HMS Bluebell

[Bunkerbarge]

For your first time with PE and white metal you've certainly jumped in at the deep end. I'm sure it's going to be worth your while though as the finished model will have a stunning level of detail.

 

[Ian M]

Right I found the card reader cable, so I have taken a few photos of the last few days efforts.

View attachment 24263 The forcastle deck is down, a quick run around the edges with the deck colour is needed. The anchor windlass is also in place as are the bollards and fairleads. Loads of fiddly bits yet to come.

View attachment 24265If you can see them these are the splinter pads that are going to be hung on the railings around the bridge. When I get them. I sort of forgot to order them but should be on the way!!

View attachment 24266A whole rack of vents and funnels! Al in white metal. Great fun to clean and paint that lot. Also the last bits on the 16' dinghies are done, just need the rowlocks. They will go on at the last minuet as they are tiny and WILL get knocked off. The Main gun can also be seen.

View attachment 24268 The funnel house is only resting. Its final position needs to be measured up first. The Wheel house is fixed and is awaiting the new bridge. You can also see that there is a bit of colour on the hull. Long way from finished yet though!

View attachment 24269The wood decks by the depth charge throwers are down. Just need to build the throwers....more white metal and brass.

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View attachment 24270The main gun and platform. Just knocked on of the rail posts off!!!

View attachment 24264Talking of posts.... All need cleaning and painting. And you guys thought separate tank tracks are a pain.

View attachment 24271 The last of the machine room vents are also waiting for a home.

Dinner time!

Ian M

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[wanna_be_aviator]

One word for you: Fantastic!

Another one: Stunning!

yet another: Amazing!

 

[Centurion3RTR]

One word for you: Fantastic! Another one: Stunning!

yet another: Amazing!

I can't say anything, my mouth is open but nothing is coming out only drool. Oh, i've thought of one. WOW!!!

Have fun, John

 

[Ian M]

I can think of several, unfortunately non of which are allowed to be written on these family friendly pages.

I was going to mount the 2lb'er the gun at the rear on top of the engine room. Well non of the legs for the "band stand" matched up with the holes and a couple of them where short!!! Constant giggling to get them in place soon got them off. spent a while cutting some new, longer ones and drilled the mounting positions right through the deck. Painted and drying as I write!!

Thanks for the kind words. Might give the depth charge wotsits a bash later.

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Ian, You are excelling yourself here, can't wait to see the final Ship, it's going to be a beauty. Cheers Derek

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Lovely job on the woodwork, which is always very difficult to get just right.

 

[Ian M]

Thanks Derek, Richard.

The woodwork; funny thing there. I did actually make real wood planked panels for the fo'c'sle and the DC launchers and they just looked wrong! So the Brass was painted with a light sandy colour then after a day or three of drying and hardening I attacked them with the oil paints and a hairy stick.

Been placing some of the fittings this evening and she is stating to look a bit like a ship. Now I must take a deep breath and slow down. I really need to stand back and work out what else needs to go on before I mount the bridge and the 4" gun platform.

Oh and paint the hull for real. Then the real headache can begin. Five miles of rigging and rails.....

Ian M

 

[sprayman]

Blimey, this is a real pearl, what I can add but..............:terrific:

 

[Ian M]

Went to the DIY store Saturday and blew £70 on Plexiglas for a case for it. Dude its a big box. 100 x 50 x30 cm! Sticking that together was fun. I also got hold of five metres of brass angle to frame the edges with.

Spent most of the day doing some fiddly bits and made a start on all the Depth charges and holders. The thought of the Racks and chute scares me a bit. Think meccanno but 20mm x 3mm bits!

Ian M

 

[Ian M]

Nothing spectacular to report at the moment. I have spent all week trimming and cleaning the cast metal depth charges. 38 for the racks and the stern, 4 for the launchers, and 18 ready to use.

I have read that some were black and others green. So I spilt the difference and am painting them dark green. Bronze green actually and they look the part.

I must confess that I have chosen not to use the "extra detail set" for the depth charges as they are way to much work for the small boost they give. I might use the timer handles and maybe the lifting rings.

The Launchers are a little mini kit. six bits of etch and a white metal casting for barrel.

