mikegr
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Everything posted by mikegr
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Airgroup is done. With 4 Hellcats and 2 Devastators. Its the first time I use all the PE upgrade parts, canopy, propeller, landing gear, even rear single gear. Added some weathering and put on deck. A few minor work tomorrow and I will proceed to the water base
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
I'm working at the funnels. Its a highlight spot of this ship. I printed a couple of pairs and I had to do some scratch work to correct some mistakes After lot of sanding I get a desired outcome
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I am building the air group. First wave is a six pack of SB2c. I added some PE work and paint them a 3 color camouflage with brush. Some weathering, oil brushing and mat varnish. In my new builds I will use high detailed 3d printed ones. There is not much space for improvement on these oldies
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
Work on cranes started. I printed the parts. Then assembled together and paint. Put crane frame supports using 1mm chopped plastic rod. After the fitment I scratch built a crane holder and glue it on port side on deck. It was difficult because my scratch built skills have been deteriorated since I spent most time on 3d design than making my parts by hands
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
Thanks for the comment. I did avoid early painting to avoid any accident as I am quite messy Too much trouble for little progress. I added some shelters on bridge deck. Started with scratch building then decided for a more delicate job so I just printed them. Still measurements were incorrect, so multiple couples were tried to get the final fitment. On the top I used sandpaper 280bgrit pieces to simulate the material show on first pic. Before installation, a pair of compass were fitted one of each side of the bridge
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
Thank you Actually a year ago I was no related to 3d design either. And 3 years ago I was wondering how people could make ship models without a kit, just only from plans -
Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
While working on the masts suddenly realized that I was totally out of scale. I reprinted two of them with some modifications on top and other an one inch extension to the 3rd one. Then i moved to test fitting. And a last pic with the funnels on
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I installed PE, mostly nets and few others. Rigging time. A combination on melted sprue and elastic thread for longer pieces. The way I handle sprue fibers is with the tip of a file sometimes bit wet for extra grip. I do not use sharp tweezers as it can bent the pieces. At the end of the file a needle is attached were I use to deep into PVA or CA glue if I want a quick dry. After rigging work is almost done, time to deal with air crew. Note that this is my first extra modified kit with addition of resin self design parts so some fittings problems occurred. Buy I need to move on.
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Thanks for the comments. It is the small scale actually that helps me to make these as in 1/350 or higher, more detail would be needed which I cannot design at the moment. Back to the building, I sanded the PE parts and sprayed them with epoxy primer. Crane was assembled but a mast was needed as well. So I scratch built one copying the Pontos model.
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Perhaps I reached my design limits
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Working with printed and PE parts together gave a better appearance but it proved time consuming while results could be better, the tiny PR parts are quite hard to handle. So I started experiments by printing my own Bofor guns. Here is a test print along with a pair or Phalanx which I think are too small for 1/700 I need to recheck
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Books to learn Fusion 360
mikegr replied to allanyed's topic in CAD and 3D Modelling/Drafting Plans with Software
I have started using this tutorial. Its also updated, 2023 -
Back to work after some absense. After installation of 5" and AA guns it was time to paint the hull. Unfortunately the paint used for the funnel didn't perform well with the airbrush and such a large surface would take me several hours to paint it. So I bought a spray can knowing that matching the color would be impossible. Only option would be using weathering techniques to match the colors, using a brush for hull painting wasn't an option. I then applied several shades of blue with dry brushing from dark blue to whitish gray. Then did some chipping mostly on waterline and bow. Finally used mat varnish and oil wash on guns and platforms, as well as bit of rust. Bridge and funnel were also lightly dry brushed with same colors to reduce the difference with the hull. To a comparison here is a job of Master Katseas with his Tamiya Saratoga. You can see the great job done on panel lines
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Kαλως ηλθες!
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gel coat and you re done
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its just an example any epoxy product for the car industry will do just find. Make sure its 1K (one ingredient) as a 2 part can, after mix probably won't last long
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Epoxy primers or etch primers for car industry may work good as well. https://carsystembg.com/en/cs-etch-primer-spray-478
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
Thanks for the encouraging comments. Hamburg has a very nice nautical museum which I hope I visit one day. Now back to the project, while preparing the superstructure for final fitment I made the winches: main body and another piece were designed and printed plus a plastic rod and a pin. I used copper wire primed and painted black. then i put the winch cylinder on the main body and secured the whole system with a pin which i chopped the extra length and glued the last part. so got a fully functional system minus the motor which i can adjust the length of the wire during the rigging phase, i only need to add more black paint to fill the gaps on the white reel.
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As performance of 3d printers improving their appliance in the hobby is getting more popular. Now resin parts can even replace PE parts to a great extend. Especially in these old kits there is a lot of parts than can be improved.
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
I am working on the pulleys. The number required is great, Not sure about wooden ships but here more than 50 needed from what i see on the plan There are also double and triple pulleys that will be used. I am using photos of my archive as a guide to position them and differ remarkably from my plans. Rigging will be more challenging that it seemed initially. Most possibly won't be 100 accurate but thats ok. Meantime I decided to install the anchor machinery and drill the anchor holes all the way to the ship sides while working to improve paint details on deck
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Cap San Diego by mikegr - 1/160
mikegr replied to mikegr's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day
Work slowed down because of other project but now I'm back on track. I decided to make the masts. Wasn't sure how, finally the design and 3d printing was chosen instead of scratch building. After many hours of design I got the first result, two successful prints while one collapsed partially. Using my skills I manage to repair it and save another 6 hour printing season.
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I quickly ran out of PE parts for the guns and a new order has been done but my work will delay some weeks. Therefore I proceed with the 5" inch guns and some 20mm ones from my parts stash. The latter is a two piece part and took me some time to assembly together and install on deck Thinking of what to do next I designed my own Bofors single guns. They came in two batches, the second was impoved and including shoulder rests. It looked better than plastic ones already installed so it will be my standard for next projects. Lesson learned.
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for example the rivets on funnel and turrets while add detail to the model i think they are way overscale
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After a lot testing and fittings Im done with the gun platforms. The rear platforms both sides came as a single piece to complex and big to remove so I just delete them with rotary tools. Also the anti slip surface was designed better on scale you can see the difference comparing to smaller platforms. However I won't remove them as almost all area will be covered by 40mm guns. The improved Bofors are larger in size so platforms were designed bit wider so fitting problems occurred. I have installed only some bases for the 40s. I will fit the rest, the 5" guns, then the Bofor guns painted on hand. Next will be the hull painting/weathering before deck installation. For some inspiration i use pictures as reference of another built by a Japanese modeler which was gifted to the president of Tamiya although this looks to be a later modified version
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I think "I love kit" hood is also a good choice and without the overscale effect of flyhawk model. Plus the flyhawk PE are terribly soft to work with
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