SMS Emden by RGL - FINISHED - Revell - 1/350 - PLASTIC

[RGL]

Moving onto the funnels. The kit supplied ones have representations of the rings and steam pipes on the outside. Yep, have to go. Trimmed and sanded. The amount of aftermarket for this will consist of the Eduard fret, flue rings, steps, flywheels  and brass rod to replace the steam pipes. A fair bit of work really. If your look at the plans they have an enormous amount of detail to get right.

[BANYAN]

Man you are a sucker for punishment Greg but those funnels will really look good with the PE.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

I'm thinking the same as Pat... that is a lot of sub-miniature detail work.  It should just add to the "Wow!" factor.

[docidle]

Greg,

 

I concur with Pat and Mark, your model has gone beyond the 'wow' factor.

 

Steve

[RGL]

Moving on and thanks for the likes and comments. The Eduard fret has rings designed for the rims that that placed on the funnels. As such I needed to make mantles for them to sit on. This requires the rings to be made into a circle as they come in 2 halves.

 

As you can see I used to little piece of wood so I can CA them together, then run them onto the funnel which is secured on a dowel then sliding them on piece by piece after using some tiny flue rings for them to sit. This has taken me a couple of days to perfect as I started over a few times to get them to run parallel. 

 

There are 4 little pieces which sit on the fore and aft funnel. I have no Idea what they are. Anyone? they look like little pulley system which i wonder are used on coaling the ship. The Eduard fret provides a tiny little crows foot which does no correspond with the Huff plans for the attached photo of his model at 1/100 (Which would be a scale far more friendly on my eyes and shaking fingers after coffee.

 

I scratch built some using some tiny brass rod with a pulley at the end and a ring 1/3 from the end which i will attach rigging after I have painted it.

 

I did the aft funnel first to get some dimensions so I could figure out the clearance needed for the steam pipe / Ships horns on the outside.

 

Each funnels also has about 30 individual steps which run up the front of them to the caps (Which I will do after I finish the funnels.

[RichardG]

Wonderful.

 

I have no clue how you manage to do all of this at such a small scale - so I'll just stare in amazement. 

 

Richard.

[RGL]

Nearly done with the funnels. A primer coat, fix the gaps that show up, top coat and add some brass horns. I scratch built the pipes on the sides, and added some vents to the top as described in the plans. It's amazing how far we've come since the 1995 kit with aftermarket and bloodymindedness. You can compare what the kit gives you to the possibilities.

[Old Collingwood]

Nearly done with the funnels. A primer coat, fix the gaps that show up, top coat and add some brass horns. I scratch built the pipes on the sides, and added some vents to the top as described in the plans. It's amazing how far we've come since the 1995 kit with aftermarket and bloodymindedness. You can compare what the kit gives you to the possibilities.

She is looking amazing my friend - your eye for detail is incredible, for me to achieve that i would need a scope ontop of my magnifier....

 

OC

[Captain Slog]

Incredible work there Greg, most impressive!

 

Cheers

Slog

[Canute]

Those stacks are tiny jewels, Greg. And very nice work applying the myriad details.

[BANYAN]

Great detail enhancement there Greg.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[RGL]

Nearly there with the funnels, just have to align and plonk them on and put on the guy wires. Now they are painted I have added the small brass horns and the small fly wheels, and the rigging for the bits that stick off the fore and aft funnels which i still am unable to find out what they are. they don't look that great on macro but when looked at compared to my hand size they have come out OK.

[BANYAN]

Great detail Greg; so much better than those original resin details.  You must have good steady hands - they are soooooo small.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited March 21, 2016 by BANYAN

[RGL]

Funnels rigged and added. I can now add the final deck fittings, the anchor chains etc, then start on the masts, finish up the railings then some side details. The last bit will be the guns.

[BANYAN]

Looks great Greg - brilliant detail.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Old Collingwood]

Lovely looking work greg - really sharp and tidy

 

OC

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up, Greg.  If you look really hard, I suppose you can see a slight improvement in the funnels over the original kit.    

