1/350 Trumpeter SMS Viribus Unitis

[Sszabi]

Hello! First of all, Happy New Year!

Wefalck! Yes, I know the large model, I sometimes use it as a reference, but this particular area is not clear. The one in the Hamburg museum shows the linoleum, but on other models the color is dark gray, like on the parts covered with steel....

SG1, Marijn thank you guys!

Zs180! I was inclined to your solution, I replaced the painted small plates with black stickers. The problem is that this way there are no divisions on the plates, I can't paint over the black sticker nicely...

I've only been progressing with small things lately. And some serious shortcomings have come to light, e.g. in the details of the superstructure.

The series of shortcomings started to look suspicious when I looked at the drawings and discovered that there were 6 gangways in the middle of the ship that were missing on the model. I quickly replaced these in the right places, and then based on the blueprint I added 6 controllers of the winches. I couldn't find a photo of these, I hope the drawing is authentic.

There were fixing chains under the turrets based on the blueprint and a few photos. The fasteners for these chains can still be seen on the barbettes at the end of the war, but the chains were probably abandoned. I replaced this with black Trumpeter chain, soaked in superglue. I did it this way because after gluing the turrets I wouldn't have access to them (since they aren't ready yet) and I had to resort to this later if I wanted to fix them.

A few details left...

The funnels were also missing 3 pipes, 1 each from the back of the funnels, and a characteristic piece from the side of the 1st funnel. The top of this was stretched out, so I bent a strip of copper sheet, then to make the back part rounded, I glued a plastic strip behind it, which I sanded down. After painting, it's now hollow.

This enclosed part was missing from the side of the rear superstructure from the kit. I have no idea what it's for, but it's there on the drawings and you can see it clearly in the photos. So I filed it out of copper sheets and painted it. I also replaced the chain pulley used to move the large cowl vent there.

Then I looked at the pictures until I noticed that several of the boat stands had supports. I replaced these with stretched sprue.

[wefalck]

The crank under the ventilator is connected to it via a worm-gear that works on a worm-wheel running around the ventilator shaft. With this arrangement the ventilator can be turned into the wind for maximum effect. I suppose it feeds the boiler-room?

[Joelle]

I'm impressed by the meticulous precision with which you created this wonderful model. The details are fantastic.
And to get back to the weathering effects you mentioned in my build report: I really don't think your model looks too clean.
It's beautifully weathered and I like it very much.

[EJFoeth]

I second that, your build is excellent and a pleasure to watch evolve

[Sszabi]

Joelle, EJFoeth, thank you for the encouraging words!

Wefalck!
According to the drawings, the fan was connected directly to the turbine room.

Unfortunately, I made almost no progress this week, I didn't feel like it, and I was busy with other things. However, yesterday I finally received the reordered stickers with which I could replace the missing dive numbers.

I couldn't find a better alternative, these are also larger than they should be, but I tried to adjust their position according to the original. The thing was tricky on the bow of the ship because the stickers gave numbers below each other. That's why I had to cut them out one by one... so, like in reality, I started with 98, then 96, 94, etc.

Since it will sit on a water base, I didn't stick them all on, because it's unnecessary.

The bigger problem is that the nameplate is just plain black, not a bronze-like color... I couldn't find a solution to fix it, I can't print it, there's no aftermarket one, so I resigned myself to it...

The entire hull now received a matte varnish, for which I used VMS varnish and thinner

[wefalck]

Does the ventilator have lamellae to close it? Looking closer at the model, it seems that a chain is running to a sprocket at the hand-crank. This could operate a kind of jalousie in front of the ventilator. A not uncommon arrangement to close it, when the boiler are not used.

[SG1]

"The bigger problem is that the nameplate is just plain black, not a bronze-like color... I couldn't find a solution to fix it, I can't print it, there's no aftermarket one"

With no other options left an alternative would be retouching the decal to some extent with bronze painting. The writing seems too small to be retouched, anyway. You would probably end-up worsening things. Keeping this nameplate version is abolutely acceptable to me. As for the rest of the build: it's a true masterpiece, rich with minute details, perfectly painted and weathered. Nothing's overdone or underdone. Just perfect, and a pleasure to see.

[SG1]

The bigger problem is that the nameplate is just plain black, not a bronze-like color... I couldn't find a solution to fix it, I can't print it, there's no aftermarket one

With no other options left an alternative would be retouching the decal to some extent with bronze painting. The writing seems too small to be retouched, anyway. You would probably end-up worsening things. Keeping this nameplate version is abolutely acceptable to me. As for the rest of the build: it's a true masterpiece, rich with minute details, perfectly painted and weathered. Nothing's overdone or underdone. Just perfect, and a pleasure to see.

[Mr. Church]

I really love this build. So much attention to detail.

[Sszabi]

Thanks guys!

Today I finished my favorite boat, at first I thought I would display next to the ship while it was underway, but it was in place in many pictures, so it will be on the deck. I painted the boats with the base color in the summer. Then, after gluing the upper and lower parts together, I glued mooring bollards to the deck from a cut ladder etching. I borrowed the steering wheel from a leftover 1/700 Titanic photo etching.

