The Ship Model Forum

Thanks 'medicmike' the GALVESTON from Niko is TRULY Amazing.... for my 1st Ever resin kit....I'm Very Pleased on the detail and the PE that comes with it . The masts are now More detailed than I would have predicted as Niko does have railings but Does NOT show its placement (although there is a couple of upward canted railings for the bow { I assume }). There seems more than enough railings for superstructures also, but on the last mast/platform I going by what I see on pics.... it looks like a single rail, not two/three/or even four bar railings.

There are some minor things on the kit that I with they added, like markings where pieces go, the instructions are "moderately okay" (but at least they have the parts labeled/numbered on their 1st page of instructions....maybe it cuts down on costs [??]), and just the idea of having to 'sand down' some of the parts makes it a bit tricky how far To sand.

But Overall..... I giving this subject a Strong 'B+ (plus)', just for the subject and the amount of detail!!! And, yes, there are Some details that can be improved upon, but I guess that is up to the modeler, huh...

Finished up the foremast and mainmast with their associated gear...starting on the last aft mast/platform for the SPS-30..... Have a look....




In this image the masts are in a "forward looking" image, thou the foremast seems tilted ( I might've snipped a bit of the foot while removing it from PE tree ).


I did exchanged Niko's SPS-10 and rotating platform (??? -- it seemed to be missing the horn for the radar set), for a SPS-10 from my GMM NIMITZ PE.

Like I mentioned moving onto the last (aft)mast/platform for the SPS-30...... with this all my sub-assemblies should be ready for the PAINT!!! .....I just hope that " Please, God....don't make me...........-Up." I do have a primer for the resin ship and did wash the kit prior to assembly.

But, question, do you think that I should prime the PE masts???? I never had to do that before with just the radar sets.... Normally I would just glue the radar sets onto the masts/platforms and paint away with no issues...whatcha think 'medicmike'??

M

I also built Niko Model's USS Galveston once. A very interesting role model.

http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php/mo ... rg-kuhnert

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http://www.modellmarine.de

Current Project:

French Navy Antiaircraft Cruiser Colbert C 611,1964, 1/700

'modelmariner'....Thanks for the link. I'll be looking over your build with great Interest!!! . I will be asking a couple of questions after I'm finish posting my latest pics, if that is okay with you.

As for the My GALVESTON build, working on the last mast/platform for the SPS-30 radar....there was another modeler on 'the other side' who gave a Very detailed pic of CLG-3 aft superstructure. Since I have been mostly been using 'navsource' as a guide in this late 60's ship/build I have Very little knowledge about these Talos missile ships, other-than I knew of existence of such missile(s).....But I'm learning new stuff almost everyday!!!!

To start....looking at the Last platform just aft of the SPS-30, there is a tower for the Talos missile guidance and was wondering .... "HOW, does anybody get up there??!" In the model there is no 'hatch' under the catwalk, and More Importantly .. the railing doesn't go Completely around that director's catwalk neither. So I asked......'George from Colorado' showed me a pic that he took of USS LITTLE ROCK (similar to GALVESTON) and showed that between that platform and the director ..... there is a NARROW catwalk leading from a LADDER to a TINY platform going to the AN/SPW-2 radar guidance!!!! This was Very hard for me to find w/o the help of 'George' giving me a Killer photo when he saw 'Da Rock' in Buffalo, NY!!!

SO.....I had to build that .... It is NOT built up in the Niko kit, but as somebody earlier mentioned, ".... resin kits you need to do a bit of scratch-building".

No Problem, so here it is.... but first some of the "unrefined" aft platform....



I did add railings at the bottom where the platform is anchored using Niko's railings, but On the platform itself, I used GMM railings from a "NIMITZ-class PE" cutting the railing so as to have a Lower handrail ( it doesn't seem that this railing goes up to the hip...so I shorten it a bit ). Using a three-bar railing, I cut/trimmed VERY Carefully the upper portion and attached...



