Return of the Destroyers! Apr. 15-Oct. 15, 2011

[California Bound]

1/350 Marshal Shaposhnikov

Hi guys,

The build keeps moving along.

For the bridge area, I've filed out the wing area and added a platform. I've also added a wall that is missing from the kit, and added the running lights. When the whole thing is done, I'll go back and put some Kristal Klear in all the windows. I had planned to try and use the small PE window wipers included in the GMM set. As it turns out, that wont be happening.

There seems to be three different wiper "styles" on the ships of this class. Which one is accurate varies from ship to ship, and from window to window on the same ship even.
1) Standard wiper
2) A nub below the center of the window that the wiper arm would attach to. But no wiper.
3) Nothing at all. Not even the nub.

From what I can tell, Posh is entirely style 3. So no wipers anywhere on the bridge.


I've moved on to smaller parts while the paint dries in some areas.

For the Kite Screech, I've added the vertical supports to the front of the dish using railing PE. And I drilled out a hole in the dish for the secondary video camera targeting system to look through.


I believe this is the "eye bowl" guidance system. The instructions are slightly wrong. They appear to indicate that you should glue the dish to the base with a "+" on the front. It should actually be rotated so that the dish has a "x" pattern on the front. I had planned to remove the details in the dish and replace them with a separate rod and PE supports. As it turns out, the design is wrong. There isn't any center rod. The center piece is supposed to come in from the upper left corner, and just hover over the center of the dish, with supports forming the rest of the "x". It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but that's what I did.


While all that is drying, I've moved on to the upper hull. I've added plastic to bulk up the anchor area a little. The plastic will be cut and sanded to blend in with the angles of the original piece under it. And I drilled a hole for the anchor. I didn't get the hole quite where I wanted it, but I'm hoping that it will still be ok.


I'll be working on these areas for a while. Have to maintain that schedule though, so next week I'll try to do the deck guns, and that Posh specific satellite dish on top of the foremast.

Thanks for looking.

Dan.

[JTninja]

Finally got some pictures of the build, ive spent more time on the water than the ship, and im still nowhere with the water


IMGP9884 by JTninja, on Flickr

IMGP9888 by JTninja, on Flickr

[moomoon]

I'm slow but here are a few progress...

Started the painting.
I've decided to build the french torpedo boat Tonkinois, one of the 12 Kaba class destroyers ordered to Japan during WW1 (fall 1916) because french industry was entirely mobilised for the (land) army.

Since 1908 french warships were supposed to be painted blue grey (replaced by light grey in 1929).
I've added kapok splinter protection to the bridge using 0.03mm plastic stripes glued horizontally and then cut vertically (kapok was replaced by wool mattress in 1922 because kapok was too inflamable).

Linoleom area is guessed with portholes position (most of the time there was no linoleum over engine and boilers because of heat).

Bye.

[roy allen]

The builds are really coming on now, i already have a favourite but i'm not saying
My eyes are a bit better now so should be able to restart my build shortly

Roy

[Bob Dedmon]

OK guys, here's the next completed ship for the contest. this is the 1/700 Monssen. This is the waterline of the 2 kit Livermore class DD from Dragon. Its a very nice kit with some fragile parts that created some small issues. I broke both of the side splash guards and had to use the ones for the other kit. The masts are very nice but fragile I replaced them with piano wire and photo etch with some details removed from the plastic. I used Corsair Armada 20 mm in place of the kit parts and used Gold Medal Model photo etch for the rails, radar, and screw guards. I used the kit photo etch for the ladders and bridge parts. I used a mix of paints; ModelMaster deck blue and Navy blue, Floquil Ocean gray, and Polly S Haze gray. I used Water Effects Pacific Blue for the water dry brushed with white, over coated with Mr. Color clear blue then dry brushed again with white for the water.

[Gordon Bjorklund]

Nice job on your Monnsen, Bob. The MS12 mod. paint scheme is a pain to do but it looks cool when finished.

[Thundergrunt]

Hey Everyone.

