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

[hof00]

Just awesome Sir!!

Looking to get back into the 1/400 Titanic, having enough difficulty at this scale, let alone 1/700....

 

I take my hat off....

 

(If I had a "Trilby.... ":-))

 

Cheers....HOF.

[CDW]

Thank you HOF.

 

Being thrilled with the quality and detail of the Scharnhorst from Flyhawk, I have begun to acquire their other models in this scale. I must tell you, they are equally amazing, maybe even better in some respects. Suffice it to say, I will be back in the model ship building business for quite some time to come...British aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. German battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Japanese battleships and destroyers as well as some diorama scenes. Amazing stuff! 

[king derelict]

I'm very much a beginner at plastic modelling but I think Flyhawk make some of the best 1/700 models. Their detail is fantastic even without PE and their masts are fine enough to not need replacement by brass. I've mainly been building 1/700 destroyers and I think Flyhawk are considerably better than IBG, Trumpeter and Dragon. I recently finished their Battle of the Atlantic diorama and liked it a lot.  There are PE .303s for the Sunderland and the U boat is a gem. I tried to set the pieces in context rather than using their base. It looked better in my mind.

[CDW]

Just now, king derelict said:

I'm very much a beginner at plastic modelling but I think Flyhawk make some of the best 1/700 models. Their detail is fantastic even without PE and their masts are fine enough to not need replacement by brass. I've mainly been building 1/700 destroyers and I think Flyhawk are considerably better than IBG, Trumpeter and Dragon. I recently finished their Battle of the Atlantic diorama and liked it a lot.  There are PE .303s for the Sunderland and the U boat is a gem. I tried to set the pieces in context rather than using their base. It looked better in my mind.

 

Your display looks super! I agree, the only photo etch needed are the railing pieces and the steps and ladders. Maybe the radar arrays too. Their plastic parts otherwise are superior to photo etch. Even the cable reels look better than the photo etch ones. Upon magnification, the plastic cable reels are very well detailed. I do think the brass gun barrels on the larger caliber guns are an improvement, but the small caliber anti aircraft guns are great just out of the box. The plastic masts too. 

[Old Collingwood]

The only kit I ever built in 1/700   was a Dragon  type 42 Destrorer  RN,   I had to fabricate the front bulwarks to replicate the only version to have it HMS Edinburgh,  I never  bothered with any PE  for it as it was my first road back into modelling.

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread mate.

 

OC.

[hof00]

15 hours ago, CDW said:

Thank you HOF.

 

Being thrilled with the quality and detail of the Scharnhorst from Flyhawk, I have begun to acquire their other models in this scale. I must tell you, they are equally amazing, maybe even better in some respects. Suffice it to say, I will be back in the model ship building business for quite some time to come...British aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. German battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Japanese battleships and destroyers as well as some diorama scenes. Amazing stuff! 

So,

I need to ask, are you going to do PE, Rails, Etc. with your build?

(At 1/700 it would drive me to distraction.....)

 

Cheers....HOF.

[CDW]

Just now, hof00 said:

So,

I need to ask, are you going to do PE, Rails, Etc. with your build?

(At 1/700 it would drive me to distraction.....)

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

Yes, I will use the rails, ladders and various other photo etch parts that came with the model. Some I will not use because the plastic parts look as good or better than the photo etch.

[CDW]

This is a photograph of my cousin, Edward Polk, from the little town of Oxford, Florida. He is standing between his father and mother while the photo was taken just before he set off to sea during World War II. Eddie served aboard the USS Janssen, an Edsall class destroyer, DE396.

Eddie never returned home to see his parents again after being lost at sea on15 Mar 1944 in a violent storm off the coast of North Africa. he was only 20 years old. Just this past week, a gentleman from Massachusetts whose father served aboard the same ship with Eddie and was a close friend, reached out to find me and gave me photos and written history of the ship. The photos below are of Eddie's memorial service aboard the Janssen. Eddie was the only living child of my great uncle and great aunt. There is a reason why his generation are called "the greatest generation." Such sacrifice. My uncle and aunt grieved his loss until the day they died.

I am so grateful this gentleman reached out with the photos. I am sure my aunt and uncle would have appreciated it. They never knew any detail of Eddie's loss, only that he was lost at sea.

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

the gentleman must be a member or viewed the site......an amazing stroke of luck  

[CDW]

56 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

the gentleman must be a member or viewed the site......an amazing stroke of luck  

 

Somehow he found my family tree on Ancestry. That's the way he contacted me, through the Ancestry personal message system. Apparently his dad had the written my cousin's name on the memorial service photos. As it turned out, the man who contacted me was a commercial fisherman in Massachusetts and is well aware of the perils of storms and going overboard in rough seas. He said that often sailors are lost this way.

