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Im building Combrig's 1/700 HMS Superb of Bellerophon class.

A "production version" of HMS Dreadnought, quite good looking ship with her symmetrical profile - two tripod masts, same height funnels... So I wanted that, very much.

Im building the full hull version / which is not available out of the box. Instead I'm using a lower hull from Trumpeter's Dreadnought (Thanks to reigels here who sent it to me!).

It is not a simple conversion because Combrig's kit is a little too wide and Dreadnought hull is a little too small. So Im taking the lower hull, splicing it up to fit the contours of the deck and rebuilding it back. See below for more.

BTW - did they paint a boot topping on these early dreadnoughts?

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So here is some lower hull work in detail:

I used a little bit of styrene rod to create a support for the bow and stern plates. Because those rods are somewhat flexible, they allow a bit of movement when trying to fit plates as close to hull as possible without changing contours of the hull.

Im fully aware alignment will be impossible 100%, thats' that the sand paper and putty is for.

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Ooh goody, a Dreadnought, looking forward to this!

Cheers, Jabb

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HMS Hood, the big one!

I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure.

A Superb dreadnought at that!

Thanks. More progress in store. This one is very exciting.

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- @Shipific on IG
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I applaud your hull surgery, the beam difference was a big hurdle to overcome but you've done a great job. Nice to see people thinking outside the box and mix-and-matching kit parts to get what they want.

I look forward to seeing her finished, I also agree that the symmetrical mast arrangement of the Bellerohpon class makes them very attractive ships (more so than Dreadnought herself ). there aren't many parts to the Combrig kit so I guess the hard part is over and the rest is plain sailing!

I have to say though, you do have quite a dizzying array of projects on the go at once.

Much prettier than Dreadnought, indeed. I think the hull will have a lot of work still - I was rushing and nothing ever comes good from rushing, so had to use file and sandpaper to make hull look straight.

I am only now doing few projects at the same time (3-4)? Only because some are same ship class, and some are not for me - plus painting all at once is much easier, rather than going back and forth. Assembly plant!

Tried recently to build a 1/700 ship in 1 month using evenings for work, and it came out alright - but was a bit stressful.

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Quite an accomplishment!

Which ship was that?

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Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit.
- Consul Marcus Tullius Cicero

I am greatly impressed and happy you are doing it full hull as I am a full-hull devotee.

The extra effort for the lower hull will pay off in your own satisfaction with this beautiful model.

Thanks for this WIP.

Following along.

Nino

P.S. Yes, Add the boot topping. My photo's of British ships seem to show this on all His Majesty's capital ships of WW1. I do not have a reference for the width. Maybe some other members can assist with that spec.

I also settled on boot topping. For width Im using my usual reference points on photos - just below torpedo net booms, and so forth. Should be fine.



It was Admiral Graf Spee with fake turret and funnel, full on raider mode.

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So, another update - hull is joined up and the process of smoothing joints is ..ongoing. I have of course messed up the alignment ever so slightly, and now have to make it right.

Also, I discovered that all Bellerophons carried a aft torpedo tube, submarine style. So I had to add that little element into the mix - just white styrene rod here which will be puttied up into a small curve. with small recess at the end.

I usually use a "wrong color bought" of Tamiya paint for first layer when doing the putty work. It helps with showing all the issues nicely. Then more putty and sanding, and then I will use some alcohol based window cleaner to strip paint off back to plastic and primer it all once again without adding too many layers.

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well done that man !

Vlad wrote;

I applaud your hull surgery, the beam difference was a big hurdle to overcome but you've done a great job. Nice to see people thinking outside the box and mix-and-matching kit parts to get what they want.

I fully concur with Vald,

it really is a bit of artistry-- the methodology is really rather good!

Bravo

JIM B

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Thanks Jim, appreciate it.

Im back with a small update - have been glad to finally give it a coat of primer. There are some little bits that aren't perfect but I think I have to move on with more stuff in order not to make a real meal out of it.

With primer on, the rather disturbing Silence of The Lamb / butchers cut look is gone and her full lines look rather nice!


In some place the hull break lines are visible - I keep those for now as theyll help me perfectly mark the waterline and once thats done, they wont be visible. Probably those of you making models for shows will not allow this but I found that in reality this isnt something you ever see when a black boot topping is on top, there is clearcoats and weathering etc. But thats the nitpick for me with this project so far but I cant sand things more as im starting to remove the bulkhead "things" and redoing them isn't something I want to do.

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I am really impressed with this. It looks very good and actually like a fair bit of fun also!

If I may say, it looks superb.

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Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit.
- Consul Marcus Tullius Cicero

DITTO!

I too have made lower hulls but your method is quite spectacular.

Watching in anticipation...

Nino

Not meant to have dropped this, but having been on the move recently I have not been so good at building models.

I hope to remedy it this year, later.

What this project is on about now is research.

Mostly - the colors. Oh the colors.

The main question is - SUPERB - ca 1909-1912:

1)
-- Was there a boot topping?
-- if there was no boot topping, did they paint antifouling color to the heavy load waterline or to the lower waterline?

2) -- Was the hull bottom red or dark grey/black?

If anyone know I would appreciate your input.

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- @Shipific on IG
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Not sure how I missed this earlier. Wow. Ambitious and well done.

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

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