Since no one has apparently posted about this particular model, I thought I would. Mostly so I can yak about it...and vent when necessary. This is my first paper ship model. I don't have a digital camera, so try to imagine a model built by a first-timer. You know -- poor fits, bent parts...that sort of thing. I bought this kit because I love pre-Dreadnoughts, and because it was cheap. In retrospect, I probably should have paid attention to the fact that it is 1/400 scale. Some of these new skills I'm learning probably would have been easier on a larger model. However, I purposely picked a cheap model because I didn't want to booger a nicer model while progressing along the learning curve.
Anyways, here's what I've accomplished so far, along with a few thoughts on the build. I realize much of what I've done in the way of technique is merely reinventing the wheel, so pardon me if you heard some of this before. Or better, suggest an alternative.
First, the hull skeleton is not a keel-and-bulkhead affair, but a set of built-up rectangles. Easy to build, but virtually impossible to get level, hence the deck looks a little wavy. The sponsons were a nightmare. I got the best result (on the last one of course!) by cutting all the tabs off. Amazingly, the instructions tell you to 'stick' the guns onto the hull sides before gluing the sides to the framework. I quickly learned better after breaking off a few guns. The superstructures look a little lumpy -- surfing around this site has given me some ideas on how to address that next time. I did the main guns by scanning them onto 20# bond and rolling them around dry spaghetti (matched the bore perfectly). I've been working hard at finding suitable materials to turn this into a 'multi-media' project -- the barrels on the quick-firing secondary guns are made from .7mm mechanical pencil leads. Forget trying to pierce the gun mounts for the barrels -- I ended up making the barrels in two pieces (barrel and breech separate). I'm currently working on the boats. The kit ones have been a headache and look terrible. I'm replacing them with carved basswood boats. It takes longer, but looks nicer.
So, that's about it so far. I plan to forge ahead 'til I finish this baby, but after that I'll probably think long and hard about doing another subject from the JSC 1/400 line.
Bye for now,
Anyways, here's what I've accomplished so far, along with a few thoughts on the build. I realize much of what I've done in the way of technique is merely reinventing the wheel, so pardon me if you heard some of this before. Or better, suggest an alternative.
First, the hull skeleton is not a keel-and-bulkhead affair, but a set of built-up rectangles. Easy to build, but virtually impossible to get level, hence the deck looks a little wavy. The sponsons were a nightmare. I got the best result (on the last one of course!) by cutting all the tabs off. Amazingly, the instructions tell you to 'stick' the guns onto the hull sides before gluing the sides to the framework. I quickly learned better after breaking off a few guns. The superstructures look a little lumpy -- surfing around this site has given me some ideas on how to address that next time. I did the main guns by scanning them onto 20# bond and rolling them around dry spaghetti (matched the bore perfectly). I've been working hard at finding suitable materials to turn this into a 'multi-media' project -- the barrels on the quick-firing secondary guns are made from .7mm mechanical pencil leads. Forget trying to pierce the gun mounts for the barrels -- I ended up making the barrels in two pieces (barrel and breech separate). I'm currently working on the boats. The kit ones have been a headache and look terrible. I'm replacing them with carved basswood boats. It takes longer, but looks nicer.
So, that's about it so far. I plan to forge ahead 'til I finish this baby, but after that I'll probably think long and hard about doing another subject from the JSC 1/400 line.
Bye for now,