[Javlin]

On 5/3/2021 at 7:19 AM, Canute said:

Scharnhorst was a good looking ship and your model represents it so well.

It's the Atlantic bow that sets them off.

[CDW]

Five of our children/grandchildren have birthdays in May. We had one big party for all of them today.

Starting from the right and moving left is my son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson....the grandson is holding a photo of our daughter who is in New Hampshire.

 

Been a long day .Swimming pool got a big workout. Lots of food, laughter, good times.

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by CDW

[Canute]

Yes sir, a good day to enjoy the sunshine here in the Southeast.

[Edwardkenway]

It's  the best of times, with family! And thinking of those away from home!

[CDW]

Almost ready to do the painting on the superstructure pieces. Still some more fiddly bits left to add before painting. 

The decks on the superstructure pieces call for a dark blue-gray, and will have to brush paint those after the German light gray goes down first.

 

 

[hof00]

Looks awesome Sir!!

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work  - the detail in that is Amazing.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

I think you might be cheating and are really building a 1/200 Scharnhorst! The detail and execution is astounding.

[CDW]

After this model, I believe 1:700 scale will be my go-to scale for steel ships. It's so much more practical to display models in this scale. 1:350 battleships and aircraft carriers take up a lot of space for display, and now that technology allows such fine detail in models of this scale, it just makes sense for me and I am finding this one enjoyable having to slow down and take my time due to the very small size.

[CDW]

It's almost time to start putting on the railings and ladders. Lots of them. Will do some detail painting and touch-ups first before the railings.

 

Somewhere along the way, I managed to fat finger one of my masts and one rudder. Will take a look to see if I can find them. If not, it won't be too much trouble to scratch build replacements. That's one of the pitfalls of small models like these. It's easy to break off and lose teeny tiny parts. Maybe as time goes by, I'll figure out a building sequence that minimizes it. Right now it's trial and error.

 

 

[lmagna]

Looking like the down hill stretch Craig

 

I am by no means any kind of authority, but years ago when I was trying my hand at the then fairly new 1/700 scaled ships I always held off installing the under hull and mast parts until the very end. They were no where as fine a detail as yours and of course did not have PE at all but the risk was the same.

[CDW]

3 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Looking like the down hill stretch Craig

 

 I always held off installing the under hull and mast parts until the very end. 

 

I can see the wisdom of that. 🙂

[Old Collingwood]

She is looking amazing Craig,   all the more impressive by your building skill   - like others have said  - its looks like a  really nice  1/350 scale kit not 1/700.

 

OC.

[Landlubber Mike]

Really nicely done Craig. Fantastic job! 
 

Are you going to put it in a water diorama?

 

[CDW]

4 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

She is looking amazing Craig,   all the more impressive by your building skill   - like others have said  - its looks like a  really nice  1/350 scale kit not 1/700.

 

OC.

 

3 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Really nicely done Craig. Fantastic job! 
 

Are you going to put it in a water diorama?

 

 

Thanks gentlemen. I don't plan to put this one in a water dio. Maybe another one down the road.

[CDW]

Gave up looking for my lost rudder and made one from sheet styrene using the other as a template.

This time I drilled and put wire in place of the plastic pin that broke off and resulted in a lost rudder. Car modelers frequently do this with door handles, side mirrors, etc., that can easily be broken off and lost when handling the model.

 

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

Just wondering if you "Hold your breath" attaching the miniscule bits.... 🙂

(I'm turning "Blue" for you!!)

 

(I did find Pink Floyd's "Breathe" helped me in the past for rigging stuff.... 🙂)

 

Cheers....HOF.

Edited May 22, 2021 by hof00

[Canute]

Working in those smaller scales, one needs frequent breaks. The breath holding and going cross-eyed working via tweezers with tiny parts. But the final outcome is well worth the  efforts.

[CDW]

Just now, hof00 said:

Hi Chap,

Just wondering if you "Hold your breath" attaching the miniscule bits.... 🙂

(I'm turning "Blue" for you!!)

 

(I did find Pink Floyd's "Breathe" helped me in the past for rigging stuff.... 🙂)

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

I'll use almost any excuse to listen to Pink Floyd...but yes, I do hold my breath for some things along with finding other convenient ways to steady the hand for precise work. Thanks for sharing the pain along with me. 🙂

 

Just now, Canute said:

Working in those smaller scales, one needs frequent breaks. The breath holding and going cross-eyed working via tweezers with tiny parts. But the final outcome is well worth the  efforts.

 

I am very much enjoying the slower pace as well as the outcome in this scale. Now I regret having sold off some really fine 1:700 scale models in the not too distant past without even attempting to build them. 

[Canute]

I think the newer plastic ships in 1/700 are way more finely done than early kits.  Mold making technology is so much better, especially what they call slide molds. They allow for finer dimensions, like superstructures and gun barrels.