Noticias

Mr D
Hi Duster 👋😃
Looking good, lve never built a Haseagawa....how have you found it..??
Good luck with next steps 👍👍

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Duster_d
@Mr D,Hi, I like this build of this kit. The casting is thin and neat, although there are some minor flaws. The connection between the parts is good and the edges of the wings are sharp and thin. The decal has a thick layer of varnish. The plastic is typical of this company's kits (I have looked at other Hasegawa kits in my stash) some details is translucent in places, but durable.

@Guy, Thanks, I'll try hard 🙂

Duster_d
I applied this primer three times and washed it off three times. "Orange peel" every time. And I diluted it and tried undiluted, degreased the model with alcohol - the result is the same. That's enough trying for today.

Ben M
After my experience with my MiG-15, I'm done with Vallejo primer.

Duster_d
@Ben M, yes, I remember your MiG-15. I have never had problems with Vallejo primers before. They suddenly started back on my Super Etendard, but I thought it was an isolated incident. I have already sinned against isopropyl alcohol and the composition of water, I do not understand why these problems began.

Duster_d
I still didn't calm down. 🙂 Through experiments, it was possible to achieve a more or less normal application of the primer. The best results are achieved on a fat-free surface, without dilution, and at a minimum pressure of 0.8-1 bar.

[img1]

Nicolas
Following.

Duster_d
Do you guys think I should "strip" the paint even more? I liked working with Vallejo's chipping liquid 🙂

Ben M
I've seen all kinds of chipping on WWII Japanese aircraft. I'd say you can't go wrong.

Mark
The boys who, when my motorbike was stolen circa 1981, refused to investigate it as anything other than an insurance scam! Not the brightest folk I've ever met. I'll try not to hold that against your model Sergio, but can't promise. 🙂

Sergio Ordonez
🤣🤣🤣
Mark: I've been an AF Para back during my conscription. I really do not love those MP monkeys....
But I selected this one as there are some decals available and there are some parts that must be built from scratch. This will be a preparation for my next Landie: a British Amy EOD one.
Hope your motorbike was not a Royal Enfield or a Triumph or a Norton: this would be a great loss.

Mark
Yamaha XT250. Absolutely loved that bike. It's been cars and bicycles since that was knicked. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I'll buy this: facebook.com/marketp..25539498668014/?ref=

You probably know that the RAF Police wear a blue beret, but I see the chap in image #6 is wearing a red beret like the Royal Military Police (Army).

Sergio Ordonez
Yes, I know: this one was a prototipe, it is my second time using Magic Sculpt and I'm still too green.
As you see, the figure is far from being perfect.

Mark
The figure looks fine from here Sergio. 👍

Sergio Ordonez
Thank you very much, Mike, but is a little bot oversized and the mix of green stuff and Magic Sculpt proved to be not as addequate as needed.
I have been modifying figures of the old Italery "british tank troops" box to get cold war british soldiers (as these figures are a little bit smaller than others). I'm afraid 1:35 references for 70-80's british troopers are very limited, so this encouraged me to try modelling. The second try would be better.

Mark
Mike? 😮

Sergio Ordonez
I am terrible sorry, Mark: this stupid grammar corrector (is configured for Spanish, not for English). Sorry, I should check better before sending.

Sergio Ordonez
Regarding the XT250, if you are looking for one, there are easy to obtain here in Spain under 3000€, and several are for sale. I think import taxes in Britain are around 12% plus VAT and, knowing that your MOT is a logical thing when compared to our ITV system would be relatively easy for you to get a license plate.
I know that Norton well, as there was one in the family. There were a lot of Norton bikes in Northern Spain in the 70s and 80s, but bought second hand from Canary Islands and Gibraltar. Very neglected, as spare parts were scarce. The Govt subsidies for new cars and bikes destroyed the rest and there are few to none survivors now.
Now I am working on getting a Land Rover Wolf from Britain (ex-MoD) for my farming operation. Hope to get one (or at least, pay less on taxes than on buying the Landie). 🤣

Mark
No problem Sergio, I've lost count of the number of times I've got a name wrong online. 🙂

Mark
Thanks for the tip on the XT250. I've used these sites for modelling research and they may help you find a good landie at a good price:
modsurplus.com/
army-uk.com/sub-equi..p?SID=16&SID2=16
modlandrover.com/

Sergio Ordonez
Thank you very much, Mark! I did know the first one, but no clue about the others!
I have one question for you, as you served the RAF in these times... Those guys of the RAF Police, usually have helmets in their vehicles? I mean, back in the 80s (with all this means for good rock music).

Mark
Re helmets, I'd say probably not Sergio. The banner picture you use at the top of the project made me laugh at first - never seen RAF Plods running unless running to the mess! 🙂 And very odd to see them with SLRs.

If you didn't do helmets and kitted them with 9mm pistols or SMGs, nobody could argue that it wasn't authentic (* always depending on place/scene). DPM (disruptive pattern material) and ballistic vests as per your banner picture would be correct for Germany and Northern Ireland, but for most of UK mainland I'd expect to see them in RAF blue. UK Bloodhound sites and nuclear bomber sites, are probably best treated as for Germany. There are a lot of variables. Are you modelling any specific place/scene?

Sergio Ordonez
I was thinking on RAF Brüggen or RAF Güntersloh. That photo I think was taken on Güntersloh, 1985, when some RAF Police troops try to capture a beer six pack.
Well, also I could change to RAF Blue uniforms (I think the wear caps instead berets, but also they usually patrol on Leyland Sherpa instead Landies).
Regarding the SLR, I found in photographs that whereas Royal Military Police usually appear using Sterling SMGs, RAF Police usually carry SLRs. And in most of photos, RAF monkeys wear INIBA vests. Maybe I should research a little bit more.

Mark
"some RAF Police troops try to capture a beer six pack." 😄 😄 😄 Yes, I can see them running for that!

But that photo is a good reference for you - taken where/when you want to set your scene. If anybody argued about the authenticity of your model, you just show them that photo! Anyway our models are our creations and don't have to please anyone but ourself. 👍

Sergio Ordonez
Well, in fact, I'll be unable to build an authentic license plate, so you are completely right, Mark. Let's see what we get from here. The RE and the BDU ones will be better, but we need to start from here.
Thanks, Mark!

Mark
👍

Rui S
Looking good 👍

Sergio Ordonez
Thank you, mate. Now seems closer to the end. This model is not fit for weathering, as some veterans told me RAFP Landies were neat and cleaned every week, so only small touches will be added, so, apart from some final assembly, this will remain more or less like this.

Sergio Ordonez
Mark: I think these guys are ready to look for your motorcycle...

Mark
It looks more like they're ready for tea break! 😄 Seriously though, I'm getting goose bumps from photo 33 onward - takes me right back in time. 👍

Sergio Ordonez
Well, next one maybe will be an EOD RE one... Breaks are not for tea! 🤣 🤣 🤣
Thank you for your help, Mark. You and other veterans gave me ideas and the impulse to finish this one. After the WK Kafer I thought I had lost my mojo...

Mark
👍

Mark
Looking fwd to the REME build...

Sergio Ordonez
Well, the REME EOD team build will be a kind of imagination: I'll mix again some different photographs for the final product. And I just realized that there is no Bowman Radio set available in 1:35 scale, but, let us try. 🤣

David Taylor
Nice one Sergio.Just made mine into a helicopter support platform.

Sergio Ordonez
Nice idea, David: RAF or RN? Royal Navy one is a kind of a heavy project if started from scratch.

Alexander Grivonev
Bloke looks like a true geezer 👍

Sergio Ordonez
RAF Police: I was told they were not fit for running of even moving!

David Taylor
Hi Sergio. British army used them with the Lynx helicopters.

Sergio Ordonez
David, is that a coversion by Accrate Armour.

Łukasz Gliński
Going soon to Como, where is it exactly? Can it be visited?

Moreno Baruffini
Great Łukasz! Here you can find some information, the hangar is very close to the city center 🙂
visitcomo.eu/en/enjo..seaplanes/index.html

Usually the exhibition can't be visited, but if you are lucky you will find some Aero club employee who will let you "have a look" 🙂
[img1]

I usually see the airbirds when I see a home football match 🙂

Moreno Baruffini
Ehy Łukasz, did you have the opportunity to visit Como? Yesterday Como football club was promoted to Serie A and there are good vibes around the city 🙂

Łukasz Gliński
Ciao Moreno
Been to Como around 2 weeks ago, spent there few days. Unfortunately the weather was so bad, that I only saw the open hangar upon leaving. Therefore I had no time to get inside and look at Caproni, I only saw it in the corner while passing by on my way to La Spezia.
[img1]

Moreno Baruffini
Unfortunately this spring is very rainy... Hope you will be able to visit again Como! I'll try to take some pictures

Giorgio Perotti
Hi all, some of you guys know in which color is painted this wonderful floatplane?
I've bought the kit but the instructions refer to a "generic" Italian Medium Green which cannot be found among the classic suppliers of modeling colors.
Thanks in advance, Giorgio

Moreno Baruffini
Hi Giorgio, in this publication: static.gruppocdt.ch/..rna%20a%20volare.pdf

is stated that it is the original green used by the Caproni factory in the thirties. We should understand if there are some chips somewhere....

