popeye the sailor

not according to the instructions..........the guns on the main deck {the round ones} are 5 inch guns {part #9}. the first pair of guns on the gun deck {from the bow} are 5 inch AA guns {part #11}. the five guns further stern {the ones your referring to} are 11 inch AA guns {part #12}. there is another pair of 5 inch AA guns on the stern deck. this is the way the part's list reads........Sigep Ziggy has a set of the instructions too. I'm sure he can confirm it,...... scout's honor it is looking better than I thought it would..........I thought I killed it!

another way to make the cap rails is to trace the shape of the hull {bulwark lip} on a piece of paper. then outline outward from the tracing the same shape, keeping with the same width {I go by 4 mm...but 5 mm id good too}. cut out the tracings { do both sides, or flip the tracing over to do the other side} transfer the tracing on a sheet of 1/8 basswood or suitable sheet wood. cut them out and shape to taste if needed, notch where they meet the bow and stern stem, so they will mate up snugly. wood can be difficult to bend, especially if the grain is running against the bend.

sometimes cutting across the grain can be helpful. it makes the bulwark post {what you were making} flexible, and will behave better if there are anomalies in the bulwarks. the end grains can be sealed before painting, so they will not soak up the paint, being unsightly. I've done this a lot when I need the extra flexibility. for bulwark post though, it might not be a good idea, since it won't strengthen the bulwarks. coamings and bollards look super

coming along quite nicely........the paint and the detailing looks super!

thanks Michael...welcome to the log as well as those who are look'in in. I've always wanted to try one of these kits........so far so good in spite of this small hiccup. I have a satisfactory solution in the works at the moment for the rafters, and once I can dry fit a roof, I'll know then if I'm on the right track. ran into an issue with glue.......but I'll get to that in the update. welcome to the log........I hope you enjoy

very nice start.........I never thought to drill out the holes in the bulkheads! definitely will keep that in mind !

it starts off with the roof and dormers. the center is made up of six walls, the side edges beveled to mate one another. the lantern deck is dry fitted in place to help with the alignment. the dormer sides and fronts are stacked up in the background. once the center hexagon is dry, the dormer sides were dry fitted in place, to check for any gaps. moving them around, their best positions were decided on. the lines on the outside are guides for the roof locator tabs, strips of thin wood for the roof panels to be cemented to. the fronts were put in place next for the same evaluation. when all this is done, the sides and fronts were cemented in place. rubber bands will keep the pressure on till they dry........also, adjustments were made to insure the sides were flush with the edges of the fronts. now comes the first problem........the dormer roof rafters. these are tiny laser cut parts.....the rafter framing is not a complete assembly......the only real purpose I can see, is that they stick out 1/16 along the roof edges. with this in mind, there should be 60 of these parts.........I only got 18 of them. there are five notches on each dormer wall side....there is a sixth at the mating with the dormer front, but I'm not concerned with them. should I have the need to get rid of them, I can simply fill in the tiny slot. the roof panel for the dormers fit into a slot in the center hexagon, which will give the roof it's pitch {they can be seen in the pictures}. cementing it to the front's eve's should give the roof sufficient strength........these rafters can be fudged away and won't be missed in the assembly. the concern is along the sides where the slots are.......I think these will be visible. more on this soon

hoping all goes well Steve

I read that Chris......I merely mentioned that these kits exist and that they are sold separately

I have been lax in doing a kit contents for a few of my projects. looking at the way this kit is packed, I'd be foolish not to! it comes in a very sturdy box......fairly heavy cardboard. another baffling piece to the puzzle, is that Precision Lasercraft is located in Agawam, Mass........I have no idea of the production date of the kit. BEST Models, I was surprised to find, is located in Belmont N.H. in some of the pictures I've seen, there is a shelf of sorts built into the screw pile pillars. I'm guessing that these pictures were taken, when the lighthouse was being repaired, and they devised the 'shelf' to store the wood they were using to repair it. in others, it can be seen to have been built on a rocky shelf, only seen probably at low tide. most of these were 'nick nack' souvenirs though.......a nice touch to show a bit of detail. there is a four page set of instructions and an exploded parts sheet. ....followed by another four pages of parts diagrams and three pages of full color step diagram pictures bag #1 has the floor panels and flat roof panels bag #2 has all the structure side panels bag #3 has the roof parts and window & door framing, PE and glazings bag #4 is the beacon and wiring, along with the cast metal parts. it also has the AC adapter. bag #5 has all the wood stock and plastic trim parts it also comes with a jig to assemble the screw pile. I will more than likely use it as the base since this will be the first model of it's type that I've built, it won't be a good idea to go bee bopp'in all over the instructions. it will be one step at a time

