by steinerman » Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:53 pm
Greetings and salutations, Friends,
Yep, that's right, it's been close to a year since I last posted here. To be honest, I thought long and hard about even making this post, but I finally decided to go ahead and do it. The reason for all this?? Well, it seems that I got some private messages from a couple individuals who for whatever reason decided to take issue with my abilities, or lack thereof, as a model builder. For a number of reasons, the beginning of the COVID pandemic, my mental health at the time, and the efforts I was putting into this ship, I took offense at these "rivet counters" and their "I don't know why you have the gall to post on this site" attitude and decided that I would do just that and stop posting here. Instead, I joined a Facebook group called "Mediocre Modeler's", which apparently was more my style. However, I still visited this site daily and continued to communicate with several of my closest friends here.
Recently, I guess I've mellowed some and learned to put on my "Big Girl Panties" and not let the opinions of a few upset me. I'm building this ship for ME! No one else, and if they have a problem with that, tough! No, it's not perfect. Far from it. I've made lots of mistakes and also learned a ton. But I've had fun and if you look at this ship from a couple feet away, especially when it's in the case, I think it looks pretty damn nice - at least my fellow "Mediocre Modeler's" think so!
So, I decided to bring you up to date with this build and show you what I've done and why I've done it during the past year. I've got probably close to 100 pictures to post, which I'll try to do over the next few days. No, it's not quite done yet. It's getting there - I'm maybe 85% done and yes, it's starting to look like a battleship. I still don't get a chance to work on it as much as I want; I'm still married to SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) and I still own a house, which takes a lot of time and money! Plus, I'm now 78 years old and don't get around as fast as I used to. In addition to my 2 knee replacements, I had a hip replacement last June and yes, I've had both my COVID vaccination shots, so I'm hoping I'm good for however long it takes to finish this beast!
So, with all that jabbering, I suppose you want to see some pictures of my 'Monster Mo". OK, Here's the first 10 shots.
When I last left off, I was starting the second deck of the superstructure, starting to add the portholes, eyebrows, and grab irons from the Pontos Detail kit. For those of you who don't remember, here is what the Pontos detail kit looks like.
It consists of a wood deck, 299 pieces of turned brass, 18 sheets of Photo Etch, 33 resin parts, and 16 round life preservers. It's an awesome kit and well worth the money.
I'm building this ship from the bottom up, so the next step involves adding decks 2 and 3 and the associated detail that goes with them.
As you can see in the following picture, I added some detail to the life rafts. I took Evergreen plastic rod, cut it to length, and squeezed one end flat to simulate oars. I then also tied the stack of rafts down with fine wire to make things look more realistic.
Here is more added detail to the ship. Note that the superstructure is not yet glued down to the deck, resulting in a slight gap. The net baskets have fine fabric (called Toule) rolled up in the bottom and small pieces of plastic rod painted brown on top. The triangular protrusions on the conning tower and below the windows are antenna lead-in for when I attach the rigging to. Also note that I added windscreen wipers where they were found. The one turned out OK, but the rear one not so good. I since have replaced it with a better one. And oh yeah, there's a rack to hold spare stanchions at the base of the conning tower. The Floating Drydock plans I have indicate this is present.
Here's a closer view of the life rafts as well as a mop rack. Hey, they look like mops, don't they? If you use your imagination??
This next view shows the various compressed gas bottles that were carried aboard the Missouri during WWII. The ones with a green top are Oxygen and the short, stubby ones with grey tops & a red stripe are acetylene. Also shown are the spare gun barrel tubes attached to the outside of the splinter shield of the level 3 20mm gun position.
If you look just inside the passageway between the port and starboard sides of the ship, you will see a rack of compressed cylinders of propane secured to the wall. Just more detail that my TFD plans show.
According to the plans, there is a spare seaplane float secured to the deck at this position. I had to buy a box of (5)Kingfisher seaplanes to get this extra float! Here also, you can see my first feeble attempt at making Stokes Litters. Needless to say, they probably rate a C- at best. Later on, you will see I replaced these with ones that are much better!
OK, I guess that my limit of 10 pictures per post is reached, so I'll post this and, hopefully, I'll get another set posted shortly. And, let me say this: I WILL accept constructive criticism. In fact I welcome it. But, if you're going to PM me just to gripe and tell me I suck, then you can kiss my ass. Like I said, I'm building this for ME, and while I would prefer that you appreciate my efforts, I really don't give a rat's ass if you do or don't.
Laters, Friends.
