Salty Dog
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Everything posted by Salty Dog
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Thanks! Lots and lots of patience. It doesn't help that the manufacturers supply such crappy instructions! Half the time, you're left to figure stuff out on your own. When you're done building the kit, there are TONS of parts left over, because no mention of them was made. For the amount of money that one pays for these things, you'd figure they would give you lots of written and photographic instructions. At the very least, lots of illustrations and diagrams. As it is, I NEVER use the paper instructions they give, you. I either download the PDF or convert them to PDF and use my computer screen in front of my work area as a magnifying glass. Also, you really need some good tools. Most of all, some good tweezers. Some good bending pliers. No need to go buying some of the expensive stuff such as this: But then there are tools that you just simply need. Rolling the PE is truly a nightmare without the right stuff. I found this last night and I HAVE to buy it: No matter how carefully you try to "roll" PE, without something like this, it comes out like crap! I just wish it wasn't so expensive, at almost $70 bucks! If I had a milling machine and some aluminum lying around, I'd make my own. I sincerely thank you all for the encouragement and kind words. Ed
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Hi again, Very frustrating night. If you have never worked with PE, you must prepare for some very annoying and unavoidable events. If you have, you'll know what I'm talking about. PE is extremely fragile. 9 out of 10 parts must be folded, at least once. If you are not extremely careful and fold it the wrong way, chances are very good that when you correct it, the bend is going to break. It almost always does. Even if you barely fold it. Be prepared to do some repairing. Here's an example: The white plastic pieces are for reinforcing. You are expected to glue that extremely thin metal down. There is hardly any surface contact, so I add small pieces just to give it more contact. Also, be prepared for parts not fitting all the way. I don't know if it's the PE or the actual model, but often enough, you WILL have to do some modifications in order for the parts to fit. Unfortunately, such as with this piece, it's not possible. If you tweak one area, you'll have to tweak another, and another, and it just becomes a mess. This part was so complicated in its assembly, that there were several areas that did not fit precisely. Like this: By the way, sometimes you'll see some awful gluing or painting. These areas are impossible to see once the model is finished....most of the time haha. I just hate wasting time knowing that something will be hidden for good once it's done. I used to like building model airplanes. You would put together half the fuselage, detail it to hell, with radios and wires, and the seats and controls, and paint it pretty, and then....promptly slap on the second half of the fuselage and COMPLETELY hid all the work you just did! I continued building them, but I learned not to waste my time on the guts. Anyway, here are 2 more pics of the progress:
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I agree. I wish they had more colors. Another thing that I've done, just to show how much a really gaf about accuracy, if I'm painting something big, like these huge 1/200 hulls, the airbrush doesn't cut it. And the amount of paint required is huge. I go to Home Depot and get a color close to what I want in a rattle can, and all it takes is one. Look at the first picture on this blog of the hull. All done with that paint. I have a self filled with rattle cans that "come close". Good enough for me.
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Tamiya semi-gloss black. X18. 50/50 with alcohol. I like Model Master too, but I premix the Tamiya into small "dropper" bottles, and when I need a little, I just squeeze a tiny bit into the airbrush cup. When I'm done, I just flush it with alcohol and it's good to go. I used to hate airbrushing due to the constant cleaning, taking it apart, using tools and stuff to totally clean it. With the Tamiya, it's like new after every quick flush. Thanks about the frames. I very rarely do anything like that. But after attempting to file the "windows" out, the frames looked mangled. Not so bad now.
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Hi everyone, Not a good night! Lots of fidgeting and reworking. Pontos supplied PE for the window frames shown here: I don't just like to put that up there without removing the plastic and making a "room", so I removed the entire area. When I went to do the same with the rear windows, the window "frames" pretty much got destroyed. No way to file all those little squares and make them look even. So I got rid of the frames and made my own with some plastic strips. Here's the result: Not great, but a hell of a lot better than leaving them closed and looking like...plastic. The next parts also required lots of surgery: And here's the stuff painted without all the pretty stuff yet. That's tomorrow. Hope you like! Ed
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Hi Harley! Haha, women look at things differently. I think I have a very strong "woman" gene when it comes to some things. I like "pretty" stuff as mentioned in my opening. I do a lot of stuff to please my wife and daughter...and other women haha. I do other "girly" stuff. When I'm not working on my motorcycle, I'm cross stitching haha. Here's a sample of that.
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Due to the wonderful weather, and BBQ duty, I didn't get much done today. Only the thingy that goes on top of the thingy. Tomorrow's project:
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Hi Mark, It's only the paravanes, which could be the last thing that I put on the model, so it's ok. Might not even notice them missing! haha. I"m sure they'll send them. Take care Ed
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I went to the Pontos Website and got the email address from there. help@pontosmodel.com Took them a few days to respond but I did get the parts I needed in the past. Actually more than I asked for. I had lost a few parts of an assembly, offered to buy them, and they sent me the entire sheet.
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Kurt, it is huge. I like it because it's so sleek. It's like a modern day Cutty Sark. All modern warships have their personalities. I really like the Japanese Nagato and Yamato. Beautiful ships. I wish Trumpeter would make a nice version of the Yamato. The Tamiya 1/350 is gorgeous, but I like BIG!
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I don't know what happened to the heading. I specified 1/200 and it's gone. Been retitled. Thanks for the compliments!
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Another quickie. This is a picture of the parts stacking up, and with ladders installed. Also, I picture of the parts to make the paravanes. Unfortunately, there is a part missing from the kit. A total of 8 pieces that attach as air tanks to the paravanes. I contacted Pontos. They have come through before, so I don't expect any problems getting those parts.
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Thanks Mark! I airbrushed this part tonight: And it looks fantastic in black! I'm using semi-gloss, so it gets just the right sheen. I'll take a pic after I work on it a bit. Glad you like the colors.
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Constantly! I have my airbrush right next to me so I use it to blow off the dust, but it is a real pain. After a little bit of sanding and filing and we're back to square one! The hardest thing because of the black color is the CA glue "frosting". I have to keep touching it up or it shows up everywhere.
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Hi everyone. Just a quick update on my new build. Black is a real pain! Keeping it clean is awful. But the black/gold combo looks awesome to me. Hope you agree. This is the beginning of the bridge area.
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Funny you say that. My daughter was looking at it and said the same thing. She said she loved the "aging" brass, vs the "new" one. The one thing I really hate is how easily fingerprints show up! Really nice and clear! I have to keep washing my hands and wiping my fingers with alcohol to keep the grease off!
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I know what you mean, which is why I tend to stay away from taking pics. It disrupts too much. I don't mind transferring them to my computer and uploading them here, but actually taking them I do. Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Ed
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Thanks Kevin. I didn't really keep a steady log. Once I get working, I forget to even pick up a camera, much less take pictures. I usually take pics as I finish each sub-assembly. I admire those that seem to have built in cameras in their eyes. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them if I can. I have been a member of this Website for a long time. But it was almost always wooden ships. I got pulled into the dark side by the availability of photo etch kits. I saw one and just had to do it. I love detail and shiny stuff haha. So I was posting on another website that caters mostly to plastic kits and recently realized they were showing up here too, so I will post here. Take care Keven.
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Hi Lou! Nice to meet you! Thank you very much for the nice words. You can call me anything you like haha. So sorry things have been difficult lately for you. If I had known, I'd keep my mouth shut. Hope you get better and better. See you around! Ed
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