The Ship Model Forum

Hi!

I was on vacation this week, practically always doing something on the ship from morning to night. The ship is 93% done

All superstructures have been added. I also had to rebuild the docking bridge at the back, because the original floor pattern was crappy and it didn't hang over the sides of the ship. For the bridge, I think I put up all the braces that I saw in the pictures, but I'll look through all the photos anyway...

The rigging is complete for me. It's obviously not perfect...It caused serious problems for the rope ladder, because the etching was almost 4 mm shorter than how I designed the mast based on the drawings. So, not very elegantly, I glued thin etching strips to their ends. I don't know what else could have been done. All flags have been put in place.

The antenna gave up the lesson, for this I used the Modelkasten product. With this, I managed to achieve a nice hang (it helps it by a small lego structure). The brace between the antenna cables is overscale, because quite simply anything else that I found at home and that was thinner was bent... Then I still need 1-1 more wires for the connection points on board.

The lifeboats and boatcranes are also in place, I borrowed the rigging for these from the etching. It's not stretched sprue, because according to the pictures, there were quite a lot of rope strands running next to each other, and if you glued more together, it didn't look better than the etching, which also has the pulleys. I emphasize that the stretched sprue did not work for ME, others would have easily solved it.

I also edited my own nameplate, I think it turned out attractive. I know there are people who only accept the engraved nameplates, but the larger letters were necessary, because I'm getting tired of the fact that everyone I know, as soon as they see the ship, immediately asks, is this the Titanic? No, it's not that...
The water also got another, slightly lighter layer, because the Tamiya spray was too dark, and I also inflated the bases of the waves. I will add details with a brush, fill the gaps, etc.

Overall, it doesn't look bad, but somehow it wasn't as clean and precise as I would have liked

Wow!

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http://www.3xblackcats.wordpress.com

That's just great!

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Pascal

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Hi Szabi, your model is amazing, really!

Since you're working to perfection, I was wondering if you had added the second steam pipe to the second funnel. This is peculiar for Mauri, Lucy didn't have that.
There is a much higher resolution of this in the Northumberland Archives.
To make sure that you see what I see the enlargement:

In the pictures of your model you've posted so far it's not possible to check that.

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"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Thank you guys!

Maarten, you're right! It doesn't show because I simply forgot it...
This morning I was looking at the sketches I made before the construction, and I noticed this when I built the funnels 1-2 years ago. I marked it as an important difference, but I have no idea why it was left behind. Moreover, I forgot not only this, but also the pipe visible at the back of the 4th funnel. But it's no problem, it's easy to improve them Thank you for your comment!

By the way, as for pipes and funnels: extra air pipes were installed when they switched to oil burning in the 20s. There is a diagram of this in the book, and you can see it in the later photos at the back of all 4 funnels.

But there are still little things that I haven't uploaded yet. E.g. these small water tanks. The strange thing about them is that they seem to wander on board. But what about the roof, why did they move behind the cranes?

Hi Sszabo,

Glad you had noticed it too! For my own build of Maury (in 1:350 from the Gunze Lucy kit) I have concentrated on the configuration as delivered, the other pipes you mention were added later. I didn't know, but could have to do with the oil-firing indeed.

Sure you will manage to make these small adjustments!

As for the water tanks: I believe these were related to the airco and heating system, I imagine they had to make adjustments to that during the lifetime of the ship. Maury and Lucy must have been one of the first large ships with this sort of system, so much was experimental and had to be modified for improvement. The relocation of the water tanks could also have had practical reasons.

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Folks, I was wondering if it would make sense to model smoke from the funnels in some way. This is the thing that I miss about most steamship dioramas, but I know that using this wadding or other fabric-like material, the result is not always like the real thing. Do you think it makes sense to try it, or can I just make the overall picture worse?

