realworkingsailor

Some spacers were needed to centralize the last piece of the bulkhead former in position and then it was glued up.

Yes Andy, it is almost completed. Presently I am working at the rockets that the Mossie carried under the wings. There are 8 of them and I always find this repetitive works a bit long and boring.
Best regards,
Dan

Yeah…. Eduard apparently: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/photo-etched-parts/photo-etched-set/aircraft/1-48/gannet-as-1-1-48.html
 
Looks great so far!
 
Andy

Post 81
A look around Harpy at this six month build stage, a very enjoyable experience overall.
In my search for authenticity, there has  been some frustration with detail queries, and some things still remain a mystery.
Even so, she is shaping up into a fine model, Harpy is a worthy addition to Chris’s  range.

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All the hull work bar some minor fittings, is now essentially complete, time to move onto the Masting.
 
B.E.
25/05/2025

Yeah…. Eduard apparently: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/photo-etched-parts/photo-etched-set/aircraft/1-48/gannet-as-1-1-48.html
 
Looks great so far!
 
Andy

Yeah…. Eduard apparently: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/photo-etched-parts/photo-etched-set/aircraft/1-48/gannet-as-1-1-48.html
 
Looks great so far!
 
Andy

Yeah…. Eduard apparently: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/photo-etched-parts/photo-etched-set/aircraft/1-48/gannet-as-1-1-48.html
 
Looks great so far!
 
Andy

Been a while since the last update, life's been busy but I have had time to do some more on the Gannet and follow other's logs, just not update my own!
 
So the there has been plenty going on and all of a sudden I'm getting close to applying paint.  One modification I did try was to add the retractable crew ladder, this is an odd omission for such a detailed kit; climbing up the side of this monster with the many hand/foot holds and this little ladder must of been a challenge on a moving deck!  Anyway my modification was pretty basic and I am sure some after market option will become available soon for this kit.  A few pictures showing the process - of making a tape template, cutting the ladder shape out of some plastic card and adding a few little details.  Lacking some of the details of the real thing, but as it is low down on the underside of the nose, think it will be okay.
 
The fuselage has been glued together and the wing sections assembled, nothing too much to report there, so the pictures can do the talking.
 
All had a few coats of primer for me to find the flaws and sort before painting begins.
 
Thanks for looking in.

The build has officially begun, the MDF former made of 3 pieces glued together on a nice flat surface and left overnight to dry fully.
 

Far too many distractions but Ive been getting bits done here and there.
 last two bits of PE were a puzzle.

The instructions show P4 as mounted on the turret but not where. 

The helpful photos provided by Patrick once again came in very handy and confirmed that there is nothing similar on the real machine.
Again P9 is supposed to be situated in front of the driver’s hatch but the photos show nothing there so these pieces have been omitted.

That done the tank was ready for paint touch up and a gloss coat ready for the decals. The decals came off the backing paper nicely and laid down smoothly.
 spade was added and the towing cable. The kit supplies a length of braided wire for this but no indication of placement or length. Once again those photos …… Many thanks again @Baker
The wire looked under scale and too springy to use easily so I substituted a piece of rigging cord painted light grey (galvanized I assume) and added the kit supplied eyes to each end. This was added to the front deck and suddenly it was obvious what some of the PE bits were for.
ive used some diluted buff acrylic paint to simulate a light coat of road dust. I can’t imagine that peacetime tanks were encouraged to be scruffy.

I enjoyed building this kit and actually found it to be easier but still well detailed compared to the Flyhawk kits. I’m very tempted to try another Vespid kit but I’m trying to hold to a moratorium on buying anything else until the pile is reduced.
Many thanks for looking in, for the likes and very helpful support.
Over to the little drummer boy now I think.
alan

The forward truck assembly is complete, and mounted on the tender.
 
Regards,
David

The box you see is laser etched with a drawing of the ship along with the serial number of the kit, my kit is B0001 as it’s a prototype.
This box contains Chapter 1 of the model which comprises  all of the main hull structure and jigs, the box weighed in at a hefty 29lbs, you can see more pics of some of the contents, also this kit will have  framing of Swiss pear and I will be planking in Boxwood ( planking material not included with the kit just like the Winnie ).
Everything is very well packed and protected and the quality of the materials and laser cutting is superb.
 

