DKM Gneisenau by king derelict - FINISHED - Flyhawk - 1/700 - PLASTIC

[Old Collingwood]

Alan a couple of tricks (not sure if  you have tried them already)?    with the railings to get curves  try rolling the handle  of a paintbrush  roughly the size  you want over the PE railing, this generaly  forms a curve, also  with the Blue Tac  - use the blob of Blue Tac  rub it over where the residue is  as it normaly  peels it away  onto itself.

 

Looking good my friend.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Alan

 

While building the Scharnhorst 1940 version, I ran into the exact same problem you did with the secondary gun deck and the railings. Once everything had been glued in place, it left too little room to work the photo etch around those compound and reverse curves. Luckily, I also have the Scharnhorst 1943 version, so I borrowed the secondary gun deck from that kit then bent my railings to match it, then transferred the railings to the 1940 version.

And yes, the ship had torpedo tubes that the instructions do not locate. I have a Scharnhorst reference that shows where the tubes are located. I can scan a page of it and email it to you if you need it. Let me know via PM.

 

PS: next time, try painting your photo etch pieces while they are still attached to the frames/sprues, whatever they are called. When you cut them away and bend them, you will lose some of the paint to cracking or peeling, but it's easier to touch it up with a brush than it is to blue tack them in place to paint them. They are so delicate, the blue tack can deform the parts badly as you probably found out as well as the residue problem.

Edited September 2, 2021 by CDW

[king derelict]

21 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Alan a couple of tricks (not sure if  you have tried them already)?    with the railings to get curves  try rolling the handle  of a paintbrush  roughly the size  you want over the PE railing, this generaly  forms a curve, also  with the Blue Tac  - use the blob of Blue Tac  rub it over where the residue is  as it normaly  peels it away  onto itself.

 

Looking good my friend.

 

OC.

Thanks OC.

Using another bit of Blue-Tack to remove the residue worked a treat. Thanks for the tip. The real problem with the PE was judging where to set the reverse curve after fashioning the first curve and then dry fitting in amongst the scenery. The paint brush handles are a good idea though. I have a better selection of them on the table than rollers for the PE tool and some handles taper which gives me even more scope. I was using my large brush for the PE around the big gun turrets this afternoon. Many Thanks

Alan

[king derelict]

21 hours ago, CDW said:

Alan

 

While building the Scharnhorst 1940 version, I ran into the exact same problem you did with the secondary gun deck and the railings. Once everything had been glued in place, it left too little room to work the photo etch around those compound and reverse curves. Luckily, I also have the Scharnhorst 1943 version, so I borrowed the secondary gun deck from that kit then bent my railings to match it, then transferred the railings to the 1940 version.

And yes, the ship had torpedo tubes that the instructions do not locate. I have a Scharnhorst reference that shows where the tubes are located. I can scan a page of it and email it to you if you need it. Let me know via PM.

 

PS: next time, try painting your photo etch pieces while they are still attached to the frames/sprues, whatever they are called. When you cut them away and bend them, you will lose some of the paint to cracking or peeling, but it's easier to touch it up with a brush than it is to blue tack them in place to paint them. They are so delicate, the blue tack can deform the parts badly as you probably found out as well as the residue problem.

Thanks Craig

I would appreciate help with the torpedo tube placement. This isn't the best set of instructions that Flyhawk have generated. There are a few wrong part numbers called out although its relatively easy to identify the right ones on other sprues and some of the views really don't help with part placement. A PM is on its way to you.

I usually paint the PE on the fret but my mistake this time was building up the big cranes on a blob of Blue-Tack without realising that I would end up with a very delicate assembly that would be difficult to remove when it was time to install it. The added problem of removing stray bits of Blue-Tack compounded the issue. Its all a learning experience and thankfully there are people like you and OC to help/

Thanks again

Alan

 

[CDW]

Check your PM. Sent you a file to locate the torpedo tubes.

[king derelict]

Today was a rather disappointing day. I masked the bows and stern to air brush the red sections of the identification markings and sprayed them up. On removing the masks I was horrified to see that the red paint had bled extensively under the masks and ruined the white circles but worse, had bled across the wooden deck. 

I tried a little gentle scraping with a scalpel blade but as I suspected the paint had soaked extensively into the thin wood and there isn't any depth in the deck to scrape anyway. 

I thought of trying to piece in some of the waste material that surrounded the wooden deck pieces but it doesn't have the plank lines and I think would look very untidy with the difference at the cuts being obvious. After a thinking some more I tried the Tamiya Buff and Deck Tan paints and found a mix was very close to the wooden deck. So I used the spare bits of the paint mask to cover the red part of the markings and hand painted a mix of the colours onto the wooden deck up to the mask. I reversed my original decision to not weather the deck. I think I can let the difference in shades com out as weathering. I held off on repainting the white to let the red fully cure overnight. So far I think it is a reasonable recovery although I'm still not sure what went wrong. Possibly the red was too dilute but the test spray looked normal so maybe the wooden deck wicked the paint under the masks. Maybe the masks were not down hard enough but I was careful about burnishing them. Possibly a bit of all the above. For some reason the white went on fine the day before. Maybe I should have used a sealer on the wooden deck before painting. I'll experiment with the waste parts.

