Kriegsmarine Flower Class Flak Ship for Telford

[bluesteel]

Good recovery Julian! Though you're going to be scratching your head as to how it went so awry

I have an idea it was static on the plastic that dragged the thread off course, that's all I can think of. But I have to finish the water-lining before proceeding with the superstructure as I can't turn the ship over very easily once the deck structures are installed. So I need to get it right...

[SJPONeill]

Something I find useful for getting straight lines across uneven and sometime lengthy distances when modelling is a cheap laser level, although as I'm not really using the level bit, any laser pointer etc would probably do the trick...I set it up so that is cuts through my start and end points and then mark my line along its path...then it's just a simple matter of joining the dots.

[PaulBradley]

A small laser cutter would be even better........

[SJPONeill]

Thought about that but every time I hook a laser pointer up to the mains, it just goes SNAP, CRACKLE and FIZZ - no clean beam of cutting purifying light at all...

[MerlinJones]

...and a big, smoking hole in the wall!

[bluesteel]

Where are all the Light-sabres when you need them...

[bluesteel]

I think I've done as much as I can do the build up the water-lining of the stern. Once it's finished and if I still don't like it, I'll do what Brews suggested and ad some rear waves...



I've also installed an awfully large number of fiddly small poles that seem to strengthen the walling inside the stern deck. I'm sure there must be nautical terms for those, but as I'm an 'Air Lubber' I'm all at sea...



I'm going completely off-piste as far as the instructions are concerned, as next I'm planing to install the major structural items as I need to make and position the extra Flak positions and enclose the open Bridge, as the Kreigsmarine enclosed the Bridge to put a Heavy Flak position on top of it.

[MerlinJones]

Are these all kits parts so far?

Regards,
Bruce

[bluesteel]

Are these all kits parts so far?

Regards,
Bruce

Apart from the plastic card to build up the stern water-line, yes, all kit parts so far.

[MerlinJones]

I was thinking that those stays were a good detail to include in a kit. Other companies might've expected you to scratch such things.

Regards,
Bruce

[bluesteel]

I was thinking that those stays were a good detail to include in a kit. Other companies might've expected you to scratch such things.

Regards,
Bruce

Yes you are right. There are many small detail parts, making this a real gem of a kit. Interestingly, although in a Revell box it has multi-colour sprues. I can't think of any other Revell Matchbox re-pop that retained the original multi-colour plastic of Matchbox. Which makes me wonder is they are literally reboxing of original Matchbox parts, the plastic has the clean crisp feel of Matchbox kit parts.

[bluesteel]

Some deck furniture now attached, and working on the forward guns. Although the German main gun was a 10.5cm, I think the 4 inch gun supplied is close enough. But the turret cupola seems larger than those supplied with the kit, so I've taken and modified the turret from the Airfix Gun Emplacement Set. There are also two small bandstands either side and to the rear of the main gun with two2cm guns; for these I've used the bandstands from the Airfix Coastal Fort Set, which seem about right.

[MerlinJones]

So even the added-extras are of CBK origin?
Brilliant.

Regards,
Bruce

[bluesteel]

So even the added-extras are of CBK origin?
Brilliant.

Regards,
Bruce

Yes, I'm trying to keeps as CBK as possible. But I think the Quad Flak guns might stump me, I can't think of any CBK with Quad Flaks..

[PaulBradley]

You could disguise the quad fifties from the Matchbox M16 half track kit.

As an alternative, I'm sure the Germans used, either through purchase or capture, Bofors 40mm guns, and those would be a likely candidate for re-use on these conversions.