The Ship Model Forum

Some shots of the overall current status. The hull almost complete, and the turrets, give to me a feeling of what can be the final appearance of the ship once completed...

I completed the small stern platform. The work was apparently easy but turned to be quite demanding. First, I had to reinforce the PE element with a styrene sheet and I also rebuilt some supports (not 100% as the real, but unfortunately such detail is not covered by Pontos) on the bottom of the platform and also installed two circular reference protrusions for better positioning the platform on the hull.

When I started to fit the small railing all around the platform it turned to be oversized as footprint! So, I had to add all around the platform a small styrene strip in order to get this missing thickness and only after I was able to install properly the small railing.

Dry fit of the platform together with a small ladder is OK, platform is not perfectly horizontal just because I will glue it later.

I still have to figure out how to move all this when I will have to go back to Italy!!!

I have almost completed the aircraft catapults. Quite impressed by the quality of the PE parts (Pontos) and the overall fit. The joints between the parts are so precise that when I first tried to glue them, the added thickness of the superglue prevent me to fully insert the parts!!! So, I had to change the approach and first I mounted the parts without glue, and only after with a really fine stick (less than 0.1mm) I put some microscopic quantities of superglue in strategic points.

The catapults have also a basic interior. Recently I had the opportunity to see the brand-new kit from Pontos in 1/700 and the same interior is much more detailed: almost unbelievable detail! Currently I will leave the interior as it is (once the catapult is closed, it is a little bit difficult to see inside). I did not glued the upper plate in case I decide later on to add some scratch-built detail.

And here is the crane… work started from the base, quite intricate and was completed with the structure itself (some very delicate and difficult PE folding). Finally, I installed the wiring complex that is integrated with the pulleys. The antenna mast is very nice too and in the picture is just positioned.

My only regret is that all the crane has been engineered ONLY in rest position and I still must verify the lack of interference with the aft platform. Need to point out that indeed Eduard crane is quite nice too and the pulley system is more interesting: it is possible to adjust the inclination of the crane to any position. Need to check more documentation on the subject to avoid a wrong positioning… Maybe I will evaluate also Eduard part just for this.

MOVING BACK TO ITALY!

And so, came the moment to say goodbye to Romania… I have already packed everything with particular attention to the more fragile parts! I will travel with my personal car (not very big) and it will take some time. I am a little bit worried since you can never know, and I have no experience on how car vibrations can affect the delicate PE assemblies.
For the very next future after my arrival in Italy I foresee a slowdown in the construction process because in my home I have also other distractions, but in any case, the workbench will be more comfortable, and I will have all tools at my disposal

Here is me in the middle of (almost) nowhere in Hungary. A very nice place indeed but used only for transit. I really had no other time to look around. Pictures were taken early in the morning on the second day of my trip! I arrived the same day at home and unpacked everything. By now there are no issues at all, will make some more detailed checks after completely recovering the tiredness of the trip (1750km overall)

Few checks on the parts following a dry fit. Everything seems ok. In the aft section you can see the crane that has been engineered only for the rest position. The back portion of the crane is quite close to that balcony, but this appears also to be as in the real situation.

Working on the ammo-boxes. The PE part has a nice texture and is easy to bend and glue. However, I figured out that it will be difficult to fix it on the deck due to the reduced thickness of the vertical walls. So, I glued inside a small piece of styrene just to have a central anchoring point and to avoid leaks of glue outside the perimeter of the box

Started working on the cable reels. There are 6 different sizes. Pontos set gives only two different rods to simulate the reel, so I have decided to search among my stuff and at the end I was able to find 6 different bars. The other issue was the reeling itself, not foreseen in the aftermarket. I tried several copper wires and the most suitable turned out to be the smaller one that I took from an old phone cable. It is more or less 0.1mm. I made somehow the winding and fixed with microscopic drops of superglue.

Like what you did with those boxes. They are a lot of work. I'm building a 1/350 Kongo and have same problem, but hadn't thought as far as you had about mounting them. So that's a helpful tip.

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Building:
1/48 Lancaster (HK)
1/350 Akagi
1/350 IJN Kongo

Jon, I am glad this was helpful for you! An issue I faced on the same subject was to cut equal all these small parts starting from a styrene rod of a proper diameter (1.3mm more or less).
I had to build a template visible here in the picture with a small housing where I inserted the rod. After, keeping the blade of the cutter as vertical as possible I tried to cut all the pieces equal. Indeed, cutting was not perfect but I left some excess. When the piece was glued in place, I gently blasted the base of each box so making it flush and suitable for the further positioning.

Here the small cable reels. Same technique used before: the very tiny copper wire turned to be even more useful. I will try to make abetter picture next days to see clearly such elements. Also, the smaller one has the winding not perfectly cantered respect the PE wheels, will try a repositioning
Time has come to work on the central superstructure…

Started working on the superstructure base, a very nice all in one piece with fine detail. Some mould in ladders had to be removed to be replaced after with PE elements. The fit of the structure is very precise in the shape of the wooden deck and it is not necessary to add some kind of a missing thickness between the vertical walls of the structure and the deck folio. Very good from Pontos!

I started working also on the aft tower, cleaned some mould in elements and completely removed the quite rough structure of the plastic AA guns. The two platforms are visible in the picture and will be completely rebuild with the available aftermarket

That's very clever. Love it.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you very much!

I have added several small details to the central superstructure with the aim to complete the whole part except the PE to be added later. I performed also a preliminary test fit of the funnel where there are really a lot of mould in details to be removed before the application of the foreseen PE elements

I worked a lot on the funnel, first had to clean all mould in detail that will be replaced with PE elements. After I made a test fit (no issues at all) and only after that with a micro spherical mill I was able somehow to open all the piping around the main funnel. In the test fit picture also the tripod of the main antenna is visible. The upper part will be completely replaced with PE parts and scribed brass elements

Very crisp work, and great progress.

thanks a lot!

I started working also on the main tower. Nice fit of the two main halves and quite convincing fine detail in the upper part of the command bridge. Of course, a lot of PE is provided for such part of the ship but first I want to have the whole central superstructure complete. Several small items have already been added, some still to be, now the most demanding work will be to lower the thickness of some walls:
- Red circle, the upper niches embedded in the command bridge
- Green circle, a very small platform still to be added along with other small fittings in that area
- Red arrow, a quite big and demanding platform which has a quite intricate route of the external walls and will be quite difficult to reduce in thickness

Instead, the overall fit of the tower on the main part of the central structure is quite nice as the funnel and the aft tower

I had also the patience to make a dry fit of almost everything done by now, just to have a sensation of what can be the last outcome...
I am glad to be back in Italy, no more travelling with this delicate project!!!