It looks hopeful so far. The ultimate fall back position would be to buy another wooden deck set and splice a new fore deck in possibly at abreast of the first set of AA guns. I would prefer not to do that but I'll see how bad the recovery looks once its all dressed up. 

After a cup of tea and a slice of Bara Brith I felt strong enough to continue and added a lot of the final details and the big guns at last. I still have the Arado to finish and the deck railings to add along with the anchors, chain and staffs but I think the end is looking close. I have a paint touch up and wash session before calling it finished.

I have an enormous amount of unused parts still on the sprues but a careful check of the instructions doesn't turn up anything I have missed. Looking at CDWs Scharnhorst i can see where a lot of the spare bits might go.

 

 

Thanks for looking in

Alan

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

1 hour ago, king derelict said:

Thanks OC.

Using another bit of Blue-Tack to remove the residue worked a treat. Thanks for the tip. The real problem with the PE was judging where to set the reverse curve after fashioning the first curve and then dry fitting in amongst the scenery. The paint brush handles are a good idea though. I have a better selection of them on the table than rollers for the PE tool and some handles taper which gives me even more scope. I was using my large brush for the PE around the big gun turrets this afternoon. Many Thanks

Alan

Glad I could help mate.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Sorry to hear of the  troubles with the front insignia  - I hate it when things like that happen, if  you are just not happy  could  you not  just replace up to the front breakwater?  but I guess it depends if the section would lift ok  without further damage.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Nice recovery you made on the deck. Those wood decks are notorious for wicking the paint underneath your paint masks. I learned that the hard way on a 1:350 USS Essex aircraft carrier I was building when I masked and painted the deck numbers. The deck sucked the paint underneath the mask.

[gjdale]

Sorry to hear of the mishap with the masking. One trick you might try “next time” is to paint a clear coat along the edge of the masking prior to your colour. That will prevent the bleeding/wicking of the colour and any bleed will be the clear coat.

[RGL]

Nice repair job! 

[lmagna]

Very nice recovery!

[king derelict]

23 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Sorry to hear of the  troubles with the front insignia  - I hate it when things like that happen, if  you are just not happy  could  you not  just replace up to the front breakwater?  but I guess it depends if the section would lift ok  without further damage.

 

OC.

OC; You're right - the breakwater would be the place to make the change. I think I may have dodged having to do that and I would rather not buy another wooden deck.

Thanks

Alan

[king derelict]

19 hours ago, CDW said:

Nice recovery you made on the deck. Those wood decks are notorious for wicking the paint underneath your paint masks. I learned that the hard way on a 1:350 USS Essex aircraft carrier I was building when I masked and painted the deck numbers. The deck sucked the paint underneath the mask.

I ran some sealer around the masks before painting the white again and I could see the sealer wicking under the mask as i did it. Those wooden decks are real sponges.

Alan

[king derelict]

13 hours ago, gjdale said:

Sorry to hear of the mishap with the masking. One trick you might try “next time” is to paint a clear coat along the edge of the masking prior to your colour. That will prevent the bleeding/wicking of the colour and any bleed will be the clear coat.

Thanks Grant

I put down a layer of sealer last thing yesterday and the white paint this morning looks like it stayed put. Thanks for the tip.

Alan

[king derelict]

3 hours ago, RGL said:

Nice repair job! 

Thanks Gregg

It looks like it is coming out well. A lesson for the future though. I have Scharnhorst in the pile.

Alan

[king derelict]

2 hours ago, lmagna said:

Very nice recovery!

Thanks Lou

Now I have the decals to wrestle with 😄

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

7 minutes ago, king derelict said:

OC; You're right - the breakwater would be the place to make the change. I think I may have dodged having to do that and I would rather not buy another wooden deck.

Thanks

Alan

No problem mate  - always good to have a secondary plan  incase you need it.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

Last night I ran a line of clear coat around the inside of the paint masks at the bow and stern. This morning I started the layers of white paint. It took several coats to get rid of the pink tint but I think I have it back to white. Removing the masks showed no bleed of the colour this time (thanks Grant) and I think I can move forward after a bit of touching up.

 

The deck plank lines are gone but I think its acceptable. I could try to scribe a few lines but I think it may look scruffy and I think I will leave well alone and hope the decals provide enough of a distraction.