Giorgio Perotti
Thanks a lot Moreno. Very interesting.
I owe you a beer! 🙂
Giorgio

Moreno Baruffini
Ahah don't worry! Glad to be useful!!
Moreno

Moreno Baruffini
Good Evening Giorgio, just found on the well-known book "Colori e schemi mimetici della Regia Aeronautica" that the color should be: Verde 9, FS14062

Giorgio Perotti
Great!!! Thanks a lot! In a couple of week, I should finish the Ilyushin Il-2 actually in progress, and then I can start with the "Caproncino". I'll keep you posted.
Ciao.

Giorgio Perotti
Model finished. In the end I used the Tamiya X-5. Found a conversion table where FS14062 correspond to X-5. It seems too dark in my opinion.
If I find a way to upload some photo...

Alberto
Very nice 👍

Moreno Baruffini
Great news Sergio! I found the pictures, the green it's maybe a bit too dark but seems ok!

Firefighter_23
Goedendag Gert-Jan,

Ben je heel toevallig bereid deze decals te verkopen?

Mvg Patrick

Ludvík Kružík
I still miss this small helicopter in my collection of flying machines used in Czechoslovakia. The time has come for me to rectify that. 😉

Villiers de Vos
I will follow along.

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome Villiers! 🙂

Greg Baker
Oh. I built a 1/72 version of the Mi-1M... This should be interesting.

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Greg. I know there's a Mi-1M kit in 1/72nd scale. Unfortunately, only this and a rather old kit from Special Hobby exists in 1/48 scale. In addition, this kit is an older version of the Mi-1A, which is different from the upgraded version of the Mi-1M. It has a different nose shape, different cockpit glazing and other minor changes. And since I decided to build the upgraded version of the Mi-1M, I will not avoid modifications to the kit.
To give you a better idea of the extent of the modifications to the kit, I've included a picture with the differences between the Mi-1A and Mi-1M versions color coded.

Greg Baker
Oh, neat! I didn't realize there were so many changes between the versions. This is going to look great!

Ludvík Kružík
Greg, thank you for your support.
____________________
I started building the model by making new transparent parts.

Alec K
Taking a seat, this brings back memories of ABC magazine 😜👍

gorby
Nice work moulding the new transparent parts.

Greg Baker
Yeah. Nice work on the heat-n-smash moulding for the clear parts. That can be tricky to do.

Ludvík Kružík
@Alec K
I used to buy ABC magazine regularly as a kid and eagerly awaited each new issue 🙂. I assume your mention of ABC magazine refers to the occasional modeling tutorial section.

@gorby, @Greg Baker
It's not too difficult to make new transparent parts by stretching warmed transparent foil over a pre-made template. Preparing the template is the most work. Stretching the warmed foil onto the template is just a routine that anyone can do after a few attempts.

Alec K
Correct 🙂👍👍

Robert Podkoński
How have I missed this? Taking a seat for sure! 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Robert! Good to see you here. You haven't missed much so far. Up to this point I've been more concerned with preparation than building the model.

Ludvík Kružík
I want to try to use the sandwich construction in the production of new glass parts for the coptics. So I made (using the same process as the transparent parts) parts out of white plastic sheeting. These parts will have holes cut out for the windows. The transparent part will then be inserted between these two parts. The white outer and inner parts will form the embossed framing of the transparent part.

Jennifer Franklin
That looks great (as per usual 😛)

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, Jennifer, we're glad to have you on board and thank you for your goodwill. 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I came back from vacation and it started to rain. Ideal conditions for modelling. 🙂

So I'm back and continuing to work on the model. I need to glue the finished nose to the glued fuselage so the cockpit overlay fits exactly. That determines the workflow. First I have to finish the nose and the inside of the fuselage and glue all the parts that need to be glued to the fuselage halves from the inside. After gluing the fuselage halves together, I would no longer be able to get to these parts (or only with great difficulty).

Photos of the work progress will be coming soon.

Alexander Grivonev
Oh some modeling for big boys, not glueing perfectly fitting parts together and throwing on some paint! Following 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, Alexander! 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I glued several parts to both halves of the fuselage. These parts are glued from the inside, so they have to be glued before the fuselage is closed.
I also started working on making new parts for the cockpit.

Landlubber Mike
Wow, this is incredible work Ludvik! Thank you for sharing your steps - I've learned a lot from your pictures and descriptions!

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic scratch build skills.

Ludvík Kružík
@Landlubber Mike
Mike, thank you for your interest. Welcome aboard!
I've had the idea for this rebuild in my head for a few years now. Mainly because I've been waiting to see if anyone would start making 1:48 scale Mi-1M kits. Unfortunately, to this day, no manufacturer has this kit in their lineup. So I decided not to wait any longer and start building a model from what I have available.
My rebuild is just beginning. Most of the work on the model is yet to be done. I'd also like to try some new techniques that came to mind while planning to build this model.

@Villiers
Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it very much.

Ludvík Kružík
I didn't have much time today, so I didn't make much progress on the build. But every little bit of progress counts. 😉

J35J
Great progress and detailing! Following

Bruce Huxtable
Wow! You don't shy away from challenges! Watchinh with admiration, and hoping to learn lots too. Hoping you are not amongst the floods? Stay safe!

Ludvík Kružík
J35J welcome! I hope you like it here.

Bruce, I like a challenge like that. I like to experiment and enjoy thinking of and then implementing ways to improve my model.

I appreciate your concern for my safety. I live in a town in the highlands that wasn't badly affected by the floods. Only the river that runs through our town has increased flow, but it hasn't spilled out of its bed. Moreover, our house is 80 metres above the river, so even if the river had spilled out of its bed, it would certainly not have reached our house.

Bruce Huxtable
It sounds an idyllic location.....Opravdu, česka příroda je krasná....

Ludvík Kružík
Bruce, thank you for the compliment. I'm sure the nature is beautiful in England too. 😉

Ludvík Kružík
I'm slowly continuing to make small parts.

Alec K
Nice progress, this will be a beauty 👍

bughunter
Another big bunch of parts, not to mention some kit parts, come together to form one big model! Not to be missed!
I'm late, but I have an excuse. First I was on holiday, and then this stupid C-virus knocked me out.

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, thank you for your support and your kind words.

Welcome, Frank. I hope you're okay, and I'm really glad you're one of my guests.
It's definitely not too late. I still have most of my work ahead of me. In fact, you could say I'm just getting started.

TH SCALE MODELS (Thomas Haberl)
Uhhhhhh … this is going to be another good one from you! I'm in 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thomas, welcome. It's good to see you among my guests. 🙂

Ludvík Kružík
I'm struggling with time rather than the model at the moment. At least I managed to draw a new dashboard. After printing it in scale (1/48) on photo paper I will use it instead of the kit part.

John
Another Ludvik conversion build with all the accuracy and attention to detail.we've come to expect. It's looking good, can't wait to see the final result! 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Welcome, John. Please have a little patience. This project is quite demanding and I will need a lot of time to complete it.

John
Ok, I aimed that to "I can wait to see the final result" (but I'm still eager) 😉

Alec K
Wow, the dashboard looks amazing. I can only imagine how much time that took. Really interested how it looks completed 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Alec, I drew the dashboard in the evenings for 5 days (about 3 to 4 hours each day). Add to that additional time (about 5 hours) for test printing and subsequent corrections.

I am attaching a photo of a test black and white print of the dashboard after all the modifications are complete. I will print the dashboard for the model in color later.

Ludvík Kružík
According to the photos I modified the fuselage where the main landing gear is attached to it.

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Jakub Biganovsky
Good morning.
Realy nice and fine work.

Robert Podkoński
These modifications are just perfect, Ludviku...

Ludvík Kružík
Guy, Jakub and Robert thank you for your comments, it's a nice encouragement for further work.

After today, the hull is glued together. Now I'm adjusting the shape of the transparent cockpit cover.

Ben M
I continue to enjoy seeing this one take shape. Quite the effort to convert it!

Ludvík Kružík
Hello, Ben. I'm glad you're interested in my project.

Greg Baker
This is looking good!

Ludvík Kružík
Thank you Greg!

Villiers de Vos
Starting to take shape.

