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yvesvidal

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Everything posted by yvesvidal

  1. Very nice and promising work. This is going to be a masterpiece ! If I may suggest a few things: Make sure that you install at least 4 white/yellowish LEDs per compartment. This is required to bring enough light to see all the details of the assembly. The front module is very long and a ceiling light near the torpedo access hatch is a must. You placed a light on the bulkhead, which is a very good thing. Be careful with the wiring. Your modules may not fit into the hull if you have too many wires or too thick of a harness. Since you are using the Eduard PE set, you do not have to cut the deck, which make it easier for you to hide the wiring. Otherwise, it will be visible from the outside. Finally, make sure that the light does not leak outside of the module, especially from the top. Again, not so much of a problem since you are going with Eduard PE set. Yves
  2. Thank you Theodosius, Rookie and all the others who left some encouragements. I am working on the other side and installing the channels at that moment. There is a lot to do as you know very well. Yves
  3. Folks, this is the beginning of another crazy build, a second virtual kit, this one from Nautilus Drydocks. NAUTILUS DRYDOCKS is specialized in Radio Controlled navigating submersibles and they have a very large selection of kits. My choice focused on the Russian submarine ALFA for multiple reasons: It is relatively small for the scale I want to model it into (1/48th). It would be impossible to model a large boomer from the US Navy, for instance. It is an incredible machine and remains to this day the fastest submarine in existence with more than 40 knots of underwater speed. It is also one of the attack submarines that can dive to abysmal depth, leaving most traditional torpedoes unable to reach it. It has been a star of multiple Navy exercises in the 80's, where it excelled each year. It is a rare beast (only 7 made), using very advanced technology and materials. I love the shape of it. There is a lot to say about this submarine and the choice to model it was made long before the current geo-political skirmishes currently taking place. These have in no way reduced my appeal for this machine, quite the contrary in fact. I will not say more on this forum, but eventually the truth will be revealed and the people will realize how they have been manipulated. The kit is a virtual kit again, that is to say a license to print parts. The kit comes originally in the scale of 1/96th and provides a model of about 890 mm long. As the readers of this forum know, I like the 1/48th scale for my small fleet. Whereas all the kit parts (1/96th) will print easily on my Creality Ender 3 v2, sizing these parts to 1/48th presents some radical challenges. Besides the diving planes and the connectors for the hull sections, nothing does fit on my 3D printer. I have had to learn some new tools to cut and slice parts so that they can be printed on the little Ender 3 bed, sized at 220 x 220 x 250 mm. That magic tool is Meshmixer (AUTOCAD) and is a blessing once you start learning how to use some if its capabilities. While working on the HMS Bellona, I have been printing for the past month and a half and basically exhausted and broke my little 3D printer. We will get back to that story. The poor thing showed some signs of early decay and a few parts had to be replaced..... At 1/48th scale, the model will be enormous and is probably the largest thing I will ever build, if I can finish it. Below is the result of more than 610 hours of almost non-stop printing: About 4 to 5 spools of PLA filaments were used. When deciding about the scale of the model, I decided to print the nose of the submarine in various scales to get a feeling of the overall scope of the model: On the right, is the 1/350th scale model of the ALFA by DRAGON, an old kit that I bought some 30 years ago. Next to it is the same nose at 1/192nd scale, then 1/96th in the middle and finally 1/48th to the left. Yo can see that the size is growing very quickly..... The finished model should be 6 feet long. The picture above shows what the kit is supposed to be, when built at 1/96th scale, and the Altoids box gives a reference for the size. The kit is designed in seven sections, from Bow (#1) to stern (#7): It is very well detailed and renders all the openings and hatches of that incredible beast. Because the kit was created to be RC equipped, the top section of the hull can be detached from the bottom. My model will be static (with a little twist) and so I will be building things differently. The kit comes with a short PDF instruction sheet that does not help much. The kit costs $50 on the Nautilus Drydocks website. Progress will be very slow, as the Bellona is getting most of my attention..... So be patient. Yves
  4. A few progress on that big hull, with the completion of the starboard side: I am still following the CAF instructions with the installation of the D and E wood parts. The "D" strip is made of 4 x 3 mm, and the "E" strip of 3 x 2 mm. These are put in shape thanks to these small devices (Micro Shapers) from AMATI: This looks like great progress, but I still have the entire PORT side to tackle.... This will take me some time and most likely there won't be any updates for a little while. In the meantime, here is a view of the overall beast. I am not moving too fast and decided to not install the decals for the freezes (Session #5) as I am trying to see if the kit can be put together by following the instructions, at least when it makes sense to follow them.... By the way, I changed the blue and went with an Ultramarine Blue from Liquitex. It is a lot darker and richer than the Cerulean blue I was planning to use at the beginning. Yves