Based on the drawings, the wheelhouse and the rudder were connected by wire on both sides. I imitated this with Uschi rigging.

Looking at the pictures, I noticed that the bows of the boats had 1-1 red-white-red markings on both sides. I didn't have a better idea for this, I drew a little white over 1-1 red dot of paint with a thin brush. Overall not so bad.

Finally, I placed one pair paddel on top of the superstructure. According to the book, they were there as a spare, but I couldn't find a photo of them.

[MartinJQuinn]

Brilliant work. Great attention to details!

[Joelle]

What a fantastic little gem!

[Sszabi]

Thanks guys , I tried to deal with the boats this week too, just like before, photos and drawings helped here. The only thing that may not have been in this form on Viribus Unitis in 1912 is the 8.5 t motorboat.

The boat in the photo is painted light gray, and the superstructure was covered at the bow. However, in the drawings it looks similar to the smaller 5 t boat, which could be equipped with a tarpaulin. I couldn't find a photo from 1912-13 where it is clearly visible, or it is covered with canvas...
I borrowed the flag from a 1/700 Combrig flag set, which also contains several types of K.u.K. flags, it suits the purpose perfectly here. The plan is, that this motorboat is sailing near the ship, so I don't use the properrel and the rudder parts below the waterline. The white canvas parts are just painted, I try to add little shadows by grey paint lines, which simulate creases. The rolled canvas above the openings is made of small pieces of sealant that I notched as if it were folded.

The smaller ones are mostly detailed by the Eduard set parts.

[wefalck]

These guys are tiny ...

[Sszabi]

Hello!
Over the weekend I started installing the rods holding the torpedo protection net. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that this should be done first (because once the masts are up, it could be quite an unpleasant situation if the ship capsizes in my hands...). The portside is almost finished. I haven't installed the wires leading up from the pulleys yet, as I will only do this after the railings are installed. There are still a few places where I'm not sure where these ropes go, but I'll collect more data.

[Sszabi]

Hello

Some people may be bored, but unfortunately this construction is still not over... I'm starting to worry that I won't make it to the Mosonshow...

The wire system connected of the torpedo net system on the side of the ship is ready (i.e., due to the lack of railings, the vertical branches are not yet there).

I've been trying to fully install the conning tower rigging for a few days now. The problem is that the drawings are not the same, plus there are as many solutions for attaching them as there are photos. On Some pics look similar to the drawings, some are lowered onto the deck on the main fixing trestle instead of the conning tower railing, in some places the whole thing is completely stratch, in some places it sags... So I decided that all my ropes will be stratch, and I'll use Prasky's drawing as a basis.
So I took it and replaced the pulleys with 1/700 scale Japanese porthole covers, to which I glued Uschi elastic rigging one by one. I still couldn't figure out how to make it look like ropes were attached to the railing...

Then I found a solution for the torpedo protection net. I bought cheap copper net from Temun, rolled it up as best I could, and pressed it into AK burnishing liquid. Then, since it wasn't perfect, I went over it with black, but it's still a bit of a mess, and needs to be fixed. I still need the fasteners, and some wheatring and dry brushing on the net. The whole thing is exactly like in the photos, not a very regular "tube-like", but it has a pressed, gathered effect, and it waves a bit.

That's all the fun for now

[SG1]

Some people may be bored, but unfortunately this construction is still not over...

you're joking! such a pleasure to follow and learn from it. it's highly inspirational Hell of a rigging by the way!

I'm starting to worry that I won't make it to the Mosonshow...

Hope you get the model done in time for the show! i might attend

[Sszabi]

Thanks SG1! Time is short, but maybe....

The result of the week: the bridge is finally in place

And a few of the boats...

Then one of the big cranes was finished. In addition to the basic Eduard PE set, I also added other details to these with the help of photos (which are also shown in the drawings). I don't know their functions, but thin chains in the shape of an "A" are visible on the crane arm, and also on the back of the crane itself. Maybe they were used to clamp the cables, or something like that. For this, I borrowed a newly acquired NNT 1/700 Zrínyi etching, which imitates anchor chains. Plus, I shaped these metal frames from thin soldering tin. This was easy to cut, which is why I chose this.

Then some extras that I really liked, but maybe this wasn't the case in the early years: the searchlights were numbered. If they were on the ship at that time, if not, I put them on.

I actually only have a clear picture of the lights on the cranes, not the ones on the bridge, but I put numbers on them too. It seemed logical to me that "1" and "2" were the first two, followed by "3" and "4" between the two chimneys, and "5" and "6" were the ones on the cranes. That's my theory...

[MartinJQuinn]

I love the details you are adding. They make an already beautiful model pop even more.

[Sszabi]

Thank you, but it seems that some of the details were left out, after the post I realized that for example the ladders were still missing from the cranes, but now they are completely finished, they just need to be put in their places.

Over the weekend, after much suffering, most of the rigging was also put on the rear mast. Now it is 85% finished, there would still be signal lights at the back and their wires, plus the radio antenna between the two masts, which would be worth a lot of work. However, the flag was also put on.

I placed a few sailors, according to my plans there will be about 400 in total, I will put as many as possible on it.