popeye the sailor

wonderful build Greg! what is that hole in front of the aft structure?

WOW! she's look'in awesome Tom

used to do legos with my oldest son.......during a blackout one time {storm related} we built a street front {just some buildings using city street tiles for the base, it was lots of fun. looks like a really cool project

see.....you figured something out.......I knew you would "wrinkle envy!" looks much better!

there ya go.........gett'in into some of the nuts and bolts action look'in good so far!

thanks OC

look'in good Sjors......you might want to cap off the ends of the bulwarks though. you can see the plywood some mahogany or walnut perhaps

it took little effort to see where the depth charges were located. looking at the instructions, it looks as if they have you cementing then in the recesses aftward of the superstructure. my first thought was, from that height {point of launch to impact in the water}, this might cause them to detonate prematurely. glad to see that they are actually located at deck level. the next thought was the supplied railings........they are all straight pieces. there are some curved areas to consider here, and judging on how brittle they are.....bending would have to be done using heat. how much would be needed, as not to distort the plastic? leaving that to think about....there was one thing I had to do....cement on that last stabilizer so it doesn't get lost again! the depth charges and the aerial antenna that locates on the funnel, were assembled at this time. I will have to make a second set of legs for the charges rack. there is to be a railing around the uppermost part of the superstructure. this is what started me to think.....do I leave gaps where they are, or do I try to bend the railings to shape these areas? the answer and idea came from an e-mail I got from one of the onlookers..........I looked at the Titanic railings. I still have quite a bit of it......and some it won't be used on her anyway. the plastic used for these parts is very flexible......I was using my x-actor knife handle, as well as my pick handle for the smaller curves. it seemed the heat from my fingers was all that was required....I only had one breakage, and that fell at a cut off point......so I lucked out it really didn't take long either....I tried to stay with the same number of rungs, as the supplied railings. it looks better given a coat of battleship gray.......I failed to shake it enough, so it will need a second coat. second coat and some touch ups to the asphalt color. I added some of the radar bits as well........lost one of the range finders {like the one next to the funnel}. I made one from scratch. the helicopters were a toss up.........I could go with the gray camo, or the military green camo.......the military won out. there is really no wrong way to paint them...civilian aircraft was often visiting the ship from time to time. the life boats were also painted in the battleship gray. I would like to get the main deck on the model before I paint the hull. to do that though, the bow needs to be addressed first.......mainly the anchor chain. I do have to apologize ahead of time about the color. I see it in the pictures......I see it in other models........white anchor chain. >really< chain goes into the water......chain come out of the water......chain goes though a grease laden windlass system {depending on how 'well oiled' the machinery is}.......I see anything but a solid white. while I wrestled with a more notable color, I added the bollards and the capstan tops to the fore deck. there is no direction on how to run the chain either, so I'll be relying on pictures here.

wonderful progress Scott.......really looking very nice

nice looking case Hof......the whole display is totally awesome she's a tall one

thanks for the e-mail this morning Lou.......it really got me think'in. I looked over the differences, and thought they were kinda cool! the depth charges have me wondering though.......I believe they modified them and have them along side the superstructure. I'll have to look at the pictures I have of the actual vessel to see if I can see the proper placement. I'm not to keen on where the instructions have them. I got out of work early yesterday........not too keen on the current direction my job is going. I did a bit of tinkering with the model, and continued this morning. I should have an update very soon

hello Mobbsie.......the doors are cemented in place. sadly....too late for that. I think the best thing to do, would be to place the two with the folded rotors near the elevator, and leave it at that. the kit might have been better to supply one or two smaller ones.....it would have made it look more possible. as mentioned, the reason why the ship was decommissioned, was due to the fact it had become outdated, with 'copters getting larger and heavier. personally, I think it might have saved her life, if they converted her to a coast guard vessel, or play a less combative role in their nation's security. thanks for the good word always glad to have you following along where's that new project.......ya start it yet?

Very awesome update! so much detail...........it's amazing railings look sweet!

look'in better and better Bob! fitting 'er out is the best part!

try ironing them before putting them on.......it doesn't take a lot. I do it during the preparation of the sails.....then when I'm ready to seal them, I'll paint them with diluted white glue and drape them over a crumpled up towel covered with plastic wrap. this will give them the wrinkle they need and it usually stays I like your take on the traveler.......neat bit of innovation well done on the sail too........looks very good

looks really good OC well done on making the stand !

that's not too bad of a price Lou......considering it comes with the upgrades, and the scale size of the kit. I can imagine how small the P.E. is.........there are many small parts in this kit. this kit has definitely whet my appetite for something larger and more notable....perhaps when I whittle down my current overload of projects hello Frank........thanks for the good word even Popeye, when it comes to kit projects, doesn't know his own strength getting back into plastic for the time being has been nice.......but I have been getting 'wood' pangs.......making the stand for this model kinds entertained me a little. I should be getting back to the wood realm very soon thanks OC.........I've not seen that kit. I belong to the Airfix forum.......I should look it up, since I have the link to the model site as well.