WoW great builds by everyone, man i have missed being around, well I am back been busy with Military and a 2year old. I have completed my Project in June I will carry on from my last post of the guns and funnels pre weathering I tried to simulate the guns smudge and exahust from stacks. the USS. Heywood Edwards wearing MS32 18D on Shore bombardment of Peleliu in 1944. I am happy with my work considering this is my second ship and first WWII. It is stricly OOB. I got a wild hair and decied to enter it in the SoCal regional in June. Didnt place, but it was expected I am no where near good enough. Anyway here we go. Lots of Pictures and Critiques are greatly appreciated.

And thanks to Rick Davis for the Wonderful reference pictures. I hope I did you proud!!

[Thundergrunt]

Completed with Water I have it weathered too but the flash drowns it out ARRGH!, supposed to simulate slow speed while shooting. Also homemade photobooth.







In the Case

[JTninja]

Great job on the Haywood! Add a little bit of PE and it would be perfect. I plan on doing her and the Robinson when they were at Peleliu together, attacking the barges while the Japanese tried to reinforce the island at night, so this is a good reference

[California Bound]

1/350 Marshal Shaposhnikov

Hi everybody,

Pressed for time this week, so this will be brief.

I'm continuing to work on the forward superstructure. Details were hard to pick out until after the paint was added to the clear plastic, so I didn't plan to try and move the details. I see now that at least two of the ladders are located incorrectly. I've smoothed out the wall here. Almost all details have been removed. From what I can tell, Posh was the last one to have a completely smooth wall. With these details gone, Posh is also much more lightly defended by chaff/flare launchers, having only the two on the bow.


I've started working on the guns. Here is the basic gun, and my progress so far. The rest of the details will be added after the painting. Most pictures show only a single dip in the water line, but I like the look of the double dip. The water line is just a few strands of wire that I twisted together.


The most interesting thing for me this week, was trying to make the custom dish that only Posh seems to have, or at least have in this location. Some pictures seem to show 12 spokes and some show 8. I eventually decided to attempt it in mostly plastic.

I started off with the more intricate looking 12, but decided that due to the higher frame/mesh ratio it would be better to do the 8 spoke design. I started off by gluing the spokes together on top of a paint jar. The thin liquid cement would hold the spokes together but also create an easily breakable bond with the metal lid.

Once that was dry, I used a ball bearing and pressed the spokes into my palm to create a basic curve. Then to increase the curve, I glued the spoke assembly to the ball bearing.(Seen here with the 12 pattern glued down and some of the spokes already cut to length.

As you can see, the 12 spoke is a lot bulkier than the 8 spoke.

I cut some small triangles from the spare landing pad net and curved them on the ball bearing before gluing them to the frame.

Finally, with everything trimmed, I added the last of the details. The result is a dish that is probably 25%-40% too big. However given my own limits, and the limits of my available materials, I've decided to use the dish anyway. That and the fact that the Russian ships all carry some over-sized mast equipment will make it blend right in.


I'll have this done next week. After that, I'll have to do what's left of the rigging because it will be partially blocked by the motor boats.

Thanks for looking,

Dan.

[California Bound]

1/350 Marshal Shaposhnikov

Hi everybody,

I was able to get some extra time this week so I got a lot more done than I thought I could. The entire superstructure assembly is finished except for the second Eye Bowl, which still needs its dish.

Here is one of the finished deck guns. I wanted to attempt to add climbing rungs, but my idea didn't work very well, so I just resorted to adding ladders for all the climbing areas.


And here is the other side of the gun. For some reason, Posh only uses 3 of the four antenna mounts in the area behind this gun. Some others, use all four mounts. Posh doesn't have the delicate looking wire antenna on top of the tower, instead there's a simple cylinder fixture. Also, while some have a railing around this deck, Posh doesn't. The only stars provided in the kit are used on the helicopter so the star on the bridge is from the decals for the Kuznetsov carrier.


This is how the bridge has turned out. It seems weird, but Posh doesn't have any railing around the front cross sword. I guess it's ok to fall off the roof of the bridge, just don't fall onto the hanger deck.

