HMS HOOD by Salty Dog - Trumpeter - 1/200 - PLASTIC - w/Pontos PE

[Salty Dog]

10 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

you've made some great progress.......looks really good      I'm new to PE.....I don't know how you folks do it.....   I'm using Tom's.......nice stuff,  but like you,  the instructions could use some better directions.   I'm sure I'm  not correct about a few things......but they are what they are   

 

nice take on the toilet holder.......we have the same one in our bathroom.   it's in silver.    

Hi Pop,

I have only tried one Tom's PE and it was awful. But I was told that it was because it was "old tech", so it looked like it was etched at home in the sink. Not good at all.  Maybe things have changed. The only instructions that I have seen that are very well illustrated are from Edward. Very clearly marked locations and instructions on how to fold the stuff. Although they don't have actual pictures in the instructions, sometimes illustrations make things much clearer.

I know they make that toilet holder in chrome and brushed aluminum too, but HD doesn't even carry that model anymore.

[Javlin]

It must of been some old material shoot I thought Tom's Modelworks had closed up after Tom the owner passed away.A new guy took over and I used there 1/350 scale for Fletcher class at least part of it since it was Dragon kit.I am going to maybe eyeball some of the 1/700 for the IJN already have a bit ordered for ISE coming from over seas.

 

I love the concept here with the colors and leaving the Brass natural I would not doubt it this keeps going the way(splendid) it has some the of manufacture will adopt the process or even maybe some commission work for you?

 

Quote from http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44013

Just a note to you, past customers of Tom's Modelworks, that Tom's is once again open. My name is Richard Harden and I am the new owner and I hope you will once again consider Tom's Modelworks when you are buying brass aircraft and ship model detailing sets.

 

[Salty Dog]

2 hours ago, Javlin said:

It must of been some old material shoot I thought Tom's Modelworks had closed up after Tom the owner passed away.A new guy took over and I used there 1/350 scale for Fletcher class at least part of it since it was Dragon kit.I am going to maybe eyeball some of the 1/700 for the IJN already have a bit ordered for ISE coming from over seas.

 

I love the concept here with the colors and leaving the Brass natural I would not doubt it this keeps going the way(splendid) it has some the of manufacture will adopt the process or even maybe some commission work for you?

 

Quote from http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44013

Just a note to you, past customers of Tom's Modelworks, that Tom's is once again open. My name is Richard Harden and I am the new owner and I hope you will once again consider Tom's Modelworks when you are buying brass aircraft and ship model detailing sets.

Thanks man,

That would be cool! I'll work for those $300 kits!

What PE are you getting for the 1/700 Ise?  Is it Rainbow?  I recently ordered this for the Fuso:

Outrageous amount of PE for less than $50 bucks! Beautiful quality too.

Unfortunately, ordering stuff from China is getting risky. eBay has started using some kind of carrier called Speedpak, and they have been giving out bogus tracking info.  I got ripped for $50 bucks.  Fighting with eBay right now for a refund.  There are several stories and references to this. Look up Peedpak and Orange Connex. Good luck!

 

[Salty Dog]

Update:

More little itty bitty stuff.  Thank god for storage containers!

I'm going to have to start populating the first floor decks, before I put the big stuff on top. That's what all these reels and other goodies are for:

The previous "wooden deck" that I applied was very nice and matched up well. This one has some very huge gaps and it's good on one side, but not on the other. Fortunately, this deck is barely visible. Otherwise I'd be pissed, to say the least!

You can clearly see lots of the plastic that the "wood" is supposed to cover. Look at how offset that circular cutout is.

Tomorrow I have more tiny crap to mess with!

[CDW]

14 hours ago, Salty Dog said:

Hi Pop,

I have only tried one Tom's PE and it was awful. But I was told that it was because it was "old tech", so it looked like it was etched at home in the sink. Not good at all.  Maybe things have changed.

