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madtatt

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Everything posted by madtatt

  1. madtatt
    And now, for the sake of completeness, here’s the finished version. I did a little more work on the shadows and highlights in the drapery folds. This was especially necessary for the second figure from the right, as the tarpaulin shouldn’t be floating in the air. So, for the crouching sailor, I shaped it to fit over his knee. I’m trying to get the sailors to interact with each other on stage. I think I hear the two on the right quietly saying, “Hey, how do you tie that tarp again?” It was also important to me to create reasonable points of contact between the boys and the tarpaulin. It should look as if they are pulling on the tarp to get it into the right position. So that people will believe they are in the process of attaching the tarpaulin to the railing. And last but not least, it was played on the Mikasa.
  2. madtatt
    So, let’s create a scene facing the bow.First, cut the paper to size again and attach it to the railing with glue. I then attach it up to just before the point where I want to drive it in. Cut the corners and fold the top edge over lengthwise, then glue it down. This makes the whole thing quite stable and durable, even though I’m still struggling with the wrinkles. After weathering, I set up a few figures and the rapid-fire guns to see how it looked. I still think it would have worked better on the rear bridge. There was simply more space there. Nevertheless, I am quite satisfied with this small performance. And laid down again on the ship. I think it can stay like this.
  3. madtatt
    That's too nice, Jeff. 😊 And you set the bar very high in other things. When I think of the hull of your Bismarck, wow, fantastic! You know, if I ever need help with your ship, no problem, always happy to oblige. What can I say, Jeff. It doesn't always work out right away with things like that. When you want to add these kinds of DIY extras that weren’t originally planned, you have to expect some setbacks. I’m afraid putting the tarpaulin over the small wheelhouse was a bit too ambitious. There simply isn’t enough space to make it look good. Today I glued the railing onto the cabin and did a test fitting with a compass and speaking tubes. I’m afraid if I cram the two sailors and the folded-over tarpaulin up there, it’ll look like something you’d find at Woolworth’s bargain bin during their summer sale. And of course, I only get one shot at the actual model, and if I don’t like it… What a waste of that nice big space in front of the wheelhouse. I’ll see what else I can do with it. Maybe a little exercise with the searchlights, semaphore lights, and/or signal flags. No, I won’t discard this scene, but I will move it to the front bridge.
  4. madtatt
    And I’ve finished the next test. For this scene, I chose the roof of the wheelhouse. Space is very limited, but I think it worked nonetheless. Only two sailors are now pulling up the tarpaulin due to the limited space. The compass and speaking tubes also need to go there. The sailor on the right should also move a little to the right. I’ve placed it on the wheelhouse. I don’t think it looks bad at all. I could expand the scene in front of the cabin. The sailor who folded the tarpaulin during the first test could go there, and an officer yelling at the guys would also look great.
  5. madtatt
    Thank you so much, Jeff, that's so kind. But let's see if I can improve the poses even further. But first i am making a long strip of colored tissue paper is placed around the remaining railing of the bridge and cut at the corners. Once the strip has dried, I can fold over the top edge between the cuts and glue it down. A small model-making spatula with a ball head helps to neatly shape the tarpaulin against the railing. Then age again and you’re done. Once that was done, I looked at my work and thought, hmm, how could I make it a little more interesting? Maybe create a little scene where the crew is attaching the tarpaulin to the railing? Let’s see, Jeff. 😉 So I started this test run… …with styrene, an old railing and a few sailors. So far so good. Only one thing bothers me. Unfortunately, I only thought of it after I’d finished the railing on the rear bridge. And that would have been the perfect spot for this little section of groyne. It has the most space to properly detail it. Now I have to figure out where else I could fit it.
  6. madtatt
    Now that I’ve mastered the doors, I’m moving straight on to the next section, which I was dreading again. The mere thought of the tarpaulin that attaches to the railing made me break out in a sweat. This is where my homemade handle really comes in handy and calms me down a bit. It securely holds the part in my vise, making it much easier to work on. I first cut tissue paper to the correct size using my paper cutter and dyed it brown. Then, using a very thin mixture of water and MIG acrylic glue, I applied the paper to the railing. Shaped and aged, I’m already satisfied with my first attempt. Placed on the ship again for testing and it fits. Even at the stern, where the space between the bridge and the mast is extremely tight. Everything is satisfactory. After I succeeded with that, I continued tinkering a bit with the stand for storing the signal lines. You can see a first prototype in the following picture. The height is currently flush with the railing. I think I’ll make it a bit higher, though. I’ll also make the signal flags out of tissue paper and put them on the shelf. Let’s see how that looks.