seeing Dan building these card lighthouses has been fun to watch. it happens that besides ceramic and plaster churches, I {as well as the admiral} have a fancy for lighthouses too. in browsing around on the net, I've seen a few really neat kits.........but never pulled the trigger on one. I was looking through oldmodelkits the beginning of August, when I saw this one........really caught my eye the Thomas Point Shoals lighthouse is located in the shoals, to the north of the South River, near Annapolis, MD. this is what it looks like since 1875.........it has been rebuilt about three times, damaged in various degrees by bad weather. by 1964, it was the only manned lighthouse on the bay. damaged again in 1972 by tropical storm Agnes...surprisingly only sustaining superficial damage, even though some of the storm waves reached 23 feet! it's the last screwpile lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, and remains there today, since attaining historic landmark preservation status since 1975. I got worried there for a bit......usually when a kit in in the process of purchase, it remains in the listings, but with 'email for availability' label under it. I didn't know, but they were on vacation, and likely had their system set up to remove it while they were away. around the 15th, I got an email stating that it would be shipped within the week......I was at ease I was going to wait to do some research, but in the pictures I saw of the kit, I had enough to go on, so I began. Precision Lasercraft had me baffled........the site I found only does laser engraving on tumblers and cups.......no model kits were listed. digging deeper, I found this: Precision Lasercraft History - Bollinger Edgerly Scale Trains - About B.E.S.T. this was the beginning of Precision Lasercraft.........started by Bruce Sparrow in his basement in 1994. he mentions that he supplied Micro Mark with kits to sell. I looked around, but I guess I'd have to have old catalogs to see the selection. all Micro Mark carries now, is Scientific, Walther's, Banta, Woodland Scenic, and a few other brands. A few years later, Precision Lasercraft was sold to BEST model. Brian Bollanger and David Edgerly were partners of New England G scale Trains.......likely after that the name change occurred.......B.E.S.T. Bollinger Edgerly Scale Trains - Welcome! I probably don't have all the timeline straight, but it was fun tracing this one. if you read the short bio from Bruce, it's pretty interesting what he used for a laser cutter. it might also be of interest that BEST Models also sells parts for their structure models......so far all I've seen is shingles, but digging deeper might uncover more that they sell.......scribed wood too perhaps. much like Northeastern Scale Lumber, which used to be Ambroid, structure kits and accessories can be purchased. when I read about this kit, I read where the doors and windows may have been painted on..........hell no! I found that Micro Mark carries window and door frame assortments in HO and N scale....other scale too, I think. I was ready to order them if this was the case {I still need to order that brass assortment 'bag' that they offer.....I can make good use of it on the Progress project}. I've been wanting to try one of these structures........I see them in the catalog, and they look really neat. if all goes well, perhaps I can get a couple to fill out that B&M snow plow diorama I have in the closet. one never knows here is one site where I have found BEST kits Valley Model Trains -HO- Precision Lasercraft Northeastern Scale Lumber Co. for those who don't have this site book marked, here it is

I believe Model Expo sells these two separately.........interesting to see them hooked together. it makes a lot of sense very nice looking model!

thanks Steve....yea, don't know how it happened. I haven't fully cleaned the lense yet, but what I did made a difference. all this time I thought it was the camera going south. I was gonna do a bit of work this evening, but after getting up late this morning and feeling the effects all day long, kinda took the wind out. my son Kevin was doing some work on his car, but ran into a snag and now it's sticking out of the garage with the nose all apart. this is a good thing, 'cuz I can't get the lawn mower out to mow the lawns {there is a god} this will set up my days off nicely.......whoooo-hoooo!

one printer that I know of is the ALPS printer. I'm not sure if they are still in production, but there are refurbished ones out there for sale. roman numerals were quite common in early times, but numerical markers can be found on fishing vessels and filtered in among Naval and commercial vessels commissioned to the Navy. I've had some luck changing the background color and using white decal paper, but the background color needs to be at least a 99% match with the hull color, to be successful. no pastels please roman numerals can also be purchased in PE form too.

that's the ticket OC...........Progress! looking great too

very nice progress HOF

had no idea Mark...........came in to catch up.......man, I am so sorry to hear know that I care and am pull'in for you my friend. just one more thing that I'm bummed about..........

if they can do roman numerals.........that would be sweet! I had quite the time with my Revell Cutty Sark........the watermarks were the only ones I couldn't do. great job on the Vance Steve......hope to see another fine project soon! scratch building is like this: if you have what you want to do in your mind, and you have vision of what you want her to look like.......all you need to do is make her so with your hands you seem a creative sort......I have no doubts that you can pull it off! hoping there's more to this project.........if not, congratz on a job well done !

the added parts look super

ohhh........the likes have grown! thank you to those who have looked in....I'm glad you like it. it's really not a bad kit....got it for Christmas, so I have no idea what the admiral paid for it. I did see one on the oldmodelkits site, but I'm sure it can be found out there on the world wide web. I didn't run into too many complete build logs either, so I hope I did a good job with the assembly. I've got a hankering to look for one of the German rail guns.........I believe there were two of them......definitely would make for an interesting log thanks OC, Lou, and Sam.........painted or not, I'm gonna have to put up the addition to the shelving I did in the living room. the addition will likely give me two more shelves. the Arizona is next to be finished....I hope I can get 'er done quick.......I really want to move on

look'in good Kevin.......mov'in right along now that the soldering problem is taken care of real nice!

the hull looks great! great coverage too .......at one time I used to use Humbrol as well as Pactra. very good selection of colors and didn't go by a number system at the time.

thanks to every one for the wonderfully nice comments..........thanks also for the likes as well I'm really glad you folks enjoyed following along. what's next?.........aside from finishing a few outstanding projects {some of many}, I do have a couple that {to me} are unique. I could do the Lindberg Concord Stagecoach with figures and horses.......or I could start one I received just this past Friday. it's an HO scale model of the Thomas Point Shoals lighthouse. it has a lighted beacon and looks really cool! .......quite a few parts for a small structure. I've never built an HO building model before....quite taken with it when I saw it for now.....the Arizona.......back to the Sox & Martin {still ongoing}....and then the Vendetta. wood is calling me too........

sorry to hear you've been down with your illness..........glad your feeling better! the anchors look great!

the Pearl looks great in her new home glad to hear your getting back to her!