiddly. I nearly decided to go with the plastic barrels. The plastic is actually quite well detailed and not too fat for scale but I wanted to try to improve on this build. So ithought "Well I'll try one." In the end with a diversion to find and retrieve three barrels that somehow escaped I made all four. I see in the photo that I knocked one set of barrels out of alignment so that will now be fixed. I started the Seafox and it just needs the propeller and the floats. The PE rigging is overscale but I think its better than nothing and may look more subdued when painted

Thank You OC, Its great to get encouragement from the masters. Alan

Real life got in the way for most of the day but I did manage to complete the forward funnel and its walkways I also tackled one of the elements I was very nervous about, the catapult. In the end it was quite straightforward although a bit nerve wracking. I used the folding / bending tool from The Small Shop and that really made a huge difference in getting nice square folds. As a result everything fitted together nicely. The PE version is a big improvement over the plastic part Tomorrow I think its time to add the brass to the guns The painting is a bit of a way off but I'm starting to think about some elements of it. It was an ad hoc scheme and Im thinking that it is unlikely that the smaller deck equipment would have been painted. Some of that stuff had moving parts and I don't see matelots with six inch paint brushes slapping brown paint all over it. I don't think the deck railings would have been worth it either so I think I will see how they look in teh original grey and make some artistic judgment based on teh appearance. Thanks for looking and liking Alan Thanks for looking and the likes

Well I feel honour bound now to buy the Prince of Wales. So I just did! It's only money

That is going to be great

I just bought the USS Wasp and HMS Malaya books so many thanks for the link. I may get the Jupiter and Niaid books if these live up to expectations Alan

if you can paint buttons on the Rifles you would walk all over a 1/700 Flyhawk kit. They are beautifully designed so everything fits and their PE integrates seamlessly

Many thanks OC. I have bought some of the Flyhawk kits from China and they have generally shown up much earlier than advertised, maybe about a month. I've used a guy Yanworld who has always delivered early. I'm trying to work up to HMS Good or Prince of Wales

I can see me using this a lot. Many Thanks

The accumulation of brass continues. The bridge is about complete, the funnels are in progress and I worked up the courage to make the derrick. I am quite happy about how it came out. I still have the crane hook to add to complete it. The Flyhawk PE is very nice to work with. The fold lines are deep enough that the bends come out nice and clean although the downside is you don't get too many attempts before the part fails at the fold line. The fit with the plastic parts is good too. So far I'm thoroughly enjoying the kit. There are a lot of elements to work on. I need to start the brass guns and the Seafox. Thanks for the likes and support Alan

Thanks Ken Yes I installed a pair of LED strips above the work table as well as a focussed desk light. I use a pair of 3.5 x magnifiers for most of the work.

Thanks OC. I need frequent breaks to let my eyes unfocus a bit Alan

A tentative start has been made. It seems to me that one of the necessary skills is the ability to look at the kit and decide how to break it down into elements to build and paint, especially when masking is required. I spent most of the morning staring at the parts and the assembly information and decided that I will complete the hull, build the elements of the superstructure as far as masking will allow and then assemble, add final details and touch up paint. Some of the PE is much too fragile to stand any form of masking. The waterline hull assembly and the weight were completed. all tightly fitting. This was followed by the first consideration. The wooden decks came with a set of masks and I was unsure whether to install the wooden decks and then add the masks for subsequent painting or to add the masks to the bare decks and install the wooden decks before final assembly. I decided to install the masks on the bare decks thinking that if any paint got under the mask it was likely to be insufficient to affect the adhesion of the deck but if might be hard to get a perfect register with the mask over the wooden deck and any paint getting on the wood would be disappointing. I made one exception with the lower bridge structure where I did install the wooden deck and then applied the mask. The build up of the structure would make adding the wooden deck difficult later in the build. This is the first time i have used a wooden deck so this may be completely incorrect. The PE has been started. This is as small as I think I can handle. It is probably invisible on the final model. It a support for the bridge upper works The PE is very nice to work with so far although I go in fear of teh crane and catapult that will be built later. There are even ladders and railings around the bridge companionways Thanks for looking Alan