Ludvík Kružík
Villiers, the completion of the fuselage is only temporary at this time. It's only to modify the shape of the transparent cockpit cover.
Once the cockpit cover is the correct shape, I will take the fuselage nose down again to continue work on the cockpit interior.

Ludvík Kružík
Work on the model continues with the production of the cockpit.

Greg Baker
This is becoming a scratchbuilding masterclass!

Ludvík Kružík
Greg, thank you for the compliment.

A small shift in the work on the internal equipment of the helicopter's nose.

Jennifer Franklin
Ludvik, I greatly admire your skill.

Rando
Ludvik, a modeling god. The detail and scratchbuilding is just otherworldly and I always learn so much from your build logs

Ludvík Kružík
Jennifer, thank you for your kind words.

Randa, thank you so much for your contribution. Although I don't consider myself a modeling god, your comment made me very happy. Thank you.

Ludvík Kružík
This afternoon I continued making details for the nose of the helicopter.

Ludvík Kružík
Little progress today. The cockpit got a floor, internal construction and a coat of grey paint. Now I can start to get the cockpit "settled in".

Alec K
Great job on that instrument panel, turned out great 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Thanks Alec! The dashboard isn't complete yet. I still need to add a few more details. But I'll add those after gluing the dashboard to the nose of the helicopter, because I would (very likely) break them off while gluing the dashboard to the nose.

Ludvík Kružík
Again, little progress. I'm prepping the seats for the helicopter crew.

Jennifer Franklin
The red on the seat and cushion pops, starting to look natural.

Alec K
This build made me cautiously open the MPM 1/72 version of this chopper. I closed it back up very quickly… 🤣

Christian Bruer
Bergepanther Ausf. D, Dragon kit Panther Ausf. D, Fat Frog Models tracks and some scratchbuild details to present an early Bergepanther.
An easy self made conversion for an interesting recovery vehicle. I will add drawbars, a rack with a timber and the wooden hatch above the turret opening.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Christian Bruer
WIP on my Bergepanther conversion. Today I added the wooden planking and hinges ontop of the turret opening cover.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Alec K
Looking lovely, taking a seat 👍

Jennifer Franklin
I like what I see, following

Christian Bruer
Thx Alex and Jennifer🙂 Still enough place in the first row by the way 😉

Tom B.
Taking up one of those firstt row seats on this one! These Fat Frog tracks are really neat, currently using a set on a King Tiger... Looking forward to more of the scratchbuilt addons 👍

Christian Bruer
You're welcome Tom B. 🙂

Indeed the Fat Frog tracks are really nice, but a lil bit tricky to remove all the printing supports mainly on the inner side of the tracks.

Christian Bruer
WIP on my Bergepanther conversion. Tow bars and wooden beam added.
So far I have no references for early Bergepanther using the wooden beam, but let's assume it is a field modification.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Christian Bruer
WIP on my Bergepanther. Rear plate, details added. I cut the covers and hatches off from the kit part. Muchveasier than to rebuild the details.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Alec K
Christian, I love your scratched wood structures. Very realistic to my eye 👍

Jennifer Franklin
Agreed, the scratched wood structure looks great.

gorby
Remarkable scratch building!

Christian Bruer
Thank you very much for your kind comments Alec, Jennifer and gorby 🙂

Christian Bruer
The exterior is finished. I think I will add some interior because I will the hatches left open.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Jennifer Franklin
Did you paint the metal pieces to look like metal or are they real metal pieces?

Christian Bruer
Jennifer, I gues you asked about the enging grill covers. These are brass photo etch parts from a Flyhawk PE Set.

Jennifer Franklin
The brass parts look great

Christian Bruer
Yep, they're nicely done.

I decide to add some figures, crew and chatting tank drivers.

Happy Modelling
Christian

Christian Bruer
Nearly there, just a few highlights to paint and the brackets for the Schürzen to add.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Pepe
Nice!!!!

Spanjaard
looking fantastic Christian.

Michael Muschalik
Wundervoll. 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Oh, this looks good! 👍

Christian Bruer
Thank you all for your kind comments 🙂

Christian Bruer
Well, the Bergepanther is finished. Next figures and a small vignette.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Alec K
Amazing paint work 👍

Mr James
Great paint chipped display. Excellent work.

Christian Bruer
Thank you Alec and Mr James 🙂

Bozo
Guau, whaouh, oucha!!!!!
I'm loosing my words. And my eyes too.
Master piece.

Christian Bruer
Thank you very much Bozo 🙂

Neuling
Excellent small scale build!

Christian Bruer
Thank you Neuling 🙂

subotai
Isn´t the rubber on the wheels a bit too clean? But nevertheless a beauty of couse 🙂
Did you use a template for the rubber? It looks so evenly painted. Mine is most times a mess 🙁

Christian Bruer
Thx subotai for your kind comment and your thoughts 🙂👍
I'd like to present mostly dry mud what stuck to the tracks and wheels, so I kept the rubber cleaner than the rest. So far following some reference photos I used to follow.
About the paintwork, I did not used a template but painted the rubber free hand along the edges of the wheels.

subotai
Ok alright, then it must be a good edge or your ruhige hand 🙂

Christian Bruer
@subotai, both 😁

Christian Bruer
Some crew figures are meanwhile painted.
Happy Modelling, Christian

Jennifer Franklin
How did you manage to get such good detail on those tiny figures?

Christian Bruer
A steady hand, small brush and good magnifying glasses.

Jan Peters
This would look great if it was 1:35th scale, in 1:72 it is sheer magic ✨
Beautiful work Christian!

Christian Bruer
Thank you Jan 🙂 And, the large scale guys have a kit, we smallscaler need to do a conversion 😁

Rui S
Another Beauty 👍

Lebloge
Splendid !

Łukasz Gliński
These folks look 35ish as well 👍

Christian Bruer
Thank you all for your kind comments 🙂

Finn
Really, really well done!

Christian Bruer
Thank you very much Finn 🙂

Christian Bruer
Three more figures are painted.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Jennifer Franklin
I can't believe you managed to paint a camo pattern on those tiny little guys

Thomas O'Eh
great paintjob on the figures!

Christian Bruer
Thank you Jennifer and Thomas 🙂

Lorraine Lin
Wow, what a great paintjob at 72 scale!

Christian Bruer
Thank Lorraine Lin 🙂

Ingmar Stöhr
Looking great so far! Nice paint job on those tiny figures. I hope to see this live at SMC?

Christian Bruer
Thank you Ingmar 🙂
So the plan, looking forward to see you there.

Pietro De Angelis
1/72 scale, WOW!

Christian Bruer
Thank you 🙂

Christian Bruer
The display is in progress.
Happy Modelling
Christian

Christian Bruer
Another one for the gallery and ready for SMC 2024.
Happy Modelling
Christian

gorby
WOW, amazing dio!

Christian Bruer
Thank you very much gorby 🙂

Pepe
Espectacular!!!!!!

Spanjaard
congratulations, you nailed it again. looking forward SMC 🙂

Rui S
Excellent & beautiful work as you do all the time. The figures and the scene, bring it to another level👍

Jennifer Franklin
Incredible, love the final dio!

Ingmar Stöhr
Great work! Congratulations!

Christian Bruer
Thank you all, I much appreciate your kind comments 🙂

Jan Peters
Excellent job allround Christian. Will see it in the flesh at the SMC!

bughunter
The paint job on those little figures is absolute amazing 👍

Łukasz Gliński
It clearly stands out, the figures are fabulous 👍

Christian Bruer
Thank you all for your kind comments 🙂
@Jan Peters, come by at our German-Gamblers Clubstand H-13 to say hello 👍

Jan Peters
I will this year, as we missed eachother last year 👍🏻

Tom B.
Great work there as always 👍 Definetly something to take a closer look at during SMC 🙂

Michael Kohl
Another very fine Bruer. Them fine figures add a lot of atmosphere.

Alec K
Cannot agree more, outstanding.

Hanno Kleinecke
Checkin' in, let the show begin !

Patrick Hagelstein
Bring it on! 👍🏼

Florian H.
Erste Reihe🙂

Michael Kohl
Ich natürlich auch.

Spanjaard
i am in 🙂

Melgg Lütschg
That's interesting 🙂

Alec K
Another Bernhard extravaganza, I am in 👍

Tom Spiegelberg
So, schnell ein Glas guten Wein holen und dann nehme ich gerne Platz.

Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat!

Sergej I
Following 👍

Bernhard Schrock
You are welcome. As usual a lot of first rows free! Popcorn for all! 🙂

Dietmar Bogatzki
Schnell noch eine Cola geholt und Platz genommen, Bernhard 🙂

Felix Troschier
Da gucke ich doch mal mit

Harry Eder
Ich schließe mich da mal an

CaptGPF
Sitting down to watch the extreme detailing build!

