NORMANDIE in 1/700 scale - a non-grey fleet ship !

[MartinJQuinn]

WOW. Those funnels are incredible. I think I said this before, but it bears repeating. I'm so glad I sold this kit.

[Mr. Church]

Fantastic work. Looking forward to seeing more updates. Normandie was such a beauty, she really was. You are doing her proud there.

[ModelMonkey]

Wow.

[Willie]

Hi there, all Normandie experts,

Something I have always wanted to know, and please excuse my ignorance: What is this section marked between the two arrows, and why is is it projecting outboard, and not straight with the vertical lines of the hull ?

I have seen that this feature is shared by many other older liners.

TIA, and best regards from this side,

Willie.[/size]

[Willie]

Fantastic work. Looking forward to seeing more updates. Normandie was such a beauty, she really was. You are doing her proud there.

You can bet your head !!!!! Simply compare her majestic lines with this UF(loating)O...

...and it is all said.

Nice going,

Willie.[/size]

[JIM BAUMANN]

Good day all and thank you for your comments

@ Marijinn

yep-- red on the funnels....it is one of my rare forays into airbrushing...!

@ Willie ! ref promenade deck boxing out.... its a good question !

alas... I have no definite answer !
but examination of photos shows that,

the outboard projection is usually the Promenade deck, above which is the lifeboat deck.
on some of the ships there was a continuous walkway aroud the vessel--others not.

You are right--it is a common feature of many ships of that type.... but not all !

ie TITANIC class, BREMEN , ILLE de FRANCE, WILHEM GUSTLOFF, NORNMANDIE, QUEEN MARY , QUEEN ELIZABETH , Empress of Britain ( I)

after WW2 , the FRANCE also had that overhanding promenade deck, as had the UNITED STATES and MICHEANGELO / RAFFAELO

but many of contemporaries of the above did not...

for example Mauretania/ LUSITANIA, CARONIA, MAUREANTIA II,

after WW 2 for example .... QUE 2, Canberra , EMPRESS OF BRITAIN (II), none of the UNION CASTLE LINE ships ,



meanwhile

There has been some further progress on the Normandie!

I added the diagonal bracing ( brass)

with square join plate)( paper) inside the aft aft funnel,

using some PE brass 'RIGGING ' as the source

black under-coated with indelible marker,

the result was sufficiently subtle compared to the real thing

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installing the delicate and very fragile railings is quiet a challenge-- the wastage and mis-cut rate is high!

The large staircases aft in particular took some doing-- in total-- !!

to maintain alignment of the railing without looking ' too much '.

in that vein, whilst the centre staircase railings were actually --on the real ship-- two railing side by side

HOWEVER-- on the model that just looked all TOOOOOO dense...
hence the comprise of a single rail fro the overall look

White paint can be a problem colour at best -- as the slightest unevenness shows shadows very obviously!

The juncture' twixt resin and PE was such a conundrum-- filling and sanding in situ being infeasible

( I had also previously tried filling with paint and paring flat with a scalpel blade- that worked OK with an acceptable result
BUT
... the edge demarcation of stair edge/ railing on the PE was not good enough

so I resorted to an old favourite dodge of mine--to cover the join with a homogenising layer of material
in the interests of a sharper 'overall 'appearance.

THIN white decal strip-

-cut into fine strips from a larger size to eliminate the carrier strip edge

I guess the even better way of doing it would be to have COMPLETE shaped decal overlays -- but making the templates thereto
with the stairs installed ( DELICATE !! ) is a bit of an issue

but that would assume thinking ahead and that I had not glued the stairs in place already...

...but... on the next model...

mean while

the overall effect of the demarcation of stair to rail -- once backfilled ith paint ( two thin coats so far-- will add another two coats )

is satisfactorily pleasing to the eye

and the overall look from a " normal " viewing distance

is much more pleasing !

I have started to add an ' impression' of all the surface (!) wiring to the lights--hence the thin copper wire sticking out...!

more soon
JB

[wefalck]

Jim continues to challenge what concerns fine detail ...

[EJFoeth]

Indeed! And that is some very thin PE in that railing too...

