popeye the sailor

you've done a superb job on this one Greg! very well done and the display really makes it a conversation piece huge thumbs up !

hey there Mike.........such a great looking model! very nicely done and the diorama adds to it. well done putting it all together!

makes me want to get the 'Bluenose Project' started...........I have the hull frames already built. three boats....the Bluenose, the Bluenose II, and the America, all in 1:65 scale. it will equate to quite a few sails

fantastic build Greg......the weathering really makes her come alive! superbly done! the deck gun looks cool as well........is that rod along the top of the barrel broken?

hi Sam.......yes, there is a slimming down towards the bow. it's too bad that the bow section was already cemented in place...........I don't want to remove it for fear of damaging it, and it would have looked nicer if the chain detail was addressed. I thought about how to do it, but I might just scratch it and leave it as is.......just touching it up in paint. so........the base has been clear coated with lacquer....I gave it two coats. I probably should have gone over it with steel wool, but it wasn't too bad so I didn't. I turned around and got another can of red primer to do the bottom paint. it's not as perfect as I would have liked, but it renewed the paint and got rid of all the scratches and chipping. there is some degree of fading along the sides....not intentional and I left it 'cuz it adds to the aging aspect. the next step was to mount it on the base.........that went well, so you will likely see me do this again I still need to touch up the waterline and the upper section of the hull, but these are minor and won't be hampered with it being mounted. I put CA on the nuts inside so they won't back off as I work on it. I did make a adjustments to the spreaders, ending up with only using two. the deck fits on there much better, and that will be the next step. Ca will be used here so they don't move. this is where she sits now......it's a big relief that I was able to pull it off with the decks already on the model. a couple of bollards have a 'horn' broken off {I noticed}....shouldn't be too big a deal to fix them. more soon!

hello all........I made a bit more progress. it would have been larger, but I hit a snag and had to resolve it. firstly.......I did finally stain the base, right after augering out the holes to allow for washers. I'm even going the next size up for the machine screws. rather than cut the ones I have down, I bought a bag of 2 inch long machine screws. I got some stainless steel washers from work, courtesy of a trailer I was working on. done in a dark walnut......... last week, I found the time to give it two coats of clear lacquer. I'll be sure to post a picture in the next session. I did mess around with the hull earlier.......fitting the center section of the deck in place, but not really concerned with the way it fit. toying with it at this time, I began to notice things..........the hull seems to be warped, not allowing it to fall into place. the bow and stern section have already been cemented into place when I got the model........it may be a contributing factor to the problem. it may also be in how the hull is picked up too.........one hand holding it in the center of the hull {I'm guilty of it}. I have heard how some folks are lucky enough to have bulkheads supplied in their kits, for support of the hull...........I envy you. so, I will have to make up some spreaders for the center section of the hull. I measured and cut some dowel to spread the hull. they are not perfect........some fine tuning is still needed, but they do help out. I also trimmed the structure flanges at the front of the section.......the two structure 'ears' on both sides of the bottom level to get it to fit better. as mentioned....it still needs some fine tuning I will have to mount the base before tis section can be cemented into place. I began to try and touch up the bottom of the hull with the paint I zeroed in as the color used........just getting an air brush to work was a project. as a last resort, I brought out my gravity feed air brush and did a fairly reasonable job. this was compounded by the fact that I didn't want to thin down the paint too much, and likely cause the original color to 'wrinkle'. in the end, it was all in vain.......the color does not match. today I went out and bought a can of red primer.........I'm just going to redo it. the hull is all masked up and ready to dance, so it's all ready to shoot. I should have some more for you soon

hey there! glad to see your posting your projects.........is the United States in progress as well? Pyro is an old kit.........for how long I've been building models, I don't recall ever trying one. is there to be a forestay at the first step of the main mast? the shrouds and back stays counter the tension of the fore stays. super job so far

thank you good sir. I'm not opposed to anyone posting pictures of their work, so if you have a picture of yours.........love to see it

thank you Steffen. these smaller Billing's offerings are fun to build. I had never dealt with that particular net hoist before.......definitely something to research. always here to help

it would be a sure bet that no one would be near them .....at least, no without ear protection there are battle ships that have a machine gun battery on top of the turret. it is a fact that the guns can be individually elevated....most modelers keep them even. it's a nice touch.

thanks to all who replied and liked there is something I may change, adding a washer to the screw head. since I drilled the hole larger to accept the screw head, I'm concerned that over time the head will go deeper causing it to become loose. should have something to report soon

interesting kit

this is quite a kit you have here KEVIN........and a real neat subject to boot very nice progress so far.......don't envy you with the PE though

now that would be an interesting thought to check out. it's known that biplanes had their wings removed during shipment {or most of them}. we had the foldable wing planes.......does make one wonder resin gun bays......yup you picked a unique one. very nice job so far

thanks

I saw a page of the decal diagrams on your U boat project I was going to ask, but I thought I'd check here Raben's Ravens......Jasta 18......I have the Revell 1:24 scale model. super job !

quite a project you've got going Greg looking very nice!