David Taylor
Back in.

JAM-SCREW
Fantastic - looking forward to seeing it unfold!

Gary Victory
Nice start Bernhard.

Hans-Jürgen Haag
Nice start 👍👀

Robert
Following 👍

J35J
Wow! Great start👍🏻

bughunter
What a combination: a great new kit, nice accessories and finally a master modeller at the tools - EPIC !

Bernhard Schrock
🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 Thanks!

JAM-SCREW
Lovely extra details and mods! very tidy Bernhard.

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you JAM-SCREW.
Btw: just I saw you actual portfolio of sets for the Seaking! SCM Brand: JAM-SCREW
Absolutely remarkable!! I'm looking forward especially for the landing gear and main rotor hub. 🙂

Qwertzel
Gute Arbeit! Nehme Platz.

Mid Franconian
I take a seat as well!

Hanno Kleinecke
Just look at that winchframe !!! There is absolutely no doubt that after plugging these plugs the winch will be working. As with all your builds, for the watchers the path is the destination.
Wonderful wip pics - keep'em coming…… 🙂 👍

JAM-SCREW
Rapid progress sir! Very impressive attention to even very fine details for accuracy. Thank you for the updates and images.

Guy Rump
Following with interest. 👍

Spanjaard
that winch is jaw dropping... amazing.

gorby
WOW! Remarkable work so far.

Michael Kohl
What the hell is Ureol?

Bernhard Schrock
Michael ureol is A kind of foamed plastic. It comes in different degrees of foaming. The more foamed, the softer and lighter.

Robert
Hallo sieht genial aus.
wo bekommt man sowas ? habe auch schon versucht sowas zu finden.

Michael Kohl
Ah, that explaines as well the nice texture the cushions have. Thanks for the info.
And - by the way - as always a pleasure to follow your delicate modelling.

Bernhard Schrock
Your are welcome.
Robert: vor paar Jahren habe ich von einem Modellbaubekannten Reste zum probieren gekriegt. Daher musste ich erst mal schauen, wo man das kriegt: eBay hier und da so wie bei Modulor in Berlin.

Gordon Sørensen
Great looking detail you are adding, Berhard! Those seat cushions are fantastic.

Florian H.
Vergiss nicht, einen Kasten Bier bereitzustellen, wenn du die bordtoilette nutzt 😉

Lode Schildermans
Absolute masterclass in progress, Bernhard

bughunter
Eine Detailorgie allererster Kajüte 👍

Spanjaard
a bit more additions, and you can forget about buying kits 😉

Bernhard Schrock
Thanks for comments and praise.I would like to share the praise with the excellent photographers (TN and BD). Ä Only such photos as from TN and BD make it possible.🙂

David Taylor
Wow.

bughunter
It was probably difficult to wire all the little rotary switches on the back. I assume that they all work!

Dan Parsons
Just absolutely fantastic Bernhard, I dont think everyone will appreciate just how difficult all those details you have added are to do. you have achieved what I only dreamed of achieving. I am lost for words with these details. Stunningly beautiful work.

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you David, bughunter and Dan for you very motivating comments🙂. The Seaking is meanwhile my favorite helicopter. It was great to see one of them flying over the beach in Boltenhagen: we went on vacation there last year.🙂🙂

Bruce Huxtable
I am impressed not only by your skills, Bernard, but also that you are not over-whelmed by the many, many fine details that you are taking on. RESPECT 🙂

Alec K
I agree with Bruce. Inspiring progress 👍

Augie
Awesome work!

Bruce Huxtable
Goodness, Bernhard, another micro-kit! Immaculate, inspiring!

Augie
I'm just in awe, master work here.

Hanno Kleinecke
Last monday I had the chance to take a very close look on all these masterpiece subassemblies in person - an all new level of depth in detail, even by Bernhard's standards !
These oxygen bottles look as if they were very closely related to 500 pound bombs….. ? 🙂

Bernhard Schrock
I'm happy that you like my bottles... 🙂. In fact, I have often used bombs as a basis for various parts. 🙂 This time, however, it is a sprue with a diameter of 4 mm.

Dietmar Bogatzki
Awesome work, Bernhard 👍

ScaleFella NAFO
Tuned in! amazing details

Michael Kohl
Some very fine modelling going on here.

Spanjaard
very best kind of modelling 😉

gorby
The level of detail is mad. amongst the best scratch-building I have ever seen on Scalemates.

Mark Snel
Amazing!

Alec K
Excellent progress. I like how in Germany, when helicopter model parts get mailed, one just has to write "Bernhard" on the box and it gets delivered to the right person… 😉 😄

gorby
😄 😄 😄

Hanno Kleinecke
I'm out of superlatives ! What can one say - you are constantly exceeding your own standards with this build, and that really says something !
Deeply stunned and impressed by your R.O. workstation !

JAM-SCREW
Well, first test is passed - package arrived. Second test passed looks in good condition. 😋. Now is the real test. How does the builder feel about the parts and are they suitable for this unbelievably excellent project.... time will tell.🍻

Spanjaard
one thing is for sure, they could not get to better hands 😉

David Taylor
JAM-SCREW.How big is your production facilities,you might need bigger premises as your products look great albeit in the hands of a master modeller.

bughunter
Wow, again every little sub-assembly is a fine model on it's own - fantastic 👍

Bernhard Schrock
Thx for you feedback 🙂🙂
The entire interior is lined with upholstery, which is primarily used for noise-insulation. Until yesterday, I broke my head because I didn't know how to repicate it… After a conversation with a mate (thx Hanno), the brilliant idea came to me: Fimo clay.
The material can be processed excellently and is solid in the oven after 30 minutes at 130°. The most important thing is that it does not become bone-hard but left elastic and can even be sanded.

Hanno Kleinecke
Again you nailed it ! That Fimo stuff looks very realistic ! 👍

Michael Kohl
150 pics and you didn't even close the fuselage. And not a second of dullness. Finest modelling entertainment. 🙂

David Taylor
Will you be adding crew Bernhard.

J R
The insulation is amazing but so are the pieces of equipment

Bernhard Schrock
This morning I was curious and unpacked the chassis of Jam-Screw. As already written, the quality is outstanding. But everything is so filigree that you have to be very careful and not to break anything when handling. I had to improvise a bit here and there. In the end, I was finished after 2 hours. Including preparation for laying the cables.

Tom Spiegelberg
Der Baufortschritt ist echt sehenswert und beeindruckend Bernhard. Die Bilder vom Innenraum von Dir und Thomas sind toll! Es gibt leider sehr wenig Bilder vom Original und sind eine tolle Vorlage. Vielleicht macht ihr nen extra Walkaround hier. Ich freue mich schon auf die nächsten Bilder.

Bernhard Schrock
Danke fürs Lob Tom. 🙂. Dank der hervorragenden Innenraum-Fotos macht es wirklich sehr viel Freude herumzupuzzeln. Mein Seaking Projekt hat, könnte man sagen, eine „kritische Masse" erreicht. Dank diversen Kontakten zu Hubschrauber-Spezialisten, und ehemaligem Wart und nunmehr der Connection zur Jam-Screw habe ich die Möglichkeit offene Fragen auch dort zu klären. Für seine CAD files hat JS / Andy und seine Leute hunderte von Fotos geschossen, zu den ein normaler Sterblicher keinen Zugang hat.
Deinen Vorschlag werde ich an Thomas weiterleiten. Deine Idee ist sehr gut.🙂

Alec K
Jam-Screw additions are looking spectacular 👍

gorby
Amazing attention to detail!

Dieter Bihlmaier
Spechless 😉

Dietmar Bogatzki
Wahnsinn was du da reingesteckt hast allein die Instrumente und Sitze sind schon ne Show

Dietmar Bogatzki
👍 👍

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you for the big praise. I am very happy to have such a large number of fans of this WIP.🙂🙂
Dietmar: nur dank der Unterstützung von einer Handvoll von Mk-41 Fans ist es mir möglich so tief in die Materie einzutauchen.
Übrigens: Ganz am Anfang wollte ich die Türen offen lassen und nur ein „bisschen" im Inneren tun. Aber als ich die Fotos von Thomas betrachtet habe, bin ich „getürmt und hab mich auf dem Boden versteckt". Irgendwann habe ich jedoch den „Zustand der inneren Ruhe" (die Phase wenn ich kein Problem mehr damit habe mich z.B. mit einem Rucksack aus Fimo eine halbe Stunde zu beschäftigen)🙂🙂 und betrachte es inzwischen als eine Herausforderung, wieviel ich von dem Zeug nachbauen kann.