I will take a few snapshots tomorrow if the sun ever comes out.

Ian M

 

[Ian M]

Well the sun never came out. In fact there is a small Hurricane outside and I'm nit talking about the aircraft!!! Been blowing a good'n since yesterday evening.

Any way, enough of the weather reports. Here are a few photos of what,s been going on. There is also one of the photo-etch for the depth charge rails for the stern of the ship.

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View attachment 24782 Looking down onto the fo'c'sle

View attachment 24785 A closer look at the anchor winch.

View attachment 24783 Depth charge launchers.View attachment 24789

View attachment 24784 Ready to use charges

View attachment 24787 A couple of step back shoots.

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View attachment 24786 The parts for the depth charge rails and racks...

Not a lot to show for a weeks work!!!

Ian M

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[Caledonia]

Ian, One word only needed - STUNNING. Cheers Derek

 

[Ian M]

Well time for a photo or four. I have just finished the first of two Depth charge racks! Dude this was one of the more confusing constructions. Ended up having to read the written instructions as the drawing was rather confusing on its own.

After loads of coffee and several two hour stints I ended up with this:

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Bugger! I just noticed that I forgot to mount the smoke float holder! Seeing things on the "big screen" really helps with noticing things...

Hope to get the second one done for the weekend.

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[treyzx10r]

Ian those racks look great ,would rather mask up a bunch of canopies than try that one! The builds looking great lots of cool details to draw in the eyes .

 

[Ian M]

Just a quick update;

Got the second DC rack done, now just need to fill them up with DC's. There are a couple of deck mounted racks to do but they are only for parts and a yard or to of wire to tie the charges down with.

At the moment, I am battling with the ships railings. There are loads of them. Two types; Pipe rails that have three three railings and rope rails that only have two. For the rails, I am using a combination of piano wire for the strait ones and brass for the ones with bends in. Trying to bend everything in pairs was proving a bit of a pain in piano wire, hence the switch to brass.

The actual process goes a bit like this;

Clean, trim and drill (some of the posts the hole was either clogged or to small) some 150 odd posts. Clean the positioning holes for paint, glue, filler and other muck. Cut the wires to length. Thread on the required number of posts.

Then the fun part. Position the posts in the locating holes along the length of the run. Having gotten the posts where they need to be, glue the rails to the posts. when dry take the whole lot off, prime and paint. Put back on and glue in place- simple.....:laughing:

I just need the port side of the fo'c'sle to position and glue up and then I can paint the railing forward of the funnel house.

Photos later.

 

[sharowjohn]

Bluebell.

Hi there,

Also building Bluebell, only started just over 12 months ago so not as far on as you

and maybe getting a bit too enthusiastic. It took me 2 months or more getting the plating somewhere to scale, then I decided to add shell openings scale bilge keels (ie. bulb plate), followed up by an ASDIC dome.

You are certainly right about about building up tiny brass parts, Carrs solder paint is a godsend for this. Talking of this I found the various blocks & tackle a bit two dimensional, so a quick visit to Cornwall Model Boat for some 4.5mm blocks & scale rope & problem solved.

Now a couple of helpfull links www.cyber-heritage.co.uk where you can find drawings of hedgehog motor bombs & thier markings & www.dafont .com where you can download fonts quite cheaply for the above.

Cheers sharowjohn.

 

[Ian M]

Sounds like you are having fun as well. Thanks for the Links I will have a look at them later.

How about starting a thread of your build. It does not matter if you have already began the build. Don't be shy.

Ian M

 

[sharowjohn]

Depth charge colours.

Hi Ian,

I was talkiing to an old salt friend of mine at the weekend 1950s RN, even older than me & I did 22 years in the MN. Anyway he tells me that baack then depth charges were as you say a greenish colour as he putit or what he describes as ships side grey.I did go for the additions set "OH BOY" what a job. Anyway hope this helps & one of these days I will take some snaps, back to the depth charges.

Cheers sharowjohn.

 

[sharowjohn]

Finally got the camera out.

Hi,

As you can see from the 10mm squares of the cutting mat BITS don't come much smaller,

Cheers sharowjohn.

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