The Ship Model Forum

How did I miss this!?

Congratulations on the conclusion of a long but fascinating journey Eberhart, and on the fantastic result! Thank you for taking us along for the ride! :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:

Jim, if you scroll back in the building-log, there are a couple of images:

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-525.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-526.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-490.jpg[/img]

Also, on page 7 of the building log there a some close-up shots of the almost completed gun before emplacement: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=158123&start=120.

[img]http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-295.jpg[/img]

Inspirational .... as always. I'm enjoying watching this build progress.

EXCELLENT :thumbs_up_1: :thumbs_up_1:

-- love the black and whites!! :thumbs_up_1:

have you the detailed view of the big gun in colours also?

cheers
JB

Thank you very much for your praise :thumbs_up_1:

For the fun of it I superimposed the very first photograph of S.M.S. WESPE, an engraving that obviously was based on this photograph, and a somewhat ‘photoshopped’ shot of the model (without spending to much time on that):

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/WZ-11046-WESPE-72.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-569-bw.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespe/Wespe-Henk.jpg[/img]

… perhaps I shouldn’t have done this, as I now discover things that could have been done better ... :whistle:

First class! :thumbs_up_1:

[b]A few glamour-shots of S.M.S. WESPE[/b]

Finally, I managed to go into town to buy a suitable paper as backdrop for the glamour-shots of the whole model. Here they are without further comments:

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-568.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-569.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-570.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-571.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-572.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-573.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-574.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-575.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-576.jpg[/img]

And also two shots in black & white:

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-585-bw.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-567-bw.jpg[/img]

Thanks again, gentlemen, for your kind comments :thumbs_up_1:

While I am trying to source a suitable background paper for the ‘glamour-shots’ of the completed S.M.S. WESPE, I started a new project, a model of single-masted Baltic trader from northern Germany: [url]http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=386617[/url].

It's truly magnificent, and the sailors add the indispensable finishing touch, because a ship without a crew isn't really a real ship.

It was a real pleasure to follow this construction, even if I picked it up along the way.

Klasse Arbeit! :thumbs_up_1:

Beautiful model. Well done!

Phil

Congrats on finishing the model; it was a delight to follow the progress and the result is great :thumbs_up_1:

Really...

most superb--the crew figures give the ship a purpose and a sense of life and movement
It looks absolutely fabulous!

Its been a long road.... (!! ) but its results that count
Bravo

Jim B :wave_1:

[b]The Crew boards S.M.S. WESPE[/b]

With all the crew members being painted, they were place at their foreseen duty stations. They were attached with tiny drops of Vallejo acrylic matt varnish. The pictures below show their disposition.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-540.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-541.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-542.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-545.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-550.jpg[/img]


[b]Final touch-ups[/b]

In case I had to remove the model from its base for whatever reason, it had only be screwed down, but the slight gap between the hull and modelled sea had not been filled with acrylic gel yet. Now with the model almost completed, this was done.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-559.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-546.jpg[/img]

I also gave it a very light weathering at certain places. For instance, the top of the smoke stack was lightly dusted with black pastel. White and grey pastel indicated the areas where the ash would have dropped out of the ash-chutes into the sea. Some grey pastel was also applied to certain parts of the hull to break somewhat the uniform black and enhance the visibility of surface structures.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-555.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-557.jpg[/img]


[b]Raising the Ensign[/b]

Now, being ready to go to sea, the ensign was raised, meaning the flagstaff was installed. This being extremely delicate, it was left as very last step.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-560.jpg[/img]

With this the model is in principle finished after a journey of nearly 18 years. I just checked: the first photographs were taken on 1 October 2006. There have been considerable interruptions, such as the move from the Netherlands to Paris. I also built the model of the Zuiderzee-botter in between and spent considerable time on constructing workshop tools and machinery.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-554.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-566.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-547.jpg[/img]

However, before screwing down the glass-case the above photographs also serve to check the model for any imperfections that can still be addressed at this point. Paint may have to be touched up etc. This is more visible on 2D images, than on the real thing. Once this is done, some ‘glamour shots’ will be taken before the glass-case makes this more difficult.