I added the torpedo tubes with help from Craig to locate them. Many Thanks. The last few small parts are now on so I looked at the decal sheet. This is my first WWII German ship and my first acquaintance with the problems of the swastika decals. I understand the political and legal issues that kit manufacturers have with selling in the global market but I am amazed at the length Flyhawk have gone to with the swastikas on this decal sheet. The ones for the identification panels on the deck are like jigsaw puzzles. Its going to be really interesting trying to get them placed; especially the bow panel; if I have figured it out correctly there are six pieces to it. 

Another minor grumble with the instruction sheet. It identifies a few markings for the Arado but for the ship you are on your own/ There is a ships crest and nameplate (items 17 and 18) but no idea where they live on the boat. 

The instructions have been a bit disappointing yhis time. It will be interesting to see how the POW and Hood ones are.

Have a great weekend everyone

Alan

 

 

[gjdale]

Glad to see your painting repairs worked out. That’s fascinating about the swastika decals!

[Canute]

If I might add: The ship's crest goes up near the bow. Hopefully there may be a shield shape molded between the anchor and the bow. Need better photos to see where the name plates go.

[king derelict]

Ken,

Many Thanks for your help. Armed with your information I was able to identify the ships crest on a couple of photos of the real ship. Just added them to the model.

Thanks

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

Thats Superb recovery   - looking really nice.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

Thanks OC

I was beginning to think I had ruined it.

Alan

[king derelict]

Saturday always seems to be a day for errands so very little constructive gets down. Actually between tasks I was able to add a piece of the swastika decals, let it dry and add the next piece. The three piece stern decal wasn't too bad but the six piece bow one was a fiddly piece of work and needed thought as to how it fitted together. Letting each piece dry so the next piece didn't move it helped a lot and its not too dreadful.

 

 

Considering the mess I had a couple of days ago I think its reasonable. A little bit of touching up, last washes and I can move onto the deck railings and anchor chains. Suddenly it seems almost complete. Thats almost scary!

Thanks for looking in

Alan

[king derelict]

After important diversions like undercooking the burgers and filling the GFs house full of smoke from the grill we return to the calm waters of the Geisenau build. 

The anchor chains were added. These came with teh wooden deck and I like them better than the two dimensional PE that were provided with the kit.

I installed most of the railings. This is the first time I have done 100% of the railings using Gators Grip glue. I followed Craig's technique of cutting the longer sections into shorter pieces and found that much easier and its also less weight for the glue to hold while its drying. I also applied the glue and let it set up for a few minutes before installing the railing; the grip was much better that way and after a bit of fiddling with the first piece the rest went on quite well. I'm trying to avoid CA glue as much as possible; I have a nasty feeling I am getting sensitised to it.

I finished painting the Arado and added the decals (well, alright not the swastikas on the tail) and placed it on the catapult. 

Much to my huge surprise the machine gun is still in place in the rear cockpit of the Arado

 

i placed the flags on their staffs and started on the swastikas. So far so good.

Just the flags to complete and install, the railings to finish and the weathering of the hull.

Thanks for checking in

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

Very impressive work Alan  - looking the business now mate.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

3 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Very impressive work Alan  - looking the business now mate.

 

OC.

Thanks OC. its been a great kit to build. I understand that Hood and Prince of Wales are even better so I look forward to seeing their builds kick off. Mine are still in transit - or lost. Tracking has been silent since the start of August. That will teach me to think I could beat the delivery time from an in country store.

Alan

[CDW]

Just now, king derelict said:

I understand that Hood and Prince of Wales are even better so I look forward to seeing their builds kick off. Mine are still in transit - or lost. Tracking has been silent since the start of August. That will teach me to think I could beat the delivery time from an in country store.

Alan

 

She looks great Alan!

When you order from Asia, try to order from vendors in Hong Kong or Taiwan. For some reason, their shipping is much quicker and more reliable. There are some vendors in mainline China that do a good job as well, but it seems to be more hit-or-miss when it's from the mainland. Not sure why, it just is what it is. I learned the hard way.

[king derelict]

18 hours ago, CDW said:

 

She looks great Alan!

When you order from Asia, try to order from vendors in Hong Kong or Taiwan. For some reason, their shipping is much quicker and more reliable. There are some vendors in mainline China that do a good job as well, but it seems to be more hit-or-miss when it's from the mainland. Not sure why, it just is what it is. I learned the hard way.

Thank you Craig

It seems its a bit of a lottery these days. I used the same source as I used before for Flyhawk kits that aren't stocked in the US and he did well with them. The XY chains from Hong Kong arrived quickly too. I bought a couple of books from Black Eagle in Russia in June and still no sign of them. I suspect the problems are with the postal systems rather than the vendor. I just checked the tracking number for the Hood and there was an entry two days ago so who knows, they may still arrive. I try not to have too much money tied up in each order.

Alan