James' Combrig 1/700 HMS Canada

[Dazzled]

Nice detail on the kit James. And you get to experience the joys of small scale photo-etch.

I'm not sniggering....honest

[JohnRatzenberger]

I am a fan of Gator's Grip, overpriced or not. Small parts stick quicker and once a bit dry they do not tend to fly off if bumped. Plus you can reposition parts easier. Perfect for all that tiny stuff you are playing with ...

[JamesPerrin]

Still plugging away at this when my daughter lets me. Been adding deck gubbins to the main hull. For many small a parts I've dispensed with the tweezers and have been using a flattened cocktail stick. I literally give it a lick and it just as enough adhesion to lift and place small parts

When I've have had to use tweezers I've pinged half a dozen parts across the desk, floor and myself. Miraculously I've so far found then all. I don't know how much longer my luck will last though.

[splash]

Cheers for the cocktail stick trick, I have just tried it to add small parts to the Warspite and it worked a treat.

[chrism]

What the pair of you need is a "sticky pencil" which has a tip that is just made for picking up little bits of etch.

I feel for you with the pain of finding bits, and am impressed that you have a carpet monster that doesn't like etch metal.

[iggie]

What the pair of you need is a "sticky pencil" which has a tip that is just made for picking up little bits of etch.

Pray tell; what is a sticky pencil? I like the sound of it!

[chrism]

What the pair of you need is a "sticky pencil" which has a tip that is just made for picking up little bits of etch.

Pray tell; what is a sticky pencil? I like the sound of it!

Sorry James for derailing your build, but, for you all here is a link to it, and in the little photos you can see the pencil bit .. .

http://www.umpretail.com/products/ultim ... tch-placer;

[JamesPerrin]

There is also Tacky Wax but they both cost money and cocktail sticks and spit are something I have in abundance.

[JamesPerrin]

Progress is slow and steady with the occasional set back. I'm still adding bit the the main deck though I've also started work on the forward super structure. I'm mainly slowing up as many of the small deck are that cramped they need painting before I can add guns, search light and unidentified do-da's. The kit is amazing well engineered and detailed, the only fault (and it is minor) I've come across is the slots for the main mast supports are vertical but need to be angled, however this was quickly sorted with a few swipes of a round file.



I've cut the mast from Al tubing and the support from brass purely because they matched the required diameters the best. It does mean that soldering the yardarm to the mast is probably out which is something I'm hoping to do for strength.

One job that needed doing was to drill out the holes for the anchor chains. Started with a smaller drill bit making the hole at the correct angle to meet to anchor holes and then move up to one that matched the size the voids. You can also see a I've applied a fix to a break in the lip of the hull. I don't know how I did this as it was fine a couple of session before. The tiny block of resin was CA'd with zapper and then sanded to match the contours.



I've also manage to clip a couple of deck edges while trimming parts out of the backing wafer, this being down to my carelessness/tiredness

[PaulBradley]

Nice work, James. I am also beginning to discover there's more to this Navy lark than first meets the eye - so many fiddly bits!

[JamesPerrin]

Pretty much finished adding do-das to the deck tonight, the last couple of sessions have involved placing a couple of dozen supports for all the boats. They are almost all different, and some are teeny fortunately there are very positive slots for them.



To make life easier for myself before I start gluing I mount all the parts in blu-tac so I can "easily" pick them up with tweezers without having to stop and start.

[chrism]

Mighty fine work there indeed. Worryingly so, them there little bits are giving me the heeby jeebies from here.

[gnomemeansgnome]

Nice work so far, James, and nice PE storage hack too. I do the same with fiddly little parts as well.

[iggie]

Great idea for the PE storage; that will come in very handy!

[PaulBradley]

Yes, that is a god idea - and one I can start using right away with my build!