[zs180]

The fineness of your work is unsurpassed - those funnels and those railings are unbelievably nice!

[JIM BAUMANN]

Thank you for your encouragement !

slowly but steadily tangible progress is made.

Normandie had VERY large wooden ' taff-rails ' on her railings on the aft decks.
The stern , swimming pool and 2 decks up featured these large wooden rails

The deep cross-section can be gauged in this view

Over a year ago ( ! ) I had made for me some PE in stainless steel of these rails.

I had quite a few versions and duplicates done-- -just as well as it turned out !!

The PE was made directly off the PDF plans and the digital render.;
alas not everything is EXACTLY the right size-

hence the spares were very useful when I ' cut and shut ' two halves to make a whole
or elongated sections to make them fit and work for me

The pool taff rail surround was a bit too narrow hence it was made of of four pieces

the rails on the sides were a tiny bit short-so were spliced together from the spares

Despite being a bit over-scale....the overall effect is not displeasing !

For the sports deck and boat deck--where the rails circular in section and were much smaller-
deft panting of the larger toprail will suffice !

==============================================================================================

Meanwhile; On the Nomandie there was strict segregation of access for first and second class....(!)

as such various areas of the outer decks had wooden barriers -or dividers --these inhibited both access and view

In this view can be detected that the panels in the window sections may have been removable

or could be rotated around a vertical central pivot

The PE supplied with the kit was pretty good in rendition of shape --

formed up of 2 layers of PE so as to have panelling detail on both sides
Alas the PE was possibly based on photos during the build, when indeed they had no inset panels!!

==> but when the ship was commissioned at all times theyhad panels installed as far as I can ascertain
Note in the image that the 'zig zag' seating also had not been fitted with panels yet either ...!

To gain solidity and relief for the panel outlines I used white glue to ' fill' the apertures

The position of the dividers can only be found once the zig zag seating is in place .... !

hey ho hum --onwards we go!


more soon!

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Jim

always precise work a real monk work Jim, I think you know this anecdote but in the contrary case , did you know that a Blackburn Baffin from the Gosport naval air base had "landed" on the Normandie ?
cheers
Nicolas

[Frank Spahr]

Each time I return to this thread and see what has happened, I am utterly stunned and in awe of the skills displayed, and even more of the uncompromising dedication.

Jim, this will be the crown jewel of your model ship fleet!

[Chuck Bauer]

Amen

[USSCYCLOPS]

Incredible! That's one hell of a work you got there Jim. Very looking forward to see the final piece. She really should stay in a maritime museum!

[Dan K]

Magnificent work, Jim. Love the funnels, pool, stairs, railings, all of it. Fantastic attention to detail.

[marijn van gils]

Great work on those railings Jim!
This makes them really look like an integrated part of the liner, instead of some PE bits stuck on it.

How are you going to simulate the water in the pool?

[JIM BAUMANN]

Once again thank you for your kind words !

Marijinn wrote>> How are you going to simulate the water in the pool? <<

well.... the kit contained a neat piece of semi opaque clear -I guess-resin
with a very lightly frosted top.

unless I can think of something MUCH better--I may well use it.
BUT the pool walls and its surround will be receiving rather more work
more thereto another time

meanwhiles;

the zig zag seating-- way back(!) in November 2018 (!) I removed the cast resin zig zag seating
from the cast resin deck



subsequently I replaced that entire deck with a 3D printed version



and also the zig zag seating



which are now painted !

and installed !

what however is noteworthy is that the PE class-divider-screens were not quite perfect,
being a bit too short when the seats were installed in the correct position
hence renewed cutting and adjustments in situ !!

so as to get sharper demarcation between wood and white on this tiny panelling
I used white Decal sheet for the white portions

==> but first had to make some templates in paper

The base of the railings on the zig-zag deck on the real ship had dark mahogany cappings,
I simulated this by laying thin brown wire along the base of the PE rail
(which sits in a neat recess )

The aft wall of the zig-zag deck had an overhanging capping on the outside face
To simulate this I added more wire

To add more detail that CAN be seen by the casual observer-- I added the triangular gussets
to the three ' walls' , one on the bridge roof, one ahead of funnel three and the inside face of the zig zag deck


I cut the triangular gussets of paper ( using the PE fret surround as my cutting mat !! )

they were installed using thinned matt ( enamel) varnish, ( grabs well)
and after adjustment they had thinned matt varnish
washed over them to seal and give additional adhesion.