There are certainly things that I wish had turned out better. This includes the rigging, which is taught or following catena-curves as I had planned. Making things to scale-size also makes them at the chosen scale rather flimsy with limitations to adjustment possibilities. This is even more the case with ‘modern’ ships in metal and with metal parts, where parts have to be thin and small, compared to those on wooden ships of old. Sometimes, these problems also arose due to a lack of foresight on my side.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-563.jpg[/img]

[b]What next?[/b]

Well, the follow-on project is mentally already almost completed (one of several), but the workshop needs first a good tidying up, cleaning, and re-organisation. Something that had been neglected actually for several years during the drive to complete SMS WESPE. Some machinery also needs a bit TLC to be ready for the next project. There are also a couple of small tool projects that I want to undertake, but I may start those only, once I have started the new ship project.

Thanks, Jim. I wasn't aware of this fort. Unfortunately, my only planned trip to England this year is for a long weekend to London just before Christmas ...

Wow!

You have been busy!-

-as I understand( from the curators and re-actors at Fort Nelson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Nelson,_Hampshire

you are correct--the ' whites ' were boiled--often for considerable time....

next time you are in the UK

visit it...
cheers
JB

[b]More Crew[/b]

While dispositioning the crew according to the envisages story-board - the crew undergoes some gun drill under the supervision of a petty officer, with the captain (Kapitänleutnant, but I didn’t manage to paint the two embroidered stripes on the sleeves) looks on, the first officer (Leutnant zur See, one stripe on the sleeves) takes notes, and two men man the helm - I noticed a certain emptiness and lack of activity in the other parts of the boat. So, I sifted through the Preiser-sprues in search for some additional suitable figures. Thus, more mid 20th century German railway staff joined the 19th century Imperial Navy. There will be two stokers taking a break from their arduous work, a rating on signalling duty walking back towards the mast, and a petty officer on the after deck going about his duty.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-538.jpg[/img]

As before, jackets had to be trimmed down and breast pockets scraped off in order to represent blouses and high-waist trousers. The single-breasted railway-jacket was converted into the double-breasted one of the navy, caps or hats altered.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-539.jpg[/img]

The painting proceeded as before, but I noted that the practices from the other figures paid off. The stokers wear the white working blouse and trousers, which seems a bit strange in a boiler-room environment full of coal-dust, soot, and sweat, but I suppose the undyed cotton stands up better to serious washing than any coloured cloth. After painting, these figures were dusted with grey pastel.


[i]To be continued ....[/i]

[b]Painting the figures[/b]

In order to better see how the sculpting turned out and any imperfections, the figures were given a spray-coat of matt white paint (Vallejo Model Air). This also served as a primer that made hand-painting easier. I like the consistency of Vallejo Model Air paints also for application by brush, but several coats may be needed for certain colours.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-535.jpg[/img]
[b][i]The crew figures with a white base-coat[/i][/b]

Unfortunately, only at a relatively late painting stage some molding flash was noticed that could not be removed anymore. Also, it turned out, that some faces were actually not molded very well, which made it difficult to paint them.

Painting such small figures requires a bit of a strategy. However, regardless of scale, I usually begin with the face and any other exposed skin. The reason is that, apart from white, most other clothing colours tend to be darker and have a better coverage and perhaps more importantly, clothing covers the skin, so in order to get precise edges between the clothing and the skin, it is more natural to paint towards the skin, rather than trying to approach the clothing with the skin colour.

At this scale no attempt is made to paint eyes and such details, but rather to paint the shadows under the eyebrows and in other parts of the face. I find the way of how Canaletto treats the staffage in his paintings a useful reference. It is fascinating, how he can bring the ‘people’ to life with just a few brushstrokes and blobs of paint.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-536.jpg[/img]
[b][i]Almost completed paint job on the crew figures[/i][/b]

It may be counterintuitive, but it is sometimes better to begin with painting details and then work with the main colour towards them. Or to use an iterative procedure: painting say the main colour of the clothing, then adding detail, followed by touching up with the main colour, where the brush had gone astray. Narrow lines, such as embroidery, are difficult to achieve, but too wide lines can be reduced in width by painting the main colour against them.

The painting proceeded in several iterations and I have not taken pictures of the various steps.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-537.jpg[/img]
[b][i]The crew ready to go on board[/i][/b]

The Vallejo Model Air paints have a slight satin sheen, which is good for many applications, but in order represent cloth better, the figure were given at the end a light spray coat with matt varnish.

