Maly Modelarz 1:300 Vittorio Veneto

Underside complete

Finished all the rudder and prop assemblies. I didn't like the props included with this kit so I scavenged some scanned props from a Maly Modelarz USS Essex. I liked them much better. Painted with acrylic gold to get that classic "prop look" and fitted to styrene rods for shafts.

This is all temporarily fit for now just to get allignment right. I'm now going to remove all the shafts and props and give the underside of the hull a couple coats of the dark red acrylic, and then re-install all these assemblies permanently.

Thanks for looking in.





 
Underside Finished, Up to deckside!

Masked, painted with two coats of dark red acrylic, and re-taped and painted black water line....

The most time consuming part (IMHO) is over now. Now on to the superstructure and funnels... Which I've already started with the lowest level of the main superstructure amidships.... Now I'm really going to make some progress.

I'm very pleased with how the prop and rudder assemblies turned out, and the paint job is fairly good too.

More to come soon. Thanks for looking in.





 
Upper Works coming into focus

Getting a good foothold into the deck level structures. Along with a lot of vents and grills, and stairs to come soon. Funnels will be next up.

The construction of the deckside elements has gone smoothly thus far. Parts and components are of good design and easy to construct.

Thanks for looking in, more to come in a couple days.



 
Really great job on the big red parts! You should be proud of how the rudder and prop fairlings came out, they look superb.

I'm really looking forward to your further updates showing your work on the business side of the ship, the main and upper decks. Lots of little stuff to contend with, huh?:grin:

Keep at her, she's filling out very nicely, mate.

Cheers!
Jim
 
Thanks Jim. Yeah I spent what seemed like an eternity under the water line, so I was very happy to get back topside. I was very pleased with how the rudder and prop assemblies came out. They look vastly better than my last MM model (Rodney).

Yeah the tedious nature of the small stuff will be a welcome labor compared to how long I toiled with the hull. :-D

Thanks!
 
Well, some progress to report. One (forward) funnel is in place. Both AA platforms amidships and some ships ladders up from the main deck to the second deck.

Funnel construction was good, but the base didn't seem to be sized right. So I had to add a mid-section to get the proper fit over the substructure. Turned out well though.

Second (aft) funnel is up next. The "fix" should be about the same for it. Work rolls on.



 
Funnels finished!

Well, I've hit a major roadblock on Tennessee so I've shifted more efforts into the Vittorio Veneto...

All funnels finished with platforms and WEM photo etched handrails. I've started work on the superstructure on the boat deck behind the funnels. This is about one-half of the full structure which supports the after mast and twin boat deck booms.

More to come soon.



 
Vittorio Veneto knuckles

Did you have any trouble with the side knuckles?

Do you mind telling me how Maly Modelarz engineered these? One of these days I will attempt a Vittorio Veneto (waterline).
 
Gregory, yes these gave me a bit of a problem. The port side looks better than the starboard side. I think this was the only thing about the hull that was difficult.

The recess is not deep enough into the hull, so they appear to be flat from straight ahead. But if you look at them down the length, you can see the depth a little better.

A better experienced modeler than myself would probably modify the hull frames to make a bit more room for these and a better overall appearance.

I hope that helps... I think it's a good quality model for an older MM.
 
Vv

Hi Elb

Looks impressive as usual liked the big pics as well Those ladders look good the rails look good but they never seem to end up looking right in the corners. On Norfolk I seem to be having to design a set of rails for everything above the main deck sort of swings and roundabouts either the rails look good or you are soldering bits until Christmas.

looking forward to the next pics as ever.

regards

barry
 
Thanks Barry. Yeah, I know what you mean about the rails. In reality there will always be a post at the corners or the apex of a radius but with these etched rails you never can get the posts to work out on the spacing.

They still look fairly good though. The only solution is like you said working til Christmas to get each one right. Who has that kind of time?
 
Hi, eibwarrior!:)

I think the rails came out very well, what with all those curves and the like.
You and bazzer don't give yourselves enough credit on such a difficult job of making and installing the railing, you both have done quite well, actually.

You are right, working with pre-made railing is difficult in that the stanchion spacing sometimes is off, unless you find a set that has various spacings available, which I have not been fortunate enough to find. BTW, what is the link/info for the WEM photo etched railings you used, I'm not sure I am familiar with that brand.

Like bazzer said, you could do them yourself using solder, etc., but that's a very tedious and difficult undertaking, at least for someone like me that doesn't have the skill to use solder. I have yet to come close to having the skill bazzer has in soldering like that, so I normally resort to glue stiffened thread.

