Scharnhorst 1940 by CDW - Flyhawk - 1:700 Scale - PLASTIC

[CDW]

This will be the beginning of my build log for the 1:700 Flyhawk German Battleship Scharnhorst, 1940, full hull version.

This version of the kit comes with two large photo etch sheets and brass gun barrels, ship masts. The parts count is quite high and the details very tiny, finely molded. I'll be ordering a much finer, cleaner cutting set of sprue cutters before I undertake building the kit as I will surely break parts just trying to cut them from the sprue without an appropriate set of cutters.

 

Pictured are the kit contents, the exception being the wood deck which I purchased separately.

 

[RGL]

Got the zoom function ready! 

[Old Collingwood]

Got my seat  and  bino's  ready to hand.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

Front and center.

[Canute]

Four's in, with my microscope, too. I'm a fan of Scharnhorst.

[CDW]

Hope I can pull this off at this micro scale. Time will tell.

[Egilman]

I'm here brother....  Good luck....

[CDW]

Just now, Egilman said:

I'm here brother....  Good luck....

Thanks! I'm going to need it.

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Awesome!  I'm in for this one of course!  Brave man starting with a battleship!  

 

I took a look at this kit and it seemed very nice.  I didn't end up picking it up as I have a bunch of IJN ships in this scale and didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of starting German ships, but it was a tough test of self-control!

[CDW]

Just now, Landlubber Mike said:

Awesome!  I'm in for this one of course!  Brave man starting with a battleship!  

 

I took a look at this kit and it seemed very nice.  I didn't end up picking it up as I have a bunch of IJN ships in this scale and didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of starting German ships, but it was a tough test of self-control!

 

I've been quietly building a stash of IJN kits as well. But the Scharnhorst and Roma are two favorites.

[Landlubber Mike]

Craig, for cutting the PE out of the fret, I use X-act No.10 blades.  I cut them out on acrylic plates  and hold-downs that I got from The Small Shop.  The hold downs are very helpful when cutting very thin PE.  I've made the mistake of trying to cut the parts without the hold downs, and sometimes with things as thin as railing, the PE will curve and bend, and at this scale, can ruin the piece.

 

 

 

 

https://thesmallshop.com/collections/photo-etch-cut-off-sets

 

 

 

 

I just came across these #12 mini-curved blades that might work too:

 

UMM has "precision sprue cutters" that can cut plastic and soft metals.  I forget which one I bought, but they can be an option:

 

http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?cPath=21_28

 

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

2 minutes ago, CDW said:

 

I've been quietly building a stash of IJN kits as well. But the Scharnhorst and Roma are two favorites.

 

Mine too - don't tempt me!

[CDW]

Today I am going to search for an appropriate size piece of wood to mount the model. I am considering cutting off part of the full hull and mounting it on an ocean diorama.

[CDW]

I've had those Small Shop pieces for several years now and they work great!

 

[Edwardkenway]

Looks like I'm a little late, just settling down in the rafters for this one.  Good luck Craig 👍 

[CDW]

Finally made a humble start on the shiny horse last night, gluing together the upper and lower hull parts then a little sanding and filling of the seams.

Now that I look at this kit more in detail, it becomes obvious the model can be built quite nicely straight out of the box except you would need some photo etch railings. The plastic parts are extraordinary, fine details and molded very much to scale. Even the metal barrels are not entirely needed. I'm even thinking I may have been better off with a precut masking set for the deck (cheaper) rather than the wood deck.

I'll wait until I have more done before taking some photos. I think this is going to be a fun little build and quite pleasing to the eye with the molded details.  

[popeye the sailor]

quite a parts count for such a small scale........the detail must be enormous!  sitting in for this one.......I brought a lawn chair   

[CDW]

Just now, popeye the sailor said:

quite a parts count for such a small scale........the detail must be enormous!  sitting in for this one.......I brought a lawn chair   

 

After I open the parts bags, I want to photograph the sprues. You won't believe the fine detail of the molded parts. Makes you realize how far this hobby has come in the past few years. The parts molds nowadays are light years ahead of what we thought was great 10 or 20 years ago. I didn't want to open the parts bags until I am ready to use them in fear of breaking and/or losing the parts. They are that small and delicate.

With this one started, I am now interested in the other 1:700 ship models Flyhawk makes. I never much cared for 1:700 scale before because it was so small and often parts looked out of scale and cartoonish. Not with Flyhawk. Downside is, they are a little on the pricey side.

[CDW]

Overall hull length is about 13", maybe a little less.

Plastic is on the soft side, making it easy to sand down. Molded on details very clean and crisp. Just wanted to capture some photos of it before laying down primer.

 

[lmagna]

7 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I brought a lawn chair 

You can at least come in to watch Denis. It might rain outside on the lawn!

[CDW]

Here is my chief model inspector and chowhound, Jasper. He's patiently waiting for me to get the black primer down on my hull.

 

 

 

 

[Canute]

All dressed up for a day in the woods.

[lmagna]

Can't do that with my Shih-Tzu. He hates any kind of clothing, even in the dead of winter with snow.

[CDW]

Finally got around to painting the hull. It's a start.

 

[CDW]

Curing the new paint in the dehydrator at 105 degrees F. for a couple of hours. This makes the paint very durable and resistant to damage from handling later on.

 

[CDW]

While the injection molding is superb on this Flyhawk kit, the brass barrels do make a difference. Here I began working on the secondary guns first by cutting off the plastic barrels.

 

 

 

Our dog gets daily injections of insulin to control his diabetes. The left over syringes come in handy as micro drills as they are super sharp and very thin, much thinner than any of the twist drill bits I have.

 

 

By far these are the smallest barrels I have worked with to date.

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Great work with those Tiny tiny pieces mate  and the paintwork is looking mighty fine.

 

OC.

[CDW]

I've got secondary's. 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking great Craig!

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

Hmmm ... Injection needles are hollow, and different gauges of needles are graduated by size and 'bore'.  Instead of just using brass inserts for the gun barrels (which is a great idea on its own), one could cut the length needed from a stainless steel hypodermic needle with a Dremel cut-off wheel.  This would fit right into the hole bored with the same size needle, but instead of being solid brass, it would be a stainless steel gun barrel with a genuine bore.  How cool would that be?   Fair sailing, Johnny