Toms, Gold Medal, and Verlinden were a few of the very earliest producers of photo etch I can recall. When photo etch first popped up on the market (1990's I believe, maybe late 80's), it was a cottage industry. Mom and Pop operations in the garage sort of thing. Besides photo etch, Toms produced some vacuform/multimedia models that included photo etch. The most high tech model ships were cast resin with photo etch and turned brass/aluminum barrels. Talk about a pain in the rear...the resin was often full of pinholes and voids, often warped. Took a lot of prep work to build one of those back then.

[Javlin]

None from Rainbow but have looked at some Flyhawk  whew amount and price.

 

Ocean Spirit first time using them

Hunter another first for decks

Kit for the Fujumi kit I am going Hase

[Salty Dog]

Hi everyone,

I got lots of tiny stuff done today. Want to see something insane? Look:

That's a toothpick in the background for reference!  That "fire pump" consists of 9 parts. 2 of them are resin. Some of the smallest stuff I have ever put together.

Now that hatch with the 6 eyebolts has its own story, but I'm not sure if there is anyone interested in every detail. If you are interested in things I find different or downright wrong with Pontos, let me know.  I will give details. 

I also completed the "middle" deck by adding little goodies:

I also put together a bunch of pumps like these:

 

[Salty Dog]

Hello again,

Tonight I completed the foredeck. Lots of anchor related details.  I also populated the foredeck with those little black mushroom thingies.  I guess they are vents.  There are lots of different sizes and scattered all over the place. They couldn't just put them on one tree. Nope, they're on Fret G, and F, and E....and not only do you have to hunting for them, but then I have to airbrush them. That's a real pain because if you take them off the frets, it's hard to place them to paint. But if you paint first, then you have to touch up the area that was attached to the fret. Hand painting just doesn't look as good as airbrushing. I've tried everything. Anyway, here's my current work:

 

[Salty Dog]

Hey,

Today I decided to do some painting. I prepped the lifeboats and the boats. As I'm doing that, I remember seeing some PE that corresponded to the life rafts. I couldn't find a single mention of the parts in the entire pdf. Then I found this online. This is from Pontos themselves on another website:

So I tried it.  First you have to totally remove the bottoms to get just the oval tube:

Then you have to very carefully remove the PE that's attached in 18 points:

Then you have to very carefully wrap each one of those straps around the tube to get this:

If you look carefully, none of the straps are attached and some are not even bent all the way. Imagine having to wrap those all the way around in 2 different directions, AND glue them down.  AND repeat this 12 times for each raft.  Not going to happen.  I went with the easiest option, after spending about 45 minutes mangling that part to finally get this:

Good enough for me and I still have hair.

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Salty Dog

[yvesvidal]

Agreed. There is a limit to insanity.

 

Yves

[Tigerdvr]

30 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Agreed. There is a limit to insanity.

 

Yves

Fellow photo etch addicts, "There is a limit to (this) insanity", as Yves said, should be our official moto.😵

[RGL]

I’m not an addict as I can stop whenever I want 

[CDW]

Just an observation and an opinion...

In the case of that weird geometric shaped photo etch that must be twisted and contorted in several ways to get it to resemble whatever it's intended to resemble in the rafts...I believe that photo etch is not necessarily the best medium to catch that detail. Instead, I think it should be thread to simulate the detail/s. The photo etch just doesn't look convincing. The photo etch at the bottom of the rafts looks fine, but the parts you had trouble with are a different story in my opinion.

[Old Collingwood]

I have seen some use very fine wire to do the same - very tricky work  and especially in 1/350 scale.

 

OC.

