Building SMS Vulkan (sub-rescue ship )and its tugs in 1/350

[JIM BAUMANN]

The pre-Christmas ( work 1:1) rush has curtailed my model-making a little...

but I have managed to snatch a few moments here and there...!

The funnels ( slightly over 27 mm high) were made of copper tubing, chamfered off to angle .

These were furnished with fine wire rings that were a snug fit on the funnel tube

( surprisingly fiddly to make ! )


So as to enhance the funnel mouth rim flare as well as the rings which will take the funnel stays.

from the x 2 only grainy images of RETTER --it was hard to discern the shape of the cowl vents

the Builders model suggest a large round cowl with flared mouth

I had some suitable to use/ modify resin cowl vents--( that saved some time )
I ground out the mouths to get more depth, and drilled the vertical shaft as well

To achieve the impression of a flared mouth and the lip thereto I added some rings of wire
These were then backfilled with very much thinned white glue which once dries created the ' flare ' of the cowl

The good news is that I have also managed to paint all the superstructure parts, the funnel and the vents
so now begins the more amusing and engaging part

==> actually building the model!!

JIM B

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Jim,

You seem to gain finesse each model you make! Those funnel rings... I would have been happy already with just plastic tubes with indications of a tiny strip of Plastruct 0.3mm wire wound around it...

Yours look perfect in the extreme!

[marijn van gils]

+1! Incredibly sharp work!

I'm not surprised those rings were fiddly to make and install...

[JIM BAUMANN]

Christmas time... mistletoe toe and wine.....

( and plenty of it! )

...and a wee bit of modelmaking
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....after creating some dull shaped small block parts that are fundamentally not enjoyable to make ;

bah humbug!

==> the rather more amusing stage came - at last --with some paint and partial assembly

There is alas--a gap in photos as the pace of assembly overtook camera time.
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The large engine room skylight block had 8 x opening lids --

these were made by cutting slivers of brass 3 thou strip to the correct lengths,

forming a spiral of thin wire around a small drill shank to make the porthole surrounds
The portholes were attached to the lids with thinned matt varnish before sealing with paint.

The accurate spacing of the lids on the skylight block was obtained ( by eye !) by applying strips of back ( for contrast) self-adhesive tape so as
visually gain even spacing--
then a light pencils line as drawn alongside the tape to give reference for placing the lids-- open and closed

The main superstructure block was united with its overhanging decking ,
painted, drilled for portholes and lightly weathered.

'RETTER at this stage of her service life was already 35 years old...!)

>>> Photography gap <<<<

Once the various items of the superstructure had been positioned on the main deck

the detailing began as per images below

Rather a lot of time was expended on making a feasible simulation of the steam
windlass-winch situated at the fwd face of the of the mast

(based on the partially obscured side view on the builders model..)

I used a piece of PE scrap as the baseplate, the windlass side upright cheeks were cut / filed from brass strip
the waisted drums were simulated by using small diameter
brass tube and wire ringlets to give impression of both hollow and flare of winch drums.

==< next project will be the fwd anchor windlass -the nose of which will be below the small whale-back foredeck

Happy New Year in 48 hours!

JB

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Jim,

ooh Mjammie! Very nice to see this tug taking shape. For de connoiseurs it is really an 1885 German tug, the Schelde being 20 years younger and from Dutch design. The atmosphere of the two is really different.

Maarten

[MartinJQuinn]

Fantastic work Jim. The winch is a little model unto itself!

[wefalck]

What else can I say:

[SG1]

Excellent Work Mr Baumann! the winch is superb and the metallic deck outstanding: great idea to use that wrapping.

Questions:
- Did you separate the aluminium layer of the wrapping from the paper or just glued the ensamble on the deck?
- White glue technique for the window glasses of the wheelhouse? Whatever the technique, what an amazing result you achieved!

On standby for new updates. Happy new year in a handful of hours,

SG

[marijn van gils]

Beautiful!!!

That deck texture is coming out great too with some paint.

[Iceman 29]

Molecular modelling, no more, no less!

This windlass is a thing of beauty, bravo Jim!