[i]To be continued ....[/i]

[b]The Crew[/b]

The WESPE-Class had a complement of around 80 crew, of which 3 where officers. This seems to be quite a number for a ship of only 46 m length. Unfortunately, there is no information on the different duties and the distribution of ratings. There are some crew photographs from the 1900 to 1910 era, but they manly show officers and petty-officers and in addition, they come from the short periods during which the boats were commissioned for exercises in groups and may show crew from a whole flotilla.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespe/Laverrenz-39.jpg[/img]
[b][i]Gun drill on the WESPE-class around 1900[/i][/b]

The intention was to show some gun-drill on the boat, as in the historical photograph above. There are about ten ratings visible and a couple more or so may be hidden behind the gun. There would be probably also a petty-officer in charge. On the bridge there would be two men at the helm and a couple of officers. In total, I estimated that about 15 figures would be needed to present a reasonable picture of activity.
Below the gun there would some ten men or more manning the cranks with which the gun is trained. In the boiler-room, some further ten crew would be working hard on stoking the fires, trimming coal etc. The same number of crew, would be on the off-watch. The machine would be tended by perhaps three to four engineers and petty officers. I am sure there are other duties, such as maintenance, signalling, plus a certain number on off-watches, but there is no information available on how these ships were ‘run’.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/Offiziere-SMSHERTHA-1874-1877.jpg[/img]
[i][b]Officers of SMS HERTHA 1874-1877.[/b] Source: https://senckenbergarchiv.de/kolonialesbildarchiv/.[/i]

[b]Uniforms[/b]
The 1870s were a time of transition as far as the naval uniforms are concerned. In the early years of the Empire much of the features of the uniforms of the Prussian navy were retained. To a certain degree the uniforms also followed the general fashion in terms of the height of the waste-line, the width of trousers and blouses, the shape of the caps etc. By the early 1880s the uniforms of all ranks were quite consolidated and were changed only in details until the early years of WW1. There is abundant information on these later years and on officers’ and petty-officers’ uniforms, but information on ratings in the early years is quite scarce in the primary and secondary literature. In particular, information on working kits is not very detailed. Normally, a certain ‘kit’ would be ordered for certain duties, but photographs show a certain variety of items worn and how they were worn, for instance some men would have the sleeves rolled up, while others would not.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/Rudergaenger-SMSHERTHA-1874-1877.jpg[/img]
[i][b]Helmsmen on SMS HERTHA 1874-1877.[/b] Source: https://senckenbergarchiv.de/kolonialesbildarchiv/.[/i]

Photography was still rather new then and it was difficult to take ‘action’-pictures with the cumbersome equipment of the day. When a sailor had his likeness taken in a professional photographic studio, then it was in his Sunday-best parade-uniform and not in workaday fatigues. The same applies actually to all ranks. There are fortunately a couple of photo-albums from training-cruises in the mid-1870s (e.g. of the cruise of SMS HERTHA to the Far East in 1874-1877) which on purpose show the real-life of the crew, as much as was possible with the equipment of the day, thinking of heavy tripods and large-format cameras with wet glass-plates. These photographs are an important source of information on how the uniforms really looked like and how they were worn for different duties, although virtually all situations were ‘posed’.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/Geschuetzexerzieren-1-SMSHERTHA-1874-1877.jpg[/img]
[i][b]Gun drill on SMS HERTHA 1874-1877[/b]. Source: https://senckenbergarchiv.de/kolonialesbildarchiv/.[/i]

Apart from photographs, there are a number of printed works can be considered as primary sources, as they were published at the time, and just two or three secondary publications, which mostly reproduce the plates from earlier publications:

ANONYM (1872): Uniformierungs-Liste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und der Kaiserlich Deutschen Marine. Zweite bis zu Gegenwart fortgeführte Auflage.- 114 p., Berlin (E.S. Mittler & Sohn).

ANONYM (1887): Die Uniformen der Deutschen Marine in detaillierten Beschreibungen und Farbendarstellungen (Reprint 2007, Melchior Verlag, Wolfenbüttel).- 61 p., 18 Taf., Leipzig (Verlag von Moritz Ruhl).

BURGER, L. (1864): Uniformierung der preußischen Marine, Originalzeichnungen.- Über Land und Meer, Bd. 12, Jg. 6, Nr. 31: 487 u. 489.