Hi Sszabi, I believe it makes VERY much sense! In particular with these old steam ships, both coal and oil fired. I often find theses dioramas lacking something serious when ther is no smoke - at all!
But getting realistc 'smoke' will be challenging. The best options I have seen so far:

1: making the smoke 'virtually' by adding it to the pictures you made. Using a 'digital spray paint' onto your pictures might give the most realistic result. But when plainly looking at the model you still see nothing! Therefore the second-best option:

2: use well spun-out cotton wool from hygienic or medical cotton pads to form the clouds. Spray paint these 'clouds' with the spray-brush or spray-can in various tones of very light gray to dark grey/black, to simulate the cloud under various light conditions. It will take a lot of practice time to find the right look, so I would start just by painting such cotton clouds before you even attempt to attach them to the model.

Good luck! I'm keen to follow you through on this...

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54304
The matter was raised 15 years ago, but remained unresolved then...

I see some ideas in the wonderful dios from Won-hui Lee. Apparently he uses painted cotton wool as well:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/bb/ijn/Musashi-700-whl/index.htm

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

Gentlemen, I declare the ship ready. Thank you all for your help, pictures, comments and encouragement

With all its faults, it turned out that way, I can't and I don't want to change it anymore. It took a long time to build and was far from perfect, but I think that compared to the factory set, quite a lot of details were added. Overall, I think it looks like the real thing. We're going to the Mosonshow on Saturday

Congrats on completing such a beautiful and complex model. Following the work in progress was a real pleasure. The seascape is also amazing. Well done!

_________________
http://www.3xblackcats.wordpress.com

Better is the enemy of good enough! And she looks more than "good enough"! Well done!

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

I love it when a plan comes together! Very nice work.

Hi Sszabi
You definitely did this old lady justice! My congratulations. I see you added the second steam pipe on the rear of the second funnel.

I follow your decision not to add any smoke, as to do that right would be a project in itself. If you don't succeed to the full, it will distract more than it would add.

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023

That's a really beautiful rendition of the Mauretania. Many congratulations.

Looks so well in her natural element, piercing through the waves at speed.

No need to be so hard on yourself Sszabi. You built a beautiful model! I also really like the seascape!


How was Moson? I regret not being to go this year (again...)

Indeed a very nice model and convincing wave-patterns.

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Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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Thanks you guys! I would also like to have pictures taken by a professional photographer, because these pictures by the telephone are not the best.

Martin! The smoke had to be abandoned in the end, because it simply did not bring good results after several attempts. It looked so easy in the YouTube videos, but it really isn't...

Marijn! Sorry, I didn't word it right, the competition will now take place on April 19-21. between. I'm going to go on Saturday, I'm really looking forward to it because I last had the chance to go 2 years ago.
If I manage to achieve something with the ship, I will share it here

Well, we're over the Mosonshow, and she won a silver medal in the ship master category

I already know one of the jury members from previous competitions, and I asked them what their views were about the ship.
A few examples he highlighted:
- the boat was found to be too clean, there are not really signs of use on it, e.g. below the waterline, which is visible because of the waves;
- one of the jury members also brought up the previously discussed topic, that the ship is moving nicely, but there is no smoke...
- I didn't put the grills on the funnels, because I couldn't find any good photos, the lack of them was also noticeable to the jury
- I made a guide about the building, to show why and how I didthings, but e.g. I did not include a picture of the fact that only two antenna cables were stretched between the masts, and it occurred to them that there should be 4 fibers there. In the end they did not stretch this and accepted what they saw.

By the way, I agree with these things, I will try to pay more attention to them in the next model.

And, on the shelf, the ship took its rightful place next to a competitor

Well deserved, Sszabi! I wonder what the gold medal winner may have looked like, but it should have been superior.

As for the jury's verdict about the funnel grills: these weren't there. So the jury was wrong (most ships might have had these, but not Maury). Only Lusitania seemed to have a single crossbar in funnel #3, but in the other funnels that isn't certain either. On the Mauretania photo I can see the liners though, these are clearly visible inside the funnel tops. I didn't check your model whether these were present or not

_________________
"I've heard there's a wicked war a-blazing, and the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising, their guns on fire as we sail into hell"
Roger Whittaker +9/13/2023