BLACK VIKING

A bit more progress to day  (boy I love the fit of this kit so far  - it  almost falls together)    next was to paint and fit the two pedals, quite straight forward  they pop in below the bottom frame,   next  I glued the other side to close up the cabin bath tub assembly.
 
After  putting this aside  - I woked on the two fuselage sides adding a few more fittings that were then painted and weathered, I thne did a dry fit  - all seems well  with the fuselage going together well.
 
OC.

Thanks Edward
Some of our kids are also grown up, although not really gone. Two of them live within walking distance of our house. It oldest one who just turned 50 lives about 800 miles away. In reality the two we have at home now are actually grandchildren we adopted years ago and while they still call us grandma and grandpa we still consider them just two more sons just like the others. After 50 years of continuous children I doubt we would know what to do if it was just the two of us. Probably end up shooting each other.
 
Well you were all warned. Here come the pictures! Like I said I had hoped to get more done than I have but at least there is some progress. Part of the reason is the amount of detail work that is needed in the cockpit area on this model. Once all of this is done there is almost nothing else to this kit of any significance. So without further due here are the pictures:





I have some chores to attend to again today, but I will try and get some more build time in and make a little more progress in this incredibly slow part of the build so I can continue to torture your sensibilities.
 
Thanks for looking in.

No, the Trafalgar one was just a joke. Thanks for the above post.
I'm not really a ‘Watercolourist' in the proper traditional way . I paint with watercolour paints, yes I use the transparency at times but for white, I use Gouache. I know 'zilch' about the technical side of things, all the fancy names for different colours. To me, I use for eg. dark blue, middle and light blue. . I paint using what I call my 'Spitfire' method. If it looks right it probably is. I’m a great believer in drawing. I draw the Subject then 'colour it in. I have the idea for the painting, draw it then paint it, sometimes changing it as I go. As it was here. It was just this afternoon 24hrs after I finished the original that I decided to put in the Swordfish. It was a toss up between it and a Catalina. There is an idea for a Cat. Lurking in my mind.
Jim
 

Stunning work my friend 
stay safe 
Martyn 

Update +Swordfish with Seaboots

I already thought that something was missing on the previous painting 😁. Beautiful work!

Depot ship HMS WOLFE , two T class submarines, a TID Tug and a Rescue Tug
W/C 14” X 10”

Well it has been a while but finally some progress to report. I have not been Idle since my last update but since I could only manage one coat of poly a day and waiting for paint to dry is boring enough I did not think it was worth an update.
 
I decided I needed some shiny bits and pieces. The kit did not provide any so I had to make them.
 
I stared with come strip brass I had laying around.

And cut off a couple of small pieces about an 1/8" or so. Then a little rough shaping with file and sand paper.

Then I clamped them both in my handy all purpose jig one on top of the other.
 

and drilled some holes.

Then I rubbed them around in some jewelers rouge.

And this is what I was left with.
 

Add a little bent wire and rings and .....

I added some rope and whipped some loops onto the rings.

I glued the plates in place with a tiny drop of medium CA applied with a sewing needle.

Then very carefully drilled through the holes.
Once that was done it was simply a matter of pressing the hasps and loops in place.
 

And I think that with the exception of a display base which I have yet to make up my mind on that we can call this one finished.













At least 3 coats of poly on everything with a light sanding with 800 grit between coats. All in all this has been a fun and challenging little project. I think the few mods I added give this one a little character and uniqueness that made them worth doing.
 
I will update again when I figure out the base.
 
Until then thanks to everyone that followed, liked and commented on this build. I hope you had as much fun as I did with it.
 
Best regards and stay safe.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Next step, getting difficult to continue, still waiting on parts, running out of subassemblies. I usually prefer to collect everything I need and run a build right through to the end one continuous stream... but having issues with shipping delays in the middle of a build is no fun at all....
 
Trailer colors.... we know the bullnose and doors are black, and the sides have their murals.... what about the rest of the trailer......

Movie capture, looks grey....

Yep, light grey... the real thing.....

Now that looks like a light ghost grey. (but look at that light level also, it's so bright that the light is reflecting off the tread of the tires!)
Let's try another pic without the intense light....

Now that's more like it, sunny day in the shade, medium light grey seems to be a good choice, and look at the upper right corner, under intense flash, it shows a blue cast....
Testors Aircraft Grey is what I'm going to use.... I think it fits the bill perfectly.....
 
Trailer parts, minus the box....

Painted Aircraft Grey....

We start with the sliding tandem unit frame.... 7 parts... (and notice that under the bright flash, it has a blue cast to the aircraft grey, color is spot on)

So the first step is to mount the spring/flange parts to the outer side frame rails...... This is where the first problem reveals itself....

Sorry for the blurry pic, but it is still clear enough to see that the flanges on the spring parts sits proud of the frame rail. It is supposed to sit flush with the frame rail top flange...... So I have to relieve the spacing on the inside of the part.

Unaltered part at the top, relieved part at the bottom, done by using a flat file to shave the part down between the flanges without damaging or breaking off the springs....