Shar Dipree
Awesome work so far! 👍👍👍👍

JAM-SCREW
Very exciting to see what can be achieved with even a very good kit. Commitment and patience wonderful recipe for outstanding success. A pleasure to go along for this journey.

Sy Bar
Truely amazing scratch building and detailing 🍿

bughunter
Impressive labels! Is your "normal printer" a InkJet or a Laser printer?

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you for your unique and supportive comments !🙂🙂
It's a usual business copymashine/printer in tower design, Minolta serie 7.

Bruce Huxtable
The interior is a delight to the eye, for sure. Inspirational modelling🙂

gorby
Just caught up with your build and it is jaw-dropping!

Bernhard Schrock
🙂🙂.
The last big point for interior components is completed: rack for electronic equipment & foldable seat.

Dietmar Bogatzki
einfach nur geil Bernhard 👍 /y)

Lode Schildermans
Simply amazing. There are no words to describe this level

Alec K
I agree with Lode. Just outstanding research and execution.

CaptGPF
God God! I'm just amazed how much scratch built detail you put into this build with each passing day!

Bernhard Schrock
A waterproof green rubber mat is laid on the cabin floor of the SeaKings of the German Navy. However, not under the equipment rack and not in the area of the „shower cabin" (radaroperator workstation). There, the rubber mat was left out, shortened and folded upwards.

At the points of the mountingpoints and other hatches, access covers (probably also made of rubber) are incorporated into the rubber mat.

Spanjaard
i really love the details of the rack for electronic equipment & foldable seat.

gorby
Astounding! 😮

J35J
Speachless, one of the best builds I've even seen.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Hanno Kleinecke
The lecture continues ! Altough it's a pity to partially hide all these wonderful details in the closing halves, I'm curious !

Bernhard Schrock
After completing the engine housing I begun today detailing the bottom.
Just as on the fuselage sides, the equipment on the bottom of the Mk41 is different from the british variants.

Kim Branders
A masterpiece...😮......a big 👍

Alec K
The level of detailing on this thing is simply too notch. Number of bits you have added must be in the thousands! Masterclass 👍 👍👍

Dietmar Bogatzki
Einfach nur Geil.....hast du jede Niete nachgezählt, Bernhard 👍
Liebe solche Modellbauer da komme ich nicht mit

Hanno Kleinecke
Holy smokes, this is escalating everytime I'm checking the progress here !
The Airfix-guys must be crying for their mama by now…….😄

Qwertzel
Sehr schöner Innenraum. Ich liebe deine medizinischen Hilfsmittel. Bin selber im Thema drin und kann keinen Unterschied zu den realen Maschinen feststellen. Echt gute Arbeit!

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you for the last wave of such nice comments. I have the last big hurdle to taken: installing clear parts for the cockpit without mess.
Qwertzel: freut mich, dass dir mein Medizin-Equipment gefällt. Du hast erwähnt, dass du selbst sehr dicht dran bist. Hab gesehen dass du auch einen Rettungs Quirl im Bau hast bzw. Eine ganze Menge von Feuerwehrfahrzeugen. Bist du selbst auch im Einsatz? LG B

Qwertzel
Ja, kann man so sagen. Bin seit mehreren Jahren bei der freiwilligen Feuerwehr, bei den Maltesern und beim DRK im Sanitätsdienst und Katastrophenschutz. Ab einem gewissen Punkt ist das ganze Rettungswesen eher eine Lebenseinstellung, anstelle eines Hobbys

Alec K
The paint is on! Best of luck with the clear parts 👍

Alec K
… and they are in place, flawlessly installed. I admire your precision, truly excellent 👍

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you Alec: Your comment honors me very much.
Today morning I worked on the nose, installed several parts of SeMa Models And finally the „thing" looks like a Mk41. 🙂

bughunter
This model will be THE one and only REAL Seaking 👍

Dieter Bihlmaier
Your eye for detail is terrific Bernhard!

Zbynek Honzik
I look at the photos and marvel at the precision and modeling skill. Fantastic, Bernhard! 👏👏👏

Michael Kohl
You have all the reason to be satisfied. Outstanding achievement.

KyMustang
Very impressive. You should be satisfied!

Bruce Huxtable
Here, here!

Joerg Stange
Richtig klasse Dein Seaking! 👍

Hanno Kleinecke
Incredibly realistic look and extraterrestrial cleanliness in paintjob and especially masking the clearparts, exemplary !

John
Looks amazing! Beautiful results on that glass, I bet that felt good to remove and see the results. 👍

Ray Loch
Stunning, that interior is something else.

Alec K
Simply magnificent 👍

Bernhard Schrock
I have hardly any experience with 3D printed parts, especially concerning the flexibility. The material used by Jam-Screw is quite brittle. Therefore, I decided to disconnect the axles and insert a wire. This also has the advantage that you can align the wheels precisely afterwards, especially because they are flattened.

PK99
Wow!! Unbelievable details.

Bernhard Schrock
Thank you mates. 🙂
Result of a modeling mini task: DIY FOD covers.
I wanted to be very „smart" and install the exhaust pipes from the outside after painting. I overlooked that the opening in the fuselage is much smaller than the „hidden" end. Therefore, I had to improvise: I sawed off the outer end and inserted them obliquely from the outside.

Michael Kohl
I just love to follow this build

Alec K
I just can't get over the sharpness of the color separations. Absolutely straight, no ragged sections. Superb.

Bernhard Schrock
🙂 🙂
As usual I installed the door without glueing via 2 x piece of 0,26 mm wire. I drilled 2 holes (0,24 mm) from outside through the door into the fuselage.
Who can find the two places? 🙂

Alec K
Top right, along right edge and within the flange to the left?

Bernhard Schrock
Alec alias „Eagle-eye": 2 x bingo! 🙂

Bernhard Schrock
Today I finished one of the last complex parts for the fuselage. The whippers. What do you think: how many individual parts does a windscreen wiper consist of? 🙂

Spanjaard
about 10, at least

Spanjaard
probably about 15

Bernhard Schrock
Spanjaard: tadaaaa!!!!! Almost bull eye! 17 per wiper. 🙂

Sergej I
You missed the wiper mechanism spring 😄

Joking, I have no idea how you manage to cut and drill such microparts.

Spanjaard
😄

gorby
Just been looking at your wipers in awe (not a phrase I thought I'm be using this morning). Stunning work!

Siegfried Van den Bosch
Stunning !

JAM-SCREW
On going master work on a masterpiece. Fantastic in all respects mate.

Vincent
Amazing work on the wipers!

Bruce Huxtable
Fully-functioning wipers? Too much for my brain to comprehend...... Amazing, Bernhard, amazing...!

Dietmar Bogatzki
Guess 7 Parts per wiper 👍

Bernhard Schrock
Never before have I completed a tailrotor in this quality in such a short time! Thanks to Jam Screw!!!🙂🙂🙂 Compared to the original, all this is great: even the kink at the back edge of the blades is reproduced correctly.

Alec K
Looks amazing 👍

Олег О
Гениально )))

Michael Kohl
Your spectacular build and pic 255 makes me wanna build one german SAR Seaking too.

Bernhard Schrock
I'm glad I was able to inspire you for this machine. By the way, I was lucky/opportune to see the 89 + 63 and 83 + 58 live on Friday at the very last statics display in Nordholz. Hence the photos: in bright sunshine! All spotters were really lucky!🙂🙂

bughunter
Oh yes, great pictures of the original - I really like the "stressed skin effect"!
And I learned recently during my visit in Oberursel museum (reported that on SM) how the filter works, which you show in pic260.
Fantastic modeling show here 👍

Mark de Boer
WOW, all out on the details, Dont think i have ever seen a more acurately detailed model before. Think this is a price winner. Very beautifull.

KyMustang
This is very impressive. Can you give a tutorial on how you achieved the stressed skin effect?

Tom Spiegelberg
Schön, dass Du noch das Vorbild in echt sehen konntest! Ein toller Moment, den man nicht so schnell vergisst. Ich hoffe, Du hast noch genug Fotos gemacht hast! Wäre cool gewesen das fertige Modell neben das Original zu stellen. Weißt Du was aus 89+63 wird?

Bernhard Schrock
KyMustang: the Seaking - Kit of Airfix is on of few witch offers stressed skin.

Tom: in der Tat, das war das Ereignis des Monats! Wie bereits schon geschrieben, habe ich das große Glück, Mitglied einer WhatsApp-Seaking-Taskforce 🙂 zu sein. Felix und Thomas waren gestern bei dem VIP Termin dabei und haben ihre Informationen in der Gruppe geteilt. Demnach bleibt die 63 in Nordholz. Vielleicht ergibt sich mal eine Gelegenheit, das Modell mitzunehmen und nach Nordholz zu fahren. Vielleicht hätten die Museumsmitarbeiter Interesse das Ding in klein zu sehen.

