popeye the sailor

getting paint on my desk would be an improvement what can I say.........I didn't have my 2.0's on! you two are doing some really good macro pictures...it doesn't show the folks out there just how small these parts are. right now, I'm assembling the torpedo tubes. I've already dropped a couple of the parts on the floor.......found 'em.......so far, so good. the PE looks even worse.........I'm gonna go to the drug store to see if I can find some 3.0's! {not really}......I have ways to magnify what I'm doing. the base of the launcher is made up of three parts...I have one assembled to this point. here is is in size to a penny {US} these are the part that it's comprised of......... the aft structure has been started....... and the fore structure has been started. I could have use a Singapore 20 cent piece.......but it's larger than the American Penny it's a fairly new coin...........2011. I'll go back to play time now

you two are just runn'in away! .....and here's 'ole Popeye bring'in up the rear......putt'in along.........<putt>.........<Putt> well, I figured I'd do a bit of assembly yesterday. I decided to go with the mask route.....the deck is on will present a small problem in the paint dept, but I think I can work around it. get all this together, and then I can play with some paint {over a tray}.....we all know how I like to drop paint {when I say I threw the paint on.....I mean it! } first I made the stand......this thing was awkward to assemble. luckily, any glue spears are on the inner part of the stand. this was before I did anything to the hull then I drilled out all the port holes........not totally satisfied with the results, but too late now. the aft section of the decking was added to the hull. the fit was pretty good.......no gap really to speak of. if I don't fill it with anything, it might get regarded as deck detail {I hope}. the forward bulkhead was next. cut it off the sprue, checked the fit.........and then ended up gluing it in backwards it's OK though.......that's what PE is for the bow sections were cemented in place. nice fit there as well. the outer keel parts were next,,,,,, don't mind the sprue dimples.......painted over, they will be gone. the screw shafts and rudder were next there were a few small gaps on those keel parts, so I used a bit of filler. I'll sand it down later. I can sand this later........gotta let this dry for now. I'll play with something else in the meantime

there are many places where you can get them....5 mm for the lower shrouds.........3.5 mm for the upper shrouds. but, if you don't do them for this one, seeing that your enjoying the project..........there's other opportunities down the road http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/index.html http://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/ http://www.billingboatsusa.com/ http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/ just some of the site I have book marked. have fun, above all........and enjoy

perhaps you could bring home work to do during the week your parents will love seeing you more often......if you weren't doing it already but, it's great to see your back

nailed it! love the added color. well done Piet!

nicely done on the guns

look'in really good Bob!

glad to hear your getting back in the saddle again. about the bulwarks........if the bulkheads have the bulwark posts, I would think you could start planking at the top......but before you do, you would need to frame out all of the gun ports and plank around them. a lot of folks start at the deck line and go downward towards the keel, saving the bulwarks for last, since there is a lot of fancy cutting to do.

NICE!!!!! what Jasta is that? I have two Dr I's....I think they are 1:144 scale, that I did a while back. I got them on E-bay from a fellow in England. I did one as the Red Baron and the other one is Werner Voss's plane. they are small....I laughed when I got them {I thought they would be larger}. really like that camo job you did! I'm surprised......most that I've talked to have had terrible out comes mixing the two...fish eyes.......chipping and peeling etc. glosses and flats are different in the suspension of pigments, as far as enamels go. military models don't have much call for gloss colors either. for the car buffs, I stumbled onto a really nice brand of paint, which can be used straight from the bottle, if desired. http://www.gravitycolors.com/us/product/porsche-pearl-silverstone/ the admiral got me a battery operated drill for father's day {a pre gift}. I've been using a Ridgid drill...the small one, which works well for modeling, since it can hold the smaller drill bits. the one she got me is smaller I think and even more compact......can't wait to try it out. if it does well, it will end up in one of the drawers. I assembled the stand.......I used a glue pen that I've had for some time. I guess I'm not as handy with it though......it did make for a bit of a mess. luckily, the messy part is inside the stand, than outside, so clean up will be minimal. I think I ill revert to the tube with a nozzle applicator. now to drill out all the holes in the hull.

look'in really good for the life rings, the plastic rope can be cut off, and thread {rope} can be attached to them. I used to do the {pain in the butt} method of simply cementing the rope on, but have since changed to tying the rope on. it actually looks much better, since I can paint the entire ring red {or a suitable color}, and lash the rope on. using white thread to lash the rope on, gives it the four corner white sections to the rings, and a little more added detail.

amazing progress Danny........you have truly become the master of card! each section is a very detailed piece of art gonna be so cool to see these sections together on the deck.

nice job on the bottom balcony EJ.......looks superior! are those decorations dry fitted?.......they will be gold I imagine. your carving is getting better and better with each piece you make...gonna be very ornate when done!

look'in darn sweet.........it is too bad that you don't have the entire kit in front of you though. you'll definitely need to use primer though, with all that PE very nice work!

