AJohnson

Ah Brian you are a builder after my own heart, I to struggle with shaking hands, failing eyesight and leaving broken brill bits embedded in my models! (Just done that with my Nisha, just don’t tell anyone!) 😆 However I think your latest update looks really good! 👏

🐭 I’d never fall for that…. 🤔🤣

Gulp! 😱 🌳 Good find Andy, it also still seemed to have an un-armoured windscreen…

Wow Andy, bad luck! Hope you can be fixed up soon. 🤕 And I hope there isn't any "silvering" of the lining when you use your new decals! 😆

Hi Richard, Many thanks for your kind words, I've spotted your "Flirt" build and will follow to see how your rigging gets on, lovely build so far. Think rigging is one of those daunting areas, that you just have push yourself into and it gets better with repetition. I think half our collective problems are that we can often have years between builds needing rigging and we forget how to do it! (Well I do anyway! 🤣) Yes Chris's figures are marvels of modern 3D printing, so much better than white metal casting, hopefully Chris will add more figures as and when his development schedule allows, is is already a fine selection.

Hey Brian, that might not be the best way of learning from me! 😆 The number you have to do on your fine Granado means you will be a pro by the end.! 😉 I have trawled through and these are good discussions below, there is some discussion about pre-soaking in PVA and use of C-A, but I have not tried that. Also some use little timber clamps on the shrouds to keep things in shape, (see last link for that). If you look closely at my pictures (please don't for too long the naff rigging becomes glaring! 😁) but the one area I had issues with was keeping just enough tension in the ratline to avoid pulling together the shrouds, but not too much so as the ratline could kink up or sideways, a droop down a bit is fine, but as you will see if you look closely I have some 'gravity defying' ratlines! 🙄) The only glimmer of hope I can give is that you do get into a kind of "flow" doing the hitches if you can set aside a reasonable spell to do a few at once. (Guess it's a muscle memory kind of thing.) Looking forward to seeing the day you become a Ratline Ninja Brian! 😎

@Craigie65 & @HardeeHarHar thank you very much for your kind words and encouragement! 😁 Update tonight, the standing rigging is done! Didn't take as long as I expected, though I always find rigging daunting and a bit fiddly with my fingers and thumbs! I can see the attraction of "Admiralty Models" with no mast and rigging 😂 but don't think I could personally be happy with stump masts on a model, just me, I know others like them and the larger models/scales mean it is the only option unless you live in a Mansion. Things to finish next are the sails, some of the tissue panels need some attention before I attached the threads/blocks and try to add to the model and bend into shape. Final additions to the model I will make are navigation light boards on the shrouds and the bow roller already mentioned, think these will be the final parts of the build before running rigging. Thanks gain all for following along and the likes/comments, much appreciated.

Brilliant work Alan, those figures really bring the diorama to life.

Hi David, I’ll be interested to see how you get on with the boats, I have an old CC project to do next and it didn’t come with any boats, so I will be needing to add some.

Hi Dave, if you’re referring to adding a grating floor or bench seats I’d just try some medium or thick C-A, or some epoxy if you want more working time. I made a little boat for my Nisha that was resin, just used C-A and can’t think why a 3D hull would behave any differently.

Looking forward to seeing another “Nisha” join the MSW and your Vanguard fleets!

A very neat looking boat!