  7. madtatt
    Thanks Jeff. Today I dealt with the doors of the wheelhouses. I discussed the color of the inner door panels with users who possess considerable maritime knowledge. Wheelhouses are usually painted white on the inside, so I logically painted the door panels white as well. But I didn’t like it at all. A user who served in the navy told me that bulkheads were often painted grey on the inside. And I followed that example with the doors. I think it just looks more harmonious.
  8. madtatt
    Thanks a lot, Mike. Believe me, that really annoyed me too. Especially since you spend a lot of money on these aftermarket kits, which makes it even more frustrating. I would be very happy to see a little twin of my ship in one of your build reports. Preparing the interior of the wheelhouses proved to be a real challenge. After a few setbacks and starting over, it finally worked. And the many helpful tips from users in all the forums where I post my build logs contributed greatly to the success. But now, on to the forward wheelhouse. There was much more space here than at the stern, and I could really let my creativity flow. You probably know how it is. Making and preparing repetitive parts is often a tedious and boring task. But when it comes to arranging them on the model, it’s like Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. That’s when I really enjoy it. That’s exactly what happened in the Mikasa’s wheelhouse. I arranged the individual parts as shown in the pictures of the museum ship. Again, I positioned them a little further away from the base of the compass mast to save space. Officer and sailor on deck and full speed ahead. In room two, a sailor I had modified sits in front of the desk. The officer is shouting instructions. Let’s put the lid on and see what else is visible of the whole scene. It’s very difficult to get a proper exposure with the camera. Because I have to get the lens very close to the wheelhouse, I’m blocking the light from the work lamp. However, I think you can see enough to guess what is going on in the room.
  9. madtatt
    And now a small step further. Both steering wheels and the engine telegraphs are finished. Let’s start with the small wheelhouse towards the stern. It’s quite cramped. The floor is still a bit shiny from the glue, so I touched it up with matte clear varnish. I initially wanted to put figures in here, but I decided against it. Otherwise, it would look too cramped. I also did a little trick with the compass. I cut a piece off the bottom part with a scalpel so I could get it as close as possible to the front wall of the wheelhouse and the steering wheel would fit properly behind it. You can’t see any of it afterward. And I even tried placing it on the Mikasa to see how it works. I am very satisfied with that.
  10. madtatt
    The good thing about getting older is, I'm getting there too, Jeff. I'm already looking forward to all the stupid things I can do then.😅 The bridges are demanding all my attention as well; they're really tricky. Especially when, like us, you have a tendency to get bogged down in details. But we'll rock it.💪
  11. madtatt
    I understand exactly what you mean, Jeff. Now comes the fun part. It's great that you managed to get some veteran parts. I'm also familiar with Distefano's website and, funnily enough, I was browsing it yesterday. I could imagine ordering one or two parts from there as well. Nevertheless, nothing beats the master, as you so aptly put it. Unfortunately, Micro Master has a very limited product selection. By the way, they now also have printed anchor chains. I bought my chains here, though: WWII War Ships Anchor Chain They are quite good and much cheaper than Micro Master. However, they have a rather long delivery time because they come from China.
  12. madtatt
    I guess it's me. 🤭 And I have to agree with Jeff, a wonderful model. 👍
  13. madtatt
    I'm so glad things are moving forward with your Bismarck project. 💪 This is going to be an amazing project in your hands.
  14. madtatt
    Mike's building something really nice and unusual again. 👍 Great, I like it a lot. I'll be following along.
  15. madtatt
    @Jeff59 That's right, Jeff, we're going to make the puppets dance now. 😄 Now, to be honest, your build report inspired me to do this. That's why I put so much effort into the compass, and I'm happy if you like it. All four are finished now. And of course, it has aged. @realworkingsailor and @Jim Lad Thank you so much for your very detailed explanation. 👍 My maritime knowledge is constantly being improved by users like you. I also learned from a user on shipmodels that these soft iron bars are called Flinders bars, after the inventor Matthew Flinders. Oh, I also learned that there was a compass in the wheelhouse towards the stern. That's why I made four. It's fantastic what you can still learn in these forums..
  16. madtatt
    An excellent Bismarck, Ian. 👍 Cleanly built and painted.
  17. madtatt
    I think so too, Ken.👍 So, on to the final stage of construction. First, cut the acrylic beads into shape. With thousands of beads, it’s okay to produce a little bit of waste to get the best possible result. After priming, you can easily select the best ones. The ones on the left were my favorites. I’ve since received several photos of various column compasses from friends or found them online. Some of them have a flap over the sight glass. I’ve recreated this feature because, in my opinion, it looks more authentic than trying to depict the glass itself. Then I often saw a round inclinometer, which I replicated with a tiny brass plate. There was usually a maintenance hatch underneath. Finally, I attached a vertical tube, which is also found on some compasses. I don’t know its purpose, though. And with that, the first compass is finished. Now, the obligatory size comparison with the figure. I’m satisfied with that now. I just need to make three or four more. I don’t know if there was a compass inside the small wheelhouse. I can’t really imagine there was, as the cabin would be quite full otherwise. I think it was just on the roof, right?
