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GazzaS

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Everything posted by GazzaS

  1. GazzaS
    HI Guys and Gals... do we have any gals watching? Anyway... during my club meet, I worked on the eagles. I took my pitch bowl and home-made tools and tapped three of them out. Not totally successfully... but enough for this scale and amount of commitment. The swastikas were impossible to make. I tired numerous times... From front and back. The material is too soft, and too thin. It needed to be thin to enable me to shape it to the bulkhead to which it is attached. I didn't have any brass polish either. And aluminum polish, the only kind I have, wasn't cutting it very fast. So, I just sanded them a bit with 12,000 grit to add some shine to the most raised parts. I'm nearing the end of the build. I finally attached rudders and screws. ...which, I think I edited out of each photo... oops So, anyway... After matte coating everything I filled all portholes and windows with micro crystal clear. You'll see through the photos that some haven't dried yet. Immediately before the aft gun platform is a small readout for the engine, I'm guessing. I used a decal from the ZM 109 kit. And I made the flag out of cigarette paper. It works a bit better in 1/350 scale because in that case you only make a one sided flag because the detail doesn't have to be that big. But in this scale, the swastika always has to turn clockwise. A single layer flag is then scrunched into a ball and then looks very natural on the yardarm. But because I needed two layers I had to glue them together... and gluing them takes away the ability for it to look more natural. What follows are just some gratuitous photos... I can't call it done. The upperworks are still only friction fitted and there are a few lines of rigging to do. Then there is that water base to bring it all together. And I still have to learn how to play with resins... Happy modelling!
  2. GazzaS
    Very nice progress, Carl... despite your 'helper'.
  3. GazzaS
    Looks so awesome, Chris!
  4. GazzaS
    Oh, that looks awesome. I find a lot of uncaptioned photos on farceb0ok. Only the last is known to be 9th Pz Bulge. Submitted for your casual perusal.
  5. GazzaS
    Nice work, Guy. Here I am trying to motivate myself into building a ship and you're against it.
  6. GazzaS

    Reading and repercussions.

    Ever read something that killed your lust for building models?  In the last year I read a book called:  War, Mutiny, and Revolution in the German Navy.  The World War I Diary of Seaman Richard Stumpf.  Ever read it?

    Stumpf served on the SMS Helgoland during the entire conflict.  And in the interwar years, his diary was used by the new German Navy in trying to determine and fix those things that lead to the revolution starting in the Kaiser's fleet.

    It was an interesting read...   of course, an English translation....  of his day to day existence.  But sadly, it really put me off building ships.  In my younger years I tried scratch building Seydlitz twice.  But now I have trouble coming to grips with SMS GK.  And I also have the Hobby Boss Seydlitz with a monster update set waiting for me.

    Maybe it took the glory out of it for me.  I don't know.  But it's something I would like to get back.

    Sorry for the unsolicited PM.  It's just something I've wanted to say to somebody in the last year...   though I don't have anyone near me interested.

     

    Best Wishes,

     

    Gaz

    1. DocRob

      DocRob

      Hi Gary,

      except bad manuals, nothing written kept me ever from modelling. Quite the opposite is the case, I often read books connected to actual builds and it fires me up a bit, like in the case of the Duchess of Kingston.

      I can't really grab the reason, for your loss of mojo considering ship builds. Glory, a difficult subject, specially for many Germans, me included, when it comes to times of Nazism. It's not only modeling for me, but it's part of family history as well. I was born in West Berlin and had history surrounding me.
      My families roots go back to some Hugenotte lower nobility, who had to flee from France and settled in Prussia, where they were welcomed. 
      I have a deep fondness to the Prussian humanitarian education and partly for the Prussian politics and military orientation.
      The time you refer to was, when things got complicated and I can only guess, that had a huge effect onto Stumpf. Like many others, he was changing political views and positions often.
      I haven't read his diary, but I've read a lot about the time of the revolution and what lead to the situation. There also was a good four part documentary in German TV about this time, often referencing to Stumpfs diary.
      His way is so typical, partly sympathizing with the revolution, later being a member of a right wing Freikorps and regretting being a member, after seeing what was done by this Freikorps.
      It was a time of infinite uncertainty in Germany and besides hunger and unemployment for many, not to name inflation and decline in old values. It was an atmosphere, which was prone to create radical mindsets.

      I will not go too deep into it, but my own approach is shaky in times. I'm for example absolutely fascinated by an Arado 234 or Horten 229 from a technical standpoint, being ahead of their time at least a decade, but when I build one, I can't really forget for what they stand, that prisoners laboured to death, building these, only to name one aspect.
      It doesn't put me off, building these, but it's always in my mind, there are other aspects.
      I'm plainly no militarist, but as an ex engineer, I have a deep love for advancing technologies and their effect on the society.
      I guess, being a German doesn't make things easy sometimes, being always a bit ambivalent :D.