The parts are now separated from their sprues. Most online pictures show black cylinder heads with aluminum valve covers. Blocks and gear boxes are shown in varying shades of bluish-gray, from light to dark. I have settled on a light blue shade and have grunged it up with weathering chalk. I have tried several different washes and chalks to try and highlight the cooling fins, but nothing has been satisfactory so far.
 

Hi Greg, Yes - I was asked by the designer to build one of the first prototypes, you can find more information here.
 
 

Hi All,
 
About to start a new build of the beautiful 50gun 4th rate HMS Portland of 1770, This kit has been developed by the Portland Scale Ship company based in Oregon USA.
 

Post 80
Rigging the stern davits
I used Syren 0.30mm line, 5/32” Double resin blocks, and 3mm  plastic hooks. 0.1mm line is used for seizing.
 
Chuck has produced an excellent method of block stropping, check out his pdf in the Traders and Dealers section.
 
Quite a tricky business hanging the boat on the tackle hooks, it helps to apply a spot of glue to the ring to keep it in the vertical position.

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The handling during the attachment has rubbed some of the paint from the gunwales, so the boat will have to be removed at some some point for a touch -in.

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Not quite sure yet how to  belay the tackle falls. The kit plan simply shows them secured around the aftermost timberhead which sits against the cabin roof.
 
Shot Garlands

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The shot garlands have been fitted, I used 2mm bearings rather than the kit supplied plastic versions.
 
Belay pins
Rather than fit the kit supplied brass etch pins I am waiting to see how Chuck's  testing of  1:64 scale pins work out,  I do hope they will be success.
On my Harpy build they won’t  be put under any stress as I’m not fitting the running rigging.
 
Back to the masts…
 
B.E.
27/05/2025
 

I have started in on the Sakae-21 engine, which is going to be real challenge. The paper engine supplied in the kit consists of 250+ parts, not including the exhausts, so one can understand why I opted for the resin engine, which consists of only 15 parts, not including the push rods and exhaust stubs.
 

 
Some hurdles to overcome:
Liberating the resin parts from their sprues. This takes forever because of the care that must be taken when handling the brittle resin. The resin engine includes a distributor ring, but obviously no spark plug wiring. Since it seems dopey to include the former without the latter, I will need to add the wiring. Which leads us to the next hurdle . . . . . . the resin cylinder heads differ slightly from the Sakae-21s I am seeing online, which means there will be a little guess work about where to attach the spark plug wires to the cylinder heads. The kit includes a bulkhead that forms the shape of the cowling. Most of the kit engine block attaches to the front of the bulkhead, but a small slice goes on the back and acts as a spacer between the fuselage and engine assembly. This is obviously different than the structure of the resin engine, which means I'll have to remove the white portion of that bulkhead and pass the resin block through it. I'll have to position the 'spokes' of the bulkhead precisely on the engine block so that the block is in exactly the same position between the fuselage and cowl opening as it would have been when using the card parts. The resin exhaust stubs (not shown) are grouped together differently than is shown in the kit's build diagrams; the resin stubs are molded together in groups of three or four, while the aircraft depicted in the kit has mostly individual stubs with a coupe of paired sets. I have not been able to find any pictures of any aircraft powered by Sakae radials that have their exhaust stubs grouped in the manner provided by the resin set. Most likely I will have to cut apart the resin stubs (which is tricky, considering how brittle the resin is) and mount them individually. On the kit bulkhead, you can see a ring of 14 white dots -- these are where the kit's printed stubs should attach. The resin stubs are designed to pass all the way forward into their respective cylinders. I have an idea for how to pull this off relatively painlessly, but the plan hinges on the separated stubs having the proper bends to reach their cylinders. In any event, most of the stubs will not be visible once the cowl is on, so a second option would be to simply use only the portion of each stub that is externally visible. Speaking of attaching to cylinders, the resin kit does not include the air intake pipes. This is not a huge problem, since they would not be visible on the finished model anyway. Finally, I'll need to settle on a paint scheme. The Sakae-21s seen online exhibit a variety of schemes. Ultimately, the idea here is not to replicate a Sakae-21 in every possible detail (I'll leave that to the plastic fanatics), but simply to up the 'wow' factor a notch on the finished model. Hopefully I can accomplish that while maintaining my sanity.