  18. madtatt
    So, I’ve finished my first test compass. A few things are still missing, like the compensation spheres, since it’s just a prototype. The acrylic beads are quite easy to work with. It’s just rather difficult to hold them steady while cutting them. But it worked. And here it is, primed. Now you can really see if it turned out well. I think the compass looks quite good. It’s just a prototype; it can be made a bit more accurate. But now I’d like to show you a picture of what actually triggered my compass crisis. When I placed the huge thing on the small wheelhouse at the stern, I thought to myself, something’s not right. That’s why all the fuss. So for now, I’m just glad I’ve found a solution. I’m actually still considering making it half a millimeter taller so it reaches halfway up the window. I’ll think about that tomorrow.
  19. madtatt
    Thank you for this information, outcast2. I measured the compass this morning. I could have done it right away. The result is 8.2 mm. That means it would be 164 cm tall ( 64,5 inch). The diameter is 2.3 mm, which would be 46 cm(18 inch). So, quite a hefty piece. I don’t think that’s going to work. So, I already started tinkering with the new compass this morning. The beads won’t arrive until this evening, but I was able to take care of the base. I think it looks a lot more authentic now, both in height and diameter.
  20. madtatt
    So Ken, I'm afraid it's all starting over again. The compass was finished except for the correction balls. I then placed it on the two wheelhouses for a test fit and thought, wow, that’s quite a big piece. Then, together with a sailor, I placed the compass on a piece of modeling clay and wondered, were they really that big, or did Trumpeter and KA Models make a slight mistake with the dimensions? The viewing window comes right up to the boy’s chin. And that would mean this compass would be at least 1500 mm high. Probably higher. I asked in a German forum with some maritime experts whether that could be the case. The unanimous opinion was no. But I had almost expected and feared as much. But whatever, we’re model builders after all, and we’ll master the challenge. So, I’m starting my compass challenge now. Well, I have plenty of styrene profiles and quickly found the right thickness: 1.5 mm instead of just over 2 mm should be correct. Then I roughly cut them to size to see how they look on a person. Next to it you can already see the attempt to create a foot from the good old scrap box. What’s still missing is the compass head. I’ve ordered some more parts online for that. This time, 2mm ABS beads. They’ll arrive tomorrow, and then we’ll see what’s next.
  21. madtatt
    Thanks, Ken. 😊 The only thing I don't like about the brass part is the way the adjustment balls look compared to the plastic one. But I'll fix that. I've ordered 0.5 mm thick steel balls to replace the flat disc.
  22. madtatt
    I don’t have too much to report today. I’m finding very little time for model building at the moment, and I’ve had to rethink and implement a few things. First, the ingredients for the next construction phase. First, the door frames were installed. These were painted with a slightly lighter grey to increase the contrast. The partition wall and interior fittings for the wheelhouse were then made from styrene. Difficult to capture with the camera, but you can get a sense of the room’s interior. More staff will arrive there later. On to the steering rudder station. Here’s another picture of the large compass. Only the MK1 kit offers anything here. But I didn’t like the way it was supposed to be assembled. The sight glass was simply placed on top of the brass turned part. Unimaginative. At first, I considered using the part from the original kit. However, I was annoyed by the poorly designed sprue attachment points. Why not just attach it from below? But I couldn’t really warm to that part either. It was too crude. So I looked at the brass part again and thought, hey, I’m a locksmith and I do have files… Better… And here’s a direct comparison. Which looks better? I think, for my part, the Ka set has won the race again. With a little help from me.
  23. madtatt
    Excellent work, very well done, Phil. 👍
  24. madtatt
    Amazing, the way you cut out the railings is impressive. I'm already cursing when I have to use them as photo-etched parts. But what you're doing here, respect. 💪
  25. madtatt
    @Jeff59 Haha, you need strong teeth to bite into that cake. And believe me, Jeff, I know exactly what you mean. Compared to this small, complex model-building marvel, the Bismarck was as easy to put together as Lego bricks. Speaking of which, when will you continue with your Bismarck? I'm so excited to see how you'll make it. But I also think the finished Mikasa model will be worth every hour of sweating and cursing. And I'm very happy when you say my paint job looks realistic. @Jim Lad Thanks, John. Yes, that makes handling the delicate components much easier.

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