In this set of images, I made the Tiny platform and added a ladder, then finished it off with some railing going across........ ( Don't want those Sailors falling off!!! )!!


I will trim down that ladder to its appro height!!




A bit better pic..... you can see (Literally) the catwalk going from the bottom of the SPS-30 platform to the SPW-2 radar set!


With railings attach.

Going to be painting now!!! Starting with those masts want to give a bit of contrast when I start posting the ship...in the meantime, here are the three (3) completed masts of 'Giant Killer'!!



M

'medicmike' ... thanks for the comment I have ALWAYS Enjoyed building up masts on modern ships.......as long as it is PE.

I haven't got the 'knack' to solder/weld brass rods to make a mast, nor do I have the ability of making my Own photo-etch products. Some of it is budget, a little bit is the tools that I don't have.

I have been getting excited about finishing the GALVESTON, for not looking into my next project ... but to build more 60's cruisers of Talos/Terrier launchers!!! Those ships and the crews that built those missiles while onboard is QUITE Amazing!!! Just researching the Talos system and how they brought them onboard was a REAL lesson on FC and FT putting together Ram-Jet tech!!! It's so Cool!!!

Shoot I was thinking of buying another CLG for my "museum" build! Then purchasing SPRINGFIELD CLG-7 which is a Terrier launcher AND a flagship!! Though similar as a CLEVELAND-class cruiser upgraded to carry the 1st AA-missiles. THEN the CANBERRA the first dual-aft firing Talos ship!!! (B) THEN (B) ALBANY plastic model ship which is a dual-launching Talos and Tartar launcher!!!! (Notice how many exclamation points I make )

But......... I want to stay married! .... Awww, to dream.

M

Just a short post of images.... working on the boats.

I kinda remember seeing boats with the grappling lines going across the tops of the davits, maybe spelling out the name of the ship or the hull number on the stowage bags where the line would hang inside.

Now.... to represent this in 1/700 scale??!! The lines are SO FINE that representing them in stretched sprue was going to be TOO thick, so I decided to go with the signal flag lines materials. MIG lines were okay, but lack the rigidity to hold a boat up, so I decided on Modelkasten a Very thin metal line to suspend the boat from the davit, but what about those grappling lines???!!!

Since the JMSDF DDH project, I have a bit of spare PE, especially the Aoshima PE that I was not in favor of because instead of gluing down the bottom-most "railing" you glue the "Posts"!! ( didn't seem rigid there either!!!! ). BUT, if you look closely you can almost 'envision' those hanging stowage bags for those davits!!!!



Though, Extremely Fragile, it looked good for a first try, I just need to attach the two (2) davits together better!



I also had some spare 'IJN Boat Details' from my IJN Kaga build to make some better details on these motor whale boats. I'll be working on the motor launches later this week.... and That should be the end of all the sub-assemblies and getting ready to paint.

Speaking of paint.... here are some work done to the masts, I might have gotten carried away with the blacken areas of those masts above the fumes of the smokepipes!


All masts in picture


Foremast


Mainmast


And aft platform/(mast) with additional catwalk going to the SPW-2 radar guidance for the Talos.

M

Very nice PE work!

'marjin van gils', Thank you for the comment!!

I enjoy doing PE, it Rarely gives me a problem, I have dealt with Gold Medal Models, Artist Hobby, Aoshima, Hasegawa, Toms Modelworks, Fly Hawk, PitRoad and now Niko in doing my JMSDF DDH-Project. I have dealt w/mostly GMM for a long time and Aoshima and Toms the least, because of the Large selection from the others. PitRoad is rare, and hard to find, as I needed this for my JS Haruna and JS Shirane ships ( I was Completely surprised when I found out that I actually have the JS Ohsumi PE for that ship!!! ). Toms has a nice selection of rails, but they are Very Thin and FRAGILE and not very forgiving, but PitRoad is Thicker and a bit harder to 'snip' with my PE cutters.... I just don't know How modelers can use a knife and glass in cutting their PE.

