popeye the sailor

thanks J.......ssshhhshhhhhhh{it could go south any moment now}. it's like I sad J....these models are butt ugly, until you get some paint on them you know what worse......no two hulls plank the same { at least I've never seen the latter}. I've never done copper before.......I've got plenty of copper paint. I'll have to look into it. I've done a few planking jobs I wouldn't write home about..........yours will be fine

so now your ahead of me.......so what the heck......a good sanding and there you go! no holes or gaps........right?!?!?! great job keeping that bow line....ohhhh, that's right, you have a rabbit in place there no, but really......sand it down and paint like ya said, and you should get a good looking hull. did you at least taper around the transom?

a Mosquito on a stick............great!

I know oysters are eaten raw....but I don't partake. but I also know clams are steamed and not eaten raw too......I love steamers. the admiral turned me onto them after we got married......now she can't turn me off! love a good chowder too.......the seafood festival at Hampton Beach is famous for it. good we got to go last year.......haven't been to the beach since the admiral became disabled. hope we get to do it again this year....can't wait! Jack....tell me those were steamers

this give me an idea of how your going to incorporate the crypt.......now I see where your going with this! it's impressive.........lots to do there

glad to see your making progress Lou I remember when I hung a cloth from the edge of my table, and draped it over my legs, to catch falling / flying parts. it wasn't practical......I'd never get into the habit of doing it every time I sat at the table. is there a fool proof method.......I doubt it, but we keep looking for new ways to thwart it

can't get any more detailed than that........the figures look awesome!

off to a great start OC

thanks to everyone for the overwhelming responses we can take this a step further Ken.........this has gone on since the days of sail. captured ships were never burned in place..........it's sprinkled all through history. a captured ship was brought back as a 'prize'....what do you suppose they did with it........ the ship was studied and if it could be refitted, it was. we certainly weren't the only country doing it. during the Civil War, the Confederates captured the U.S.S. United States and used her as a blockade. this opens the door even wider for modelers.......a higher level would be to model a ship or plane that was used as a 'Trojan Horse'...I'm sure there were a few in 17th and 18th century history it won't be hard to display the Memphis Bell Lou.......I'll find a place for her with her like. ....even if I have to make another shelf {I keep thinking about it....one of these days}. I will look and see if I still have that article I found on her. her restoration was a long and over due process....but it wasn't because of money or time. they restored her using genuine parts......there was no jury rigging or modification of the original equipment. there is a picture of her in the hanger, beside another plane........I think it was the Shoo Shoo Baby. the Memphis Belle you see on the display floor is an exact replica....right down to the wiring harnesses. I'll have to get a updated picture of the wall.......that shelving takes up a good portion of it.......it represents roughly half of what I have finished. the question shouldn't be 'can I model it'..............the question should be 'how will I model it' I an so glad you all enjoyed the project. the next one will be even bigger......trust me

hello Ed......welcome to the log {s} if your new look'in in. yep.......a second hull. I felt bad........watching J building his with the old dried out wood.........and here I am cutting my parts from good fresh plywood. hardly seems fair, if you know what I mean........... I'm only fool'in..........actually, it's just that I still have these parts and haven't the heart to throw them away....I am a certified pack rat at heart. as you have read......neither of us got a good shake with the contents of these kits. the wood is around 50 years old.......some of J's was warped, and a good portion of the deck planking in my kit is junk.......most of the dowels in my kit are warped! it's a good thing I bought up a fair inventory of dowel I'm intrigued with the picture on the box....I like the way she looks.....although, even in that picture I think the mast are too tall. for the time being, I'll post the progress of the second hull here until I come up with a name for her....then I'll create a separate log for her. I'll keep it low key to cut out the confusion. The Second Hull I had to repair the bulkheads that the outer laminates peeled off. using the appropriate thickness of basswood sheet, they were re-laminated. the parts 10A and 1A that I had made for the first hull, were also cut out for this hull. as it equates out.....about 80 % is the original wood. there was this long stick like length from cutting out the keel part lying about....I threw the rest away. just for the fun of it, I took the outer laminates off of it.......I did it with my fingers! the next day, the rest of the bulkheads were finished off. I had cut a few extra of part #9........I cut one in half for the parts 9A. part #7 was the worse one.....both sides had to be redone. ready to go......the first bulkhead was glued in place. I had already traced out the deck parts in 1/16 sheet basswood most of the bulkheads are in place now.............the #9 bulkhead added later. the rest will be added off the jig, but I'm gonna add wood in places to stiffen the frame up. spent some time cutting out the deck parts.......first the platform it's had all night to dry........so I'll add more to the frame today