I haven't seen it Lou....where did you see it? thanks for the good word Piet

thanks for posting the box art Yves......it's pretty interesting. it shows the SAM launcher....looking at the box art on my kit, they show the Exocet triple launchers. reading the article I posted, there was quite a bit of planning on this vessel, but it ended up with armament, different than what the box art depicts. the early kit shows what never was installed on her, while this later kit shows what was installed, but not supplied in the kit. it's a nice kit anyways thanks again for posting the picture.....and thanks for looking in

I took these few pictures just now........I forgot to show how the doors looked. I also made a little more progress with the stand. spacing them out, the plastic stands were cemented to the board. I used the Testor's green tube cement.......I forgot how awful it smells. there's a plaque that goes with it....I'll add it when I come up with a paint scheme for it. looking aft..I positioned the doors in a partly open position. the shadowing above the doors hides a very minute gap.......I could add something, but it would need to be .05 mm, or less. then I tried one of the 'copters...... hmmmmmm......perhaps they should have included a smaller heli?!?!?! one of the reasons why this vessel was decommissioned, was because modern helicopters were becoming too large and heavy. why present a model with the largest aircraft that it probably could handle? it might have been better to supply two super Frelons, and two smaller ones.....like the Lynx or Puma.

well the evil deed is done.........but first, there was a distraction. I couldn't find the stabilizer for the fourth Helicopter! I had it on the desk to my left, shielded with a railing, along with bits from another one. odd that it was the only part missing so I'm on the floor again......looking for it. I gave up after a while......it wasn't until the next morning. I barely had my eyes open....for cry'in out loud......spied a tiny piece of gray plastic on the carpet.............and there it was! with that dilemma over and done with, I took my big pair of convex toe nail clippers and performed the tabindectomy to the fore deck. then it was the task to trim off the rest and bring it down flush. I gave it a coat of paint, and will sand a bit more with a fine grit.......another coat after that should hide all the sanding blemishes. I also painted and fitted those odd parts {#21}.......yep! that what they are......the doors! I still wonder why they aren't shown in the instructions.......no matter, I figured it out you might be able to see the notch on both sides of the walls above the doors.......haven't seen a part to fit in there. with the deck in place, it won't be seen anyway. I'll wait till the deck is in place before I paint here......I may have to use filler {I see a couple spots on the aft deck that needs more }. after I removed the tab on the fore deck, I noticed that it had a minor curvature to it, causing a dip in the center which will equate to a gap when the main deck is fitted. there was a bar running across the span of the fore deck to prevent warping. it was trimmed ti fit and cemented across the underside to cure this. I got a little creative here.....at the base on the aft section of the superstructure, there are to be these two parts added that look like doors. due to the thickness of the plastic, they would stick out like a sore thumb. I took a small piece of thin brass sheet, and cut a pair to replace them. dunno if you can see them, but on the adjoining walls at the base, there are molding divots. I covered them as well. painted......it looks pretty good. around the front of the main deck, and along the side where the lower decks will be, was painted with battleship gray. when dry, it was dry fit time, to see what I would need to trim at those aft walls. I found that it was merely the tabs at the end that would need to be done, so that was quickly done. the removal of the tab was a good idea.......it allows the deck to be moved back to where it needs to be. there is good contact at the fore deck. as can be seen in the first photo......the gun pedestal lines up nicely with the lobes along the hull sides. the aft deck has some small gaps where it meets the walls.......some filler will take care if this. it's far less than I initially saw in my earlier dry fits, so the tab removal benefits again here as well. then I decided to tease myself, by adding the superstructure to the dry fit. it snaps on with very close tolerance, but the fit is pretty good.

can't throw denial at a face like that.......I have an Esky that does the same thing tough to work around those panel lines......or anything like that....I've found it to the worst thing with plastic modeling. I can remember when models didn't even have them whooooops! showed my age looks really good though........ perhaps you might be able to scribe some in. really nice work area....I'd love a table that long! nice bit of progress...really interesting

nicely done Bob.....she looks great!

came out very nice Per!

glad to have you back my friend