HENCKEL, C. (1901): Atlas des Deutschen Reichsheeres und der Kaiserlichen Marine einschließlich kaiserlicher Schutztruppen in Afrika in ihrer Uniformierung und Einteilung.- 32 pl., Dresden (Militär-Kunst-Verlag MARS).

LINTZ, G., RAECKE, K.-H. (1978): Die königlich preußische Marine.- Z. für Heereskunde, 275: 20-21.

MARINEAMT [Ed.] (1984?): Die Geschichte der Matrosenuniform.- 79 p., Wilhelmshaven (Marineunterstützungskommando).

NOESKE, R., STEFANSKI, C.P. (2011): Die deutschen Marinen 1818–1918. Organisation, Uniformierung, Bewaffung und Ausrüstung.- 2 vols.: 1336 p., 304 pl., Wien (Verlag Militaria).

RUHL, M. [Ed.] (1887): Uniformen der deutschen Marine in detaillirten Beschreibungen und Farbendarstellungen, nebst Mittheilungen über Organisation, Stärke etc., sowie einer Liste sämtlicher Kriegsfahrzeuge und den genauen Abbildungen aller Standarten und Flaggen.- 98 p., 26 pl., Wolfenbüttel (Reprint 2007 by Melchior Historischer Verlag).

RUHL, M. (18936): Die Deutsche Marine und die Deutschen Schutztruppen für Ostafrika in ihrer neuesten Uniformierung.- 78 p., 20 pl., (Faksimile Fines Mundi).

RUHL, M. (1892): Uniformen der deutschen Marine.- Starnberg (reprint 1989).

SCHLAWE, K. (1900): Die deutsche Marine in ihrer gegenwärtigen Uniformierung.- 98 p., (M. Ruhl).

WALDORF-ASTORIA [Hrsg.] (193?): Uniformen der Marine und Schutztruppen.- 14 p., 8 pl., München (Waldorf-Astoria Zigarettenfabrik).

ZIENERT, J. (1970): Unsere Marine-Uniform – Ihre geschichtliche Entstehung seit den ersten Anfängen und ihre zeitgemäße Weiterentwicklung von 1816 bis 1970.- 451 p., Hamburg (Helmut Gerhard Schulz Verlag).

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/Geschuetzexerzieren-2-SMSHERTHA-1874-1877.jpg[/img]
[i][b]Gun drill on SMS HERTHA 1874-1877[/b] – note the high heels of the shoes at this time. Source: https://senckenbergarchiv.de/kolonialesbildarchiv/.[/i]

[b]Preparing the Figures[/b]
Starting point is a set of unpainted figures by Preiser in 1/160 (N-scale). Compared to HO-scale the selection is much smaller and the sets of unpainted figures are not so easy to find. Individual figures were selected on the basis of their poses, but very few had vaguely useful dresses. Some of the railway officials formed a suitable a basis for the officers and petty-officers.
Fortunately, the figures are small, some 10 to 11 mm in height, so only a rather summary representation of their attire needs to/can be achieved.
All figures required quite a bit of carving and sculpting with ‘Green Stuff’. The single-breasted jackets of the railway staff had to be converted into the double-breasted, longer frock-coats of the time. The peak-caps of 1960s officials (many of the figures were originally modelled by Preiser in the early 1960s) looked quite different from those worn by naval officers in the 1870s – German (naval) peak-caps underwent a significant change in appearance between the 1870s and the early post-WWII years.
Naval ratings required more substantial carving: jackets had to be cut away and blouses tucked into high-waist trousers had to be carved. Safety helmets were cut away and the characteristic sailor’s cap sculpted with ‘Green Stuff’. Shovels etc. were cut away and hands drilled for more appropriate implements. The sailors also got their traditional large collar.

[img]https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/wespe-progress-534.jpg[/img]
[b][i]The crew-member at various stages of modelling[/i][/b]

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture, but the one above shows the 15 figures at various stages of the carving and sculpting exercise. Amputations and reassembly à la Dr. Frankenstein are difficult at this small scale and were not attempted with few minor exceptions.

Again, a text-heavy post, but it serves myself as a memo of my deliberations and what I did.

[i]To be continued ....[/i]

Last weekend I did some field studies on Lake Geneva on flags moving in the wind: [url]https://maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/wespemodel/SwissFlag.mp4[/url]