[Salty Dog]

Hello again,

Tonight I worked on the ship's boats. Lots of them! These are more detailed and precise than the ones on the Mikasa which I just finished. Lots of parts per ship:

They turn out really nice:

They have all sorts of stuff like seats and steering wheels:

I have no doubt that those the design these kits do lots of research for accuracy, and they MUST know what each component is for, and therefore, an idea of what it's called. Pontos VERY rarely mentions the name of an item you are working on, much less the individual parts. It would be nice to know. Just look at these parts that they even went through the trouble of super-detailing. I wish I knew what these things are:

I don't know if it's a language barrier, but that's hard to believe since with the internet, I'm sure they can find someone to translate for them.  I get the feeling they just can't wait to ship the set out to start making money. The hell with the details! Let those crazy enough to even touch these things figure them out!

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Salty Dog

[Tigerdvr]

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.

Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for

Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.

Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.

 

Best, Harley

[Salty Dog]

1 hour ago, tigerdvr said:

Nice work on the boats, enjoying your log, thanks for sharing.

Regarding your comment on lack of labeling on photo etch, I just received a photo etch fittings set for

Fletcher class destroyers from Gold Medal Models. They label what each part is on the fret plus labeling for the round or square bridge Fletcher.

Pretty handy. Their instructions are quite good also.

 

Best, Harley

Hi Harley,

I don't think I've ever purchased anything from GMM. It's just not as "satisfying" to work with all these parts and not know what the hell they are.  Would be nice to get educated while having fun.

Thank you for watching!

[Salty Dog]

UGH! Time consuming crap night.  I did get the boats done.  Here's the fleet:

As those of you that have been watching are aware, I'm painting my ship semi-gloss black. But when I looked at the life rafts and how some are attached to a wall and have so little PE, they basically disappear. So I decided that the rafts and the ships are going to be a dark gray.  But Tamiya only makes grays in flat colors, and I really don't like flat. I think it's TOO flat for the scale, and things look like they would have a stucco coat if they were blown up to normal size. So after spraying the gray, I sprayed them all with semi-gloss clear.  I feel better.

And then the nightmare of gun stuff. There are things called ADO and ALO and pelorus, which I assume are all sighting devices.  As usual, no mention of their purpose in the instructions:

Lots of tiny little crap.  So without further ADO, this is what I got done:

Tomorrow I work on the Pelorus 2, whatever that is.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2019 by Salty Dog

[CDW]

Absolutely love the detail, though I feel for you knowing the strain it takes to meticulously go through all those tiny photo etch pieces. Just cutting them out and filing away the nubs is a challenge before you even get started folding, bending, gluing, and cussing. And the extra cussing when something as small as a photo etch fly's elbow falls off the table and onto the floor.

[Salty Dog]

15 minutes ago, CDW said:

Absolutely love the detail, though I feel for you knowing the strain it takes to meticulously go through all those tiny photo etch pieces. Just cutting them out and filing away the nubs is a challenge before you even get started folding, bending, gluing, and cussing. And the extra cussing when something as small as a photo etch fly's elbow falls off the table and onto the floor.

Thanks for looking!  Yep, the dreaded "tink" when something you're holding in your precision tweezers decides to go on a one way trip, never to be seen again.  Really ticks me off, although I'm pretty proud of myself this time around because I've only lost a couple of parts. The only consolation is they are sooooooo small, that never in a million years would anyone notice....unless they were VERY familiar with the set!  My eyes are going too. I have every kind of reading glasses and headlamps and magnifications. BUT... I can still see! I'm pretty set on using a +4 pair of glasses, but I do have to bump it up to +6 on super tiny impossible stuff.  I even have some +8! But I feel like puking when I put those on haha.  🤢

Edited July 4, 2019 by Salty Dog

[pontiachedmark]

Gidday Salty.

I have finally caught up with your build after being away crook for some weeks.

Looks like you are making good progress and maintaining a high standard.

I am impressed by the work and the way problems have been overcome, (I must check my vents).

Wishing you all the best,

Mark.

[popeye the sailor]

ahhhhh,  the age old problem    goes back all the way to the early model kits.........some have descriptive text,  some didn't.  I agree....it would have been nice to familiarize the name of the part,  so it would give me a better understanding of it's function.   looks like you know where the parts go.....that's half the battle     look'in really good! 

