I got my kit really quickly and assembled it even quicker (whilst watching two episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm in the living room, on the oriental rug!) Beautiful work! Clean and easy build! The fiberglass bow and stern pieces make for great hard area and I love the extra detail parts I ordered. The search lights are especially great. The only change or improvement I could see would be in making the basswood hull stringer cut-outs optional. Maybe score them so they can be popped out, or cut them so we have the option to glue them in to fill the cut-out. Convoy ships in MWCI are typically run light so I'll have to move the basswood down the hull to insure it's at least an inch below the anticipated floating waterline. But that's not a criticism; it was such a quick and easy assembly that filling those cut-outs will probably more than double my build time... might add another whole hour ;-) Buy these kits, support Mark's efforts!!!
MARK it really looks great! Keep up the great work it's you bringing back wood kits, they my not be out there as much as you'd like but give it time! I think you should have gave up on the plains years ago!!!!!!!!!!! This just might make your first mill buddy.
EVERYBODY DON'T FORGET , THE BIULD SESSION IN BROOKSTON IN , ON OCT 1 . PLEASE IF YOU PLAN ON COMMING TO OUR BUILD LET ME KNOW SO I KIND OF GET AN IDEA HOW MEANY TO COOK FOR, PLEASE. I'LL POST THE ADDRESS AND HOW TO GET THEIR ALSO PHONE NUMBERS SO WE CAN HELP THE ONES THAT GET OFF CORSE! ON OUR OTHER SIT THE WEEK BEFORE.
There's an Axis cruiser in the works I'm not planning on generating a lot of income out these ships, my day job pays for most of my toys. I'm mainly doing it for fun, to provide some different ships that are not available elsewhere, and to get MY ship kit for free of course. I've found in the past, in model airplanes, that if a simple, cheap, kit is available people are more likely to take a chance and try the hobby. Then once they are in, they buy the more complicated models. So in part, and for the Bogue carrier kit in particular, it's all part of devious plan to grow the hobby.
Very nice kit, I don't suppose you would be thinking of shipping overseas? I can't seem to find anything similar here n the UK, and that looks like a very nice Royal Navy ship to start my flotilla/fleet off with... Don't suppose you do a TP kit? heheh. D.
In an effort to further expedite the building process, I experimented with using masking tape instead of 1/32" plywood or basswood strips for the hull bottom and impenetrable area. I turned the hull upside down and ran 1" masking tape from station to station to define the hull shape than glassed over the tape with fiberglass cloth and West System. To further reinforce the hull, I cut fiberglass matt to shape to fill the gaps between stations and glassed them in from the inside. It all resulted in much faster hull construction than I'm used to.
Inventive. Another thought is to use 1/16" X 1/4" basswood strips (instead of the masking tape) spaced apart to build a more fair lath to drape the glass cloth over. Steve
But it's not at all faceted. If you look closely at the pictures, the tape is secured to each station and so assumes the curve of the hull. This method provided a smoother hull in fewer steps so far. In the past I have used basswood or scrap wood cut to fit, but that adds CA or tiny nails to the equation and several additional hours. Seeing wood through clear resin is prettier on a warship, but for a convoy that'll only get cracked once a year at Nats, I'm happy. Remember, campaign is about volume ;-)
I removed the faceted remark from my last post after looking at it more closely. I'd thought it might be faceted from frame to frame. I'd like to see a shot down the length of the hull when completed.
I will try to continue to add updates. I hope to spur on any fence-sitters so these kits might become commercially feasible and more be made available.
Mark, How long is she and how wide and How tall is she?? I going a case foe her: http://www.ebags.com/product/golf-travel-bags/the-vault/40737?productid=380084 .. Nikki