thanks J for runn'in interference for me! yea.......jee, thanks Tim for showing us your model........the gentleman did a great job in building her {anyone who can decipher this load of bollocks is to be commended}! as mentioned.......the hull frame is not a complete frame to begin with....I feels that parts are missing at the bow and stern. I see he planked the model all the way to the edge of the bow stem...interesting observation. it's great to see a model of this kit, utilizing all of the supplied parts.....we can get a better sense of the kit HEY!!!!!! where in the blue blazes did he get 2 boats!!!!!!!! I want two boats.............. feel free to add a few more pictures, if you'd like once you get away from the bulwarks J, I found that the stern needs to be tapered. this update will show you what needs to be done. who knows, it may be required to jog a plank back there or something. we have to remember that this little girl has a small tookus first though I messed with the masts and steps some more. the main mast step is already in place, seeing that it sits on one of the rises in the keel. for the fore mast, I had to raise it up some, so it won't interfere with the planking. with these pots in place, the rake of the masts are acceptable. the rake on the fore mast should be around 5 to 6 degrees, and the main mast should be a bit more. the above pictures point out another potential problem. on most plank on bulkhead models, the bulkheads have the slot at the base, to fit over the keel spine, allowing the planking to have a slight curvature to the spine. the hang over of the bulkheads will initiate the curvature, that defines the hull from the keel spine. they also limit how much spine will show after the model is planked........the garboard plank usually initiates the curvature. if this is not possible, which looks the case for this model, the keel spine may have to be trimmed to reflect this aspect. here we have two options.......add material so that all of the involved bulkheads have this feature. or blunt them all off, so the planking will do the same, and trim the keel spine. an acceptable amount of visible keel spine is around 1/4 of an inch, I would say. it's not being fair to the model though......#4 through #8 had these slots, but the wood was so old that the tips were destroyed in the cutting process. on hull #2, I tried my best to make the bulkheads with them intact. I did get a little further on the planking. I originally though that the hull could be planked with full strip.......a mistake caused me to repair a couple of the strakes at the bulwark {on the port side, I believe}. so I changed over to doing a butt in different places, breaking up the full plank runs. it didn't take long for this to change either.........the stern changed things for me. the counter and transom is a lot smaller than the bow.......even more so when you get to the bilge, or chine as it is also called. so far, the bow is following the mid ship, as far as plank spacing goes.......don't leave out the option that one or two strakes will need to be tapered. what makes this harder, is that there is no center {keel} spine that the transom bulkhead attaches to.........the instructions does call for some type of bracing. {earlier picture} before I had nothing in there, but J had done something, other than using the supplied parts [#13}, so I added them in. I believe J positioned his part #10 perpendicular for his model........I positioned mine at a slight angle, about 2 degrees or so. since there were no posts for the transom, I scratch made a part {#10A} adding posts to it....a modification of the original part. I also added that second pair of bulkheads w/posts {#9A} to decrease the amount of spacing between bulkheads #9 and #10, since the deck platform had an extra pair of bulwark post slots. if the stern stem was all the way back to the transom, things would be different. but the rudder runs up through the counter, leaving no center rib in there to terminate the planking. in that picture, one more strake on the starboard side would put me even with the port side. I ran three strakes here, one bulkhead shorter that the previous one...I'm adding in the second tapered plank in this picture. so this is where I am with this hull. small problems, but it's coming along fairly well the fun doesn't stop here............

hi there..........I agree ....it's a nice looking model I see he did use the mast as complete lengths....I've been thinking to myself that the dowels are too long. I too appreciate your showing us your model......will make for a great study

hello Egilman, thanks for commenting on the project.......I came in this morning intending to look for this log. I have a little bit of progress that I've been meaning to add to it . if you read the log, you probably saw that someone else mentioned the turret. I painted it out of choice.......thought it would look better if they were all painted...nothing more. I have the picture, diagram, and others like it.......the one thing that stuck out as well, was the controversy about her paint color. yes........it even took them long enough to arrive at what is now deemed, the actual paint color. I wasn't aware that the kit was sold at the memorial.......it's a fitting tribute to the ship. the model is old.......can be a real pain to work with. the plastic is thick, hard and brittle, and unless scored before cutting, it tends to crack where you don't want it to. so care needs to be taken while cutting off the railings, if PE is used. I remembered this model.......long ago as a young lad.......saw it at the craft store and bought it. I was disappointed that in all this time, no one has come out with a wood deck for this kit......the scale must be an odd size....they have one for just about every other vessel. but hey.......thanks for pointing the turret out.....it's been already mentioned. personally, I'm not totally satisfied with how the railings came out, and I've been tempted to get another kit and redo the whole thing, but likely not. I've been made aware that there is one kit that's better to model the ship, and after market stuff is available. a few weeks ago I was tinkering with some PE for the forward mast. I don't add rigging to these models very often........hard time finding definitive information on how the rigging terminates for the most part. I do want to add it to this model. the first line I added is wrong....I've yet to reposition it. honestly, I had a hard time weening myself from the B 17 bug, I seen to have caught..........there's no over the counter medication for it, so I keep experimenting with various washes and glues, hoping to find a cure. wood has been helpful to calm the jitters. so.....from the Hood PE, I cut some parts from the plates that I might be able to use, that related to the masting and rigging of this particular area on the model. Craig sent me some PE that may be useful for the termination part of the rigging....{I'll have locate my notes}.......but I glued the PE parts to the outriggers on the forward tower. other parts of potentially useful PE is nearby........I've also been working on a stand for her. the original parts have been modified to fit on this wood base.......I think it came from the Billings America kit. I kept it thinking that one day it might be of some use. don't mind the table.........there are four unfinished projects on it at the moment. my aim is still to get this table cleaned off....the Arizona is one of those projects. more on her soon

