DocRob

Some very nice extra work, which paid really off. Cheers Rob

Scalemates 106310-24-instructions.pdf (scalemates.com)

Very nice and unusual plane, well rendered. By the way, welcome to LSM. Cheers Rob

Nice save Martin, the closed canopy will look good and doesn't disturb the sleek shape. I had a very similar prob with an Eduard boxing of a Su-27 UB. The supplied canopy had a crack and I ordered a vac replacement which was scratched. I got a second intact vac canopy and as we are speaking about, I think the box contained an Ukrainian decal option. Cheers Rob

Nice build and also nicely photographed with the background. Cheers Rob

Decorations are on, at least preliminary. I attached them, using tiny nails into the pre drilled holes to align in different locations. Fit is perfect in all directions, except one cut at the bow, but that's by design. I'm not sure, if I use PVA or CA for the decorations, as it's easy to soil the painted parts. I think, I will glue, while pinned, using only the distance, the nail provides for putting the glue on. This way, I have a minimized risk of smears. I will work from the stern forward to the bow poco a poco. I love the way, Chris designed the decorations layer wise, as there will be PE-window frames and PE decorations added onto the wooden parts. I searched the whole box for some clear acetate for the windows and found none. Not sure, if I will make them myself or leave them out. Cheers Rob

Like every build, there are some mishaps taking place. When I narrowed the cabin front on the disc sander, I managed to break the decorations part. Luckily I found all the pieces and was able to glue them together on a glass plate, phew. While test fitting, I found out, that the gunwales for the starboard side doesn't fit with my bulwark, the radius was too tight. I turned the DoK upside down and marked the correct contour with a pencil on a sheet of paper. After soaking the gunwale part, I clamped it down, the shape forced to fit the paper and let it dry overnight. Now it fits perfectly. At last, something, I'm used to, masking. I masked off the areas on top, which will be painted bright red. An old foam insert from a laptop packet, was cut to fit, as a soft cradle for the painting jobs. That's where I am now, the rims are painted red as well as the stern and I painted the inside of the gun ports red, which was quite nerve tangling. I used a cotton swab soaked with Tamiya XF flat red color to do this. In the next step, I will add the rail patterns to the hull, where I brush painted the window framing with Tamiya XF flat black and the gun ports in red color. Cheers Rob

Ha ha, the maritime terminology is a language in it's own. I read Hornblower and others, when I was young, so I'm a bit accustomed to the slang. To tell progress differently would not be very helpful with descriptions like 'the thing, made from wood, which is protruding from the upper front of the fuselage, which carries the ships breaking system' , so cathead is a bit shorter. As English is not my mother tongue, it also helps me using the manual for vocabulary Cheers Rob

Thanks a lot, she starts to look like a yacht for a Duchess. Cheers Rob

Thank you Bill, not into my comfort zone either, but I learn a lot and I have more fun, than with some plastic builds. Wood is very interesting to work with, especially if it's well selected wood for the case. Another reason for building wooden ships in my case is, this could possibly be the first model displayed in the living area with the approval of my wife. Cheers Rob

First color is on and I like the result. I used Tesa and Tamiya Kabuki, which adhered not very good onto the varnish, but good enough, that I ended up without color bleeding. I used Tamiya XF-flat blue and the color looks good to my eye. I brush painted two coats with a wide brush and the color dried absolutely flat and even. Cheers Rob

I couldn't leave the first planks as they were and started careful sanding in the morning, after I checked the thickness of the plank with a sharp blade pushed between two planks in these spots. There is always the risk of sanding through the planks and that would be horror. Now I'm satisfied with the planks above the waterline and rubbed on another coat of Wipe on Poly and a layer extra for the lighter bulwarks. I feel, that the progress over the next steps will be slow, as there is bending varnishing and painting involved, each needing time to dry. I try to be organized through these steps, but first, I wanted to make a color check. I used six different colors onto varnished planks and bulwark material, as it would be on the hull, except, that I didn't sand the test parts to a perfect surface. Both pictures show the same, except for the planks which are painted on both sides with different colors. At least on wood I'm not amazed by the Tamiya LP-colors, which are very translucent, besides the red. I will use Tamiya's XF range. The blue and red will be brush painted, the white for under the waterline will be airbrushed. Planks with XF-colors Planks with LP-colors. Cheers Rob

Wow, that's a stunning camo. Nice work on that weird Italian scheme. It hides the contours for sure. Cheers Rob