thought I'd put some movement on this log.......not huge, but a humble step foreword. earlier this summer, I went to Home depot and picked out a suitable pair of finials........a pair of draw pulls {knobs}. I was going to drill out the holes.......I need to drill all the way through them. distracted, I put them somewhere, and when I decided to do them, I couldn't find 'em! I looked in all the probable places I could have put them with no luck. I did another search recently with the same result.........can't blame the carpet monster for this one folks! so I went out and bought two more........these seem better suited. this is likely what prompted me to complete the task..........all in one fal swoop! I also bought the machine screws for them......#8.......and #10 X 3" with nuts.....two sizes in case I needed to go larger. I had to go slow with the drilling ......kinda tough to drill through. with the plastic still on the wood base, the center line was drawn, and the holes were marked out. the holes were drilled with the plastic still on the wood. the plastic was removed........the exit holes on the underside was chamfered to allow the screw heads to sink into the wood. I may need to change this up in case a washer is needed........I'll cross that bridge when I see how this goes. so, with the screws in place......as well as the finials, this is what it looks like the wood needs to be stained and sealed...........later. with the hardware removed, the base was placed on the hull and the holes were marked. these were drilled out. I found that 3" is a little too long..........but there is sufficient room in the hull, that they don't interfere { I can always cut them down too}. drum roll.................looks pretty darn good for a first time doing it usually, I use the stands that come with the model. this one is large enough to be an exception now I can stain it!

hello Sandy.....so sorry not to have seen your post sooner these boats are cool........I quite agree! as the log stated this comes from an older kit of the Billing Nordkap......older than the first Nordkap I built. I forget who built the boat that I'm emulating from.......I got them from a site called the Hull motor boat group. this site has closed down some time ago.......I was an active member. I haven't done any RC boats, but it was still cool to see what others across the pond were building the Progress was an actual kit that Billings produced, along with the Nordkap back in the day. being sort of a clone of the Nordkap kit, it's very easy to modify it. I have been thinking of this project lately...........I've been dabbling with plastic and I'm to the point where I'm beginning to scratch build things from plastic sheet. the itch may be returning I started to think over the bow cabin.........at one time, I was thinking of simply doing a foredeck instead. the idea has crossed my mind again and I'm beginning to like it more. I may also redo the anchor hawse holes........size looks an issue, but that's how they were also shown on the Nordkap. Robin's egg blue is what we call that color over here...........I have some too so.....at the moment, there has been no further progress on the Progress. I was getting ready to plank the deck........already made the margins as I did for the Nordkap. I hope to get back to her soon.......your inquiry may have lit a fire under my butt to get a move on...we'll see! here is a picture of my Nordkap, in case you haven't seen it alright........two of them. no one said I could count

thanks gents.........it didn't want the turrets to go to waste.........or in a bin to be forgotten. I had the chassis already done, so it's a good way to make use of them. old model kits had anther Leopold kit in their listings, but I bit my tongue....too many expenditures this month. I also tinkered with scratch building a battle ship turret {the smaller ones}.......either that or a really good start on an AT walker trying to get back to this one........soon I hope!

I was messing with the stand for the U.S.S. New Jersey today, and got the pictures from the camera. these are the prop........I mimicked the pitch from the revell kit prop and hand painted it. I tried to mask the yellow / green, but it was to much of a bother......and did it by eye. I also noticed that I need to do the yellow on the underside wing tips too.....more to come!

when the sanding dust cleared, it revealed a smooth looking gondola. it was dry fitted to see the results. hmmmmmmm......looks a bit odd. I wonder if the concept can be reversed? I found that it could without any problems..........the tapered end looks better in the front too it needs more to it........railings and such {i'll see what I have} I decanted the rust primer for the camo........more to come

starting with what is to be the aft end, the parts for the add on was cut and assembled. I gave it a tapered look. with this end roughed out, work began on elongating the other end. this end was left as a flat end...squared. it then was closed up, and when dry, sanding and fill in gaps took place. lines were redrawn to remark the centers. when set onto the chassis, it looked more promising...the pintle and the hole could be set and drilled. all the while..........more sanding

it's been a while..........I'm trying to revive and continue...please bear with me I did see a rail car like this in my searches.......so my 'what if' got the best of me. I knew the admiral won't allow me to get another Leopold kit to show both versions. so.......in my way of nonchalantly kick'in a can down the road, with enough sheet plastic on the desk, I set off tinkering. my early form of turret use wouldn't utilize both turrets, so I embarked on a small scratch build project that would. first would be to create a gondola that will host both turrets....the armored artillery vehicle begins. I'm glad I didn't toss out the cast off part for the turret plug....when I closed off the openings on the chassis. I used it to trace the openings on the deck. now to add the sides to the deck..... there was a lot of sanding to do. I didn't want the 'body' to be too thick on the coupler ends. braces were added to make the body stronger, while in the process of closing the body up. the sanding was constantly being done........I can't leave things looking rough for too long. filling in seams too....... the bottom area was closed up....seams sealed and of course, more sanding. fine sandpaper was used to smooth out the heavier sandpaper strokes. it should look quite smooth for when it's time for paint. the turrets were snapped back on to see how it looks. the next plan is to couple it up to the chassis.....from there will be the add ons and paint. it was disheartening to see that both cut aways weren't long enough to allow coupling.......I had miscalculated. pondering over the situation, it was decided to add on to the ends, rather than throw it out.

I have some progress to show on this project, although it's not much. spent more time tinkering than anything else........an addition to the Leopold project. added the gunner position and glass for it........and decaling. I managed to lose one of the fuselage pilot tubes....fell off and is lost....I may have to scratch build something to replace it. I painted the undersides of the ailerons to complete the yellow. I hope to have more to show soon