The installed gussets are seen here on the bridge deck windbreak;

even in 1/700 this is worthwhile , despite being a little bit fiddly ,
but being cut from a tiny paper strip
-one can afford to be a little wasteful..--and only use the perfect triangles!

while up on the bridge deck --I was always displeased with the fwd end of the funnel housing casting

( older image)

but was unable to locate a decent image --
the best I could find was this ;

seems that this structure was not solid--but a kind of egg-crate type of air intake

It was a bit late now (!!) to do much serious re-cutting....

so the best I can do is to 'suggest ' that something is there

I found some suitably spaced PE ( elderly GMM ( stainless steel)
aircraft carrier 1/700 -part of - a radar part )

These were made and attached --I intend later to lightly dry-brush the black areas with grey,
so as to try and dilute the harsh contrasts- to hopefully " imply " it looks like the real thing ....

I then added some thin wire to the surround ( which was a little bit undersized I think anyhow)
to retro-create a curved edge overhang ,

which I then filled with diluted white glue
- three times --to self level

next update I will ( hopefully !) show the results--it it works out!

[wefalck]

Keep going.

[Chuck Bauer]

It is amazing to see your continued commitment to replicating every possible detail that can be found. The ingenuity and care taken is very visible in the stunning results. Each time I check in here I see something astonishing and educational. I can practically hear the music from "Rocky" in the background.

It's nice to know you will actually finish this masterpiece; when it is finished it will be a landmark achievement.

I agree with wefalck: Please "keep going" and keep educating.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Thank you both for your positive thoughts--I need them !!

small steps at at various positions;

following on from the last image posted;

The wire surround-with-white-glue worked out quite well

the ' air-intakes' still need a bit more attention
-lesson learnt-- ==> should have noticed and done something about it EARLIER !!!

==================================================================

meanwhile-- I had previously noted that the aftermost 3 x winch platforms were different from the remaining fwd ones,

having a grating platform over the drums

from above

and from the side ( I will add the-still-missing side hand rails to the edge of the grating much later in the build-very exposed and vulnerable! )

the arrowed cut away railings gave me a few heart stopping moments--as I needed to cut away the railings- in situ..!

but in the end it was OK ....

I made the platforms of old1/700 PE WEM Askold Torpedo net shelving

cut and painted- 12 needed--but cut lost extra -with numerous spares

these were placed on the drums using matt varnish as the adhesive

=====================================================================================


The sloping steps from the first class section ahead of the zig zag steps

had a curved, gently sloping handrail,==> to replicate this gentle incline was tricky

usual stairways are around 45 deg ,-- these are nearer 10 deg

Dedicated PE would have been the way ahead ( I should have planned for this as well I reckon...! )

The real thing had 3 horizontals, I was unable to successfully drag the delicate PE rail out without distotion or destruction,

suffering non-stop endless repeated failures in my attempts to do so....

made me resort to using some matching railing with 2 horizontals to try and get an effect

( and this was hard enough!!! )

With the bottom rail cut away to leave just the naked stanchions,
this was gently curved to follow the curvature of teh steps

Alas the ( un-natural ) metal distortions can be readily seen in close-up !!!

and yet -- despite all the above--- once installed on the model it looks acceptable I think

==========================================================================================

Lastly for this up-date --to make me feel that "we " are moving forward towards completion of this behemoth build!

--I installed the last missing sections of the boat deck railing
and added the triangular gussets ( just visible in some images )

-- The class divider barriers acted much like a Barn-door at 30 knots, the air resistance must have been considerable !
So they required some supportive bracing--on the aft face only

================================================================================

more soon--

I look forward- albeit with quite some degree of trepidation I have to admit--to trying to install the lifeboats -evenly an squarely in every plane...

wish me luck!