popeye the sailor

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 as mentioned, the reason why the ship was decommissioned, was due to the fact it had become outdated, with 'copters getting larger and heavier.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

there is another brand out there as well........I read the name, but can't place where. of course, I can't remember the name either......go figure ! I hope that someone who knows reads this and fills in the blank

I dunno......I'm a yankee, and I knew what it meant. then again, I've been here since 2009 I think you did an excellent job.....they look even better painted! nicely detailed too.

so.....owner and his car is reunited this morning, I was looking at the deck and how it fits into the hull. I know I'll have to do some finagling to get everything to line up. there are two lobes toward the fore end, where the 100 mm guns fit.....it doesn't line up there. nor does it line up well at the aft end......the two areas of deck surrounding the elevator......it doesn't quite reach the two end walls. the first thing was to do a second coat of that asphalt colored paint that I had made. to be honest, I forgot what colors I mixed to get that shade.......even forgot what I mixed it for. pretty sure that it was for a past project......or....perhaps for the Titanic...not sure. I did the main deck first.......I used a different brush, and it came out much better. the way the fore end of the main deck fits onto the fore deck, in my examination of the fit, is the key to the problem I'm having here. the fore deck has a locator tab that the front of the main deck fits over. here is the front section of the main deck. there are the two holes {pedestals} for the 100 mm guns. the front lip fits over the fore deck tab and sits flush on the fore deck. on both sides there is a flat.....they tuck into the hull and line up to these two lobes. I did a second coat for the fore deck too........there is the locator tab....a U shaped border. I need to remove it and make this flush with the deck. then I can slide the main deck back enough to line everything up........the tolerance is that minute, that I need. I painted the aft deck area too. then I can paint the inner walls of the elevator, along with the outer walls on both sides of the elevator opening. it will give me a chance to check out those two parts that aren't in the instructions......willing to bet that's what they are for. I've also started to work on a display stand for the model. why do they supply just these two derrick like structures for stands? to me, they are useless.....in the older models, they were shaped so one could screw them to a board, to make them more sturdy and evenly spaced. so far, I've taken a piece of 1/8th basswood, and cemented a border around it. there will be a bit more to it. ....more progress soon

hello there! I would have been here sooner.......but I had an emergency brake-en-decktomy to do. this time it was my older son.........Jee dad, I had them checked in June. yea right.........what did they use to look at them.....certainly wasn't their eyes! while I was at it.......I set his tire pressures to 42 PSI {max pressure 51 PSI}.....the place he last got his oil change set 'em at 32 PSI. then I cleaned the corrosion off of his battery terminals.......tisk, tisk.......just like his brother anyway.........I have an update........proud to say there was only one heart stopper {I'll get to that}. it starts with an addition to the super structure.......the railings around the area that the SAM missiles are to go. after they were dry, they were painted, the upper solid bulwarks {inside walls} were painted, and the whole assembly got some touching up. while I had the battleship gray out, most of the sub assemblies got painted, along with the main mast. I'll have to touch the main mast a little.......shiny areas can be seen showing bare plastic {the paint is almost the exact color of the plastic}. I almost forgot about the 100 mm guns........they got a coat of paint too. the Super Frelon helicopters should be dry by now, so they got a general cleaning up. flash lines and what was left of the sprue marks were removed. nice to see then on their landing wheels finally. I got to the last one, when Murphy hit........the tip got torn off the tail section as I trimmed off a tiny bit of flash! as I pondered what to do about the damaged heli..........I cemented the upper section to the super structure. I still have more to do with it.......I got an idea. I had looked for that tiny bit of plastic on the floor.......to no avail. even Gibbs tried to help me.....always enjoy when he tried to help {I'll have to photo it one day for you folks to see......quite funny}. looking in the bag of loose parts and 'shake', I found a piece of flash that might do the trick. it was flattened out and cemented to the tail. later it was trimmed........not as good as I wanted it.......but it will do. I'll use this one to put in the elevator here's what it looks like with the repair. I had cemented the stabilizers on the other ones. it doesn't have that tear drop point to it.......now I need to look and how the French painted their helicopters. one variant is a camo gray.....I like it, but it's too bad there are no decals for them.......I may see what I can do with the decal maker....Dunno I did a little something else this morning, before I got my son's car.......gotta go and bring his car back to him now, before traffic gets to hectic. I'll add it when I get back thanks for looking in and the good word!

thanks.....I do have an update, but it nothing compared to the work your doing I'll enjoy following along

I only like those supplied light boxes for fishing vessels........and they have to have a little detail on them at least I use Testor's window maker to fill in the lens hole and dab some paint inside.....red or green. sometimes, the kit supplies some colored paper or plastic to stick inside them {I know Billing's does}. nice work on the added detail to the boom........it gives me an idea using sewing machine bobbins. very resourceful

I don't see a rookie here!?!?!?!? what gives..........where in the blue blazes, have you been hiding? this is an awesome looking model, with some really finely done crafting and to think.......I traded my P.E. tool for a Billing's Bluenose............I'm kick'in myself in the butt right now! we have a few excellent builds going on at the moment of battleships and cruisers....welcome to the club! beautifully done!

coming along nicely........stand looks super!

nice to see the stern coming together.......looks very nice

the standing rigging looks awesome Mark! superior job!

...a very good sign! a new kit! glad to hear your recovering..you have been missed! looking forward to your return and more info on this fine kit you've gotten