Thanks OC I welcome advice from you and the other grand masters Alan

Hi Ken Yes she is a Maine Coon cross. She came from a local shelter as a kitten with her sister three years ago. They are both great cats. Wonderful companions

Hello Everyone This is my first pass at a build log so please forgive all the omissions and errors. I am attempting to build HMS Penelope from the Flyhawk 1/700 scale kit. I have the Deluxe kit with two sheets of PE and metal gun barrels. I also have a wooden deck as an additional item. I returned to plastic models last year having not built a kit since 1970 and I find things have changed since those days. Kits and aftermarket parts are spectacularly good and my eyes and hands have gone in the other direction. I have been building WW2 RN destroyers from Flyhawk, IBG and Trumpeter mostly with some elementary PE. This will be a step up in many ways so I hope I can bring it to a successful conclusion. HMS Penelope like so many ships had a pretty rough war. HMS Penelope was an was an Arethusa-class light cruiser commissioned 13 November 1936. She operated with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron on convoy escort duties. In April and May 1940, she took part in the Norwegian Campaign. On 11 April Penelope ran aground off Fleinvær while hunting German merchant ships entering the Vestfjord. Her boiler room was flooded and she was holed forward. The destroyer Eskimo towed her to Skjelfjord where an advanced base had been improvised. Despite air attacks, temporary repairs were made and she was towed home a month later. Penelope was holed both forward and aft by near-misses during air attacks on Malta in March 1942. While in the island, she was docked and repaired at the Malta Dry Docks. Day after day she was attacked by German aircraft and the crew worked to fix a myriad of shrapnel holes, so many that she was nicknamed HMS Pepperpot; when these had been plugged with long pieces of wood, HMS Porcupine. Further service in the Mediterranean saw her bombed and mined several times. On 18 February 1944, Penelope, was leaving Naples when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-410. A torpedo struck her in the after engine room and was followed sixteen minutes later by another torpedo that hit in the after boiler room, causing her immediate sinking; 417 of the crew, including the captain, went down with the ship I plan to try to replicate the brown and white camouflage used in 1940 during her stay in Skjelfjord . This was an improvised scheme to try and match the colours of the snowy mountains surrounding the fjord. The colour balance was changed over time with the brown elements increasing to reflect the snow melting. That does give me some license to depart from a strict copy of the layout depicted with the kit. There is some controversy and little pictorial evidence of this paint scheme but the ships log attests to it and confirms that it was brown and whit and not just a simple overpaint of brown onto the light grey hull and superstructures. The exact colour of brown is undetermined so will be my choice. My goals for the model are to replicate the Skjelfjord paint scheme, install my first set of wooden decks, use the metal gun barrels (another first) and try to use as much PE as I think enhances the model and remains below my fear limit. A stretch goal is to try a Norwegian fjord diorama. I plan a waterline model. The Flyhawk box contains a nice print of the box top image with some brief notes about the ship on the back. Instructions for the basic kit assembly and the PE are on separate sheets and there are many sprues of beautifully moulded small parts. a metal weight is provided to and some substance to the model. Parts for a Walrus and a Seafox aircraft are provided. The Seafox is the correct choice for 1940. My helper will provide company and make sure there is a liberal supply of long cat hairs to add character to the model. This will probably be a slow build as I think through the sequence of build and paint and the appropriate points to add PE and the wooden decks. The wooden decks do come with masks which I think will give me some choices I hope this log will help me at my best efforts. I would be grateful for comments from the many experts and I hope this provides some entertainment Thanks Alan

Thank you for the tip about working the railings as short sections. That has made it a lot easier for me for both long side decks and complex shapes. It also makes it easier to use Gators Grip glue instead of CA . I need to get tidier but now it's a lot more feasible. Many Thanks Alan

I think I'll be in line behind you too get those new Flyhawk releases. Their 1/700 kits are just so well made and detailed. I'm just finishing their 1/72 Pz Kpfw1 kit as light relief from the Dragon Z-38 and it is as good as their warships. A lot of parts, nice PE and impressive detail. A joy to build all the way through.