Dan Vadas

Time to start on the tracks. Here are all the ones needed for them. They come as an inner and an outer :

 
As you can imagine there is a bit of cutting to do :


 
I didn't align the sprockets quite right - the teeth of the inner sprockets don't quite align with the outer sprocket. This one isn't too bad, and I'll probably get away with it, but the other is worse so I'm going to have to cut it apart and fit the sprockets properly :


 
I've overlapped the inner and outer tracks to avoid have a "hard" joint - two sets are needed for each side :

 
Just when you think the amount of cutting needed can't get much worse - here are the "teeth" of the tracks. One is needed for each track segment :



 
There are also just as many locating lugs, which fit to the inner track and run between the double rollers.
 
The kit gives three options for the tracks - a simplified belt without any of the "teeth" or lugs, the option I chose which is a continuous belt with all the details, or the individually segmented tracks.
 
After looking at doing the tracks as individual "articulated" ones I decided against it. For one thing there are absolutely NO diagrams as to how they go together, although I did eventually work it out. There isn't much point, as the finished articles look identical anyway, and there is a lot more cutting and folding involved. In fact the only instructions regarding the tracks in the kit is one short paragraph listing which tracks go with each option - and they got the whole lot WRONG anyway 🤬.
 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

And when you all thnk you deserve an update after the second day of christmas,  I have to disappoint you.
I have a third one running in the background, and that one got slightly more attention this day. (Almost finished, apart from the railings and some nasty little bollards)
 


 
Jan

Thanks David, and all the others who replied .
 
The sprockets are very visible, this part (the tension adjuster) not so much :

I don't think I've got it quite right - the instructions were very vague about it (as usual ).
 
Danny

Thanks David, and all the others who replied .
 
The sprockets are very visible, this part (the tension adjuster) not so much :

I don't think I've got it quite right - the instructions were very vague about it (as usual ).
 
Danny

Thanks David, and all the others who replied .
 
The sprockets are very visible, this part (the tension adjuster) not so much :

I don't think I've got it quite right - the instructions were very vague about it (as usual ).
 
Danny

Those look very challenging! I hope one can see them when the model is completed.  Merry Christmas down under, Dan!

Top quality

Awesome Sir!!
I'm looking forward to, (Maybe), articulated Tracks!!
 
Merry Christmas and Happy Guy Fawkes!!
 
Cheers and Regards,
 
Harry. (HOF)

So glad I'm sitting at this end of the model, and I can leave it up to you ...  yet another impressive feat ...
 
Have a Merry (and not to sweaty) Xmas Dan

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Five days later and I've made all the sprockets and rollers. To cut the teeth in the drive sprockets I used my punch set. There are 12 of these, a central one that contains the spokes and two outer ones to get the thickness correct :





 
The idler sprockets :


 
And the top rollers :



 
Danny

Quarterdeck planking and bulwark lining complete. First coat of Admiralty Paints red ocre on the cabin facia panel. 

Dear friends, 
I am pleased you like my work and thank you for your support and "likes".
 
 
Thank you Druxey and Albert, your words mean a lot for me.
 
Thank you Rob, 
oh yes, this larger scale brings much more opportunities for making fine details. I also enjoy building ship models in smaller scales. The sails - if you mean these ones on steam-sailing ship Napoleon in my post above, that is my new technique and I applied it first time. In fact it is quite easy to achieve such result. The sailis are made of thin fabric  - I used an old shirt from my husband, and dipped it in stong black tea with starch. The stripes are easily drawn by micro-pencil (I use softer pencil/graphite) and ruler. The reinforcement on edges is achieved by sticking another layer of fabric. Finally, the sails are over-sprayed with a flat clear varnish (I also use here my favourite Tamiya spray TS-80) and during drying are shaped. Weathering  is achieved with a special fine powder - the product of Tamiya - weathering master.

When I do other sails for my next model, I'll take some pics and post here a tutorial.
 