the P 47B is off the table....no distractions

look'in very nice Carl.......you both seem to be going for the lighter color scheme. I guess I'll have to go with the darker scheme. the admiral told me that she got an e-mail........they just dropped the PE in the post. the above was a post I was going to make the past evening.........must have dozed off at the computer. I should know better than to look in during the work week. me......today, am {almost} fresh as a daisy...had a decent night's sleep. I'll see what I can do today. looking at both of your progress.......nothing short of awesome! you two have made some terrific progress ......your weathering Greg is first class........and your PE reserve Carl is really adding so much detail. I won't be adding all the extra stuff though.......if I were to start buying all the other stuff, the admiral would have a fit! I'm an enamel user........I do have friends though that use acrylics......like Vallejo. one trick they used was to use washer fluid for thinning......alcohol was used to hasten the drying time. it was hard for me to wrap my head around it because of the blue tint in the washer fluid........I though it would hinder mixing, if you were trying to arrive at a certain color. another paint that has been tried is Jo Santo, which is more of an artist's paint, than anything else. one fellow did a great job on a Duke's of Hazard car model using it. I'm an old stick in the mud though......I've never wavered from enamels. I do have a few Acrylic colors though and four of the life color packs......cs 20, cs 10 and cs 13....can't use them because of the enamel influence...the two paints don't mix. thanks for letting me know the colors your using.......I may go slightly darker though to reflect the time line I'll be going for. what stinks though, is that all of the pictures I've been seeing are in black 'n white........positive color matches are inconclusive. I'm going to do some more research later. I have a couple of pictures......just a tiny bit of a start. I've fitted almost all of the decks. ....and as you can see, I'm using a white sheet of paper as a cutting mat, so I can see the part clearly. I was going to assemble the deck onto the hull before painting, but weighing out all the masking, rather than touching up after assembly. I'll get more into the running one way or another today.......great job yous two

my translator is on automatic.......no worries wonderful job thus far!

too bad they don't have them in the same scale as the Thermopylae that I'm building. they look very good.......doesn't have the depth markers though.....odd. the decals in the kit.......with the exception for kit's made by Revell/Germany (they seem to be bringing back these older kits}, you'll have to watch out for them. they may be old and micro cracking might be a problem. is this why your looking for them in photo etch?

http://www.hismodel.com/ I went to the site, and I found that a new site has taken it's place. they will send you here.

I thought I recognized the store.......I have it book marked http://www.radekshipmodels.cz/en/list-of-kits-and-accessories/accessories---sails you'll have to do some browsing.......

look'in very nice Carl.......you both seem to be going for the lighter color scheme. I guess I'll have to go with the darker scheme. the admiral told me that she got an e-mail........they just dropped the PE in the post. took me almost two weeks to get the model......I can just imagine when I'll see the PE! what color gray are you two using?

go here....... https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/mantua-laser-etch.html

hey there Lawrence! I know the tree well we used to cut down the young ones and use them for stakes up in the hayloft back home {when we were kids}. they worked great in holding the loose hay in the loft.........tall, skinny, and straight you've started the Oliver Cromwell??!?!?! I'll have to take a look! thanks for the good word........made the sails {poorly, but I made them} and getting basis for the rigging ready. I should have more to add soon. thanks for looking in and the kind comment

hey there gents........off the radar for a couple of days. I'm in the middle of my work week, but I thought I'd check in and give my report. I'm sorta waiting on that PE to come in.....I did some fitting with the hull and decks. they are ready to go, but now I need to decide which way to go with regards to time line. I hope I get some fancy stuff in the PE........you two are adding likely more than I will. at this scale......it going to be a feat to bend to shape. I spent Friday making sails for another project. I see you both have been keeping yourselves busy...what I'm seeing looks very good. great job with the hull work Greg........mine will likely come out half as good.

you've made quite a bit of progress since I last looked in..........very nicely done I notice the large eye bolts along the pin rails and wonder what they are for. are you going to use dead eyes for the shrouds? to tie the bottom dead eyes to them {if you are} may not give you the look you desire. it might be better if you removed them and set the bottom dead eyes in a post-like setting. you'll still be able to use the holes for them, and it will look a lot better. here is an example of what I'm talking about. the shafts can be trimmed to however long you need them to be. note the position of the holes....the center one is the lowest. this is some really flexible wire..I made these some time ago for another project....finally finding a use for them for a project I have on the table at the moment. if you have a plan for them, then don't mind me........pictures are worth a thousand words, and I'm going on assumption here. you've really done a great job with the deck layout

primer red - lightened up some.....perhaps with a tint of brown......kinda what I'm getting from it. looks great so far Greg.....as mentioned, she went through quite a few refits....hard to nail down what she had at any given time. really hate how the deck and hull were on the sprues......lucky for me, I saved all the fine sandpapers from the last Testor's paint set I bought. the hull bottom is looking much better, although the marks can still be seen {not for long though} I'm still amazed with all the molded detail....quite a bit for a model this size. I'm figuring out a starting point still.......fine tuning the deck parts from all the sprue marks, but I'll get there eventually