The blue and white shield is a guess on my part. I couldn't see the real one clearly on any of the photos.

The bird and anchors symbol is my first attempt at making my own decals. It's a little over sized, and too dark, but I wanted to be able to at least see some of the details, and printing it on a clear backing, muted the colors a lot.

I can't tell how many of the 8 antenna mounts in this area is used by Posh, so I decided that buzy is better, and used all 8.

Pictures seem to show that the small tower in between the foremast and the kite screech tower, is no longer there. However, it was there in the time frame I'm trying to represent, so I put it on. It will remain empty though, because from what I can tell, Posh never got any electronics equipped on that tower. That's probably why the tower was eventually removed.

Lastly, you can see my slightly over sized communication dish on top of the foremast.


I've gone ahead and finished the rigging. I really wanted to try their "wire cylinder" style rigging, but couldn't come up with anything that was round and that looked delicate enough. So I got all 6 wires that are needed for it, but they are just in straight lines and joined at the center. Then 6 more go from there and join down at the deck area. I've also added some little flags to spice things up a bit and give the ship some character. Although I probably left a few out so they probably aren't correct.


I was worried but it looks like the deadline wont be a problem after all.

Thanks for looking,

Dan.

[cb120]

USS Farenholt (DD-491) 1/350

Actually there were much more remakes and readjustments than I have anticipated. Now I�m finishing the midship house. On the picture the model is still without it. The parts are still not glued on, that�s why not all parts are on their places on the photo.

If you are doing the version of the ship with a quad 1.1-in mount, remove the Mk 51 director on the single 20-mm side (portside)....

Rick, thanks for your good advices! It really helped

[Fletcher]

1/350 USS Spruance Class

I have the main superstructure components assembled, puttied and sanded. They are not assembled to the hull yet, but are simply sitting in place. This is a BIG destroyer. I'm not sure which one I am doing yet, but I have a pretty good idea.

Photoetch is on the way and paint will be going on soon.

spruance_model_1.JPG (71.24 KiB) Viewed 3801 times

Spruance_Model_3.JPG (83.91 KiB) Viewed 3801 times

[California Bound]

1/350 Marshal Shaposhnikov

An update while I have the free time.

I've tried to improve the cranes by combining the boom section of the plastic crane with the PE sides and hollow base.

Both boats are finished. I was able to hollow out the windows on the port boat and fill it with some klear. The starboard boat I had to just paint the windows black.

It changes from time to time, but during this time frame, the two boats each had a different colored lower hull. Port got red and starboard got green.


The star on the bow is again, from the carrier decals.

I was looking forward to using the PE flagstaff, but couldn't find a picture showing both it and lowered safety rails and since I wanted the lowered rails I had to leave off the flagstaff. But that was ok because I could still use the PE jackstaff........ wrong. Unfortunately, at some point I managed to turn the PE jackstaff into a PE curly fry even though it was still on the fret. So since I had to use a metal rod instead, I went ahead and tried to improve the bow a little more by making the base of the jackstaff offset and adding the rope guide ring under it.

As you can see, since the whole area is black, there wasn't any point in drilling out the anchor holes after all.


I had planned to just cut off part of the "8" in order to make the hull number "543". As it turns out, they don't seem to use the same font pattern on every ship. So the "3" on Posh couldn't be made from a modified "8" and it also turned out that the "4" was shaped wrong too. And overall, the entire number was printed too small for Posh anyway. It took a little while but I finally managed to get the right shape and size. Placement varies from ship to ship as well. Posh has it where I put it, but some others of the class have it where I sat the original decal.


For the name on the hull, I was going to attempt to print my own decals. Unfortunately, Posh has it's name printed in white, not yellow, so that idea wouldn't work. Photo's showed that they actually don't have their name flat on the hull, it's on a raised plate. So I came up with a new idea. I found a font pattern I like, and printed the background gray on a piece of blank white cd label. Then cut it out and stuck the whole thing to the hull so it would look like the name was on a raised plate. In order to insure that the background gray would match the hull, I placed the painted hull flat against my scanner and scanned in the gray area in question. As you can see, the gray came out as a perfect match......... Not. So I had to splotch some hull gray on the label, and try to not get it all over the letters.


