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davecov · Posted: Fri 27 Oct 2006 20:25 pm Post subject:

It checks out fine for 1/72 - 440mm in length (the real-life boat is '32m').

Of course, now that I know the kit torpedoes were too small, I'm just mulling over whether to make the kit torpedo tubes the correct length.....

Dave

davecov · Posted: Sat 28 Oct 2006 22:52 pm Post subject:

I have painted the dinghies as per the instructions and they just need a little touching up on the ropes. The H74 (Matt Linen) is a bit too yellow for my liking and they look positively garish in photos! I'm not going to repaint them (too lazy) but if I did, I would use H83 (Matt Ochre) instead.

Dave

davecov · Posted: Sat 28 Oct 2006 22:59 pm Post subject:

You can clearly see the new starboard door in this shot and the door track added from plastic card (in white).

You can also see the modified hand rail behind the cabin too. I still need to finish the hand rails and add one behind the mast (which is dry-fitted at the moment). The two round vents on the left will be painted near the end of construction as I tend to put my thumbs on them when holding the boat!

I also fitted the guardrail stanchions (parts 225-238) at this stage, before fitting the torpedo tubes. This will make it easier to rig them and make good any damage installing them.

The hull sides and gunwhale at the bow still have not been painted yet.

Dave

davecov · Posted: Sat 28 Oct 2006 23:33 pm Post subject:

I made a slight boo-boo aft where I had forgotten to fill in the locating holes for the supports (parts 198 & 200) for the depth-charge rail winches. These have now been filled and the resultant damage to the paintwork is being made good.

I was in two minds whether to use the stanchions supplied in the kit for the gun platform (parts 155-160) or to use stretched sprue. I used the kit ones in the end as they are pretty robust. I won't be fitting the top rail provided in the kit though (part 161).

All fittings in the picture have been glued now (apart from the rear structure assembly that the gun platform is sitting on and the gun). Some of the fittings now need touching up with H64.

Dave

davecov · Posted: Sat 28 Oct 2006 23:54 pm Post subject:

The next step will be to complete and fit the torpedo rails. In these shots you can see the torpedo tubes and WEM torpedoes being test fitted (and my mucky paw marks on the glass surface).

BTW, I carried out a modification of the hull by cutting off the locating pins for the keel from the hull halves. I then cut out holes where the pins were located and glued pieces of sprue into the locating holes in the keel. This allows me to alternate between full-hull or waterline at will and allows the waterline version to sit flat and level during construction.

Dave

farmroad38 · Posted: Sun 29 Oct 2006 07:49 am Post subject:

What a clever idea!

You're making me feel really guilty, Dave. You've almost finished yours, and mine isn't out of the box yet! I'm going to start today, honest.
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Cheers,

Adrian

Brews · Posted: Sun 29 Oct 2006 08:53 am Post subject:

Are you going to set up a winch over each torpedo tube, and attach a small chain to the torpedoes?
_________________
“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” Winston Churchill

davecov · Posted: Sun 29 Oct 2006 11:02 am Post subject:

davecov · Posted: Sun 29 Oct 2006 11:05 am Post subject:

davecov · Posted: Sun 29 Oct 2006 21:07 pm Post subject:

I fitted new deck treads/steps on the foc'sle (black X in the picture below) to replace the ones I cut off earlier on in the build. The new ones are made of plastic card and positioned either side of the re-aligned door in the bulwark. They will be painted H27 in due course.

BTW, the black Y's show where the cradles for the new torpedo rails will be situated.

I also spent some time patching up the H64 paintwork. Apart from that, it has been a quiet day on the S-Boat front.

Dave

farmroad38 · Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 15:08 pm Post subject:

Dave, just to recap something you mentioned on the first page - you paint the transparencies black? Just the ones that open onto the inside of the hull, presumably?
_________________
Cheers,

Adrian

davecov · Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 17:15 pm Post subject:

No, I painted all of them black - even the cabin ones. That way I don't have to bother doing the interior. My Islander has been done that way too!