[JIM BAUMANN]

Thank you Gents!
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@ SG1

>> Did you separate the aluminium layer of the wrapping from the paper or just glued the ensemble on the deck? <<
no splitting the paper from the very very thin foil --it is quite fragile.
Next time I would glue the ' butter-paper' to a stiffish card or styrene deck first before install to ship model rather than direct glue to the deck ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................


- White glue technique for the window glasses of the wheelhouse? Whatever the technique, what an amazing result you achieved!


yes-- thinned 50/50 white glue-- I feel that completely clear windows 350 smaller than the real thing can look a bit gawky!
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

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meanwhile-- a couple of interim progress shots

the Fwd steam anchor windlass...

I have only an oblique photo of it on the builders model -- but enough to --sort of--determine its type--
horizontal twin cylinders aft of the windlass--

==>The 2 x photos of the real ship allow no information to be gleaned from....


after a lot of checking images of real steam winches this is sort of what I think it would have looked like
It is made of pieces of nickel silver sheet and brass etc cut and filed to shape.
and took --relatively-- a stupid amount of time !
still to add--in situ on the ship model-- reversing lever on cylinders and clutch / brakes

more progress shortly!

JIM B

[marijn van gils]

[Iceman 29]

Nice windlass!

[EJFoeth]

--

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

I've neglected MW for too long... this is stunning work Jim!

Yeah, EJ! Welcome back... Nice things happening here on scratch building in various scales.

[JIM BAUMANN]

despite seeming radio silence,,... there has been some progress!

The fwd anchor windlass has been installed , the stairs to bridge wings have been made and fitted,
as well as the fiddly stair handrails -

the tricky rails on the curved bridge and bridge wings have been installed in multiple small pieces to get the
near correct spacings

RETTER appears to have carried canvas dodgers on the bridge rails in the 2 x images I have (!)

I in-filled the rails where desired with white glue (50/50 thinned with distilled water)
which has hitherto always served me well--

The ships boats had a platform and and a secondary platform aft visible in photos but not on the builders model

The bridge supports are braced fwd and aft additionally to the cross-brace structure

Interesting how the davits are mounted asymmetrically to the boats position;

duly copied!

more images and progress shortly!�

JB

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Oh Jim, this tug RETTER (meaning literally 'saviour') is really awesome!

The yard model in the Bremerhaven storage is beautiful, about ten times as large as yours, but it's not alive, as it was never meant to look as in real life. But yours really does! It will look marvellous eventually in the dio. I really envisage the crew, in calm weather next to Vulkan, preparing mischief making their tow going down intentionally, making it look like an accident...

[JIM BAUMANN]

Ahoi all !

some further progress in between 1: 1 scale works...

next thing to tackle was the ships boats... I started carving some small hulls of hardwood--as the boats had covers on

But after the third one pinged out of my hands...
and two of them vanished in the untidy malaise that is my workshop and floor.....

I impatiently sought a short-cut...
( most short-cuts --unless on a PC ... usually are not...

but anyhow a suitable double-ender starting point I found in an already cannibalised Imai saiiing ship kit
but it needed a lot more hollow sheerline, be shorter and a bit narrower, more rake aft and a rounded forefoot with a finer entry !

( removing the overscale canvas cover tie-downs removed 0.5 mm each side !)

The real thing had a distinctive step in the coverline

which I replicated by gluing on a piece of wire

and then adding the canvas in the form of white glue

after a lot of painting and paring away pencil and paint with a blade

I added rudders made of paper

the end result ' looked ' OK

as a distraction from painting a re-painting the boats ...

I fine-tuned the install of the fwd anchor windlass

and then busied myself with the making of the two sets of towing hooks
made up of scraps of brass and other metal to resemble the real thing as per builders model

my interpretation thereof

after paint they looked more substantial !

The boat rack legs had distinctive gussets at their intersection to the coaming

these were made of paper --painted they looked good

last effort of that session was to make the navigation light boxes -a hybrid of stainless steel and paper

On the real thing they were quite substantial

but rather smaller in 1/350

more soon!

JB

[wefalck]

Struggling with tiny parts at twice the scale, I can really appreciate your results !

[SG1]

Outstanding! Excellent work with the boats, small masterpieces. The towing hooks left me speechless. The tug is getting more and more beautiful, detailed and awesome-painted. Veery realistic!