Bernhard Schrock
I'm just waiting for the decals (thanks DF 🙂🙂) and taking a creative break. For a change, I opened another box 🙂

Aaron Konz
Wow! This is extremly impressive!! Build already 2 Airfix Sea Kings but this is a whole other level!! 🤩 I also want to build this retro Sea King (I was also present during the spottersday and the last flight. Can you tell me witch decals you will use? Thanks in advance!

Bernhard Schrock
Good morning Aaron,
thank you for the praise! That was indeed a great experience for me in Nordholz to see the 89+63 live on friday. 🙂I would have liked to see the Seaking in flight on saturday🙁

The decals have been created by a modeling-friend exclusively for me and our Seaking task force 🙂.

HSQ / Mr. Fienne Schola has released a sheet exactly for the 89+63. Here are two links.
https://ebay.de/itm/186437323778

heli-scale-quality.d..iebebilder:::53.html

Bernhard Schrock
I got the decals on Friday. Everything except the blue elements is meanwhile in the right place: I'm thrilled! Thank you very much David!!🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Alexander Grivonev
Bernhard, es ist atemberaubend was Du hier zauberst! Erste Liga, ohne Worte 👍

Hanno Kleinecke
Last Monday I had the opportunity to lay my eyes on this milestone in the making, even more impressive in reality. So now it's decalling time !
Finish line in sight !

Mr D
The large decal has layed down nicely 👌, looks a difficult area!!
Nice job your doing 👍👍

Anatolii Smyshliaiev
Super!!!

Mr D
Rotors are nice job, interesting model this one ....and very popular, lots of interest.
Best of luck with next steps 😃👍👍

Desert Marlin
Coming along nicely!

Desert Marlin
Absolutely stunning!!!

Spanjaard
can not get more realistic.... wow

Alec K
I agree - one only needs to look at the antenna termination in pic 281 🤯

Steven Van Dyck
This weekend both Essex and Hancock kits were started. You can compare these two on my garden table, Essex being a short hull version and Hancock one of the later long hull types. Therefore Hancock has the Ticonderoga Pontos set. I threw in a dozen of airplane sets and pillaged the Ion Model figures stock for about 420 seamen to take the stations. While making the requested change to the rear elevator (see shipmodels.info/mws_..pontos+essex#p919517 ) an error was discovered in PE part 605 and this can only be solved by completely scratching it. Also, I'll open up one rear elevator so I have to adapt the deck edge to that. The Hancock kit got some travel damage to the hangar deck, so that will have to be repaired too. But I think this is a good start to the project.

Steven Van Dyck
The hangar doors present a compomise that I can't accept, showing some inside detail but with all gates closed down and an exaggerated thickness. I decided to remove all of them, beginning with the Hancock sprue. You can compare with the original Essex sprue. To replace the partially closed doors, I can choose between Evergreen grated plates (subtler paneling though one-faced) or the same metal foil as used earlier.

Steven Van Dyck
The walls of the Hancock are now built. I found out that there are not enough Pontos PE doors of one design to replace all plastic ones, so Hancock and Essex will be getting a different type. A drawback to the hangar walls is the absence of locator holes. I made some pins myself. The plane cockpits were not in stock and will arrive later.

Rando
Read a lot about the Essex-class carriers, really interesting history and very interested to see how your ships turn out 🙂

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Rando. Today the second ship's hangar was closed off. In the Essex model I didn't need to remove a part of the hangar deck, so now there's a minute difference in the distance of the rear deck to the island structure. The fault should be in the Hancock bow section. I closed down some of Essex hangar doors, but I kept a peeping hole for the elevator shaft that I moved to the right like in Hancock.

Gary Victory
This is some project Steven. These are not exactly small models (i have one myself - CV-13 USS Franklin)....and so much extra detail you are adding. Watching in admiration. Great work so far.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Gary. The first PE parts are bent for the stern and the boat cranes of Hancock, after the hangar wall seams are removed with Tamiya filler. One part of the wall is badly fitting and needs to be shortened.

Steven Van Dyck
Lots of PE particles are now assembled to giant deck support structures. I accidentally used the Essex front deck instead of the Hancock one, so I had to remove the PE plate causing half of the ribs to jump of again and restore this to the Hancock deck. Now I'm about to begin the same again for Essex, that has a slighty larger hollow under the flight deck.

Gary Victory
Nice progress Steven. Shame about the mix up but we all human, im sure at one point we have all used a wrong part or miss assembled.
Keep up the good work....and enjoy your build time.

gorby
Looks like another remarkable project in the making.

Jörg Schäfer
I'll join in then.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for the acclaim, now Essex is also loaded with PE parts under the front deck. I also removed the rear lift floor in the hangar deck, because it will be visible through the side doors. The deck edges are getting PE plating with the correct catwalk acces doors and fire station hatches, but I'm still thinking about methods to remove the space behind these PE parts. Drilling is not enough.

Gary Victory
Very impressive work Steven. Loving the progress.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Gary. The update today shows the reshaping of the Hancock bow. The angle of the kit bow is too shallow, so I cut out a wedge in the side and plied it back. The bottom part was split and clamped shut tighter, using sprue "rivets" to hold it closed. A lot of sanding followed, even after I had installed the port 40mm hubs on the hull. Another problem were the 18 doors that needed to be removed from the island structure, so I used my Proxxon for that. An extra is the comparison between 5inch/38 mounts from the kit, Flyhawk (yellow) and Pontos (Brown). Pontos is more detailed, Flyhawk has PE details and the kit is built up from different parts.

Pietro De Angelis
Impressive work, congrats!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Pietro. The islands now both have all watertight doors, and Hancock's island is already a bit further down the line sporting ladders, a PE walkway, the pri-fly cabin and a almost fully equipped smoke stack. For a movie about choosing the right watertight door in your model, see Youtube Video . I did find the correct type on some detail pictures in my books.

Steven Van Dyck
A 45 picture update about Hancock's island. I made changes to the building plan where I saw the reference pictures didn't follow them. Loudspeakers were added. A cutout in the bridge deck was removed. The venturis on the different levels were added, but some don't extend far enough. Some of the PE hatches on the director towers needed to be scrounged from the ABSD project remains. All kinds of radar antennas are added, some I didn't find or identify yet, like the "stovepipe" antenna encircled on one reference picture. The SC-2 radar needed to be put on the platform for the side SK radar position. I did make the rear mast for the smokestack position, but removed it again because there is no trace of it in the reference. It might still be used on Essex.

Christian Lehmann
👍

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Christian. Again a large update with changes to the Essex island. The front structure is made identical to Hancock and some scratched galleries are added. I decided to move Essex to the march 1945 scheme. Pontos has some parts for 1944 Hornet that are useful here, like the bridge walkway. Some areas like the stern will have to be adapted too. The same radar antennas are used, but some of them on different positions. I now added more airplane PE to the inventory, some of these should be finished to be able to close down the hangars.

Steven Van Dyck
The Avengers are now getting their PE cockpits, and the interior of the hangar is painted white.

gorby
Remarkable level of detail!

David Taylor
Nice detail.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, the airwing continues with the Helldivers, the Hellcats and the Corsairs, that had the hardest fit, so it's a good thing I had only six of them. I still have the same amount of planes not getting a cockpit.

Steven Van Dyck
Detailing of the port air outlet, the catwalk and starboard galleries of Essex. For Hancock it's only the outlets that were repeated. At first I was cutting small mesh parts, but it's better to cut them as a whole and add a PE crosshair. In the Trumpeter planes there is a tendency in the wing base to be cast offset (see color image) resulting in a skewed wing position when the fuselage halves are assembled. I'll often have to correct the angle. All plane fuselages have been fixed now and in the Helldivers and Avengers the seams are already filled and sanded.

Steven Van Dyck
The Helldivers are first to be completed with PE parts. The Pontos airbrakes are an improvement over the kit ones, and they can both be used for stretched wings or retracted ones. I drilled open the wheel wells. In the Hellcats, the cowling is incorrectly cast with one lower opening, so I shoved a node in each one and sanded it flat. A new opening is drilled and an oil cooler vent is then cut out under that. Takes quite a while.

Steven Van Dyck
The Hellcats are now all having a revised cowling and they also have a brass tube for the new prop position. The wheel wells are all drilled out and I made 10 scratch pairs because I only have 32 Pontos pairs for 42 Hellcats. For the Corsairs the wheel wells are rectangular which is a real pain to scrape out. The Avengers are still to be detailed, beginning with the tail wheels.

