DocRob

Until there is a fleet, I will rest in peace, I guess . Cheers Rob

Today arrived the new Eduard limited edition of the USS Arizona in 1/350. The plastic is from Hobby Boss and consists from astonishingly few parts. The reception of the original kit was mixed, but Eduard being Eduard and the edition being limited, addressed most of the shortcomings. There are five sheets of PE, 3D-printed parts, even two very finely printed KIngfishers and Master metal barrels. I ordered a wooden deck from Australia, because I couldn't find one in Europe. Next will be a test of patience and figure painting skills, with this figure from the Spanish company Rage, were I couldn't resist. Two figures from Bodi were also in the package, a German driver for my RSO and the absolutely weird looking British Husar, who will accompany my LRDG Jeep along some more British desert figures. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike and in addition, if it gets messy with CA, it's much harder than the limewood and therefore difficult to sand. ...meanwhile, I planked down seven planks and thought this might be a good time to start the other side next. Each plank takes up to half an hour, with marking, tapering the bow, holding on for marking taper sections on the stern, tapering, beveling in case of tight radii and finally cut to length, but not before using my bending pliers to give some flex to the stern end of the plank, to bend it according to the desired shape. Than, gluing and pinning with the nails, followed by some glue brushed on from the inside as reinforcement. I try to practice the smooth laying down of the planks, which will help me with the second planking, which will be visible, at least above the waterline. For the second planking there are no nails or other helpers, so it better be good. Cheers Rob

The chassis and interior are looking very vivid and extremely nice. Bummer with the seat belts, but yours are looking fine as well. Generally, it seems to be a decent kit, but lacks some refinement in parts. I found that with all my Meng builds so far, their T-90 and the Komet, which is a bt astonishing, as they are no newcomer company anymore. I'm eager to see your bodywork on the Ford. It's so different from plane and armor builds and therefore a lot of fun for a change. Cheers Rob

I hesitated some time, but there is no way around, I have to plank the DoK. I started with the first plank down from the bulwark and tapered it on the bow side with a steel ruler and a sharp blade to half it's width. I used white glue to fix the plank to the spars and secured it with the supplied tiny brass nails. My self constructed pin pusher is of great help here. The lime wood is very flexible and relatively soft and good to work with. It doesn't splinter pushing the nails through, so no need for pre drilling. Tapering started neat the third spar. I added the next to planks and found it necessary to bevel the edges of the planks near the stern area, to get a good fit around the curved stern. After applying the third plank, I compare my results with the pictures in the manual and found, that these planks should have been tapered in the stern area as well. Unfortunately this is not mentioned in the text of the manual. The next planks will be tapered on both ends and I hope, I can get away with it. Mind, it's only a base layer, which will be filled and sanded to accept the second planking later. Today I will check the bond of the planks. I have chosen PVA glue over slow curing CA (which some builders recommend), because, it allows me to work on a slower pace and I don't like the general idea of using CA for wood very much. Cheers Rob

I mainly use an engineers approach, while planning and trying to find the best method to solve modelling problems. Practical, I'm more chaotic and to the end of a project, my bench is a mess. I clean it up between builds but rarely within. After I worked as an engineer, I had a few stints in big data analysis, including fuzzy logic. Some fuzziness must have been left over into me . Cheers Rob

The more new challenges there are in a project, the more my approach changes from lazy to planned. I like both types, a fast fun build or a challenging build involving new techniques and different materials to master. I f I would only build LS planes, I would have been long gone out of the hobby. As a tool nerd, I try to justify many of my purchases with the ease of use. A good tool allows you to concentrate on your subject, once you mastered it. A bad tool will need your attention all the time and will be a distraction. Peter, I like many of the Tamiya tools as well, the tweezers are very good and yes, my goto blade sits in a Modeler's Knive Pro. I have a lot of spare blades, as sometimes they are sold out here and delivery to my island can take long. I re sharpen the tools with a fine Japanese grinding stone, if the tip is still intact. Cheers Rob

Nice micro work on the Albatros Gaz. Watch out for that X-2, it could easily drop onto your tiny Albie like a stone fist out of the sky. Cheers Rob

Ernie and Martin, you are complaining about the seats and you build only single seaters . When I built the AMK Mig-31, I had twice the fun. Never understood the PE sequence for the belts and used resin seats, as the kit ones were way too large also. Cheers Rob

Looks like the real deal, very nice. Cheers Rob

I do a lot of running, but never use any devices while doing so. No phone, no tracker no networking, as I prefer to motivate myself. My indicator for a good run is an exhausted dog . Cheers Rob

I have the same in stash along the Romfell and some 48 and 32 planes from CSM. Great kits and the instructions are even better than these from Wingnut Wings . I bought some French equipment and a resin figure of a Belgian soldier along the Minerva. Cheers Rob

I like the look your F-86 has, albeit it's hard to tell with the harsh sunlight. I like Tamiya panel liner for enhancing - panels -, but the residues can be hard to remove sometimes and I would be especially cautious on NMF. Some motivational pics, I took in Chino CA. some years ago. Cheers Rob

I love good tools Peter and by good, I mean practical. If a tool has to be prepared for half an hour to do a one minute task, I'm out and look for workarounds. But being an ex engineer with a deep addiction for metals and precise work, it's pure fun to work with good tools. Cheers Rob