Again sorry for the blurry pics, corrected part at the bottom, untouched parts at the top. Relieving is necessary because the crossmembers need to fit between the side rail flanges while meeting the spring flanges flush. Without shaving the cross members do not fit tight to the side rails which is needed for strength....

Gluing the springs to the side rails....

Crossmembers installed and squared, the forward end is too the left....

Axles, radius rods, brake levers and air pots installed......

Auxiliary air tank and regulator installed along with the air hose support.....

Stock wheels and tires assembled and installed temporarily to get the delicate detail parts off the table where they will get broke.... 
 
The sliding tandem unit is now complete, I have resin wheels and true rubber tires on order if they ever get here, they are much more accurately detailed and the new tires have the correct tread pattern as seen in the movie.... And, except for the landing gear, I have no other sub-assemblies I can build without more parts arriving.
 
At this point I think I'm going to put this on hold until the parts arrive, I have tractor hubs, trailer wheels and tires, mural decals, and other assorted needed details arriving sometime in the future from all over the country and world in fact... until they get here there isn't much I can do, and I usually like having all materials and supplies on hand when I start a build.... This is why this is advancing agonizingly slow, (agonizingly slow for me) So I'm going to put this on hold until all the parts arrive and I can proceed like I enjoy doing.... smoothly and without interruptions beyond my control....
 
In the meantime to occupy myself and bore you to tears, I'll be starting another build log shortly on a simpler subject that should be easier without the delays... haven't decided what yet, I need to look thru my stash and see what I've got that isn't going to require any aftermarket or just minimal scratchbuilding, that rules out ships, most armor and most aircraft.  Maybe this will work....
 
An OOB blast from the past would be perfect.....
 
Rest assured, you will NOT go away without seeing the end of this build, until I have glued the last part and posted pics of it for you!
 
Thank you for looking in and commenting....
 
EG

Our public education system at work.... (teachers more clueless than the students) And ours are some of the highest paid teachers in the country!!!)
Anything I can do to help? :-)
 
The bird will patiently wait, we here will patiently wait, (no matter how much we don't want to) and pray that you and yours stay safe, take no inordinate risks, as we are all in the same boat as you for the most part....
Thanks for the warning my friend, but I'm sure, no one here classifies it as a warning to fear....
 
Remember, when the world dishes out lemons and refuses to allow us to make lemonade, grab a mint julep instead, more tasty and satisfying in the end... (it's become a crazy world out there) 
 
Take care and stay safe, we will be here..... (as long as the guv doesn't shut down the internet in the cause of social distancing)

I hated to put a like to that one lou.......all I can say is that I'm glad my two are grown.   yea......I'm a bit short on patients at times myself.  this is new to them....I get it.........but I listen to what my older son is going through with his tribe { I think he has three in school now}....he's literally had to go to the school to pick up the homework!   colleges and tech schools have been using a method they've developed for a few years now...you would think they would adopt the same method and go from there.   take care of the home front and don't worry........we as well as the model will still be here  

Most important thing lou  - try to keep your spirits  up and I am sure everyone else agrees  - this is our family  on here  and we are  all here for each other.
 
OC.

nice to see you've gotten to the color...........looks super!  

More time "playing "
The sea blue has been slightly lightened and the final coat applied. Masking has been removed and it's not too bad with only a bit of bleed on the nose.
I'll touch up the few bits tomorrow. 
Till then thanks for the likes. 
Cheers 😏👍

Thank you very much, Edward!  Thank you everyone for all the likes!

Ended up making the cat tail from laminated card.  I trimmed it with a #10 scalpel blade.

I made the shot garlands for the carronades (not glued down, they still need painted).

I discovered that I had misinterpreted the plans earlier (I’m still learning) and ripped up hatch covers by the main mast so I could make the bitts properly, which run down to the upper gun deck.

I started making the ship’s boats because the first set of them will be needed soon.  I am using the ones that the Admiral bought me for Christmas two and a half years ago.

Good evening everyone
taking advice, i have scaled the plans back, what i am aiming for now is just a harbour wall with a wooden jettey, this will serve as another point of interest and as a stand, there will be no water, or beach
 
the white unit will be used as a prop for now, and serves as a guide for height and width
 
 
for the wooded jetty which is being built first, it will stand above the height of the build(as if the tide was out and the end of a jetty train track way
 
the boat reminds just how much work i have myself in for

practising wood effects on balsa, sprayed black with brown drybrushing and getting an effect i like using a wire brush before paint
 
 

jetty platform.is quite big

track base going in, this is from the trumpeter BR52 war train i was building

the sleepers were treated the same as the balsa
tonight the track bed is laid, the other side although will be a working jetty i want it to be a lot cleaner

as she stands tonight

 
 

To be honest I have not done much on my Huey the last couple of weeks. Although I’m retired and it would seem that with this “Stay Home” order I would have nothing but time on my hands, it seems like nothing but extra work.
 
First off, as both my wife and I would be considered as poster children for catching the virus I had to try and find ways around everyday simple needs. The biggest of these was finding a way to limit our exposure in the grocery store and still keeping the two of us and our live-in Velociraptors supplied. I had to learn to do this simple task on line and ended up going through three considerably different store systems before finding one that seems, (So far) to work.
 