 

Superb work, mate!

 

John

[RGL]

Moving back to the front of the bus, this has probably been the most labor intensive part for such a small area. Cutting off the bollards and re shaping the capstans etc, scratch building the anchor chain brakes, adding the metal deck, it is so bloody small it has become a case of less is more as adding any extra tackle will just look messy.  I have added an open source photo from Eduard how it is supposed to look if you just use the Eduard stuff.

[RGL]

Bit of paint and weathering, comes up OK, added some Artwox Chain (Park from Artwox is sending me some Fairleads which are not included). I have not even started on the spare anchor or its' fish davit, nor railings. Long way off. As you can see it is a very small area and adding more tackle will just look too busy. You may notice I have added an ammunition elevator, winch, vents and a hatch mentioned no where else but in the Huff plans.

 

Its a 21 year old kit, so it's getting old in the tooth.

[BANYAN]

Mate your extra efforts have been worth it; look 'just right'!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Old Collingwood]

Super dooper- she is looking superb the fine detail is eyecatching....

 

Oc

[RGL]

OC, you'll be happy to know North Star has just released a new detail set for the RN you could use. It even has ships cats which won't chew models! I'm hoarding stuff for the Dreadnought at the moment for my next build, but unfortunately their 12pdrs and winches are out of stock.

 

Greg

Edited March 30, 2016 by Greg Lester

[David Lester]

Hi Greg,

I've just discovered your build log. Your detail work is amazing! It's a very beautiful model.

By the way, where do your Lesters hail from? My dad and I were both born in Canada, but my grandfather emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland as a teenager just before WW1.

 

David

[RGL]

David, my grandfather was from the slums in London and stowed away at 14 on a ship to Oz and started working as a nurse, became a physio and ran a boxing gym on the docks of Newcastle (Australia), that's about it.

[RGL]

Do you ever have one of those days when your shoulders just camp up from too much time at the table?

 

Moving onto the masts, I was going to use brass and redo the entirety of both Masts from scratch. The kit ones are just not that bad, they just have no detail.

 

I trimmed off the yardarms, and started with them at bare poles. At this scale, this is where the sore shoulders began. As you can see the photo of the photo etch, the platforms for the searchlights are planked, but Huff says they were metal plate, so I just glued some on top and filed it down.

 

Using some spare yardarms from my Varyag build, I added proper yardarms and signal rods, plus the other etched platforms required. Rigging this stuff will be a nightmare. I still have to add the 4 lights which are aftermarket as the kit ones are blobs of plastic. I also have to add the searchlight control boxes which sit below them which I'll fabricate from resin. 

[mtaylor]

I think that's pretty amazing work.  And I do understand about sore shoulders, neck, and strained eyes.  

[RGL]

Plodding on. I have painted the masts. You can see from the Huff plans there is a LOT of rigging to do.

[RGL]

Now, the searchlights and their controllers, the circled blob is the revell search light, the aftermarket ones are as close as I could get to the plans. I made the control boxes out of a resin funnel vent filed down with the addition of 3 flywheels. I will run a small piece of ezyline up to the base of the search light to represent the control rod. You can just make out the scratch built pin rails, I made 4 from wood or the deck and 3 smaller ones for the bridge in plastic. 

[RGL]

Now a word about customer service. After I finished my Varyag, I was in love with their fittings that are just not available commercially. I e-mailed Artwox with a photo of the Varyag I built (it was their kit) and asked if I could purchase some of their fairleads and a couple of small funnels for the Emden. The deck plans have 6 fairleads and if you look at the photo they are 2mm and I just could not replicate them.

 

In the mail today I received the items in the attached photo. I just had to pay for postage from China.

 

That, my friends is customer service. Eduard, take note.

[mtaylor]

Your work is mind-boggling as well as outstanding, Greg.    And that IS great service.  Unbelievably great service.