The Ship Model Forum

Thank you for your kind compliments.

I am not a fan of German stuff and have little knowledge around them. So I usually do not comment. But this was nicely done!

That last picture looks like a real photo. Nice!

Moved this to the completed forum.

C'est fini!

Before the photos I want to express special thanks to those gentlemen who took time to put their skills and talents into detailed and helpful tutorials for the rest of us.

Chris Flodberg for painting, scale color, and seascape.
Jim Baumann for rigging. I tried to resist going to stretched sprue, but in the end I found it better than the alternatives.

My apologies for failing to go the extra mile to make sure that mine looks half as good as yours.

Another thanks to that guy who posted the idea of using cigarette paper and a copier for the flag. I reckon the single thickness I've used shows through both sides well and doesn't look like a slab of plywood.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa1_zps500f568e.jpg[/img]
Way back at the start of the thread, I said that the illustration from this book was part of my inspiration for this build. I thought about putting some lean into the ship, but decided against it.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa9_zpse6fb2e0a.jpg[/img]
I really wish I'd chosen a broader base. Doing the water was kinda fun, and I still had tons of cotton balls left.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa8_zps25ff2fd0.jpg[/img]
My fall-off from the bow-wave still needs some work. I woulda put more into it, but halfway through it, I almost completely dis-masted the ship while reaching for a tissue. (hayfever)

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa2_zps68ff0cdc.jpg[/img]
Another bow shot. Sorry, couldn't resist.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa5_zps7fd42325.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa6_zpsce7552ab.jpg[/img]
I wish I'd seen somebody make real-looking funnel smoke. Woulda added just a hint of real-ness.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa4_zpsfbaebba4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa3a_zps9bb2913d.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/tadaa7_zps033b4b9b.jpg[/img]
Finally, Z-32(1944) {once Z-39(1945)} sails off to her destiny on the Ile de Batz in a valiant, failed attempt at attacking the D-day invasion fleet.

Entering the home stretch, I think. Suffered a major disaster last night. Whilst placing the crew, I bumped the mainmast. I had already completed the rigging, and the tension of the heat shrunken, stretched sprue cables caused the bridge to separate itself from the bridge wings. So, I have to redo some rigging.

Anyway, on to some pics. They're not very good, and a lot of flaws are showing up, unfortunately.

A bow shot. Because I was converting the Z-39 into the older Z-32 I had to make some changes. I had to remove the forward portion of the combination degaussing cable and spray strake and move the degaussing cable so that it followed the lines of the foc'sle. I used some silk thread I had laying around then coated it with thinned PVA. It's all but invisible The earlier strake is still visible, unfortunately. I hope to hide that with water and spray. You can see some crew manning the 2cm single behind the forward turret.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchbow_zpsc16aca7f.jpg[/img]

The bridge, manned by a lot of guys looking through Binoculars. Barely visible are a couple of fellas in the crow's nest, one watching port, the other starboard.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchbridgeport_zps564c46e1.jpg[/img]

This is the AA and secondary director around the after funnel. The Northstar US boxing tournament set provided me with a couple of guys in poses that I could use for guys looking through the optics. The guns are manned, but the crews are watching the action. Facing Canadian cruisers, the reach of their 2cm and 3.7cm fall a bit short. Z-39 originally had a lot of 3.7cm automatics here. But due to the conversion, I was able to use the excess single 2cm guns that came with the kit. I built the after searchlight platform from resin and leftover kit parts. An additional searchlight was another bonus. Z-39 had a radar here.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchafterfunnel_zpsb35587d5.jpg[/img]

The after main battery. One gun isn't able to train on the action due to the after deck house. The other two are waiting to fire. I think next time, I'll try to get some guys into the gun shields [u]before[/u] I mount them to the deck. High res photo's show everything.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchafterbattery_zps4194cf1d.jpg[/img]

A combined shot of the after half of the ship from the other side. Just more exposure for the crew, really. Poor guys had nowhere to hide amidst shell splinters and icy waters.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchporthalf_zps29a0e27d.jpg[/img]

A full length shot from above. My water base is sitting on a block of old pine I found in the shed. There is still a lot of work to do on the water, and a bit (actually tons) of prettying up to do on the railing. Railing really frustrates me at this point. But I really wanted to get this done so I can move on to another project.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/homestretchone_zps9254381d.jpg[/img]

I haven't really weathered the hull. I'm still at odds to do so. There'll be a lot of water splashing around, and she was just hours out of port.

I haven't posted recently because I have been fighting with railing, tiny last-to-add pieces, and modelkasten wire.

It is so fine, I can barely see it with 3X visor on. Moreover, I can't even feel it between my fingertips. It's as close to scale as I could buy. I hate to not use it. I was placing the fourth signaller's line (or whatever the heck you call it) when I realised it wasn't even sticking with CA.

I'm pretty close to a Godzilla moment, so I have put the dang thing away.

I don't want to use sprue. I will break it. I still have 80+ crew to place on the deck.

Anybody ever work with this modelkasten stuff? Got any useful tips?

This project has turned into a bit of a grudge match. I realise that the fineness of the pieces is beyond my skills. But I want to finish without going backwards and pull stuff apart.

Rant/sulk ended.

No pictures to post, sorry.

Thanks Goodwood. I think it's gotten easier to paint them better as I went along. I experimented a lot with different tools, even using wire or stretched sprue when I couldn't get a result I wanted with a brush. When I first started, it seemed I'd have no hope. Eventually I returned to the brush and got better results than when I started.