      I guess, this all will not help you, restoring your mojo, but it shows, how different our approach to the same hobby is. 
      My main trigger in modelling is fascination for an object. Without, I wouldn't do modeling. The reasons for the fascination can be based on literature, technology, science and of course history.

      All the best

      Robert

    2. GazzaS

      GazzaS

      Hi Rob,

          Thanks for the quick response.  I'm sure there is more to it than just reading the book.  Maybe getting older...   slower.  Lazier.  Eyesight going to hell.  Anyway...   I won't pester you with too many of my personal insights.  I look forward to more of your Arizona.

       

      Best Wishes,

       

      Gary

  7. GazzaS
    Rob, All of those metal shields look great. I don't think anyone will notice those missing triangles. Keep rocking it. On a side note... I been watching Ron Calverly (the model ship) and I'm feeling it start to motivate me to get building on my warships that lie in wait.
  8. GazzaS
    Looking good, John!
  9. GazzaS
    Nice work, Guy! The main reason I prefer indy links is because I like to have a little variation in placement for road wheels and tracks on some piece of terrain. I've got a couple sets of friuls that migrate from model to model as I save the magic tracks for that model that deserves them. Teeny tiny pins suck.
  10. GazzaS
    Don't forget that ZM omitted the canopy latch lever and the parts that hold the bulletproof glass to the hinged canopy.
  11. GazzaS
    I used the fuselage ribs as well.
  12. GazzaS
    The interior looks excellent, Peter. One of my biggest hates of the model (thanks for reminding me) is the seam that will form once you put the tub into the fuselage. On both sides, just outside of the area you have devoted time and effort to, you will have a seam to fill. Below is what mine looked like after putting the cockpit tub in and gluing on the windscreen. But then... a little too late, I remembered it had to look like this: (don't pay any attention to the red arrow) Note that there is no seam by his left shoulder. This is one of the things I wish zm had engineered cleverly.
  13. GazzaS
    Ewww.
  14. GazzaS
    Awesome!
  15. GazzaS
    The Kit IP and cockpit is great with the decals provided and some UV gel for the glass gauges. Seat belts is really all you need.
  16. GazzaS
    Looking good, John. There are some funny incongruities about the kit. They hyper-detailed engine and the detail-less Galland hood. The great fit of so many parts vs. that tail. Despite all of that, it's a better kit than anyone else has created.
  17. GazzaS
    Quite the Sim Pit for your flight simulator game.
  18. GazzaS
    Great idea Martin. Thank you for the offer. But it's an art I want to learn at least well enough to supplement my modelling hobby. I have dreams of making authentic looking battle damage. Not something that looks like a few pieces of twisted, drilled, or cracked plastic. But of punctured and twisted metal that suggests and aerial battle followed by either a crash landing, or a narrow escape to be gawked at by ground crews. Who knows... Maybe I'll make some jewelry or something I can sell one day.
  19. GazzaS
    With the arrival of the Kotare Spit. everything else got put on hold. Now that I'm waiting on oils to dry and another stretch of workdays, I won't touch it until the weekend at the earliest. Chasing and Repousse. That's pronounced Re-pooh-say. My dearly beloved got me a cast iron pitch bowl and 2kgs (4.4 lbs) of pine pitch resin. The resin arrived in a rectangular tin and had to be smashed into bits and slowly melted into the bowl. This was done in the oven at around 220F... or 107C. Here is my bowl and the red pitch: Chasing and Repousse is how they make fantastic artworks like this: Like Martin says... 3 clicks for best resolution. Now, I spent part of this morning trying to make two brass eagles for my s-boat. They are only 12mm by 9mm. Or, 1/2 inch wide by 3/8 inch tall. There are a couple ways to work... you can work from the backside, or the front side. These little guys were from the backside and ended up just a little too big... and ugly. The brown on them is leftover pitch. I tried to melt it off them, but it caught on fire. You can see dark flecks of it on top of the pitch bowl. I don't want to waste any of the pitch, because it ain't cheap. Apparently you can remove it with solvents, but that means any pitch you remove that way is lost for good. I was hoping not to have to buy another block of it. Anyway... I'm still working on it... Martin.
  20. GazzaS
    Wow, that Bofors looks great!
  21. GazzaS
    wow, Rob, she's looking awesome! I'm so far behind in paying attention. You've really been smashing it out.
  22. GazzaS
    Great rescribing, Carl. It's still my most hated model related task.
  23. GazzaS
    Chris, Great job attaching the wing. Looks like an airplane now!
  24. GazzaS
    Great job on this. Polished plastic... who woulda thunk it.
  25. GazzaS
    Sorry to see you docking this. i was looking forward to the result. i can tell you from personal experience that the dragon kits offer a lot more detail with less blob-fakery.
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