Hi Ed, Mark,
Yes actually there has, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I really haven't photo-documented the rest of the progress much. I do have a few pictures here that I'll share and try to get everyone caught up. The only things I'm waiting on are anchor chains and screws, but the rest of the ship is done. I'll try to pick up where I left off from two years ago. Yikes.
At last update, I had most of the deck painted, was in midst of repairs of a couple of screw ups, and starting to work on the super-structure. Many modifications had to be done to the stack, the Flag Bridge, Navigation Bridge, RF Platform and Foremast top. Also the configuration of both fighting tops had to be modified from the 1941 fit, as I decided to bring mine back to 1936 outfit. Some trials and tribulations along the way, I had to redo the stack twice because of my inability to read a ruler, and the modifications to the kit parts all required constant test fitting and refitting to make sure everything would line up.
I had to scratchbuild both masts, and rather than try to do it on the boat itself, I made a jig with the locations marked out, and the block for the foremast at the hieght of the RF platform. This way I could cut everything to fit, glue the platforms on at the correct hieghts, and assemble the masts as subassemblies to be installed later on. It worked quite well that way. I was able to install all railings, details, ladders etc before hand, then when all the superstructure was installed, merely plop the masts into place. Worked like a charm.
Here's the two assembled masts being test fit. I used the Eduard Big Ed set for all my brass, and it fit and worked quite well. I did not use a lot of the parts because they were different than the '36 fit. In this shot all the major structure decks have been modified, and this is the second of three iterations of the stack assembly. In this one I had the stack right, but the platforms on either side for the directors are way too far forward. I ended up ripping it apart and doing it over a third tme.
Here's the deck after the final filter coat of light tan oil paint was applied and left to dry. And dry. and dry some more... holy crap this stuff takes forever to dry. Three weeks later I it was finally dry so that I could work on it without smudging it. Pleased with the technique but you can't be in a rush. You can see the difference between the pre filter and post filter. The different deck boards are all much more uniform, yet you can still see the different boards to good effect.
All the deck details were scratchbuilt or bits from the Big Ed set. I scratchbuilt all the wildcats, the anchor windlasses, vents, anchor chain ways, and bits. PE was used for hatch covers and grates.
Aft deck showing more bits. I fixed the access covers from earlier. I had them as seperate metal covers, but it was brought to my attention they were deck material, so I simply scribed the outline in the deck and hit them with a wash to make them pop. I didn't want to use seperate parts, as it would have not been a level surface for the boat racks to be installed later.
Here I've got the superstructure installed and railings are started. I've already lopped off the director platforms on the stack in preperation for doing them over. Again. Yay. lol.
Stack is redone (and accurate too!), boats installed, 5/38's installed, and some of the 5/51's. I used Veteran Models 5/38's and they are gorgeous. I wish I could still get them. The 5/51's are WEM with Master brass barrels. For the Casemate guns, I wanted it to be visually interesting so I closed some off and left some open. All the stuff I put inside the casemate spaces is totally invisible, but hey... I know it's "in there" lol.
Starting to look like something. Here I have the tops temporarily set in place to check for fit, alignment, and fortunately they were spot on. I've begun to add the masts and yards, all scratchbuilt.
Shot of the Main Mast top before painting. I used various bits of brass and plastic for all the stuff hanging off it. Because the Eduard tops were just flat slabside bits of PE with no detail, I framed all the windows with .010 x .005 strip to give it some relief.
Since these pictures were taken, more has been done. All the guns are in place, I added all the rest of the railings, paravanes, searchlights, rigged it with a couple of different sizes of nylon mono and EZ Line, added the anchors and tops, and the ship itself, with the exception of the props and anchor chains, is done for the most part. It's late in the evening as I type this, I will take some better pictures tomorrow when I have some daylight to shoot in.
Thanks for stopping by, and as always any comments or questions feel free.
Cheers
Mike