Thanks Dan! I guess I wasn’t about to let a little thing like a wet cellar hold me up. To be honest if I hadn’t moved my painting setup, I would still be waiting! From the looks of things, yours shouldn’t be too far behind (?).
 
Thanks to everyone else for your kind remarks! 
 
Andy

Thanks Dan! I guess I wasn’t about to let a little thing like a wet cellar hold me up. To be honest if I hadn’t moved my painting setup, I would still be waiting! From the looks of things, yours shouldn’t be too far behind (?).
 
Thanks to everyone else for your kind remarks! 
 
Andy

Thanks Dan! I guess I wasn’t about to let a little thing like a wet cellar hold me up. To be honest if I hadn’t moved my painting setup, I would still be waiting! From the looks of things, yours shouldn’t be too far behind (?).
 
Thanks to everyone else for your kind remarks! 
 
Andy

Congratulations on your nice work.
 
This is a model I would like to sometime scratch build.  One of the more interesting WWII planes as they were made from wood.  Easy to build, production could be about anywhere.  Lots of women built these.
 
Not exactly high on my project list.  I do look at the plans from time to time and speculate cutting out parts on the laser.  Would not even be a back burner project. more of something in the pantry. Or still out in the garden.
 
Still I find logs like this inspiring.  Thanks for sharing it with others.

Post 79
18’ Cutter
I had already painted the interior hull and applied a coat of Vallejo Black/Grey to the outer hull.
This small cutter will be suspended from the stern davits, which will provide interest and add the opportunity to add tackles to the davits.
Unlike the 22’ cutter the  footwaling is incorporated in the resin moulding.

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Works very well at this scale.
 
The inboard fittings are cut from 0.6mm Pear and are therefore very delicate.

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The gratings are beautifully cut but won’t stand even the lightest pressure without risk of breakage. I did find it necessary to add a strip beneath the fore grating which was showing signs of splitting as I teased it into position. I also added a lateral support beneath the sternsheet thwart.
Even so, these fittings are streets ahead of the previous versions in brass etch.

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The sternsheets are another snap risk area.
To fit these I found it helped to slightly flex the hull outwards whilst  softly easing the sheets into place, so the notches aligned with the frames.

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The Bow thwarts present another issue of getting a close formation to the round of the hull. I found it easier to remove the fore side pieces and fit the thwart first.
 
As with the larger cutter I added the Mast  clamp and rudder hanging details, altho’ the rudder won’t be in place with the boat on the stern davits.

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Fitting the pintles and gudgeons was quite tricky as very tiny eyelets and pins are required, the process not helped by fat fingers and dodgy eyes.
The oars for the cutter are of the style I would expect to see, so it is a puzzlement why the oars for the larger cutter, that I replaced, differed in style.

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In a raw state here. A slight round is required on the shafts and the blades require thinning down.

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I very much like these Resin boats, and altho’ we are saved the the effort of planking tiny hulls there is still a lot of work to do to get a good finish.
I think the all-wood versions still have a place for those who like the challenge, and satisfaction is certainly to be had from successfully completing one of these mini projects.
 
B.E.
25/05/2025
 
 

Very nice model and clean build Andy! 
My prediction about you finishing your model quicker than I with mine.
Cheers,
Dan

Thanks for the likes!
 
Well, it didn't take too long, but I'm ready to call this one finished!
 
The pastel weathering went quickly enough and I'm happy with the results.
 

 

 
Not much to see from overhead.
 

 
A little bit underneath from the radiator outlets.
 

 

 
A little bit from the engine exhausts. 400 Squadron only used Mosquitos from December '43 until May '44, flying only 43 operational sorties between the beginning of March and May 2nd 1944. There likely wasn't too much weathering, as evidenced by this prototype photo of MM307 (top photo):
 
https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/var/albums/Aircam-Aviation-Series/De-Havilland-Mosquito/28 De Havilland Mosquito_Page_24-960.jpg?m=1608648871
 
I think my model captures it fairly well when viewed from the same (similar) angle:
 

 
Thanks again to everyone who has been following along and providing kind comments, feedback and "likes"! I have yet to decide what I'm going to build next, I have a few options in the stash to consider!
 
Andy

Came out really nice.
 
OC.