DocRob

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

Wow Carl, I have missed some steps on your build and have to say, you are motoring through the build and it's fun to watch, how you address the mishaps of the kit. It might not be up to Tamiya's, but with HK's price tags, there should be a bit more refinement. The extra detailing on the nacelles and LG payed really off, as it looks way better now. It's always good to see, how some relatively simple tweaks can enhance the appearance of a model significantly. The IP looks wonderful, seems to be one of the better Eduard offerings. Cheers Rob

Cool, but no pre-shading . Cheers Rob

No bench time today, as it was sunny and nearly no wind, so I tested my new SUP, instead of building. I had lots of fun and a fully grown soreness now, but had some hard achieved progress yesterday with applying the bulwarks. What I expected to be relatively easy proved in fact difficult and I'm very thankful, that I did a second soaking and pre bending of the bulwarks before. I glued the plywood down, using clamps, pins and rubber bands, and worked spar by spar on the larboard side from the bow, to the third spar. I then did the same for the starboard side, as I found it easier to apply the very helpful rubber bands for both sides. I destroyed the tabs of the third spar and had to rebuild them, as this is the area with the tightest curvature. After this was done, I continued on the larboard side for the next spars. The last spars will be much easier, as there is nearly no bending required. I used that sequential attempt, to get a sure bond of the glue in the bow area with it's heavy bending, before I continued to work my way to the stern. The spar tabs above the deck and the beams will be removed later and I hope, the bulwark will stay in place after that. Cheers Rob

This is way different from plastic kits Peter and there is a different skillset and preparation necessary than with plastic kits and obviously lots of different tools involved as well. Were a good plastic kit is in it's final shape, you have to exactly do everything to gain to that final shape with a wooden hull. Preparation and experience is everything, like with all craftmanship and hobby and where I lack experience, I try to get hold of the experiences of others. Luckily there are some WIP's existing for the DoK and like Mike shows, a lot of will to share own experiences, which is priceless. Cheers Rob

There are no filler blocks used by Chris, but lots of beveled supports in the critical areas. I have to develop a feeling, if this is enough. On my first ever wooden hull for a sailboat, I used some filler blocks. There is no rabbet in the classical way on the keel area. You install the first planking and then the keel is added, like a retrospective rabbet. I think, it is helpful to start planking from the deck downwards, but at least install a full plank as the last plank, where it later meets the keel. You have a good point, about possibly thinning stern part of the keel. I will build up the rudder, which will help to estimate the correct thickness of the stern post. I haven't finally thought about mounting the model later. The idea, pre installing screws is now planted in my head, but initially, I planned to use the supplied acrylic stand. For the construction phase, a second one made from MDF is supplied, but until finalizing the first planking it's obviously not of great help. With DoK you have to remove the bulkward tabs along the deck line. The kind of saw you suggested looks great, but I will try chiseling first. I have a set of very sharp and good chisels for woodwork and my only fear is, that while removing the tabs there is a twang sound and the bulwark is gone, lets see. Thanks again, for being so helpful and I plead guilty for hoping exactly for this kind of generous help, while starting the WIP. Cheers Rob

Thank you very much Mike, for your great support on this project. I'm eager to learn more and more about wooden ship modelling and would consider myself as an educated beginner , with not a lot of experience, but the general knowledge how to work with different material like wood, metal, plastic or others. I take my time with the bulwarks as it is like you said of great importance to do it right as the first step of planking. The used 0,8 mm plywood is very durable and rigid and not so easy to bend. After the first process of soaking in hot water and leaving to dry overnight, clamped to a tin, I found it necessary to repeat the process with a tighter radius. Other than your description Chris recommends to let the soaked and clamped wood completely dry, before installing it, because of the expansion of the damp wood. I followed his advice. I used a lot of pins and rubber bands along with clamps to get the contour glued correctly working from spar to spar, starting at the most complicated part, the bow. In the case of DoK leveling the bulwarks is easy, as Chris designed the temporary framing exactly the same height over deck as the bulwarks has to be assembled. These planking tools look great, IU will consider buying some, while getting my experiences with planking ongoing. My pliers thin the plank considerably while bending, but I only plan to use them near the stern for tight radii, where I think thinning is playing into my cards. Cheers Rob