Tigerdvr

Bit of paint including the armistice flags, the kit has decals but I think painting them Is always going to look more realistic 

IMHO, you have a very good water texture with a swell pushing along but not quite breaking to white water. Some folks seem to build a nice model, create a good sea base and then screw it up with a wake that looks like rows of soldiers coming off the hull at a constant 45 degree angle. I certainly doubt that will be the case with your build as you show a good grasp of how water works. Can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Enjoy, Harley

IMHO, you have a very good water texture with a swell pushing along but not quite breaking to white water. Some folks seem to build a nice model, create a good sea base and then screw it up with a wake that looks like rows of soldiers coming off the hull at a constant 45 degree angle. I certainly doubt that will be the case with your build as you show a good grasp of how water works. Can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Enjoy, Harley

IMHO, you have a very good water texture with a swell pushing along but not quite breaking to white water. Some folks seem to build a nice model, create a good sea base and then screw it up with a wake that looks like rows of soldiers coming off the hull at a constant 45 degree angle. I certainly doubt that will be the case with your build as you show a good grasp of how water works. Can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Enjoy, Harley

From the photos it doesn't look bad. Perhaps it looks worse in real life, I don't know. But we're always our own worst critics. Keep in mind that the deck furniture will break up the look of the deck,and it may cease to be a problem as you progress further into the build.
 
If you're really unhappy with it and can't do anything to change it, I suppose the best thing to do is put it down to experience. 
 
But I'd say proceed with the build and see if the glaring fault that's so obvious to you now doesn't fade into the background as you go on.

A progress update so you can see what she looks like at this stage. Hard to get a pic of the whole ship and also any details!
 

 

Getting better and better all the time. 
 
So you have a carpet monster, too? Mine is very voracious, but it's not always the thing at fault. I dropped a piece off the workbench, looked and looked for it for a long time with no success. Swept the carpet and sorted through what I'd swept up. Looked under all the furniture - nothing. Went off and did something else to get my mind off it, hoping the aliens who'd pinched it would have returned it when I came back. Nope. Then it occurred to me - it's cold where I live and I usually wear ugg boots when I'm modelling. Yep - the piece had fallen down my boot. Fortunately it wasn't anything fragile, so it hadn't broken.

Nicely done, bless you folks who tackle 1/700 PE. I can get crazy on 350🤪
 
Cheers, Harley
 

Nicely done, bless you folks who tackle 1/700 PE. I can get crazy on 350🤪
 
Cheers, Harley
 

Nicely done, bless you folks who tackle 1/700 PE. I can get crazy on 350🤪
 
Cheers, Harley
 

Thanks!
 
Here are some more pictures of the finished model:
 

Installing some boat's cranes
A pair of finished views.
 
Thanks for watching.
 
Peter

Midships superstructure and funnels with some initial paint on.
Assembled hull and assembled superstructures.
Stand looks a bit toy like and needs painting.
 
Peter

The rest of the funnels and a photo etch replacement superstructure. 
I would say the triangular support brackets under the deck here are the most difficult parts of this kit..

Review of WIP, Joy-Yard 1/350 USS Missouri
 
I have delayed starting a build log to concentrate on the kit itself. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut but I feel I must share some observations with folks that may be considering this kit.
 
Moderators, if this out of line I will understand any actions you deem appropriate.
 
First let me say this kit is my fourth plastic ship build since coming over from the wood world. Each of these builds has various PE levels and scratch build components. I have been involved in model building of one kind or another for decades.
Early on I found there were some errors in the instructions. Joy-Yard has provided an on-line version of their corrected manual. I found more errors that still existed in their updated version. Nothing unsurmountable, just unexpected.
 
It seems that we look at the kit features and then decide if we want aftermarket (AM) replacements. This kit is the opposite. There is so much detail that I, for one, have had to consider are the kit details worth the effort compared to similar AM offerings. I realize that is personal decision based on skill level. The 20mm Orlikons are an example. Eight pieces X 49 guns. The magazine is a separate plastic piece. Picture how small that is. I did a couple of samples and they are quite accurate.
 
I started making a list of the discrepancies and problems I ran into. It has become a constant puzzle of parts misidentified, on a different fret than the instructions call for, not shown on the instructions at all. ne has to spend time searching the manual because the pictures, while many in color, skip around and  if you expect to go 1,2,3,4, the manual shows 1,3,4,2, or 1,2, --, 4. If you compare the instructions to the picture of their completed model in the manual, they don’t match. I have excellent line drawings of the ship in the same time period as the model which look like their finished model is okay but disagrees with the manual.
 
I don’t intend on giving up on this yet but IMHO, Joy-Yard has obviously put a great deal of work into making this kit better than the others available. And while there are some very creditable features in this kit, the overall package just doesn’t cut it and isn’t worth the money. I could not, in good conscience, recommend the kit to a friend.
I have never written a review like this before and rather be raving about how great this kit is.
 
Again, this is just my opinion after two months of work on this kit.
 
