HMS Iron Duke by king derelict - Flyhawk- 1/700 - PLASTIC

[king derelict]

I lost all of the day yesterday dealing with one tiny part and got very close to binning the whole thing. There is a support structure for the mast that sits towards the top of the tripod. There is a five part photo etch assembly or a plastic piece. I built up the PE item but utterly failed to get it into position. There was just not enough room between the tripod legs. During the struggles I damaged the PE railings on the tops deck and broke apart the tripod legs. I decided that the only way forward was to lower the position of the support to get more space between the legs. This meant making some cuts in the forward leg to receive the support. I did this and tried to assemble the support in its new place. As a final insult, during the last attempt of the evening the PE support pinged off the tweezers and disappeared. I spent an hour searching with no success and decided that the plastic part would be easier to modify anyway and it’s really not too bad looking but I was seriously considering giving up the whole build thinking it was just beyond my skill level. This morning I thought I would try one last time and curiously the first thing I saw when I sat down was a glint of brass and the PE support was sat on the cutting mat in plain view. I have no idea what dimension it spent the night in. However I had pretty much committed to the plastic bit so I filed it down to accept the pylon and placed it in the lower place and everything fell together. So, the build continues. The ships boats have been given the first coat of light gray and a few small pieces have been added to the forward structure, the damaged railings have also been repaired.

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and comments 

 

alan

[mikegr]

sometimes we need to apply high skills to get the desired effect and this may fail so we need to improvise

[Nirvana]

It is hard to replicate metal and wood surfaces on plastic, but this looks really nice.

[Old Collingwood]

Thats an excellent recovery there Alan  - these kits at this scale are such a challenge  and a Bad language tester.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

On 4/13/2025 at 7:23 AM, mikegr said:

sometimes we need to apply high skills to get the desired effect and this may fail so we need to improvise

You are right Mike, this kit would be easier if I had a better skill set but, thankfully I have found work around when I have hit trouble.

alan

[king derelict]

On 4/14/2025 at 12:51 AM, Nirvana said:

It is hard to replicate metal and wood surfaces on plastic, but this looks really nice.

Thank you very much Per, hopefully the final weathering will bring it all together.

alan

[king derelict]

21 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Thats an excellent recovery there Alan  - these kits at this scale are such a challenge  and a Bad language tester.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC, it’s great seeing the model come together but it is very challenging at times and the PE / base kit instructions take a lot of puzzling out. Getting there though.

alan

[king derelict]

Moving forward again I’m in easier country. I’ve been painting and weathering the ships boats. I’ve lost a bit of the bottom boards wood color with the washes but there wasn’t a lot of contrast between the Tamiya light grey XF20 and the deck tan. The oil wash did improve the detail on the steam launches though.

The major achievement was assembling and installing the boat deck derricks without getting the PE cables damaged.

I’ve started on the deck detailing with the capstans and ventilators. I also assembled and added the two QF 3 inch guns. I didn’t plan on using the brass barrels but one of the plastic barrels was badly damaged so I had to try.

Amazingly there suddenly seems to be only minor parts to be added, mostly David’s and the remaining boats. Lots of PE railings still of course.

im trying to ignore the large elephant sat in the corner. There is a large multi yard mast to go on the top of the tripod and I am not looking forward to placing that.

Thanks for looking in, for the likes and kind comments.

alan

 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Alan  - its all coming  together  now  - and  dont them boats  look  adorable  with all that fine detail.

 

OC.

[AJohnson]

Very impressive Alan, as OC says it is really coming together well. 

[LED]

Looking good...

Personally, I find most folks overweather their decks.  My Graf Spee won't look like some dude stained each plank with whatever was in the closet at the time.  I think they would be a bit pickier.  I think your deck job is fantastic.

My Graf Spee will incorporate my first PE railing.  Looking at how they are installed via YouTube, I don't think it will be a horrid process.  Just measure twice, and install/glue stanchion by stanchion.  At least that's the plan!!!