The cutter is definitely a rebrand from RP-Toolz and is fully able to do the plank cutting for the DoK. I have different metal rulers, the thin, flexible one made by steel and another more rigid, made from aluminum for the longitudinal cuts. I supplied myself with fresh blades for my hobby knife and have a Japanese grinding stone to re sharpen the blades on the go. This method works great for me, as I think, the blades are made from hardened steel and sandpaper doesn't really work on these, except maybe to erase some burr. I will look out for my fingers, as I already have two bad cuts from other occasions, which hinder my progress in the moment. Normally I'm not clumsy, it was bad luck, combined with my engineers approach, to use only very sharp tools, be it in the kitchen or at the workbench. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike. Chris went a bit further with the gunports with the Dok. The bulwarks will be planked, firs from the outside and later from the inside, followed by decorative parts. To align these layers correctly, Chris supplied wooden plugs to insert into the gunports. What a relief, after having to drill, cut and sand the gunports on my kutter build. Building the DoK as my first (hopefully completed) wooden ship since a long time, followed exactly this thought. First I questioned myself, if it is advisable to work on such an expensive kit as a beginner, but then, browsing through the manual, I came to the believe, that it's the best way to do it, because the perfect step by step manual along the extremely well designed kit helps to ship around the obstacles and installing a learning by doing process. I only visually cared for symmetry, as the framework is very rigid with no movement at all, even when applying force while sanding. The geometry is perfect and the only task is, to insert all the spars and supporting beams as deep as possible, to achieve an even deck line. Sometimes some force was needed to do that, but better this way than loose fitting. I remember building a Billing Boats trawler in my twens, which had a plywood set of spars on the keel. It was so difficult to maintain a reliable geometry of the hull, that I was forced to build a wooden slipway as a support. Like you, I'm amazed about the all out quality of the Dok and if I succeed finishing her, Sphinx (a dream) from Vanguard might be my next project Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias Amigos. Meanwhile I prepare my bench for planking and layed out all necessary tools. The cutter is great for the lime planks with almost no denting near the cut. For longitudinal cutting, I will use a steel ruler. Cheers Rob

I think you need to thin them more Peter. I use a minimum of two parts Leveling Thinner to one part of LP, but go up to three to one, most times. The results are extremely fine. As a first coat, specially on decals, I mist only a bit of color/thinner mix on, let it dry in the airflow and then start serious spraying. I do that to reduce chances of bad influences of the LP's / thinner to base layers, pure plastic or decals. Works fine to me. Cheers Rob

There is nothing which can't be glazed with some drops of Future / Pledge on the instruments. With multiple applications, you receive the wanted bulged effect. Cheers Rob

Progress slowed a bit the last days, but today, I finalized gluing, pinning and clamping the bulwarks to the spars. I took my time to get the shape right as this defines the starting point for first planking. I added a second layer of PVA glue from under the deck, to ensure a good bond to the bulwark, as it's mostly self supporting, after removing the spar tabs and beams later. Now it's curing time again, yawn. Cheers Rob

Very nice build and paintjob Gus, you are one helo ahead of me, as I built the Gazelle too, when I was young . There are so many interesting helicopters, but I can't motivate myself doing one. A tasty oob approach like yours raises the urge quite a bit and lately I bought the Special Hobby Cobra in 32 scale... Cheers Rob

Thank you again Mike, for sharing your knowledge. In case of my planking, I will see, if dry assembling is possible and leads to fine results, if not, I will deploy your method. My approach is, to make a good first planking, to learn a lot for the second planking, so it will be a clinic. I will take my time for this important step and if it has to include soaking and drying time, so be it. You are absolutely right about the significant thinning of the planking around the stern part of the false keel. As this area is also tightly curved, I plan to deploy my plank bending pliers in this area, wich thins the planks, while bending, lets see, how this works out. Like you mentioned, the DoK is extremely well designed. I do not have much expertise, but my other wooden kits, I partly build, where good kits, but not in the same league with Vanguards. The whole framework of spars and support beams isn't flexible at all, there is absolutely no movement and the fit of the parts is absolutely tight. I like the MDF in the lower hull areas for the spars, but the tabs above the deck line are a bit fragile. I had to repair the third temporary spar twice, which is suite in the area, where the bulwarks produce the strongest forces around the tabs. I used a rotary tool on my Proxxon micro drill with the minimum revolution set. I had no problems at all with burns and fumes, but wear a respirator mask, when sanding MDF, which was a good idea, I guess, as there was a lot of very fine dust in the air. Cheers Rob

I don't know what it is with these Eduard IP's. I had very good ones and others heavy rasterized, like yours Jeroen, but with the other two options, you should find a a match. I often spend a lot of work on an IP's, only to find out, that you need and endoscope, to ever see them again. What about visibility in the 108? Cheer Rob

Very nice Progress Pete, the interior is looking mighty fine and the leather does look leathery. I have to admit, that I love Tamiya's LP colors, since I used them on different builds for a year now. I get the best spraying results ever, but if MRP is even better, I have to try them. I had no issues with LP's, except some unexpected handling problems with gloss black, which proved very sensitive and teared a bit on my last build. Gravity colors are very hot, I believe and should be tested on the plastic. Can't wait to see more Progress of your beautiful Ford. Cheers Rob

That's a really colorful bird Peter, where the warpaint is covering the strange shape of the plane hopefully . My son did his first parachute jump out of this one, so it's kind of down memory lane for me. Cheers Rob