But What I REALLY like is when a kit comes with a Good PE sheet, not just few nets or radars......If you are going to have PE in your kit.... Have a Great set with rails and doors!!! This is probably the reason why I feel Niko has done a SUPER Job ( at least with this kit ) in the presentation and finely detailing of GALVESTON { and as mentioned before............. I kinda like to build more of their cruisers, but I want to stay married }.

But, I should ask... have You 'mixed up' PE sets??? For example when I built my Haruna...I various PE from my listing above, Including Toms!!

Yes, I do that all the time!
If a set has parts I can use, I'll get it. And if a dedicated set has stuff I don't find useful, I won't use those parts. They're only means to a goal...

I built one Niko kit (Hughes, lightly converted to Morris) some years ago, and found it very good too. Well detailed, good casting (some air bubbles to fill, but not too bad), good PE, and pretty easy and fast to build. I only replaced the railings and ladders by WEM items, because those are a little finer. And when someone gave me the helpful comment that her radar was the wrong type, I bought a little set with USN radars and replaced it with the correct type.
All in all, I feel it was a much easier and faster build than a plastic kit would have been.

Thanks 'marijn van gils'.... I was Just Curious. I felt that peeps did this to their models, but Now do those who win competitions, I Bet that they don't!!!

Changing subjects.... I be laying down the primer "Mr. Hobby Mr. Primer Surfacer 1000" onto GALVETSON, Finally .... priming sub-assemblies and major hull parts with most of the railings will be in place except the areas of the weatherdeck where there is a wooded deck. I was a bit surprised when I was looking at the kit when I saw the parallel lines on the deck and second deck, "...Hhummmph, it must have a wooden deck." So that is when I started looking at the 'NavSource' and seeing a wooden deck through Most of the Main deck and a little bit on second deck! But I'll start on the helo deck working on the white stripes then moving onto the darken flt deck giving That a darker color than the rest of the non-skid all around the deck.

THIS will tell me if that primer holds.... going to give that primer a couple of days to cure.

M

Y E S !!! Good news.... I mean it looks good to me....using Primer for first time and painting on top!!!

Many-a-times.... I never used primer, but for this resin kit, after washing with dish soap, rinse, air-dry, then primed... the paint looked good!

The primer I used was from a spray, "Mr. Hobby Mr. Primer Surface 1000". I understand that there are bottles of this stuff that you need to thin down... hopefully doing a good job on that ...but I didn't want to mess This Up!!!



So weather in SoCal cooperated long enough for dry, warm weather with little wind. I MUST NOTE... that using this spray OUTSIDE....don't even think of using this inside...It's pretty fuming and vaporous!!! But it covers blemishes and scratches quite well!! All instructions were in Japanese and in looking for procedures on use, formula, and how long to wait before painting. But went on instinct and what other modelers say about primer usage.





After covering up some placements for the turrets and upper superstructure. Went over the kit a few times to get a good coating....





Then DA PAINT!!!

Using Model Master acrylic 'Neutral Gray' what stuff I have left ( actually I have Several bottles of that and 'Gunship Gray' !! for all my other USN project )






Even had a hatch open back aft..... "Cover all hatches" before launching Talos!!!



As for the radar directors, catwalks just need to hand paint some of the hollows and finish up the boats. Then next the Real painting... the wooden deck and non-skid. Will spray the rest of the railings and attach that with the radio antennae.

M

Boats are Nearly completed!!! I just need to do some touch up, paint the wooden deck and attach...... might Even attach at the end once railings and cranes are installed.

After lessons learned the boats and antennae/masts will be attached LAST!!! Although many of the pics show the masts "on" they are Still not attach. Just fearing breaking or bending ( found that out with my IJN Kaga masts!! )

But here are they are....

I also want to point out that I FINALLY got my first set of 3D-printed items that I will be placing on GALVESTON....

I have mentioned ... Several times ... that this Niko kit has been a GREAT Build with MUCH Detail. BUT....

there is ALWAYS a but(t) The "most important thing" should be the BEST Looking "thing" and since GALVESTON is a Talos launching ship...... The Talos launcher Mk7 launch turret!!! On the Niko kit it seems to...be......... misshapen.



