Scharnhorst by greyhawk - Hachette - 1:200 - parts work

[cog]

If this is 15% than I'm real curious what the other 85% will be about. I presume you will be building up quite a few layerd structures, like that forward deck superstructure ...

[greyhawk]

Well there's still two layers of planking to be done. Also these ships tend to have a bajillion of very very tiny parts to be built.

[popeye the sailor]

stumbled onto your build....looks very interesting      looking forward in seeing more.

[greyhawk]

Thank you Popeye 

 

Scharnhorst Issue 22

 

 

 

We finally get to take a break from roof related shenanigans and deal with the bow and stern of the ship instead. 

 

For these we receive 2 plastic mouldings each which are epoxy-glued together and onto the ends of the hull. This is where the decision to use MDF to form the hull starts to make sense, because fit is absolutely perfect. These parts will make the planking of the hull (should we eventually start it at some point) infinitely easier.

 

I'm usually not a big fan of plastic, but for these sections it makes things so much easier that I'm ok with it. Other options how these sections are done in other ships of this type are ceramic prefabs (prone to break, usually major fit issues) or building up the sections with layered plates of wood then sanding that block smooth (torturous work that usually ends in less than satisfying results)

[CDW]

The plastic bow and stern pieces caught me by surprise. But I can see where those could be challenging to do in wood. It will be interesting to see later on how you'll blend the planking in with the plastic pieces.

The model is shaping up very nicely. I like it. 

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst issue 23

 

 

Back to roofs. This time we receive the first two upper deck plates. Those are just loosely laid down on the hull for now. The designers surprise me again, but this time in a positive way. There are cutouts in the plates to simply stick the deck structures into. Proper Fit and sit of the deck structures is usually a huge pain in the behind so this solution is nothing short of genius.

[jim_smits]

That’s interesting that Hachette (Amati?) have decided to use a plastic stern piece. Definitely an improvement on the Hood partwork. 

[greyhawk]

It's a group of designers around Sergio Marletti that have split off from Amati. They originally designed the Bismarck. Amati isn't all that happy about this and released a rather sulky video saying so a while ago. 

 

And yeah, the plastic bow and stern pieces make things a whole lot easier.

 

Scharnhorst issue 24

 

 

The next two deck plates arrive and are put in place loosely for now. Note the middle deck structure is the wrong way around because I'm dumb and should be turned around 180 degreees. Good thing that nothing is glued yet.

 

[popeye the sailor]

that's what dry fitting is all about    I'd say you were pretty smart in that respect.......what would have been considered dumb,  is if it was glued in place.   looks great!

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst issue 25

 

 

The last deck plate is delivered and all of them are now fixed to the hull. Small tabs on the cutouts and edges make it easy to properly align the plates.

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst issue 26

 

With the deck plates in place this is the perfect time to finally start planking the hull....

 

 

... so instead we start kitting out the upper deck structures. The middle deck structures curved sections are covered with brass and for the first time it becomes clear why the layered "multi-roof" approach was taken for these. Any portholes instantly become actual holes, no need to fake things with paint or opening them up with a drill. It's pretty ingenious.

 

We also build four ventilation system (?) thingys, to be installed at a later date.

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst 27

We start covering up the freestanding parts of the middle deck structures decks with brass from below. Again the piece is shown downside up. The brass extends beyond the wooden parts by ca a tenth of a millimeter which will provide a natural anchoring point for the railings we will be fitting soon.

[Bill Morrison]

How did I miss this?   I love the German capital ships and will follow along. By the way, if we cannot get these kits in the US, where can we find them?  Is there an online source?

 

Bill

[greyhawk]

2 hours ago, Bill Morrison said:

How did I miss this?   I love the German capital ships and will follow along. By the way, if we cannot get these kits in the US, where can we find them?  Is there an online source?