Net completed and installed today. I decided against adding any of the interior details; like the pocket and flappers in the Bating and exterior rubbing pieces on the bottom of the net, as one, you wouldn't see them and two, the net was already quite bulky and difficult to compress in order to stow it on the side of the trawler, But I did add the end Cod and codline (which I then had to cut off in order to roll up the net, oh well at least these pictures proved I tried! 😂) Compression of the net was achieved with a few interior stitches to pull it all together, the hardest part was getting the various lines to lie correctly, so they looked to have some 'weight' in them. This involved a fair bit of soaking and dilute PVA and dots of C-A. I did toy with the idea of showing the warp attached to the bridle ropes, but after a few dry runs I decided against, mostly for lack of space and the little deck already looks very crowded. So I have added the coiled Bridle ropes (2x main bridles and Dandy bridle) and not coiled them up too neatly; many of the pictures in Edgar J March show the rope coils on trawler decks and they are more "workman-like" than "military" in look. Also it would have meant taking up the main hatch to show the warp going down into the hold and I couldn't face risking popping that off and making a mess of it! So my narrative for the scene on deck is that the trawl beam and net have been made fast, the warp stowed down in the hold, so the crew can race back to port to sell their precious cargo of "Cocktail stick" fish. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I will however add a bow roller on the port side of the stem to hint at how the trawl gear all worked. I did add rows of holes in the rail to show where the "Thole pin" could be located and stained the holes to show a bit of 'wear and tear'. I may yet add a few more marks on the deck for the same reason, but don't want to over do it at this scale. Overall I’m pleased I added the trawl net/beam to add a little sense of "Nisha" being at work. Also just shows the scale of the gear and how obviously dangerous it would be trying to handle that lot in anything more than a gentle swell! 😨

Yes, hope you are okay Moonbug and one day can continue your wonderful build log.

Making steady progress on the fishing net now, though only in short sessions, as Covid is still giving me a kicking on and off. Using Edgar J March as a reference for dimensions and detail, I'm using some camo netting as a base, this was originally black, so I sprayed it a rusty brown, to tone it down. For those of you who know how to sew, or enjoy seeing that fine craft in practice, may I advise to to skip along to the next "unread thread" in your feed! 🤣 My efforts at making a net leave much to be desired and I think whole catches of my notorious "Cocktail stick" fish would have no trouble in eluding this trap. My only consolation is that it is going to be rolled up on deck, so most of it will be hidden. 🎣 I've to sew up one side still and then decide if I'm to add all the external details like rubbing pieces or the inner bag and flappers, what's on my mind is that the mesh is quite 'springy' and it might not compress properly and look anything like 'scale'. Might just try the net as is and see how it looks. Thanks all for looking in and the comments and likes. 😁

Happy New Year to you Brian and thank you, I had forgot about the Mutt! - maybe a good old cork life vest for him... 🤔 😂

Looking very good Sam, lots of well made details.

Great job Glenn. Nisha is another lovely little build.

Nice one Jack, glad it all came apart okay. Onwards! 😁

A gentle rock back and forth might loosen them okay, C-A is not always rock solid with dissimilar materials. Finger’s crossed 🤞

Happy New Year to you Graham, your workshop is coming along nicely!

Hi Jack great to see you back model making and with new toys to play with. Looking good, just a quick check on the anchor stocks with your nice brass strip additions, are these just dry fit? The stocks are on upside down I think, they should be ‘flat’ on the top side near the anchor ring and the ‘taper’ faces down towards the flukes, if I’ve made myself clear 🤔

How rude! 🤣🤣🤣 (he says rubbing a bruise from a recent fall!) You go for it Andy, rightly so it’s your kit! 👍

Shipman is right, the predominant standard for the fabric wing Hurricane’s was silver undersides; quickly being replaced with varying schemes of black/white emergency identification schemes. The fabric wings versions did not last long and were lost in large numbers either in the air or on the ground. If you are set on Duck-egg underneath then you would be on safer ground with an all metal winged, three bladed prop Mk.1 kit. Or do the initial silver underneath without the black/white for a Summer ‘39 version. I have built this kit a few times and it is a nice easy build. I did a set of Battle of France models including a Hurricane.

Thanks B.E. “Nisha” is my first Vanguard kit, a world away from the Caldercraft ones I have built prior to this. I think the fact the “kit building” part of these go as smoothly as they do, means the modelling “effort” can be put into any creative elements you wish to add yourself. A double edged sword, as if I’d just built it “out of the box” it would have been finished months ago! 🤣. The effort in learning my way around Edgar J. March’s books (I love looking through musty old books and doing a bit of research) finding details I want to add, easily outweighs the actual “kit” work, a testament to Chris’s design, the way good kits should be. The newcomer and the more seasoned amongst us can derive equal pleasure from building them. 👍