  5. For someone who has no idea how to use all these paints, you are doing rather well. You must be "gifted"..... 🙂 Yves
  6. Mike, Here it is (sorry for all the dust on the model): As you can see above, the front of the cabin (wheel house) is fixed/glued to the main deck and cannot be taken apart. The main cabing rests on the main deck (glued). The upper deck is removable and held simply by two piece of wood in the front and rear: The upper deck slides on the main cabin and gets locked under the wheel house: When in place, it is secured and very sturdy: And finally, just for fun, a comparison of the Calypso (1/43.5) and the Corvette (1/48). The Calypso should even be smaller if it was built in 1/48th scale: Sorry for intruding on your Build Log. I can remove this material if you wish. Yves
  7. The Eduard gun is a little marvel, although I ended up with the Trumpeter on my model. It was not an easy choice.... You have a lot of work ahead of you 🙂 Yves
  8. I am not sure what you are trying to do here. The main cabin is NOT being removed for an RC control model. The upper deck is removed and there is plenty of space to access the RC components inside. Of course, you would have to plan the installation of the motor and batteries support ahead of time.... My model is RC equipped and has navigated on all kinds of lake and seas. I do not see why you are concerned with the support being glued on the deck: the resulting structure is very solid and I have never broken anything. My Calypso is now 40 years old and still in one piece. For a static model, the building is even simpler as you do not have to plan for inside access. Yves PS: if you need, I can post a picture of my model, showing how the upper deck fits on the cabin.
  9. I will be following with interest as this is one of the model I would like to build one day. Yves
  10. Thanks for the compliments and recommendations. I cleaned the copper with alcohol in an attempt to remove most finger prints and coated the tiles with Future Floor. The tiles have a nice reddish color that I like very much and will probably turn darker with time. I can see some finger prints showing and I may have to remove the Pledge chemical, clean the copper underneath and re-coat again in a couple of spots. But I will worry about this later on, as time may show other imperfections. Yves
  11. Try Wipe on Poly : it colors a tad darker the wood and provides a varnish like covering. Try it on a piece of wood first, see if you like and then move on. You can find it Lowe's or Home Depot. It is a Classic and lots of people are using it. Yves
  12. Excellent choices, especially the Sabre and P-38 which are not so common. Yves
  13. Still following (more or less) the CAF Model instructions, it is now time to dress and stiffen the upper section of the hull. I am approaching one side of the hull at a time. Because of the large size and weight of the hull, it is not practical to jump back and forth between the two sides. So, after Step #8 (Coppering), we are now focusing onto Step #9. The main wales (B) have already been taken care of before the planking of the hull, as indicated before. I am now planking the space between (B - Wales) and (C - Channels). This is done in the following way, after careful measurements: (A) is coppering, (B) are the wales and (C) the channels. The distance between the wales and the Channels is of about 28-29 mm. As some of you may recall, I installed a lime wood strip of 6 mm wide x 2 mm thick (not provided in the kit) on top of the main wales. That strip plus three strips of 8 mm x 0.4 mm Maple (provided in the kit) will end up at around 29 mm, once sanded and glued. So it will fit perfectly and is easy to install and cut with scissors. You can see the progressive transition from the bulky 3 mm thick wales to the top wale (2 mm) and then the hull planking at 0.4 mm. A view of the bow: You can see that I started building the Channels, using the 2 mm x 8 mm planks provided in the kit (Package "C"). The question came for the stern. Should I extend all the planking to the very end of the ship or should I stop it at a certain distance? Will the planking (and specifically the channels), affect the construction of the Galleries (coming in Session #5 .... and thus far away). After a quick discussion with Tom, it was decided to extend all planking all the way to the end, and then sand very thin the channels at the exact size of the side galleries, so that no extra thickness exists to jeopardizes the alignment of the windows. I hope you are enjoying the discovery of that complex and large kit. Yves
  14. Hamilton. It is all in the previous posts. You just have to read them... 🙂 Yves
  15. If there is a big and beautiful car kit on the market, KPNuts has it !!!! Superb model, once again. Yves
  16. Hamilton, I am not familiar with the tape provided in the Model Shipways kits (Constitution, Syren....). I assume it is the same one that they sell on their catalog but I have no detail where they are sourcing it. The tape I used is from 3M and was recommended to me by many model ship enthusiasts. That tape also happens to have the right width for the tiles, which is a big plus when you have to cut slightly more than 2,400 one of them. Yves
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