GazzaS

going out in style....

I did some digging around and discovered that I returned to the hobby back in 2014... June 2014. And the kit I chose was Dragon's Z-39 in 1/350 scale. I hadn't learned much about the hobby since I left it in 1984. Z-39 wasn't a very famous, or lucky ship. It spent more time in dockyard hands than it did out of it. It didn't take part in any famous sea battles... it just ended up in US hands at the war's end. So the kit came with a US-flagged option. I bought the kit when I saw it online. I can't even remember who I bought it from. But since it was a Type 36A (mob.) Destroyer, I knew I had to have it even before I knew the history of the ship. Once I knew the history of the ship, I decided to kitbash her into Z-32, another Type 36A (mob.) which was destroyed at the battle of Ushant, 1944. The main differences between the kit Z-39 and Z-32 the ship were the AA outfits. All of the German destroyers were meant to have the "Barbara" outfit where the number of AA weapons was heavily augmented, with one of the after deck main guns removed. But Z-32 never got the refit. This is one of the pics I took at the end of the build. I downloaded a picture of cloudy skies to set the mood. There were a bazillion firsts for this build... and I knew so little when I started it. First water base. First photos. and many others. Some I'll mention as we go along. There are 86 men at their action stations on the deck. And the flag is made from cigarette paper which was taped to copy paper, then ran through a printer, cut out and then crumpled into a tiny ball before being glued to stretched sprue... another new thing... to me, anyway. It's looks much more realistic than a decal, with some light passing though it, and a wind-whipped appearance. Finding crew members wasn't easy, especially as I wanted guys to look like they were actually in a battle. Luckily I found three sets by Northstar models. Two sets were German, and one set was an American set of a boxing match. But they are so tiny..; once you paint them, they can belong to any navy. I used bits of clipped brass rod to depict empty shell casings. Not Nothing looks good in macro. Especially when your crew is falling over the railing, and dust filaments are taking over. Three men operated the gun directors. the middle guy... who looks like he is busy at his job, is actually from the American set who is cheering the boxers on. The main battery gun on the right was my first ever resin casting. The curved rails were for ammunition and weren't part of the kit. I scratchbuilt one, and cast the rest. I tried to cast shells, too... but it didn't work. I didn't know anything about using a pressure pot. The enemy are out of range of the vierling gunners... So they aren't aimed at anything. This area behind the main gun had to be reconfigured. And i kept knocking it over and re-gluing it... so it looks really rough up close. One of the attractive features of this class of ship is the forward turret. Here on the bridge there are many visual instruments as well as the signal flag station. You can see that my stretched sprue signal lines are looking a bit shabby. During this build, I wanted to settle the riddle of the railings. When you buy generic railings, they only come with one distance between stanchions. So, your stanchions end up in weird places, instead of at the corners where they belong. And I tried to find a decent way, with my limited knowledge, to get stanchions in the corners where they belonged. In the end, I couldn't find a material that would do the job cleanly with an easy measure of control. For there to be a measure of control, the part had to be long enough to hold long enough for the glue to set. But another piece of railing is too short to control. In the end, I gave up and just did what most other people do. Nothing is pretty in macro. My first solder was the star at the top of this mast. It was a huge soft weld which I filed and sanded down. I'm amazed it's still holding together. I don't remember the top spar tilting at that angle. Two men in the Crow's nest... But the rot has set in... The base was made of acrylic medium, acrylic paints, and cotton balls . But now it looks like a sea of sewage... My once clean white foam and wave action is turning yellow and brown. She won't be long for the bin, I reckon. But she's kinda been one of the favorite things in my display cabinet.

One of those parts of the ship build I have been dreading is the funnel maintenance rings... or whatever the heck they are called. On many ships. these bands looped around funnels and sailors used them to access all kinds of places normal men would fear to tread... without a safety rope or a net.. But for me, they represented a task I didn't think I could make look good. And well... they don't. They are by Tom's Modelworks, and went on easily enough... the first few. But then the rest seemed to be some tiny increment too short. If I had to do it all over again, I would have drilled the holes necessary and then thinned the funnel a bit. Hopefully paint and distance will help to make things less awful. Metal barrels? Always!!

Very nice, Guy! When does the swearing begin?

I ended up using the re-usable 1 Man Army Masks, which cover even the stencils. Really, Peter... a great way to go. I only had to redo one of them cuz I was way off center.

I'd offer you your G10 back if I hadn't already bough a bunch of AM for it.

The underwing decals were the only ones I used from the kit excluding interior decals. But yeah... all of that carrier film... no thanks.

Back again. Yesterday the HGW belts got here. And thank goodness you get two sets. Because I totally ruined one with clumsiness and bullheadedness. And since I had today off... scheduled, not a sickee... I knew I would get them done. They took me all morning. You can see in the last picture that 65% of the detail disappeared when I closed up the fuselage. Ciao babies!

As the white band was prescribed after a certain date, it would have to be applied over the existing paint... I imagine.

Toe jam always goes over well at the IPMS hobby shows and conventions. Always in plentiful supply along with BO and mullets.

Eww

Quite an improvement, John! Glad we are one more step away from the SOD.

Is it getting too easy? I wouldn't say that. it's great to have choice. And it's great to have good kits instead of kits you have to wrestle into submission. It's good that your only choices aren't those three standard bearers of mediocrity: Revell, Italeri, and Airfix, like when I was a kid. I started modelling when I was 12, but didn't get my first Tamiya kit until I was 18 I can live with bad, but fixable fit. What I can't condone is a shape that is obviously wrong and would require re-sculpting beyond the limits of the plastic. Shake and bake is great... Really, who wants to sand and scribe? Masochists? It's good to see companies making less-modelled subjects.

Thank you for the post and link, Rob. Here is a scheme I could dig, CDL is one thing I've wanted to do, but not so easy to do if you are doing active aircraft in the service of Kaiser Wilhelm.

haha... have you ever seen the USN sailor's manual? My uncle was in the USN, and it's quite a thick book. The knot section was huge.

I have done the large decal thing with wnw... I dunno... feels a bit uncreative to me. Like imagine buying one of those Perfect Props where all you have to do is attach it to the model.

Very nice!

At that big scale, I think the rope looks good. Nice work!

Both so tempting. Love that you can see how the Austrians fixed the Alby's diving problem by moving the spar. And the Wurger... Do I need another one? Austrian Albatros schemes are pretty boring... I know there is the Bromkowski one.... but every man and his dog will be doing it. Of course... if you wanna prove me wrong, would love to see some inspiring pics. And the A4... you know I never do the in-box scheme...

Peter, Very nice paintwork.

Why enamels? They will be a headache to weather if you plan on using oils. Most people are using lacquers or acrylics and weathering over them with oils or enamels.

If you want to soften demarcation, you can lightly spray the area with a little self-levelling thinner or apply a filter.

Very interesting project, Rob! I definitely like the shape of the bird... but the forward view??? I love the photo etch press! Wish we had more for those ambiguous shapes.

You really need to use paper and worms. This will give you a more realistic finish with no 1/1 scale overspray. Even for 'late war'.