Greetings and salutations, Friends,
Yep, that's right, it's been close to a year since I last posted here. To be honest, I thought long and hard about even making this post, but I finally decided to go ahead and do it. The reason for all this?? Well, it seems that I got some private messages from a couple individuals who for whatever reason decided to take issue with my abilities, or lack thereof, as a model builder. For a number of reasons, the beginning of the COVID pandemic, my mental health at the time, and the efforts I was putting into this ship, I took offense at these "rivet counters" and their "I don't know why you have the gall to post on this site" attitude and decided that I would do just that and stop posting here. Instead, I joined a Facebook group called "Mediocre Modeler's", which apparently was more my style. However, I still visited this site daily and continued to communicate with several of my closest friends here.
Recently, I guess I've mellowed some and learned to put on my "Big Girl Panties" and not let the opinions of a few upset me. I'm building this ship for ME! No one else, and if they have a problem with that, tough! No, it's not perfect. Far from it. I've made lots of mistakes and also learned a ton. But I've had fun and if you look at this ship from a couple feet away, especially when it's in the case, I think it looks pretty damn nice - at least my fellow "Mediocre Modeler's" think so!
So, I decided to bring you up to date with this build and show you what I've done and why I've done it during the past year. I've got probably close to 100 pictures to post, which I'll try to do over the next few days. No, it's not quite done yet. It's getting there - I'm maybe 85% done and yes, it's starting to look like a battleship. I still don't get a chance to work on it as much as I want; I'm still married to SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) and I still own a house, which takes a lot of time and money! Plus, I'm now 78 years old and don't get around as fast as I used to. In addition to my 2 knee replacements, I had a hip replacement last June and yes, I've had both my COVID vaccination shots, so I'm hoping I'm good for however long it takes to finish this beast!
So, with all that jabbering, I suppose you want to see some pictures of my 'Monster Mo". OK, Here's the first 10 shots.
When I last left off, I was starting the second deck of the superstructure, starting to add the portholes, eyebrows, and grab irons from the Pontos Detail kit. For those of you who don't remember, here is what the Pontos detail kit looks like.
[attachment=9]Ship Image 01.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=8]Ship Image 02.jpg[/attachment]
It consists of a wood deck, 299 pieces of turned brass, 18 sheets of Photo Etch, 33 resin parts, and 16 round life preservers. It's an awesome kit and well worth the money.
I'm building this ship from the bottom up, so the next step involves adding decks 2 and 3 and the associated detail that goes with them.
[attachment=7]Ship Image 03.jpg[/attachment]
As you can see in the following picture, I added some detail to the life rafts. I took Evergreen plastic rod, cut it to length, and squeezed one end flat to simulate oars. I then also tied the stack of rafts down with fine wire to make things look more realistic.
[attachment=6]Ship Image 04.jpg[/attachment]
Here is more added detail to the ship. Note that the superstructure is not yet glued down to the deck, resulting in a slight gap. The net baskets have fine fabric (called Toule) rolled up in the bottom and small pieces of plastic rod painted brown on top. The triangular protrusions on the conning tower and below the windows are antenna lead-in for when I attach the rigging to. Also note that I added windscreen wipers where they were found. The one turned out OK, but the rear one not so good. I since have replaced it with a better one. And oh yeah, there's a rack to hold spare stanchions at the base of the conning tower. The Floating Drydock plans I have indicate this is present.
[attachment=5]Ship Image 05.jpg[/attachment]
Here's a closer view of the life rafts as well as a mop rack. Hey, they look like mops, don't they? If you use your imagination??
[attachment=4]Ship Image 06.jpg[/attachment]
This next view shows the various compressed gas bottles that were carried aboard the Missouri during WWII. The ones with a green top are Oxygen and the short, stubby ones with grey tops & a red stripe are acetylene. Also shown are the spare gun barrel tubes attached to the outside of the splinter shield of the level 3 20mm gun position.
[attachment=3]Ship Image 07.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=2]Ship Image 08.jpg[/attachment]
If you look just inside the passageway between the port and starboard sides of the ship, you will see a rack of compressed cylinders of propane secured to the wall. Just more detail that my TFD plans show.
[attachment=1]Ship Image 09.jpg[/attachment]
According to the plans, there is a spare seaplane float secured to the deck at this position. I had to buy a box of (5)Kingfisher seaplanes to get this extra float! Here also, you can see my first feeble attempt at making Stokes Litters. Needless to say, they probably rate a C- at best. Later on, you will see I replaced these with ones that are much better!
[attachment=0]Ship Image 10.jpg[/attachment]
OK, I guess that my limit of 10 pictures per post is reached, so I'll post this and, hopefully, I'll get another set posted shortly. And, let me say this: I WILL accept constructive criticism. In fact I welcome it. But, if you're going to PM me just to gripe and tell me I suck, then you can kiss my ass. Like I said, I'm building this for ME, and while I would prefer that you appreciate my efforts, I really don't give a rat's ass if you do or don't.
Laters, Friends.