[king derelict]

Thank you very much. I think it’s very easy to over weather on 1/700 models and it’s easy to get the deck looking a little excessively scruffy. I’m moving away from the precut wood decks in favor of painting them. The painted deck looks good to me and avoids the issues of the deck lifting later or if the wood deck is not perfectly lined up it can cause problems adding the superstructure because it won’t sit down flat.

All that happens at a stage when things are getting delicate and recover is difficult. I’m still learning to get the railings to as good as I would like. I use MiG Ultra or Gators Grip PVA glues which gives time to fiddle with the positioning and is easy to excessive with water. I left it sit for a few minutes before installing it. That way there is a better initial grip. For long lengths I will get one end down and then work along. Sometimes it’s easier to cut into shorter pieces if the length is unwieldy.

Alan

[king derelict]

Lots of small bits and fiddly PE Davies and winches added today. The sprue are starting to look a bit bare.

The breakwater has been added but needs the braces turning into position. It will be interesting to see how many survive the process. Luckily there are spares.

We now approach a ticklish element of the build, adding the boats to the davits. The kit davits have thick vertical sections on the davits which the boat is glued to. It looks a bit clumsy and the PE solution is to use a bar between the davits which has a number of suspension points for the boat. The tricky bit is deciding whether to add the PE to the boat first or to the davits. 

Ive added the PE to the boat first or.

I’m thinking I may have to switch to CA glue to attach the assembly to the davits but I’m anticipating a fight. I may be digging out some more davits from the spares box but we’ll see how it goes.

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and helpful comments.

Alan

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Looking excellent Alan.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

16 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Looking excellent Alan.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC. Starting to see the end in sight I think.

alan

[king derelict]

Well, I was right, it was a fight. I used Gators Grip PVA glues which to attach the falls to the boats and then ca glue to attach the assembly to the davits. It was still a hassle, the gold ca glue is quite slow setting so trying to hold everything in position while it cured was tricky. Of course a third hand would have allowed me to use accelerator for the glue. Anyway all but one boat is in place and (possibly) worth the effort. The last boat was a problem to place and I was getting too much glue building up so I used acetone to disassemble everything and try again. The acetone ruined the paintwork so I’m cleaning and repainting it all.

Meanwhile I will be adding some ventilators and repairing some of the hoists that got damaged during the boat work.

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and comments.

alan

[Slowhand]

This is amazing,  the fine detail on your 700:1 model is unbelievable

[king derelict]

Thank you very much, it’s pushing my limits on vision and steadiness of my hands.

alan

[king derelict]

I’m moving along slowly. The forward railings are proving to be a bit of a challenge. The railing section is long and the shape is a complicated set of bends and curves.

I got the shape but mounting the railings was extremely difficult and took two days ( and walking away from it a number of times). I eventually got it started this morning and worked my way along to get the rest done.

 two sections working towards the stern were much simpler and faster but curiously the sections seem shorter than the guide would suggest. I just have the stern section to go and we will see what happens then.

And look, we now have boarding ladder for the boats on davits.

I’ve realized that the railings are going run under the boat and I’m going to be interested to see if I can get them installed without damaging the boat. I haven’t added the boat on the starboard side after discovering that.

The pile of foam squares is my secret weapon for installing the boat falls and ladders. It makes a great hand rest next to the model for placing small bits without any uncertainty.

Ive also worked a black wash over the hull and superstructure to add some visual interest.

Thanks for looking in , the likes and kind comments.

alan

 

[Nirvana]

Alan, pe parts can be hassle to deal with.

But you are doing so much better than I.

Looking good!

[yvesvidal]

On 4/17/2025 at 5:57 PM, king derelict said:

Lots of small bits and fiddly PE Davies and winches added today. The sprue are starting to look a bit bare.

That is a good feeling. I love it when I am discarding empty sprues or laser cut wooden plates, devoid of any parts. It means two things: 1) You are making great progress and 2) It is time to think about your next project.

 

Yves