Hello fellow modellers, from Crete. I've deleted my previous entries and now making a fresh start here on my mid- build submission on the KSM Scharnhorst [Dragon kit 1040], 1943 version. The previous entries were too negative for my liking. A more positive approach better feels better.
I waited a long time, it seems, for this kit, and must have had my supplier look a dozen times for its release. Then, when it came available, I bought two kits. This is my first run at the build and then I hope to do a better build next as a static display piece, suitable for competitions. It will include the wooden deck and a more comprehensive PE set. I hope Flyhawk comes out with a set for this 1040 Kit, but if not, the 1940 Flyhawk set should do nicely. This first build will end up in a diorama with the KSM Z-38 and a U boat [a VII I expect].
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I live mostly on Crete, where I keep my work bench outside. However, it does storm here and Dec-to Feb can have some maritime cold from the Aegean, and fine dust storms crossing the Libyan Sea from North Africa, [that can ruin a model] so my new table is designed to roll inside our villa [just a word here for house] and will fit over a marble table in the hall, where I can work in the warm and be dust free. In previous articles [now deleted] some of you commented on the lighting. This was an idea from 'Scale Modelling Work Shops'. Good ideas appear there on how to improve your shop set up. I plan to add a bib to the table. This would be attached and sit in my lap, spanning side to side, and giving me a chance when the idy bitty parts decide to become airborne. Also, note the main model sits on a base that is on drawer slides, allowing me to pull it forward without getting finger prints on the model, and keeping it generally safer.
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The model is a great build with the parts fitting snuggly, requiring almost no fill anywhere. The instructions, on the other hand, are complicated because too much has been crammed into the 19 sections that cover the whole build. Sub assemblies are scattered throughout the instructions, and are not easy to find in all the clutter when I go looking for some clarification.
Like many of you, I have numerous kits in process and many are ships. As well as the Scharnhorst, I brought the 1/350 IJN Fuji by Fujimi and the IJN hybrid carrier Mogami, Tamiya, from Canada to work on this winter. I have Flyhawk PE sets for both the Mogami and the Fuji, so I am ambitious. I just hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew successfully.
Why ships? The movie, Sink the Bismarck [1960], really caught my imagination and since then I have leaned towards learning about all the great ships, from the Dreadnoughts on. These ships represented the most complex technologies human kind had, until recently. The story of the beasts pounding it out in the cold, deadly seas, is a human arena of conflict I never tire of learning more about.
An example, is something I learned today. The destroyer HMS Glowworm was snared in a trap set by the KSM heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. The destroyer stood little chance, but unable to escape, fought valiantly and with nothing left, finally rammed the Admiral Hipper. The captain of the German battlecruiser wrote the recommendation that the British captain [who died in the action] be awarded the Victoria Cross. He was, the only time an enemy recommended to the British a medal they awarded. The Nazi surface navy of WW2 was a different creature, maintaining many of the honourable traditions that went with the naval ethos.
The Scharnhorst had a compelling history from early allied merchant shipping interdiction, to the Channel Dash, Operations in Norway and the interception of the Artic Convoys, until it was brought to battle by the British Duke of York and cruiser HMS Belfast [now in the River Thames], when it was destroyed along with over 1900 lives.
I'm into the smaller assemblies now and beginning to pull the ship together. I spent much time getting a colour combination together I liked. The deck is my own blend based on the Vallejo Teak, the overall grey is Vallejo Sky Grey and the darker parts Dark Ghost Grey. I find getting the colours right to my eye takes time. I don't rely on the manufactures recommendations too heavily, although I typically begin there. You may note the deck colour has changed from the first two pictures. It is the last photo, that I'm unable to get set into the text for reasons unknown, that shows the my final choice.
I apologise for the previous posts that were messed up. Computers are not my thing, and I no longer have children at home to help me, so it's trial and error.
1 additional image. Click to enlarge.