Then there are the two aforementioned Velociraptors. The schools sent them home two weeks ago and told us not to bring them back! So both the school system and myself have been going back and forth on how to get the kids to study and to get some kind of useful scholastic content while at home. You would think that this would be fairly easy as children all over the country have been home schooled for years with little or no issues. But the public school teachers are acting as if they just landed on an alien planet and are at a complete loss. There have been at last count by me, four different “Lession” systems introduced by teachers by each school my two boys attend. I have not had to do too much for my High School aged boy, he has some computer skills of his own and all I need to do is kick start him now and then to do the work instead of hiding out in his room pretending.  But my twelve year old is another matter. While he has been pretty good at attending the class hours I have assigned to him, his teachers have been all over the map on where to locate the work he has been assigned and that seems to change daily. Plus he has been assigned school logins that are apparently top secret need to know only information and parents are NOT on the inside loop. They are sending me the information of what they expect him to do, but neither he nor I have enough information to get there.
 
As an example,  today I ended up emailing one of his teachers to tell her that he would not be able to do the assignment as after spending the morning trying to  access the site he and I were no longer on speaking terms. She said that we were not the only people with location and login issues,(SURPRISE) and  I agreed to a telephone call where SHE tried to walk him through the location and login procedure. I had the whole conversation on speaker phone and was also following the procedure on my computer, so I would know how to do it tomorrow when it would be needed again. When he reached the inevitable unbreachable hurdle I chimed in and asked for his school email and was told that I was a parent and had a different way of entering the site! Needless to say I pretty much went ballistic and handed her over completely to my son and told her good luck. She lasted about another half hour and said she would call back in an hour or two but would be emailing me with added instructions. My wife was also angry with me for losing it so I forwarded the emails to her and told her that she should deal with it then. I had been doing it for the last two weeks and was pretty tired of it. She made a feeble attempt at working with my son and the instructions for about fifteen minutes and then badgered me into taking the chore over again. At that point it was either leave the house and find someone that was contaminated and end it all, or go ahead and tackle it yet again. This time after combining tidbits from four separate emails from the teacher I was able to get him into the required site. I tried to explain to him how I did it but I have my doubts that much of it sunk in as he pretty much had that deer in the headlight look on his face.
 
So along with trying to deal with all of the other things that this time of year brings me, this is pretty much how my life has been going and to be honest I have done almost no work on the Huey. Certainly nothing worth documenting. So tomorrow I have a couple of more financial matters to try and clear up and of course the obligatory school session, but I am making it a point to get over to the working space where the Huey has patiently been waiting and get some worthwhile work done. So fair warning to the forum members to look the other way, here comes more of the Huey.         

Evening all,  hope everyone is ok  - keep up your spirits  we will get through this,     anyway  work continues  starting with the instrument panel,  this is a multi stage thing starting with the frame  - this has three sections of PE  to be attached to it, when  set I painted underneath and around the frame in Green, then I built and painted the compass, this was then glued in place  under the frame,   I then did a bit of shading with a pancil  and finished off by highlighting,    next off was to build the  gun sight  - this is a clear part in two sections, I glued both together  then painted around the frame.
 
OC.

Thank you EG.
 
OC.

Have finished installing all the strips across the frames or bulkheads. Today I am working at laying a strip of veneer across the top of the frames or bulkheads to cover the plywood ends. Finding that soaking the strips in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes and using my wifes old hair curling iron I can bend the strips quite easily. The curling iron seems to have the correct radius for this job. Will take a while to get all the frames done but again I have lots of time staying in the house during the virus epidemic. 

Nearly there. All of the geometry is now correct. All the rudders are moving at the same rate and I am just about finished with this setup. I do notice a bit of flex in the rudder tubes so these will be reinforced. There is a little bit of skewing of the sled so I moved it as far back towards the stern as I could. The skewing seems to be a bit less. The only test to see if this works will be on the water. Next will be the installation of the Action electronics.
 
Until next time,
 
IR3

After gluing...

I built the rudder and have test fitted it to the hull and I’m happy with it. I also test fitted it on the stand which looks okay. Happy with how the plain wood pedestals turned out.

I then mocked up the bits that I could. It looks like a model boat!
I replaced the original aftermarket anchor I purchased it a grapple as this seems to be what they might actually have had. And added a small barrel that I’m going to pretend contains water.

 

Its done.  Wrapped up the last bits today, including a few more anchors, a few handholds and the provided stand.   I used some Syren scale rope I had laying around from another project in lieu of the provided nylon rope for the steerage cables.   I also added the air pipe.  
 
All in all it was a pleasure to build and a fun little deviation from the much longer, much more arduous building projects.   I think I need to reward myself with more of these little quick builds in order to break up what can sometimes feel like an endless build somewhere else.  
 
Forgive the black backdrop on these final images, its what I had laying around.  I wished to take better photos, but without my studio at work Im a bit hampered.   I can usually bring a few bits home for these sorts of things.   I must invest in my own neutral grey sometime soon...  or perhaps a good Lightbox.  
 
Thanks all for following along and all the kind words. 

Stunning work my friend 
stay safe 
Martyn