Lode Schildermans
That are quite a lot of planes you're doing.Defintely will complete the build

Steven Van Dyck
I think so, Lode. Don't you fancy a carrier build yourself? You probably have a Yorktown 1/200. Today the painting of the airplanes was started. The wings are painted white but this I might have to redo in grey, they're too coarse. The planes are in grey now. I cut out the propellers and I needed extas for the Hellcats, so I changed the 6 optional 4-bladed Corsair props into 8 3-bladed ones.

Spanjaard
ton of little airplanes will certainly make a great flight deck, picture 359 seems an MC Escher design 😉

Steven Van Dyck
Currently these planes are enveloped with gum to spray the camo on them. This is extremely tedious because the gum is not always adhering well and it must be sculpted exactly the same on each plane. I now painted the hangar floor in Lifecolor Deck Blue 20b (don't mind the overspray) and I also built the side elevators. This is a very nice fit from Pontos, but the netting supports are erroneously numbered 36 and this part is not abounding, nor does it fit the purpose. In stead of it should be used part 10, that was left in just the right numbers. The repair of the 5 inch/38 resin housings was first done with putty but then I wanted the outline to be improved and I made impressions with a knife flat and a drop of CA. Then break off the knife and a straight edge will result.

Steven Van Dyck
The 5 inch guns are now all detailed according to reference pictures of the ships. Essex was different than Hancock, it had no blastbags nor ladders. But in the end I noticed I used the wrong type of ladder, so maybe those will be removed. For the single guns one double gun barrel was wrongly shipped, so I lengthened that one with a 1mm Albion tube. Also some small parts are not provided in the needed quantity, or the option of placing PE steps was not shown in the manual.

Steven Van Dyck
The long range antenna pylons of Essex are according to the Pontos manual, but they copied this for Ticonderoga and that's incorrect. The 3d pylon should be left out for long hulls and so I can drop a 10th pylon for Hancock. One of the ladders for that can be used to complete the double 5 inch housings. Because of much unclarity in the manual I made many wrong folds on the catwalks and had to reassemble lots of parts with stress cracks. Also the deck edge elevator has a chain lift system that is now constructed out of a very fiddly frame that also breaks easily. But the end result is sturdy enough.

Pietro De Angelis
😲

Steven Van Dyck
All planes are now in sea blue and ready for the last camo paint. The prop tips are painted in yellow. Some wings were stripped, others were overpainted in light grey.

Steven Van Dyck
Midnight Blue is almost completely added on all planes, only the Avengers still need the tail completed. Some of the wings had orange peel and were redone.

Gary Victory
One hell of a production line with the Air Wing.....Nice work Steven.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Gary! It went on with the elevator shafts, the Avenger tail colors, the propellers that were masked with a metal roundel (after 2 hours I now have painted about half of them black - on two sides!) and then finally the cockpit set arrived and I soon had some new Helldiver and Hellcat cockpits. I wanted the Dragon Avengers to have a PE cockpit too, but this was a very tight fit even afer milling as far as I could in the fuselage interior.

David Taylor
bad enough doing brass on 48.Brilliant.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, David. Now it's decal time. 196 roundels on the wings, as many on the tails and again for the callsigns on the tailplanes. Essex has a horizontal white line that was trimmed with scissors and Hancock has a horseshoe. Still some more are coming, but for the numbers some research will be necessary. All decals were treated with Daco Sol. Plane interiors ar painted Vallejo Interior Green. Hellcat propellers are also painted.

Rando
#461 is art

gorby
Wow, the number of aircraft you are building is incredible!

Pietro De Angelis
Mamma mia, what an assembly line!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks for the comments! Today most of the canopies are cut up, ground thinner and applied to the fuselages. I'm left with the Hellcat open canopies, these just don't look the part and I will probably have to remove part of the tail to fit these.

Steven Van Dyck
I found a hack for making the perfect 1/350 Hellcat open canopy. Use 1/700 two-bar railing cut to four stanchions and bend this over the middle. By now I have placed all clearparts on the airwing. I now started t add the number decals on the Helldivers. You shouldn't follow the Pontos Hancock tailfin indications, these appear wrong as the number is always below the omega sign.

gorby
The open canopies look very effective.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Gorby. All crates now are sealed with Pledge and the props are installed. For the Helldivers I needed to scratch prop spinners out of clipped spheric node ends.

Steven Van Dyck
Tamiya grey panelliner wash is used on the top side of the airwing. I will be using a different shade for the bottom.

Steven Van Dyck
A brown wash was done on the grey undersides of the planes. The also got rigged, each of them with a scrap PE antenna mast. The Avengers got guns in the turret and now I will paint all the canopies on the outside.

Steven Van Dyck
All surfaces got a matt cote with Vallejo Polyurethane varnish, for the other side I avoided the gum because it removed some of the decals. Then all the wings could be fixed with a little drop of CA glue. There are no fitting locks for the stowed position of the wings, so all of them had to be manipulated in exactly the same position.

Skyhiker
My God, what a lot of work. Geeze...

Steven Van Dyck
And more still to come. The update shows the closing down of the hull bottom with a waterline plate, that needs to be filled in with a lot of CA to get a smooth fit at the bow. The anchor deck is painted and the anchor chains are added (1 set was sufficient for both). The rear elevator shaft of Essex got a trompe-l'oeuil bottom part because the extreme right side is visible from the outside through the hangar hatches. The bow portholes are deformed because of the modling and are all replaced with Pontos portholes, of wich you get enough to complete the hull.

Steven Van Dyck
The decks are closed down after sanding the bottom. Some of the Pontos PE is interfering with itself, so that's clipped. I have some overview pictures for you, with the island and main guns in dry-fit. Now the catwalks can be added.

gorby
Remarkable work!
I still can't get over that you are building two 1/350 carriers at the same time. Madness I tell you. 😉

Steven Van Dyck
There is reason in it. For example the catwalk supports you see in this update, in stead of stopping at assembling 75 for one ship, you can do another batch for the second one, in stead of finding yourself a few years later in front of that task with the memory of those first 75 ones and having to do that all over again. I even found errors in one Pontos instruction that could be corrected with the other one.

Further in this update: fixing a sag in the deck caused by tensions in the connectors, just saw through the connectors after the deck is fixed to the hull. Also the ladder booms and a lot of Pontos steps that are either not present where expected to not fall off the ship, or that are mentioned in the manual but not used on the pictures. I also fixed the antennas to the catwalks.

Steven Van Dyck
There is enough material to build 25 quadruple 40mm Bofors, so I made them. Nevertheless you only need about 8 per ship. Now I'll start on the 130 single Oerlikon 20mm guns. Here the margin is much less, but the fit of the stands is bad so they have to be clipped a bit.

Steven Van Dyck
It seems that in 1944 Essex' gunshields were modified, so I had to remove a part from them. For the Hancock model this is not necessary. Every step in the 20mm guns is repeated 125 times, so that takes a toll.

gorby
Every time I see this I'm blown away by the effort you are devoting to it. You certainly have a lot more patience than I have.

Steven Van Dyck
With these little guns it's tested daily, Gorby. But now they are all done and painting can almost begin. The Hancock 20mm guns were finished when the handwheels were added, but the Essex guns are like on the reference pic and needed an Evergreen Mk.14 visor and a piece of scratch PE for the air feed pump.

Steven Van Dyck
In this update I scratched the fuel lines on the hulls, covered the deck ends with sheet metal, made the directors, added all Carley floats and placed the HF-antennas and some missing stuff on the islands.

Steven Van Dyck
The floater net baskets are made while the Deck Blue parts are masked on both ships. I tried out the excellent Eduard searchlight sets and used this on both, they outshine the Veryfire ones I used on Hancock first. Now back to the tedious masking of Hancock.

bossy122
I never thought I would say this......they're "bulkheads", not "walls". Forgive a former carrier mariner, but some of the lingo they jammed into my brain stuck. I also can't stand movies with officers wearing their lids indoors. : ) Your PE work is inspiring!

Pietro De Angelis
Impressive amount of photoetches and details, my head is spinning, admiration and respect!

Steven Van Dyck
If my work attracts the real carrier operators, I feel as humble as a pollywog. Thanks for the replies, today you can see the finishing of the masking phase and the Gunze primer coating. I used cardboard to close up the hangar hatches, I made it fit well enough to not need any glue. The next coat will be a complete cover of all parts with Lifecolor pale grey.