But that doesn't mean I'll ever do another Dio in this scale again. It crosses the fun/difficult boundary too often for me.

Highest praise to you guys who build small.

"When you look at those Northstar figures online, they sure look big. But when you paint them, they sure are tiny."

The story of my life, man. Oh sure, building the latest superkit looks awesome when following someone else's build with all those juicy photographs of intricate detail all blown up on the computer screen. Then you get that selfsame kit in your own hands and...is that a hose reel, or did I drop a bit of sprue from that tank model I was working on last week?

Anyway, they look great for what they are, and personally I can't imagine how anyone could've gotten better results.

Been a while since my last post. I've been in figurine hell. My best calculations for how many men that should be on deck at [u]visible[/u] action stations counts for 81 of the crew of 220.

When you look at those Northstar figures online, they sure look big. But when you paint them, they sure are tiny. I've broken countless due to their fragility and my lack of grace. However, I finally got them done. I used two German sets, and the US Boxing Tournament set to give me some guys who are sitting down. Really, they are so tiny and so blobbed with paint, that you can't tell which is which. I was gonna try to helmet some. But once I realized how easily their heads came off, I gave that idea up.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/crew1_zpsf2fdf0de.jpg[/img]

The enlisted men are all wearing dark blues with the German equivalent of the Kapok vest. It's a decent looking piece of gear. Looks like you could wear it and fight. The officers aren't wearing theirs. I wanted to have a stab at painting the shiny bits that show off their status.

Once I'd applied them, they looked too bright. So, I gave them a heavy wash in the uniform color. I tried to use various shades on all of the cloth bits, but I didn't differentiate enough for it to show once they were all put together.

The photo itself ain't so hot. My phone seems to have trouble focusing when I try to take a picture.

More wasted effort. Stuck waiting on railing and figurines, I've been trying to put ready-use-ammo into the ready-use-ammo rails that flank most of the type's main batteries. I also am bagging the ends of my paravanes with simulated canvas. It seemed like a common practice on the type. I'm just using layers of white glue since I have a big blob of it on my blotter.
Their using the kit-supplied and now damaged ammo rails as rests while they dry.
[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/wastedeff_zps302dd652.jpg[/img]
I worked on those rails for so long that they became unusable and I had to make new rails with resin after making molds from the surviving two ammo rails. All to no avail, because I'm massively out-of-scale in relation to my sailors which arrived today. My Sailor might as well be standing next to Yamato ammo. My wife's sewing machine kit supplied the shells which are just the tips of steel pins.
Man! Are they small. Like ants.
I bought three sets of figurines. Two German sets, and the boxing tournament set. It's the only set my supplier had that had seated ppl. Some of the cheering sailors look well posed to man the range-finders and other optical gear.
Anyway, I've learned a few things.

Smart. Best to sleep on it. I've been there too many times.

Thanks! I've had to put it away for the night. I just about had a Godzilla moment. After repeatedly stuffing up whilst bending PE, then stuffing up the in-box mast supports I was ready to cast the offending warship into the Sea of Japan.

:thumbs_up_1: great camo job

Thanks Martin! Once I get to the place where I don't have to touch everything I'll start toning her hull colors down a bit. I like the scheme, but it seems a little too stark.

Coming along nicely. Love the camo!

I have been working on it, honestly. Even though I'm on vacation I can rarely make myself sit in one place for very long. There's always something else that has to be done. On the brighter side I bought a 1/72 aircraft model for when I want to slap some plastic together.

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/masts1_zpsdae09d0a.jpg[/img]

I've finally got both masts soldered and glued together. Soldering is a very new skill for me. So much so that I always need to file and sand some solder away when I'm done. This poor ship model has been little else but experimentation and learning. The four main superstructure parts are glued into place. A light blackwash has been applied with Tamiya flat black acrylic thinned with water and quickly dabbed off in hopes that faint dark shadows show around all of the detail. Hopefully any extra blackwash that stayed on got touch-up painted over so I can avoid das "Verlinden Effekt". Then I drybrushed with Tamiya flat white enamel to lightly bring out any raised details. Finally I've started adding the smaller detail pieces which will get some kind of treatment later.

I like these digital photos cause they can show just how crappy something can look.

As always, your insight is very much appreciated.

For the curious, or the Hipper class builder, the black and white photo shows where the ejected cartridge cases from the superfiring turrets land. I snapped a screenshot from a youtube video because I thought it a useful detail.

I agree. Dragon ships are very nice to work with and are forgiving too.

In the stash I have their Z-31 and 38 kits that I have started getting after-market parts for when I'm ready to build them.

Keep up the great work. Looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

FYI, I might have to steal some ideas for when I do my Zs.

Thanks Plastichabit. I'm probably going to have to get zvezda's z-17. I'm hoping that Dragon will release the type 34 and 34a. The more time I spend with this kit the more I'm impressed with it's detail, parts fit, and overall quality.

Enjoying watching your build. Really like the paint job you have done.

Makes me want to start working on my Zerstorers.

I've finally got the bones of Z-39 cum z-32 painted. I've learned something about detail. The more detail you have, the harder it is to get a pristine finish when masking and spraying. However, I hate the thought of removing all of the factory applied detail and then trying to replace it. What is a man to do?

[img]http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b485/GazzaShive/1stcamo_zpse87e5898.jpg[/img]

Answer: Touch up, touch up, and more touch up.

But I can understand why some guys don't want splinter...lol