[Salty Dog]

Thanks to all for all the nice words. I probably would have burnt out by now if it wasn't for the compliments.  Very much appreciated.

 

[cog]

Every once in a while we need a thumbs up, that's the way to stay motivated, and finish our build. It's not as easy as we sometimes think ourselves when we start a new build. I know I will have a hard time getting my current build done, the PE will be giving me screwed eyes and splitting headaches. Without the visitors giving advice it would be hard, but those whom give moral support are even more important, even the practical jokes have their moments

 

You are doing fine, keep it up. If you feel the dark creepin' up on you, you can always paint her pink ...

[mtdoramike]

Hey Salty, I'm going to ask this stupid question, why after spending the kind of money on this particular kit, not to mention the hours upon hours of building time that you would deviate from the original colors of the real ship if you are being a representation of the Hood. Although your painting and the colors are absolutely beautiful, I'm just curious why those colors instead of the traditional colors.

 

 

mike  

[Richmond]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorus_(instrument)

[Salty Dog]

9 hours ago, mtdoramike said:

Hey Salty, I'm going to ask this stupid question, why after spending the kind of money on this particular kit, not to mention the hours upon hours of building time that you would deviate from the original colors of the real ship if you are being a representation of the Hood. Although your painting and the colors are absolutely beautiful, I'm just curious why those colors instead of the traditional colors.

 

 

mike  

Hey Mike,

Read my very first post when I started this build.  I don't feel I'm representing anything but my own creativity and ideas. But most of all, I'm having fun. I have other ships lined up and also plan on "doing my thing". For instance, I have the 1/200 Iowa ready to go. I looked up some of the history and bumped into some ORIGINAL paint schemes that were proposed but never used. I am going to use one of those since the drawings exist.  Again, mostly cuz I CAN. And because in my opinion is much nicer looking than your run of the mill floating correctional facility. They just look boring to me.  Some like the Bismarck are fantastic due to the cammo. Some of the ships used during the "razzle dazzle" period are also interesting. Some are an eyesore! Thanks for liking the colors I'm using!

Edited July 5, 2019 by Salty Dog

[Salty Dog]

8 hours ago, Richmond said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorus_(instrument)

Thank you Richmond!  I was right. I figured they were sighting devices. Tonight I worked on others. Lots of tiny stuff.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Salty Dog said:

I don't feel I'm representing anything but my own creativity and ideas.

Yeah, I grow tired of seeing the same old things over and over again. It's refreshing to sometimes see a different color scheme, a different theme on an old familiar subject. That's what made custom cars, motorcycles and street rods so popular (and still are to me). It's that creativity aspect that makes it interesting...like science fiction.

On the other hand, there's a time and place for true fidelity to scale and appearance. A royalty model for example, or a museum replica of any given subject.

I often prefer a "what if" scheme far more so than an historically correct one. To be totally honest, I often find the rivet counting and meticulous research "requirement" to be a hindrance to my own productivity rather than a help. 

[mtdoramike]

5 hours ago, Salty Dog said:

Hey Mike,

Read my very first post when I started this build.  I don't feel I'm representing anything but my own creativity and ideas. But most of all, I'm having fun. I have other ships lined up and also plan on "doing my thing". For instance, I have the 1/200 Iowa ready to go. I looked up some of the history and bumped into some ORIGINAL paint schemes that were proposed but never used. I am going to use one of those since the drawings exist.  Again, mostly cuz I CAN. And because in my opinion is much nicer looking than your run of the mill floating correctional facility. They just look boring to me.  Some like the Bismarck are fantastic due to the cammo. Some of the ships used during the "razzle dazzle" period are also interesting. Some are an eyesore! Thanks for liking the colors I'm using!

Thanks for the reply Salty, I can understand that, I too tend to stray outside the box from time to time.