**************************************************************************************************
 
Today I completely remade the wiring in the model and added another circuit for lanterns on quarterdeck. Here is a LED wiring diagram that I used - in my model there are five parallel circuits - four in stern and one under the forecastle.
 


 
Best regards
 
 
 
 

Today I continued with last bulkhead in the great cabin, as usually I used card and self-adhesive foils. The back side of bulkhead is reinforced with wooden beams.
 

 
 
A view over windows into the cabin:
 

Have a great time and enjoy the pics.
 
 

 
 
 
 

Hello dear friends and thank you very much for your comments and kind words. 
Thank you Nick, I am pleased you like my work.
 
Hello EJ,
I do appreciate your opinion, I am honored. Thank you very much. I try to make my models to look like wooden and also to be very solid and durable. I have been developing this technique for many years and I still find new opportunities for improvement. The work with these foils is neat and quite easy, brings a huge range of use.
 
Hello Rob,
Exactly, layering of multiple colors brings very nice and fine details.
I like making models from various materials, the work is more interesting and varied, but I really care about the result - realistic look and historical accuracy are a priority for me.
 
Thank you dear Paul, I do appreciate your praise a lot.
 
These modern ships from WW2 are plastic of course - Tamiya models in a scale 1/350.
 
I have plenty of other plastic ships as well. In recent years, I have built mostly rare kits, here are some of them:
 
Napoleon Imai, 1/150

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=118521&start=45#p2156374
 
Yacht Corsair II

 
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=114818&start=30#p2047159
 
Schooner Yacht Atlantic (the model had a broken hull in half)

 
 
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=114818#p2039059
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=114818&start=45#p2052325
 
Best regards,
Doris
 
 
 
 

Hello Rob, 
that is right - in smaller scales is more difficult to achieve such details, but there is always a way how to make it perfect. These self-adhesive vinyl foils have the advantage that they can be repeatedly glued to the surface and modified. They also have excellent flexibility and they can copy different shapes thanks to a considerable bending potential. It is always necessary to use warm air -  it softens them and improves adhesion.
 
Here are other examples, what is possible to achieve with this material. You do not need any special tools, only fine sharp knife, a ruller and tweezers. And plenty of patience of course..... 😁
 
*outer side of the walls covered by foils:

 
*placed and sticked in the model

 
* rear part of the cabin after complete modification
 

 
Enjoy the pics and have a grat time.

I warned you: the size of the parts is getting smaller and smaller.
 
So here is the update of two afternoons of cutting, rolling (ugly words because of the carpet monster), and glueing.
Using a flash when taking pictures at close distance with a cellphone, makes the not-so-good even worse  All in all I am not too unhappy.   
 
Some miscellaneous goodies awiting a bit of grey paint to cover the white.
 

 
some really small stuff (winches and the bearing ring for the torpedotubes)

 
and when youthink life can't get worse, you encounter this:

 
which turned into this (took me the better part of an hour)
 

again, some grey needed to do some covering up. Not now, as the card is still a bit unstable due to the water in the glue. (No, I am not going to use CA for this: far too small too handle for me. I need safe glue)
 
and some present state pics. 
Fore deck with whinch and water breaker

Cabin with stearing gear, lights and support struts.

And the last one: all the little stuff installed (except for that range finder)

 
flash highlights the white sides, even when they are harly visible to the eye in normal daylight circumstances. 
 
And now my eyes need something easy
 
Jan
 
 
 
 
 
 

Continuing - the shock absorbers :

 
Next up is the reason I haven't updated lately - the 12 (plus 2 spares) bottom dual wheels. These have taken me 8 days to make, the equivalent of tying ratlines on a ship. I'm really glad to see the end of them at last . Here are four of the wheels in the various jigs I made to assist assembly :

 
I used two spacers and a piece of brass tubing to fit the inner wheel to the axle :

 
A finished wheel fitted to the suspension arm :




 
Danny