Lately I've tried using threads of different thickness, thicker for the stanchion than the railing, but it's still a tedious process to get them set up. Someday I will find the patience to measure things out right before setting up the jigs so they at least fit on the hull in the right places...but, as you say, time is precious enough.

On top of it all, I find myself guesstimating how the railing should go on the ship since I rarely find any photos or diagrams of the actual model I'm working on to show me the real deal. On most merchant ships, like the ones I like to build, it's not as bad as I am more or less familiar with the way it should be, even if I don't have the info at hand for a particular ship; but looking at these warships I wonder how you all figure out where the railings should run, where it breaks, bends, ends, etc., without some blueprints or detailed photos. I really admire the way you guys tackle such details and make them look so good.

As always, I look forward to more updated photos when you can!

Cheers!
Jim
 
Thanks for the very kind comments Jim... I love good fitting, accurate rails. I think they really make the ship complete. I've come a long way with my photo-etch skills and I've yet to undertake any scratch-build rails yet, but once I do a larger scale that day will come soon enough. Barry's work is inspiring and educational. One day I'm going to tackle that GPM Missouri, so I'll need every trick I can gather. 8)

I've see some very good techniques for scratch building rail. Someone posted a link in the forum not long ago showing the jig and techniques.. Very helpful.

For my photoetch, I try to buy most of my rails from White Ensign Models. They're mostly intended for plastic and resin ships, but they have some sets in scales that can be applicable for some card models. Here's a link to their website and catalog: http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/

Here's their photoetch items: http://www.whiteensignmodels.com/brochure/wem_photo-etch.htm

I like the workability and quality of WEM photoetch. It's pricey and takes a little while to hitch-hike over the "pond" but it's well worth it. Plus, they're great folks to deal with. They are very thoughtfull business people.

Take care Jim.
 
Aft mast and superstructure complete, along with the boat deck booms. Boy, those were fiddly little items to attach. I used styrene round for the boom and masts pieces and some silk flytying thread for all lines and rigging.

The hooks on each boom are made from bent metal wire and painted flat black.

Along with this major part, I've started adding a lot of deck elements (cable reels, anchor chain reels, etc.) There's a lot of these elements to add before moving on to the next significant step which appears to be the float plane catapult.

Thanks for checking in.







 
Tedious, Tedious work

Well, when not pulling my hair out on the Tennessee, I'm building the dozens and dozens of deck elements for the Veneto.

I've tackled all the cable reels, hatches, and vents. I'll be advancing to the plane catapult, anchors and other deck related items next.

It's pretty scary... It's kinda looking like a ship now...





 
Jim Krauzlis said:
Hi, eibwarrior!:)
Like bazzer said, you could do them yourself using solder, etc., but that's a very tedious and difficult undertaking, at least for someone like me that
Click to expand...

Jim, have you ever used suture wire? That stuff is great for really thin, straight uses. It's .005"dia and if you drop a hunk of it on a flat surface and roll it back and forth under a metal ruler, it comes out dead straight. CA works well with it.

Cheers --- Larry
 
Finally, some progress to show...

It's been some time, but I finally have some progress to show on V.V. I've been deeply involved in Tennessee lately and just simply muddling with V.V. when I've had some time.

I've finished the deck element phase. Photos below show the anchors at the forcastle and the plane catapult at the stern. That completes the minor deck items.

I've started work on the fore-superstructure and navigation bridge. Things are picking back up again and the build is regaining some enjoyment. Thanks for checking in, more updates in a few days.





 
More work complete on the towering superstructure. I didn't realize, even though I have books and photos, that V.V.'s forward structure was so towering. I'm still one more level away from the very top. It almost resembles some of the pagoda type structures on the IJN battleships.

I'm adding handrails behind each level as I go. The plaform (pie shaped) aft of the main structure is a support to the main mast which will come soon.

Things are moving along quite nicely. I'm hitting the half-way mark on this build right about now...

Thanks for taking a look.



 
Superstructure just about complete. I've got a few small elements to add, but it's pretty much finished.

I'm not very pleased with the ring-shaped array that is just above the navigation bridge and out on the small platform to itself. I built this from scratch based on photos of the Veneto, this was not in the kit. I think it's very out of scale and out of place. Deffinitely going to rework that.

I'll be starting the main mast next as I have all the shields and handrails on the superstructure walkways and platforms now.

I just received some 16 links-per inch weathered chain from one of my favorite model train suppliers. I'll be adding this to the forcastle and the anchors which are already in place. I'll get some photos up of that soon.



 
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