quite a gathering........they're not eating them raw are they? steamers is as close as I go

what is that flap of skin at the tail fin?.....are you feeding her enough? quite an impressive model look'in good

you welcome OC........and thanks for the good word. when I read the number of British planes they had, I thought of you. perhaps you can show us a Spitfire with German markings

thanks Jack thanks to you as well Craig. I thought that was funny about the decal set........they can supply the numbers with the faded look, but they didn't do the 'B'. in pictures, it's quite visible. it's a bit more visible than it should be, but when I started to dab on the German gray, the decal began to come apart. I didn't push the issue.

well...I'm going to call it finished. I added the unit markings and a little soot from the engines, and there ya go. the unit markings amount to splotches of paint on the ailerons and rudder.......from what I gathered, the 303rd marked their planes this way, but the Wulfe Hound was the only one I noticed with these markings. I'm not totally happy with the pictures.......if anyone feels gypped, let me know and I'll try to take better ones. I think the lighting had something to do with it. I got a scare when I sat down to do it...........almost knocked it off the desk! that would have very bad I mentioned this....probably at the beginning of the log that there are two accounts of her demise. one account stated that she became damaged and had to ditch in the Bay of Kalamata, but the other account is more believable. a B 17 was seen at Oranienburg airfield towards the end of the war.....the rest of the article is here: Wulfe Hound serial numbers on the parts don't lie. here is another article that might be of interest to you OC: Wulfe Hund - The B-17 Captured by Luftwaffe as I was bringing her to the place where she will be displayed...I also realized I forgot the antenna wires. I'll do them at a later time one of these models in 1:72 is still a decent size model.......even close to a 1:64 scale model. I'm going to need to juggle them around when the Memphis Belle gets here so thanks to all of you who came to visit, I really appreciated the suggestions and kind words....it made the model what it is.

welcome Michael...........have I been gone that long???? I started to write my last post this morning........I have a feeling that the Alice in Wonderland concept is creeping in here . well anyway, it's still early so you haven't missed too much........just profane syllables at the scroll saw. glad to have ya follow'in along.......be sure to check out JCT's log on the same model....we're in on it together

yup..... that's what I'm talking about....thanks! since the model is 1:60.......using the table.......it comes up blank {that's because 1:64 is exact scale being referenced to}. that's OK though....these are useful to give an idea of model length.....not to mention that I've installed mast pots in the hull. looking at the picture on the box, it appears that the lengths given on the diagrams, are the actual lengths used on the model. the assembled masts look really tall. I think the height is a bit overstated. I have a feeling that there is no conversion chart for what I'm looking for..........the length of the mast segments for this scale. I think I'm mistakenly referring the mast assembly as mast stepping........the term actually refers to the points that mast is set in the deck. or my idea of mast pots. there's been a pause here, although you'd never know it. I started to read underhill's book, but then I was distracted, looking for information on the Wulfe Hound's finishing touches. I've also begun assembling the second hull frame and adding more planking to the original hull. more on this later.

wow.....not just one spare tire....but TWO! the U.S. auto makers ought to take a lesson from that one.........I wonder. could you turn it into a U.S. import and put the steering wheel on the left side? whadya want?.......I'm a nutjob! looks superb Jack..........so, when will John Steed and Emma Peel gonna pick it Up? big fan of their show congratz my friend! so.........what's next on the menu?

oh..........it's just me. I've always said that there are many subjects out there, that are just crying for some one to exploit them. it's likely why this subject jumped out at me.....it's not like the U.S. sold the Germans these planes, as we have with other countries. ships are perhaps the No 1 subject for little known participants in history.....planes I think are No 2. I was siked when I found that the Wulfe Hound was the first bomber captured by the Germans....it kinda made it special. the colors made her look interesting as well. I did make a small mistake...........likely there are others that I didn't notice....there are two white stripes on the prop blades.......not just one. on well......chalk it up to other details that even the author of the article didn't pick up on I try not to dwell on a subject for too long........I stumbled when I looked into the B 17............so many model worthy planes. I found it good that the possibilities to expand on the subject is quite large.......so many decal sets out there depicting different nose arts. I have one more to go into, and then I will close the book on the B 17......and I do believe I've set my sights on another obscure subject to model........on a very famous ship I'm glad you liked it OC.........I think that of all the wonderful folks I've met since I've been here. it's the basis of what this site means to us all

a lot of nice detail molded.......and the access doors for the armament are a nice touch, if you want to show them I'e built a few ICM kits.......they are nice

she's look'in sweet! with more painting on the menu, aren't you afraid that you could stand a chance of over spray on the decals? love your paint stand

yea....it would be hard to cover those bubbles .......I'm sure the yellow masking doesn't have anything for it. when ever I mask.....I always go over it before I spray. I've been goofed too many time Damn you Murphy!