 

Bill

They are usually exclusively sold through the partworks company. Your best bet would be trying to grab one off Ebay, when the collection is done in 2020. There is a surprising amount of people who collect these and then sell them for half price when they're done. Never understood that, but it's saved me hundreds of Euros so far.

[yvesvidal]

7 hours ago, greyhawk said:

Scharnhorst 27

The brass extends beyond the wooden parts by ca a tenth of a millimeter which will provide a natural anchoring point for the railings we will be fitting soon.

How soon... ?   

 

I am glad you are building many ships at the same time..... I could not cope with the way they distribute the parts....and I am very patient.

 

Yves

[greyhawk]

Quote

 

How soon... ?   

 

I am glad you are building many ships at the same time..... I could not cope with the way they distribute the parts....and I am very patient.

 

Yves

 

 

I just finished fitting the railings an hour ago . The build log is two weeks behind real life to provide a buffer for delivery problems and well, actual buliding, so this one should drop 31 January.

Edited January 17, 2018 by greyhawk

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst 28

 

 

Covered the rest of the walls and roof of the middle deck structures lower level with brass.

 

We've reached the 20% point in this build, so it's time to have another look at the complete ship so far.

 

[greyhawk]

Scharnhorst Issue 29

We get to add the railings to the middle deck structure. Luckily the brass is pretty robust, as we have to bend it to follow the outline of the deck. This is made a little bit easier by the tiny overhang of the PE already attached, but still is not exactly a walk in the park because the brass wants to return to its earlier shape. So you have to overbend a bit, but not too much. Only when the brass perfectly follows the shape of the deck, can you glue it down, otherwise internal forces will soon rip it clean off again.

For the first time the kit drops the pretense of "being easy enough anyone can build it" and the fallout is of course a lot of new builders dropping out of the build and trying to sell or even just give away their incomplete Scharnhorsts.

Edited January 31, 2018 by greyhawk

[yvesvidal]

Would it be time to start painting that middle deck structure, before gluing the decks? Or are you still waiting for parts to be glued against the walls?

 

Yves

[popeye the sailor]

perhaps  the fall out is from folks getting discouraged with how slow the process is.  are you taking advantage?   

[greyhawk]

It's mostly related to how dificult it is getting the railings aligned with the structure. Not taking advantage with this one, but I've bought up a LOT of old partworks people gave up on. Got the Victory, Stuka, Titanic, U-96 and Sovereign of the Seas all sitting in the basement waiting to be built. I'm set until retirement.

 

2 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

Would it be time to start painting that middle deck structure, before gluing the decks? Or are you still waiting for parts to be glued against the walls?

 

Yves

Not the time yet. There's lots of stuff to be added still.

[popeye the sailor]

the stuka.........how the heck did that get in there?!?!?!   

[greyhawk]

Stroke of luck really. Never intended to buy one, as completely unbuilt ones are super rare and quite expensive (think unopened Classic Pocher kit - that kind of expensive). Somehow I lucked into a guy that retrieved a complete and unbuilt collection from his parents attic and didn't quite know what he got there. Couldn't pass it up.

[popeye the sailor]

love the looks of those planes........I also like the Focke Wolf

[Canute]

Yeah, I like those radial engine fighters from WWII. But my fave is the Spitfire, all Marks. Sorry to kinda steal your log, Greyhawk.

[greyhawk]

No worries. I like my logs alive.

 

Here's some looks at the Stuka by the way. Yeah, the things made out of brass.

 

[Old Collingwood]

On 01/02/2018 at 12:02 PM, greyhawk said:

No worries. I like my logs alive.

 

Here's some looks at the Stuka by the way. Yeah, the things made out of brass.

 

 

WOW - seriously WOW,  im a plane nut so im sold

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

seriously nice work    what scale?

[greyhawk]

It's 1:16, so it is absurdly huge.

[popeye the sailor]

I'm sorry.....am I drooling      gotta have some weight to it when finished    will it have a skin, or is the internals exposed?