As Im preparing the first coat of Wipe on Poly, for protection against color bleeding in the next steps, I sanded the bulwarks upper sides level and used tiny files of different shapes to smooth the gunports, upper bulwark ornaments and worked on the openings for the catheads. Then I applied a first coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly with a cloth. It's gloss varnish, but with a very thin coat there is no gloss, luckily. The first plank under the bulwarks show some discoloration and I don't know why. All was sanded, and there was no filler or other stuff used, nor were there residues of CA left. Maybe it's the wood itself, but I haven't noticed before. Tomorrow after drying, I will decide, If I sand again, or if I will leave it as is. The wood got a nice and rich color with the WoP on and the deck looks better too. Slightly irritating is the color discrepancy between the pre fab bulwarks and the planks, which both are made from pear wood. I may give the lighter parts another swipe and with all the color and decoration, it will look good, hopefully. Right in time, I got some urgently needed supplies today. I plan to use flat Tamiya LP colors, white, blue and red and have to try which gold color is usable for spraying and brush painting. Chris recommends Vallejo Liquid Gold colors. I heard, they are not easy to work with but have a nice shine. The brushes are synthetic, which is also recommended for the Vallejo colors. On the right is the formidable Colle 21 CA, which worked very good for my second planking job. Cheers Rob

Count the supplied cylinders (there are three types, if I remember right), if it's the Brassin engine. After one other member here built one, I looked into my box and found some cylinders missing. I contacted Eduard and got spares, luckily. Cheers Rob

Your IAR-81 is a beauty and I'm right with Gaz, the FW-engine is to beautifully rendered to be hidden. Is there no way to only loosely attach the cowlings? I know, it's often a delicate area, but I managed it once with a Hellcat. Cheers Rob

Nice Haul, there is even a classic cocktail named after this gun, the 'French 75' Cheers Rob

Yesterday, I decided, my selfmade filler wasn't good enough, so I slapped on some Ronseal wood filler below the waterline to make her ugly again. This was then sanded smooth with 320 grit. After cleaning of the dust with a vacuum cleaner, I used a damp cloth to have it properly clean for the white paint. Above the waterline, I added decks and bulwarks. The decks needed a slight bit of sanding, but better too large than too small. I very carefully sanded the surface of the decks with 320 grit sandpaper, to get rid off the laser marks. As I didn't want to loose engraved detail, I stopped in the middle, having reached a manageable compromise. The pre-formed inner bulwarks where glued in place and clamped thoroughly to allow a good bond. As an aligning help, there are oval wooden plugs supplied for the cannon ports. That helped, but as it was not too easy to fiddle these in, I managed to break the inner bulwark on one port, while doing so. With a careful applied drop of CA, this was repaired. Gluing the bulwarks, I added the PVA glue with a brush and used a bit more near the deck, as I did with the deck itself. By clamping the bulwarks and weighing the deck down, I achieved a bond there, without stains, which made the bulwark more rigid. It was a bit flexible before, when I roughly handled the hull, while sanding. Cheers Rob

Thanks Gary, it was a pretty delicate affair, to get first the fairings aligned and then a proper lay of the planks with sanding everything to contour at the stern. I already prepared the stern cabin window peace, as I want to now before, how this will fit. Cheers Rob

Thank you Martin, I'm overwhelmed. You are absolutely right about the shape of ships of this age, it's a sensual fun to work on the hull. Working with wood is a pleasure and quite different from our normally used materials. To work for a good wood finish is not so much harder than to finish let's say a plane, but entirely different in approach. It's well worth trying a wooden ship model, given there is some love for the subject. I guess, I'm not lost to the Tamiya Extra Thin sniffers, but my venture into wood modelling will not be the last. Cheers Rob

A mock up pic, after removing the spar ends and sand them flat at deck level. I inserted the decks and the inner bulwarks, to see if everything fits. Afterwards, I soaked the bulwarks in hot water and clamped them into the their place to let them dry overnight. The aft deck needed to make an additional rectangular hole for the steering wheel post, which is marked, but not cut like the others. The sanded hull now looks like this, after some time with 320 grit sand paper. After a final fine sanding, it will be varnished with WOP, along with the bulwarks and decks. The stern area was finally sanded to shape and I have to say, I like the result of this very delicately shaped area, where thinned planks meet the bended and glued in place stern fairings. I also sanded the stern end of the side fairings to fit, ready to accept the stern plate with windows and ornaments later Cheers Rob

Regarding to Phil, I have to correct myself. Sometimes a little bravery is needed with DoK. Today I applied my self made filler generously by brush onto the hull, where gaps were visible. I hope this sands away like I had it planned when dry. I had a tiny drawback yesterday, sanding the connection between the pre fabricated bulwark and the first plank. from above, there was always a little step to be seen, so I sanded a bit more without success. Later, I looked a bit closer and found that the first plank came loose somehow at this place and therefore bulged a bit. I sanded it paper thin by accident, not seeing this in time. I applied a tiny bit of PVA with a thin CA applicator and hope the prob is solved. Check thoroughly if something unexpected happens was the lesson to learn with this. Cheers Rob

Thank you, the Duchess of Kingston should look like a beautiful shaped Yacht in the end, a very elegant and decorated small shiüp. Cheers Rob

Thank you Phil, no bravery involved, just a good sense for exploring new grounds. The kit is so well designed, that it's the perfect canvas to have an interesting build and hopefully a nice result, even as a relative novice. Cheers Rob

Absolutely superb Gary, the best dios look like a snapshot or like a still from a movie, which is definitely the case with your Panther, figures and surrounding. Cheers Rob