If you noticed the "shoulders" where the launcher arms are attached onto the turret looks like.......... a butt !!! The 'bulging shape' should look, well, they should look like a man's pecs!!!! I tried to correct it but the complex shape and the Size just wasn't looking good ( I tried to shape it w/ a dental scrapper {....Yeah...you know those things that we FEAR as humans!!!}

I was going to be 'happy' with this until I went to "ShapeWays" and Be-Hold.....



THIS Will Work!!! The 'pecs' are on the correct position....up higher in same juxtaposition as the arms of the launcher!!! Now....GALVESTON will not be ..... The Butt of Jokes!!!

M

Da Paint.....went well !!!!

Got my 1st and 2nd layers laid down and NO Paint lifted!!!! So GALVESTON got her MM 'Neutral Gray' (acrylic) laid down early this week and started working on painting deck.






Painted deck using Tamiya 'Wood' XF-78 and JGSDF 'Brown' XF-72 for a little bit of weathering on the areas mostly walked on ( around hatches, walkways that sailors would travel around the boat deck.



Here are the results....





Will be painting "flight deck" an MM 'Engine Gray' while the rest of the weather decks will be painted 'Gunship Gray' later this week!!! But NOW I remember how much OR Why I didn't like building ships other than A/C carriers.... have to mask ALL those vert bulkheads & "small bits"!!!! At least I have the boats up!!!!

Next ' Riggin'!!! Signal flags and radio wires!!!

M

Finished the flight deck, and railings around the weather deck. I did cut out the bottom rails ( attach to the deck ) for where "lines" would go through chocks! The Talos launcher looks good planning to place decals on the missiles and black rings start gluing the boats on the deck and color the stowage bags where the hanging lines for the boats would be ( hanging lines?? { it been a Long Time }).







But before I go.... just a simple "WHAT IF...." What if CLG-3 was still around?? I had a spare CIWS so I placed it on top of starboard side 5" mount...whatcha think???!!!







Planning now the Last Major Detail in doing ships........ The Diorama!!!!!!!! Since I never done one before EVER I would like to tell of what I plan to do.

First get my wooden base (I always have one), place a piece of stryofoam on top and glue down (wood glue), then [ here the new part ] place a piece of watercolor paper on top (the texture looks like a slight wave-like pattern),lastly cut out opening for ship to sit on. Next, paint using Vallejo colors, first a 'Dark Sea Green' all over the paper this gives some depth of ocean look, I will paint the "breakers" with a bit of random 'Off White' and 'Pale Blue Grey' then set ship on top and secure, this will follow by using small pieces of toilet paper mixed with Vallejo 'Still Water' clear resin. I will allow the T.P. to rest upon the GALVESTON for added wave action. Lightly spray a few more 'breaking waves' around the ship with white and grey and once Each and Every step is dried, brush on 'Still Water' layer at a time.

Saw this on a YouTube video and it seemed SO Simple..... just a bit of luck on THIS part of the project!!!

M

Well...All.....Its been awhile since my last post, but I do want to say that USS GALVESTON is moving down the slipway!!!

The model ... and Boy, what a model... of CLG-3 she turned out to be!!!! Since my fears of doing a resin ship are not a little bit at ease, after doing my First One EVER... I feel a bit more confident in doing my other resin builds!!!

To Those who haven't done one let ( a resin kit ) no worries .... just follow the guidelines that MANY of us have done... including me with this Niko kit!!

First, dishwashing soap is fine, in cool water. Use a 'Soft' toothbrush (for at least this kit) so you don't mess up the details, then let her air-dry.....do the same in a small bath with the other smaller parts. Use a Primer!! Mr. Color Mr.Surface 1000 primer is what I used and it seemed to do the trick!!! { I'll let you know when I build my other 350 scale Units that I served when in the NAVY}. Take your time, check your references as there are NO markings where to place a hose reel nor a door/hatch nor where to place superstructure (that seemed the Hardest part for me). Once you placed/glued items on..... dust off the model and paint main color....like they said, go easy, once back-forth let her dry, go with 2nd coat.... Let Her DRY!! Then mask for the decks or camo pattern you want.







