Building of the USS Blunderbuss - 28mm aeronef

[Westfalia Chris]

Cant wait to see how it all comes together.   What Nationality is it for,   British?

Erm, "USS Blunderbuss" should be a dead giveaway, old chap...

@Topic, good decision and great work on that smokestack.

[Ray Rivers]

Yep, she's slated to fly the American flag, however, I'm also doing British sailors so she may be "bi-Flagual."   

So... progress to report:

Painted the mid lower superstructure and the aft outer interior of the crewed area.

Added planking to the mid structure.  Not very realistic, but hey, it's wood!   

Re-did the rigging with thread, leaving we with "hairy" ropes, but I like it better than before.  I prefer wire rigging, but the stuff I had was just too large a gauge to work.

Painted the interior of the stack black and mounted it, the funnels and a "thing me" at the far end to place a flag.

Note the ladder just in front of the smokestack on the side of the structure.  I have a devious plan which will start from here on both sides of the ship... 



Overview of the ship... where the "hairy" rigging is easily seen... 



And a closeup of the aft structure... ready to paint:



As a side note, I have only been a very recent convert to hobby files... the funnels needed a real going over and having these nice small files to file away the mould lines and get a nice shape really came in handy.

Next up will be to finish painting the aft structure and getting the ladders leading up to the "flying deck" painted, decked and installed.

I have a couple more surprise "engineering" projects to go construction wise, but overall the Blunderbuss is pretty much entering into the final stages of building.

Onwards and upwards!

[Luthaaren Von Tegale]

Hi Ray,
the Blunderbuss is looking great - fantastic job - can't wait to see "her" once comissioned.

One thought on the "hairy" rigging - you could run some dilute PVA or Acrylic varnish along it. That should reduce the "hairyness" if you want too - but I'd experiment with some mock rigging before trying it on the Blunderbuss.

Having said that it looks good as is.


                 vT
                             

[Ray Rivers]

Thanks VT,

I had hoped I could paint it smooth, but... well *sigh*

I have a lot more "thread work" to go and I will definately trying using PVA glue to smooth it out first.

Thanks for the tip.

[Rabbitz]

Cant wait to see how it all comes together.   What Nationality is it for,   British?

Erm, "USS Blunderbuss" should be a dead giveaway, old chap...

@Topic, good decision and great work on that smokestack.

Doh thats what working 15 hour night shifts do to you.

[Ray Rivers]

It's Alive!  It's Alive!

Well, not quite... but it's getting there.

Finished painting the aft end, installing the ladders to the "flying bridge" and changed (once again  ) the rigging.  This time I used nylon wire, which although the gauge is smaller than I wanted... it's all I had.



Only a couple more major areas to go now before see lifts off...

[Westfalia Chris]

Very nicely done. I really like that ochre look for that "tropical station" effect. But I still think you should add something to the rear, even if it is only a batch of airscrews.

[Ray Rivers]

Very nicely done. I really like that ochre look for that "tropical station" effect. But I still think you should add something to the rear, even if it is only a batch of airscrews.

I'm getting there... all in good time.

 

[Westfalia Chris]

Very nicely done. I really like that ochre look for that "tropical station" effect. But I still think you should add something to the rear, even if it is only a batch of airscrews.

I'm getting there... all in good time.

 

Well, since I´m a German, being impatient in naval arms races comes naturally to me. X-D

[Wolf 359]

  This is really great! Looking forward to seeing this to conclusion.

[Sinewgrab]

This is looking superb, Ray. Worthy of having finally pushed me into doing VSF.

[Ray Rivers]

This is looking superb, Ray. Worthy of having finally pushed me into doing VSF.

Well luckily, my little gunboat won't have to go up against your fleet!   

[Sinewgrab]

This is looking superb, Ray. Worthy of having finally pushed me into doing VSF.

Well luckily, my little gunboat won't have to go up against your fleet!   

Careful there. I still want to visit Europe someday, and I hate flying, so a steamer trunk full of models is not out of the question.

[Mancha]

This build thread is the one that most encouraged me to start my own aeronef.  I especially like this whistle idea.  Small details like this "make" a model.  I hope you don't mind if I steal it?

[Ray Rivers]

I hope you don't mind if I steal it?

Not at all!

"Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery"

Tis also why I try to explain where things go wrong... which is normally me just being stupid, but if it helps someone... all the better.