hollowneck

Nice shot! It's amazing to me that Smartphone optics and sensors have gotten this good - and when in the hands (and eyes) of someone who knows how to get the best out of the tech, It's really impressive photo work. I'm not certain I'll buy another $ Nikon prime lens! .. Oh, BTW...great work on your Syren. It was my very first ship model.

Ron

AH-ha...I forgot to read the main posting title...it's 1/30!!

Ron

This model is the "cat's meow!"

Wonderful detail throughout - and from all angles. Nice shots, too.

What scale, please?

Ron

Great choice. What a terrific way to spend time with your son.

Don't forget to have fun and keep the processes simple for him!

Ron

Ahso, deska! What a great execution. Your airbrushing and weathering details are top-drawer. Nice flags too.

Ron

What a fascinating model. 16 slave people propulsion. And the rudder arrangement looks rather amazing. And what is that long, pointy group of poles at the stem? So many questions! Last one: did the oars double as weapons? Very pointy too.

Thanks for posting this selection of photos. I'd love to see these in-person after the COVID plague goes away and I can go to Germany without having to quarantine for 2 weeks...

Ron

Excellent job, interior and exterior. What a fun and interesting build of a boat that is now in the annals of famous filmmaking history.

I'd bet Quint and Matt would be right at home.

Did you work in Hollywood in the 70's?

This boat brings up a memory that I hesitated to sit on a toilet seat after seeing this film, much less go for a swim in the ocean...😳

Ron

Thanks.

Great film, when the "movies" and going to a movie theater were were still fun. I sort of thought this would be the case, makes sense. But the gun on the very top? 

Ron

Do I see a gun emplacement of some kind on the top of the Zeppelin?...another question: is the slender "tube" hanging from the bottom connect the pilot/propulsion compartment with a ladder (that presumably would allow personnel to travel between the front and rearmost cubicles - and the top gun spot? Thanks. I know little but harbor a fondness for these lighter-than-air artifacts. I realize they were originally intended to be public, transoceanic transports...but then WWI intervened!

Ron

I love your diorama concept. The ill-prepared, rusty Kriegsmarine. Kool and unique. Love the deployed anti-torpedo screens; I'll take this over dazzle camouflage any day (or night!).

Ron

Oh I will add: please consider having professional photos taken, it merits it.

Beautiful work.

I especially like all her Regalia, the flags, ensigns and pennants displayed everywhere they can be hoisted! Needless to say, your sails are impressive, both furled and set.

Beautifully done, model & presentation.

Very nice work. I like it!

Thank you; I'm a true believer in "scale." Most of my ship models now are displayed in dioramas. Scale representation puts many things into clearer perspective. It very quickly defines the context of what we're looking at. The figures are as close to an accurate size as I could find. Doing these settings involves many more hours of work- but this is really fun work!

The bundles are rice bales, recently harvested (to explain the greenish hue). Rice is harvested in the southernmost part of Japan's extremely long archipelago coastlines. In the far north (Hokkaido island), the locals produced fish in exchange for rice. In addition to being a foodstuff, the fish would be also used as fertilizer for...rice.

I like this "birdseye" view. I added the pear planking which contrasted nicely with the model's main building wood," Hinoki cypress. mmmm...it was a treat to build a model that included it's own aromatics! The pleasing scent of the cypress wafted out of the box when opened and continued throughout the entire build. It's evaporated now after applying a natural stain to most all wood elements. I would imagine there might be some people who are allergic...🤨

The ship now has a few crew members mounted to the deck; this is another late-stage photo before I added more figures and tied-off some errant rigging lines.

The fuzzy-looking, pasta simulating thing dangling from the ship's stem was a sort of ensign; the affiliation to a particular clan during this "warring tribes" era in Japan's not-so-distant history of the 18th and 19th-century. The Samurai were warriors of course, but they also did public service - like helping with schlepping essential items (food, fertilizers, etc.) to their fiefdom(s). The stem "fuzzy" is a beautiful hue of dark purple corded fabric - a neat, tied-off bundle in the kit. This color doesn't present well here.

Ta-Da! Finished - nearly. I did tie-off some random loose rigging lines (after guessing how to do this).

The ornate base railing is custom chair rail purchased from an architectural milling company in Arkansas...that makes these handmade items in...hold on, where else? Yep, The People's Republic. Pretty decent carving and I'm glad I only had to purchase 94" worth🤯$$$. Mating the mitered corners was tricky to say the least.

I affixed heavyweight black art paper to the sides of the diorama's elevations (rear and both "sides"). The ship has dropped two anchors which are on taut lines because the wave action wants to dash the ship on the rocky shoreline. BTW: the draft on these vessels was very shallow to allow this close-to-shore loading and delivery activity. The main viewing orientation is from the offshore water perspective.

Ron

As you can plainly see, I was still in the final stages of the ship's rigging (little "alligators" jumping up on the ship's deck!). These are now gone since figuring out how to tie-off the huge sail's warping lines.

I realize the "alligators" are grossly out-of-scale😆

I also added a few more local Samurai schlepping rice bales down the boarding ramp to the village loading area. The mother and her child by the house also lost their metal bases...

This "pourable" resin (not an epoxy) is available from Woodland Scenics and I wanted to try it for this diorama. It makes for quite convincing water. The company makes a range of materials that are primarily targeted at model train hobbyists. I've learned a lot about creating dioramas from train buddies in my clubs. This resin worked well but only for 'flat" scenarios. I've recently been experimenting with creating large, undulating ocean surfaces which require different materials and painting techniques to be convincing.

Very nice! Congratulations.

Ron

Kool. Nice build. Love that you decided to display your model in a diorama setting. A lot of "extra work" but IMHO, worth it!

Ron

Nice shot! Well done on the sails!