This is my complete progress so far.


I plan to do the lower hull and attach it to the upper hull before adding the landing pad assembly so that I can deal with the warp in the upper hull more easily.

Thanks for looking,

Dan.

[California Bound]

Hi everybody,

I'm pleased to be able to say that this is the final post for my build. It's all finished.

There's a photo of another ship of the class in Neptune's 1/100 build elsewhere on this site. That photo raises some questions about the bottom of the hull.

1) The kit comes with 4 bladed props. The photo shows a 5 bladed prop. Is the kit wrong, or is the 5 blade an upgrade, and if so, did Posh get that upgrade? I don't know the answer, and since I only have the 4 bladed props, it doesn't really matter. I did try to improve them a little bit by filing down the edges of the blades to make them appear thinner. Filed prop on the left and original on the right.


2) Should there be a concave area at the stern like on Bob Carr's Kirov posted elsewhere on this site as well? It's hard to tell for sure from only one picture, so I'm not going to worry about it.

3) There should be bumps on the bottom of the hull, by the props. I will try to duplicate Neptune's great example. Another first for me, I found some sculpy putty at Wal-Mart. I thought it was more of a specialty item and didn't expect to see it. I ended up making a rough shape in my hand and then refined the shape with some sand paper after it was baked. It still seemed a little rubbery, so I baked it a second time. After that, I just used some super glue and attached all four pieces to the hull.


I painted the hull a satin burgundy color and then masked and used primer and then white for the boot top, and attached the two hull halves together finally. The line looks ok, but could have probably been thinner. I think any shade of red, from plain to almost a black cherry color will work. Their red seems to darken over time.


Props added. I made sure they had clearance with the bumps prior to baking the sculpy.


Now.... onto the finished pictures.











Over all. My only complaint with this kit is the clear helicopter. The windows were hard to locate, and the black plastic of the landing gear didn't respond to glue hardly at all. Other than that, I loved building this ship, parts fit, and instructions were very nice. It makes me want to jump into building Peter the Great right away. Although I will try to resist the urge until after the holidays, (hopefully).

I hope I haven't been posting too much.
Thanks for looking, and I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Dan.

[taskforce48]

With just over a month to go, this build sure is heating up! Outstanding work so far everyone! Posh sure came together quick in the end and very nicely too

Looking forward to everyone else's builds coming to completion.

Matt

[California Bound]

Thanks Matt,

I was surprised how quickly it came together in the end myself as well. I think it was a combination of enjoyment of the build, which kept me from getting burned out, and little things like quickly realizing and abandoning some of my planned things like round rigging and climbing rungs that weren't going to work. Of course staying up late (1 am) and then getting up early (5:30 am) to get as much build time as possible, might have helped too.

Dan.

[D-Boy]

Hi everybody,

I'm pleased to be able to say that this is the final post for my build. It's all finished.

I hope I haven't been posting too much.
Thanks for looking, and I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Dan.

Congrats - great job, so nicely exectuted. The crowded decks of the Soviet/Russian fleet ships always scared the pants off me as a kid, worrying about our naval capacity in comparison. I appreciate your posting so many photos and comments to the forum. I try to learn from every build!

D-Boy

[California Bound]

Thanks D-Boy,

Model wise, the crowded decks aren't too bad when you have a good parts breakdown.

Ship wise, I prefer the crowded look of the mostly modern Russian ships. Most modern ships look too empty, sterile and fragile for my taste.

And of course, to me a warship has to look threatening. An Udaloy closing in would look scary for example. While the LCS Independence at range would mean break out the binoculars and look for bikinis, and up close, just laugh at it.

Dan.

[cb120]

This is the last pictures before painting.
In parallel with the painting will be finished pipes and various small parts.