Recent content by Builder 2010

Much to my horror, I found that one of the large wheels on the LP turbine was missing some blades. it is NOT hidden and I had to try and fix it. I printed some blade segments and trimmed it to fit into the space. Took three tries to get it into place, although not perfectr. It's better...

My wife had her first cataract surgery yesterday, so i didn't get into the shop until this afternoon. I got the crew painted, but am expecting more figures from Kostas. So all the figures I placed are temporary depending on the postures of the new figures. Even without them the crew I have...

The board operator figure came today from Kostas (at Hellenicshipmodels.com) and it was exactly what he showed me on the rendering image. After I printed it; with no modifications at all, it came out perfectly. Even that microscopic headphone cable printed and was intact on 3 of the 5 pieces I...

More on Kostas Kokkonis' figures for the model. I sent Kostas the pictures of engine room crew to show him the clothing. I expected him to simply take his normal line of US Navy figures and change the garb. He did not! Instead, he just sent me the design for the board operator which looks like a...

True, but you all know all of that. There may be some who can grasp it. For instance, one of the fellows responding to this topic on another forum was an electrical maintenance tech who actually worked in the New Jersey's Engine Room #3 for the Viet Nam activation until de-commisioning. He was...

Thanks fellows! I love that this site is so international. It truly is a global hobby. But, work is not quite done. I've been working with Kostas Kokkonis fom Hellenistic Models in Greece to create some appropriately garbed crew for a US Navy engine room. Kostas has a line of figures he sells...

IT IS DONE! There's a load of pictures today in honor of the model's completion. Day started drilling the case for the two remaining clips. I use masking tape backing to help prevent cracking when the drill breaks through. i used a small pilot hole and then a drill sharpened specifically for...

With the model done, the only thing going on is fixing my destruction of the wood base. I put on three coats of finish. First a satin lacquer, a light sanding after 1/2 hour. Then a color coat of Guitar Finish Tobacco Brown, and after another 1/2 hour another coat of satin laquer. I may end with...

Thank you dear readers! Today is the official day that the MODEL IS DONE! Not the entire display, but the model itself. I started the process of fixing the display base and will complete that tomorrow and later. According to my friend who crafted the base, the finishing process is somewhat slow...

My cold morphed into a normal cold on its way out and my energy level was high enough to get to work on the beast. And, believe it or not, there is only a single part that needed design and printing to finish it off on Monday. The missing part is this ladder that goes from the mid-level to the...

Back from France. Saw a lot, did a lot, tasted a lot of wine in Chablis, Beaune, Dijon and other places in Burgundy. Spent and equal amount of time in Paris seeing things that I hadn't seen before. While I have been in Paris at least 6 times, there's still more to see. One of the most memorable...

The end is Nigh… Got more stuff in today with only the electrical loft and the auxiliary air ejectors to install. I also had to modify the drawings on two ladders. I reduced a 5-step to 4 and lengthened a 9-step to 10. These new printings are the result of my vertical errors. X-Y axis errors...

It's insanely complex. It's gotten very difficult to see into the dark spaces to glue some things in. For example: after spending 1/2 hour to finally get all the pins on all the legs into their respective holes, I couldn't reach in to add CA to the legs closest to the MRG. No matter how I...

As predicted, assembly work is moving fast. The units are big, but go in as single pieces. Today, the main propulsion system is in and piped including the astern steam lines. I got the main air ejector in place and fully piped. Main steam's wiring is led down below. I got the catwalks fitted and...

I've used that and similar stuff. Generally, when I working with the resin, Bondic is the right choice since it bonds chemically with the cured resin. I satisfied a couple of critics today. I was able to reposition the electrical control console with minimal damage. The reader who worked in ER...