Steven Van Dyck
The hulls are at last painted black and can be unmasked. Some overspray was inevitable and can be removed with post-shade. The deck is first tainted with Gunze Midnight Blue and then faded with a light sand primer. Transverse girders are marked with an Aqualiner. To Hancock I added a paravane guide to the bow. The deck fit of Essex was perfect, now let's check out the other one. When the island is dry-fitted, it seems to have the right look from the pictures.

gorby
Camo looks amazing!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Gorby! Now both decks are applied, some setbacks needed to be resolved. In both ships the deck edge elevator was not fitting between the PE constructions to the outside of the hull. I should have corrected this before painting all. I did succeed in removing and reattaching the PE without all too much paint and PE damage, it might not be visible after the repair job. Hancock got the elevator level with the hangar deck and Essex got it stowed in vertical position. This is only possible with retracted safety netting, so that too was moved. I also made a schematic walkthrough showing how I needed to remove the front internal hangar bulkhead of the Hancock model, that seemed to have some badly fitting extra parts to the Essex original sprues. This didn't sit flush with the front elevator edge, so the wooden floor wouldn't fit below the well. It seemed impossible to resolve without opening up the front deck part, but there was another option. I sawed a large hole in the bottom plate and milled through a support plate and the extended hangar floor to be able to push the bulkhead out of the hangar. I then fixed it flush with the well and puttied the floor taht was left a bit mangled by the milling tool. A large part of this will be covered by the wooden floor.

Steven Van Dyck
The deck PE particles are pre-painted after being primered grey. Even with this primer they scratch easily. The wooden decks of Hancock and in larger measures Essex must be cut out where the PE parts come. Some of these aren't even pre-cut and must be traced form the parts, like the barriers. I know that laser lines must not overlap, so they wanted to avoid drawing the near-vertical lines over the planking. Because of that, it's better to do the barriers first and then the expansion joints. The gutters around the deck are added with Hancock and will now be completed on Essex.

Steven Van Dyck
A bad day at the wharf, the deck markings of Essex were botched because of a bad primer on the PE parts and bleeding of the white paint under the tape. The chipped PE I can handle, but I don't know if the wood can be cleaned up to have the same blue as it was doped in. I'll try to overpaint with the Lifecolor Deck Blue and then again some light sand brown for the weathering. You also see a correction that was needed for the deck edge elevator floor. This is extended too far out in the models if you want the elevator in the down position. I could saw it out in Essex, but in Hancock the hull apparently was not flush with the wood deck safety railing PE part. I just added a new front for the elevator. I also made a new better fitting third elevator edge for Essex, you see the earlier attempt at the top and the badly etched Pontos one on the right. Now I'll go and repaint that deck.

Ben M
Good luck on the fixes!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Ben, it's fixed now and I added foot markings to essex and srubbed off deck numbers to Hancock. The islands got their deck blue surfaces painted on, so they were now fixed to the hull. I started also to clip a new Tori Factory gunnery crew and compared this to Ion Models figures. These are a bit smaller but easier to clip.

gorby
Excellent work with the repairs.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Gorby, that's all done now. On the new pictures you see about 500 crew for the two ships. Most of them are Ion Models figures from 6 and a half sets of carrier personnel + pilots and navy figures on leisure. I also corrected errors in the build. The 5 inch platforms closest to the bridge of both ships had to be reversed, which went quite smothly because of the paint layer between the CA glue and the PE. I then added the railings but when I arrived at the Essex port sponson, I found out that it had been revised in 1944. It was made identical to what is seen on Hancock. So I yanked it off and scratched something even better, with some Pontos PE parts meant for the bridge in it. And then I thought of the number of elevators I had built in lowered state, all of those need a total of 70cm safety railing of which I had none. So I'm now clipping some ordinary PE railing so it becomes 1 bar railing. Only two elevators to go and then some painting again!

Steven Van Dyck
I scratched, painted and applied the safety railing for the elevators from the generic L'Arsenal railing set. Then I found out that Trumpeter should not have included the Essex center deck section. The port deck edge has a completely different shape. Because all was already finished, this lead to some rigorous action with a circular saw, holding the PE parts out of the way with a pencil and then repurposing the walkways removed for the 20mm gun gallery that was relocated further aft. Hancock now got 3 out of 4 guns, one needs to be repainted.

Steven Van Dyck
The AA guns are all installed and the figures are primed and washed. They will now be painted individually.

Alexander Grivonev
Oh wow, you are truly a masochist 😄

Steven Van Dyck
Then watch my collection of tractors, changed form threeweelers to Clarktors, and my forklifts and bombcarts. Also the torpedoes are finished with their carts and about 20 propellers of 1mm all to be plied.

gorby
Very nice work on all the extra bits, particularly the tractors. It would be good if you could include something in the photos, like a scalpel blade so we could gauge how small these things are.

Steven Van Dyck
Here you go, Gorby.

[img1]

gorby
WOW! 😮
Even smaller than I thought they were.

Pietro De Angelis
🤯

Steven Van Dyck
Dio bases are now created for both of the ships. Showcase dimensions will be 85 x 25 x 20 centimeters. The water will have a styropor bottomplate with plaster to smooth things out. eventually AK Pacific water paste will be used, I think I'll go get a new pot of that tomorrow.

David Taylor
Looking good Steven.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, David. Weathering products are now added to the hulls: Tamiya black and grey wash and the Lifecolor liquid pigment deck weathering set.

CaptGPF
Exauisite builds! The extreme level of flawless PE work, attention to detail and scale of modifications towards historical accuracy is astounding! Even the insanely small aircraft's are uplevelledmin detail! Simply amazing! ❤️❤️❤️

I noticed that you use CA glue for the PE Parts, do you solder any of them?

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, CaptGPF, for your inspiring comment. I never mastered the art of soldering and most of the parts are too small to use that anyway.

Steven Van Dyck
Essex already left the slipway, tomorrow it's Hancock's turn. Both had their paint scratches and were then coated matt. I painted the nameplates from the kits gold after some thorough filling and sanding the backside. Lettering was painted in dark grey. The AK Pacific water product for Essex is now slowly curing and it seems there will remain a nice core of turquoise in the blue. Waves will be added later on.

Steven Van Dyck
The ships get their wake with AK foam. Hancock is slowing down to receive some landing planes, while Essex is imitating a picture on full speed. The antenna pylons are added, for Hancock in the down position and for Essex up. The name plates are now fixed to the frame. I'm starting to rig now.

CaptGPF
Amazing progress Steven! Do you apply different layers of blue water to create that effect?

Treehugger
Any tips for painting the letters on the name plate?

If only Trumpeter offered a brass plate with raised lettering, then one could simply airbrush on black and sand off the top, leaving shiny letters (I've done this on other name plates). Super easy and it looks super nice and clean. Instead, with plastic it is going to be much harder to paint the letters right.

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks people! @CaptGPF: it's the thickness of the layer that causes the blue to go deep or not. Therefore it is not predictable where the lighter tones will appear. You apply one layer, wait one day and aoply some more if it shines through where you don't want it. But not too much or it will go one shade.
@Treehugger: the letters are delineated enough to pencil them. I do this with Vallejo model color mostly without thinning so it wouldn't run where it is not needed. If that happens, I scrape the wet paint off with a scalpel. That leaves no marks because the base layer was from a can. I imagine what you can try is filling the void with maskol or wax but I doubt that you can get the lines straight like that.

Martin Oostrom
Printers use some kind of firm roller. Get paint on it and roll it over the raised letters. Would that work?
You can help getting the wake a different shade by painting the base on which the water paste goes. Youtube Video

Steven Van Dyck
Today an update about the rigging of the long distance radio antennas and the signal flag lines on the island. For the first I used the Arnold book and for the second the Trojca island plans. Cooper thread was used for insulators. I did scratch the pulleys for the flags out of a generic PE nuts and rings set like in the last few projects.

Kate Ward
This looks AMAZING.

Gary Victory
Wonderful work Steven. The build and weathering just top notch.

Steven Van Dyck
Thansk fir the kind comments. The rigging of the ships is done. This includes the landing brake cables and the barrier ropes. Then the complete airwing was fixed to the deck.

Kesa Tiho
Probably the first time i have ever looked through all the photos of an album. Truly a masterpiece

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks Kesa, I hope your clickfinger doens't hurt now, I'm nearing the 1000 picture marker again. Today I schratched a crash crane from a bunch of staples, a brass H-profile and some plastic scraps. Then I dropped it and had to reassemble it again. Now it's primered and ready to paint and rig. This will take place on Hancock's empty deck edge elevator.

gorby
Very nice scratch-building!

Steven Van Dyck
Thanks, Gorby. Now the first batch of figures is manning the stations. These are the Tori gunners. It was indicated on the package that there should be 5 complete Bofors crews, but I can constitute only 4. Also the torpedoes are positioned and the new tilly crane. The arc of the crane is shown to prove that it can enter the elevator door if swiveled. Now some bombs are scratched.

David Taylor
Your attention to detail is fantastic.

Christoph Schnarr
The fourth and last Focke-Wulf in my series is a Fw 190 A-7, also by eduard and again oob build.

Skyhiker
Following

Doubtingmango
Watching this one too!

Alberto
Very nice paint job and mottling