Dave

farmroad38 · Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 17:28 pm Post subject:

I've just had another look at it, and so they are! Hadn't noticed before! Gives it a sort of sophisticated, "display model" look, doesn't it?
_________________
Cheers,

Adrian

davecov · Posted: Fri 03 Nov 2006 17:29 pm Post subject:

I was going to say the "Corgi" look in my previous post but some people will view that as being part of a conspiracy!

Dave

davecov · Posted: Sun 05 Nov 2006 00:38 am Post subject:

It's been nearly a week since I last touched the S-Boat as most of my modelling time has been devoted to other builds. However, tonight I painted the mast, torpedoes and crew and the painting of the dinghies has also been completed.

Next step will be to rig the foc'sle guardrails and then fit the bulwark and torpedo tubes.

Dave

davecov · Posted: Mon 13 Nov 2006 23:43 pm Post subject:

Best laid plans of mice and men.... I have spent all my modelling time exclusively on my two aircraft builds since my last post. However, I am now trying to get back on track with this build again!

Tonight I have been working on some detail for the mast. I haven't fitted part 277 (two v's) as S11 had two crosses instead at the time that I am building her as you can see in this picture. Also, note in that picture the glass of the navigation light on the mast is not as large as shown in the kit.

The crosses have been made from strips of plastic card. You can see them in the picture below. Once the glue has dried, they will be trimmed to the correct size and fitted to the mast.

I didn't start the rigging of the guardrails in the end, nor did I fit the bulwark and torpedo tubes.

The reason why is that I have to do a bit of work on kit parts 282-290 (instructions incorrectly call them cleats) before I start. I am cutting them down to a more realistic size. Talk about a boring job! You can see an "after" and a "before" in the picture above. I suppose I could have used fuse wire or stretched-sprue instead.....

Dave

farmroad38 · Posted: Tue 14 Nov 2006 09:07 am Post subject:

Dave, I notice that you've painted the things with the portholes in on top of the deck in Hu64, whereas I thought the instructions say to do them in Hu27. Is that because you found that was the wrong colour?
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Cheers,

Adrian

davecov · Posted: Tue 14 Nov 2006 09:21 am Post subject:

The majority of pictures I have show the cabin roofs (for want of a better phrase) with lighter grey than H27 pre-war, the period of my build. A lot of wartime pictures also show them with the lighter grey too but some show a darker grey. It really depends what period you are building your particular boat to.

Dave
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DaveCov - Site Founder, The Airfix Tribute Forum

farmroad38 · Posted: Tue 14 Nov 2006 10:05 am Post subject:

Okay. Maybe that's the problem - I'm not building it to any particular source, I'm just blindly following the instructions! I think I'll go for Hu27 just for a bit of variety!
_________________
Cheers,

Adrian

davecov · Posted: Thu 16 Nov 2006 10:43 am Post subject:

A bit more progress last night.

I glued the two plastic card crosses to the mast.

I completed cutting down the rigging anchoring parts 281-289 to a more realistic size and glued them in place. I have also fitted the kit torpedo cradles in the new forward position. The original cradle locating holes will be fitted with cradles made from plastic card. The last bit of work was to enlarge all the locating holes for the guardrails.

Despite the almost completed look in some of the previous pictures, I still have a few things to do:

Fit aft torpedo cradles and all torpedo rails
Repaint the deck H27
Paint hull sides H64
Replace oval openings of vents (79-82) with round openings and fit.
Fit additional guardrails to rear of cabin and glue lifebelts to them.
Fit electric lead to rear of lamp on cabin roof
Glue cabin structures in place
Rig guardrails on foc'sle
Add new ropes on foc'sle
Scratch-build four boat-hooks (two long, two short) and fit to foc'sle guardrails (one of each on each side)
Fit plastic card braces to front of bulwark
Fit bulwark and torpedo tubes
Fit port and starboard screens either side of cabin and navigation lamps
Scratch-build screens (to replace 201 and 207) for front of bulwark
Fit rest of guardrail stanchions and rig guardrails (note that there should be an additional stanchion at the stern between the two depth charge racks
Rig gun platform guardrails
Fit torpedoes
Fit and rig mast
Fit dinghies
Apply decals and fix flag in place
Announce it's finished!

It looks a very long list but most jobs shouldn't take very long at all.

Dave