Harley

I think that the G2 was a little more purpose designed and although designed to carry a 1000KG bomb load I can find no evidence that it ever did unlike the earlier versions was not considered a multi function aircraft and was almost exclusively used against tanks. Here is a little more history:
 
By 1942, the need for a new ground attack aircraft was ever present. The ageing Ju 87 was proving to be obsolete, and the new Henschel Hs 129 was underpowered and ill-protected. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a Stuka ace, proposed a pair of 37 mm cannons be added to a Ju 87 D. Thus, the "Kanonenvogel" or "cannon-bird" was born. The Ju 87 G was most famously piloted by Rudel himself, who destroyed a countless amount of Soviet tanks and equipment.
 
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only person to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, one of Germany's highest awards. The highest-scoring ace of World War II, Erich Hartmann, also held the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds – but his Oak Leaves were not gold).
Rudel survived the war and later, pulling from personal experiences, Rudel's input was used to design and develop the current day A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft.
 
I found the link to the modern day A-10 particularly interesting if true. The two aircraft share a number of things in common., including special ammo, the Stuka used 12 rounds per gun of tungsten carbide cored ammo, and a armored cockpit not used in prior models,  I have always had a kind of love affair with the A-10. Time to take my seat and watch the paint fly!

Greetings Bossman, I must add my accolades to all the previous positive comments on your Confederacy. As one who has been exposed to the challenges presented by this kit, I feel I have a special appreciation for what you have accomplished. Your work and attention to detail is just outstanding IMHO. I think your project is what Chuck had in mind when he designed this kit.
If you ever consider rigging her, I have the rigging plans which you would be welcome to use.
Thanks for sharing a well done build log. It makes great reference for others.
 
Cheers, Harley

You are doing too well to rig the crane sort of slack. Try some fine Easyline or similar. You will have nice lines as tight as you like without putting undue stress on any fragile PE.
Great beginning.
 
If I may ask, what were you building before trying ships? You obviously brought a ton of skills and techniques from other projects.
 
Cheers, Harley

Wanting to start another ship kit, I dug this one out of the plastic stash.
 
For those interested, the historical information of the ship can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_destroyer_Z30
 
This kit is produced by Trumpeter, looks alright in terms of part quality, and looking for something a bit less intense than the semi-brass builds I see others doing I figured I'll do this one mostly-out-of-the-box.  The only edits I'll do are to swap out the 20mm AA gun positions with these etch folded ones that I'd acquired from some long-forgotten sale.  The ship needs five, the set comes with ten ... with my patented ten-thumb etch skills, the ratio sounds about right.
 
 
 
 

Weathering is a must, especially as the boxtop shows it so nicely!
 
Step 1 of the instructions shows some guns and other accessories being assembled, so I skipped to the next step to assemble the hull.  Well, even that's kind of skipping ahead, as I wanted to put together a proper pedestal base for the finished product.  At first I was going to do some little wooden spindles I found in the "never throw anything away box", along with a cheap wooden plaque.  I measured and glued the spindles to the base, and drilled holes into the hull to mount it.  It looked ... cheap ... and not in the good, frugal way.  A bit of browsing on Amazon and I found these fairly inexpensive ($12 for four) brass lamp risers that will do the trick nicely to upgrade the visual.  I need to locate some appropriately sized screws and bolts to make it all come together, but it's in the right direction.  Stay tuned!
 
 

Hello all, hope you are all well. Thanks for the comments and encouragement along the way! I’m back from my holiday recharged and will slowly get back into my build.
decided to make the Walrus as aviation is my job, will help me get back into the swing of things, it’s quite fun if not abit small!

 
Took a few days of planning how I’d do it. Customised a few things to add that extra bit of detail, like drilling out the 2 gun stations and mounting the engine more accurately.

 
slowly built up from there with any spare time I had 
 

 
its not finished yet but a good chuck is done.


 
im quite happy with how it’s coming along. Some of the decals were pretty poor quality so had to add some paint to get them acceptable.

 

Not sure how I’ll do the canopy frames yet but Ive a feeling getting them right will make or break it. 
 
once it’s totally complete I’ll post a picture.

And it starts. A quick trip down to the hardware store to get a hardwood Plank for a base. 

Strasbourg in Toulon during July 1941. This is a series of photos taken on at least two occasions during the month. Initially a launch approaches the battleship, then another series of three photos depict the ship replenishing from trucks pierside. The last photos show her underway and headed out for a training exercise. Note the armistice-mandated neutrality stripe on Turret II. Another really great aspect of these photos is the detail shown of her stern catapult and Loire 130.
 
Photos are from Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris.

So, ordering as you probably well know is problematic during this crisis. So I order up 2 kits with extras and the bulk of this one has arrived, just awaiting some delicious guns from Micromaster in NZ. Best 3D printing I have seen hands down. 
 
The Big Blue Boy upgrade is Newly produced so this should be one of the first builds. 
 
I got some actual aa guns that are not a flat piece of PE which I dislike anyway. The plans are from Profile Morskie. I also got some extra aircraft for the hangar. 
 
The ship was commissioned in 1938 and effectively gone by 1942. Not much to weather 

Jud, could you give us a bit more info on the collision with the Ammen. That's a heck of a wreck.
Thanks, Harley