Don't want to give TOO much away...as I want to show most of the other photos in the "Gallery"...soon.

As for the build..... It was GREAT!!! A Real Pleasure to do the Niko's GALVESTON .... Many great thing and comments have been made on 'da other side' a few small details could be redone, but a good modeller shouldn't have any problems with that (a.k.a. the Talos launcher was maybe the Major obstacle). But this is the video of GALVESTON (1968) updated to 2021P .... Enjoy.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-nUpqDOyC8

Still want to work on that diorama....so Maybe not totally finished with this posting....we'll see.

M

O K !!!

Diorama....here I come!!!!

So, I flipped a coin .... and the diorama won, but not only that.........My customer, gave me Extra Time to finish!!!

So, as planned the Whole GALVESTON project is given until 2021P - Father's Day, and Although, I could present the ship to the Actual shipmate, I believe that the customer is, "...going to be Completely Satisfied!"

The decision is............ do I go with a Trumpeter diorama, or the way I wanted to go with an actual clear resin/partial resin/painted diorama. I started with cutting up a Trumpeter ocean base ( you know ...... that semi-ugly plastic one that comes with their carriers ), Which when I asked my family ... they opted for That one, but "I" Know better, I just wanted re-assurance!





The blue painter tape is ONLY used to protect the stained wooden base I placed CLG-3 on. The diorama has a thin (colored) foam base ( I tried styrofoam... but wasn't cutting it well ). The foam base has a with a water-color paper base that will be attached above it and 'white glued' down which will be painted. I saw this on a YT video and it seemed VERY Doable!!! ( Instead of buying liters/gallon of clear resin )

The weather is also a factor, so RIGHT NOW in SoCal the weather is quite warm and getting to Hot => 90+F and Dry, I also have a small space heater ( that I will be putting away for the season ) that is still in my room.

M

Here is GALVESTON CLG-3 with her new sea-scape diorama using Vallejo 'Still Water' resin.... I do want to say that this 'different' method instead of using the plastic ocean base looks Much Better .... the gloss sheen of 'da ocean' makes it stand out much ..... Check it out.....













M

Final Report.... of Niko GALVESTON + diorama.

Both ship and work on diorama came out VERY WELL!!! , as client was Very Responsive of the 'gift' that will be given to father that served onboard CLG-3 during Vietnam. She asked quite a few questions about the ship And the build with the amount of work done to complete this small project.

"I" was VERY Pleased and a bit sadden to see her go, as this was my first commission, but I KNOW that She will be going to a Great Home.

The Niko kit was done very well for the time period, and you can see how Much I bring that up in previous posts..... Bottom Line ==> a B+ kit, A STRONG B+ ( as I mentioned, the Talos launcher was mis-shappen [ but Honestly you can purchase a 3D-printed one that is Just as good as the rest of Niko's kit ] )!! A little short on railings, so you need to scrounge some up ( use Niko's railings on forward superstructure and use Other railings for midships - aft )...Watch out that you SAVE some railings for main deck!!! , replace/retrieve a 'horn' for the SPS-10. The Last two (2) items can be retrieved by experienced modelers, so no worries there.... the Talos launcher can also be done ...but You have to buy a set of three (3) that comes on the tree!

I request moderator to transfer this GALVESTON build to the 'Complete Work' side but I'll check on her responses in the future ............. This is 'Giant Killer', signing off, Thank You.

Mario

She turned out awesome. Great looking build
Looking forward to seeing more pics of her!

_________________
Just finished:
1/350 USS Santee 1944

Current projects:
1/700 USS Catamount 1960
1/350 USS Columbia 1945
1/350 USS San Francisco 1944

Nicely done.