Gomez's 2023 Bodgings - End of Year Naughtiness - Dec 31

[WardWorks]

On the slipways at present, a start has been made on (foreground), HMS Calcutta in her WW2 AA Cruiser guise (Trumpeter kit)and (background), H Class Destroyer HMS Harvester as she was in the early war period (IBG kit) 😎



Its early days for both, but progress is still happening, next trick is assembling and painting all deckhouses and turrets/other armaments for both before adding them to the hulls - never tried that style of assembly sequence for ships before, so we'll see how it goes.🤔 At least (or should that be at last ? 😖) things are happening on the glue and paint fume inhalation (as a side effect only ! 😖😲 ) side of modelling.

Best
Gomez of the Admiralty 😉🙃

[JCON]

Nice start!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Looking great already! Nice start!

[WardWorks]

Cheers Folks

More progress... Both have their bridges assembled, painted and installed...



Including the first essential (has to be used) brass on Calcutta, her bridge wing supports... here seen installed but unpainted...



There's more of the same to come on Harvester's bridge wings and smaller structures, but that's for another day (probably tomorrow)

Taking my time and doing roughly 30-45 minute stints at the desk as my eyes come back to normal after each session of brass fitting or teeny parts installation. All paint is Humbrol enamels thinned slightly with odourless turps (known as "de-pongerated turps" hereabouts 😋😆) and brushed.No compressors or airbrushes used on these lil ships.

Best
Gomez of the Admiralty

[JCON]

Well done Admiral!!!

[WardWorks]

Not so fast there Boss 🤯

Slight rethink in order here, given the probs I had mit the leetle bits of brass and the trouble I had getting them onto Calcutta in anything approaching shipshape fashion..😈

Proceeding with Calcutta at present, will come back to Harvester. Harvester has brass that needs to be bent/folded/spindled/mangled into position, I can barely see the stuff, let alone its half etched fold/bend lines ! 😲 That stuff is mainly for splinter shields around gun platforms, bridge wings etc. Am going to try something involving paper and superglue to replace the brass... Reason being get the paper and superglue right and you can stick it down with regular poly cement.🤓

Other manufacturers mould the shields as part of the deck edges etc; why can't IBG ? 🤔 Disappears back into the darkness, muttering obscenities quietly under his breath 🤬

Best
Gomez of softly muttered obscenities 😉🙃

[WardWorks]

Stacks and other bits aboard, including the foremast....





Spot the replacement part (short front leg of foremast, carpet monster got the original), 🤯 so a spare masthead from Norfolk was modified to suit. next stop, paint the lot, then add a pile of teeny doobries onto the spotting top. yet another thing to make tomorrow painful, (got a medical appointment tomorrow morning), that will be painful too, (I've a large list of skin cancers (mainly BCC's) to be removed), followed by stitches to close the wounds - ouch ! NOT looking forward to that lil' exercise ! 😲🤬

Best
Gomez anticipating pain (after the anaesthetic wears off ! 😖😉🙃

[Dukemaddog]

Despite the issues with the brass, these are coming along well. I like how you are painting the decks and superstructures as you go, I'll be trying that technique on my ships. That is brilliant using paper for some of the flat pieces of brass; it's certainly easier to work with and remove when something doesn't glue right.

I'm sorry for the doctor appointment; I'll be praying for a swift and less painful result, and a full recovery. I have my own Doc appointment on Monday myself to review my medication list. Too many bad things are happening that I cannot control so something has to be done.

Looking forward to the next tour of your shipyards, or any other part of the Works that open up.

[JCON]

Looking good so far!!!

[WardWorks]

Latest inbound pile of ship posted yesterday 🤔🤫

Medically, yesterday turned out to be an evaluation with what had to be done re skin cancer removal etc; Today saw a lot of cankerous bits burned off my face with liquid Nitrogen - OUCH ! 😖 Going back in two days to have two BCC's removed, one from my forehead, one from the corner of my right eye (that'll hurt - had one removed from there ages ago) they'll get two stitches each to close the wounds. Monday next week sees the BCC on my Left Forearm removed, they reckon about 8 stitches for that one... 🤯 I'm REALLY NOT looking forward to that lot I can tell you ! Hopefully once they're gone, that'll be the end of them, do not want or need them coming back, nor do I want to be making a habit of that kind of visit ! 🤬 BCC removal involves local anaesthetic only - oooh lovely, sting, burn, numbness and then pins 'n needles in the affected area, followed by pain as the local wears off NOT nice or recommended ! 🤬🤬🤬

Back on the slipways, nothing much has happened, might get something dun on Calcutta tonight, we'll see how I go, my face is being rather painful at present, now that the frozen effect of the liquid nitrogen has worn off. 😣😫🫨😶‍🌫️🤕

Best
Gomez of Pain in the Admiralty (and other places ! ) 😉🙃

[JCON]

Praying for you brother!!!

[WardWorks]

None of the superglue and paper tricks are working for me... 😖🤯🤬

Dunno why, think its the paper not liking being cut with a brand new blade or scissors after being coated both sides with superglue or Testors liquid cement and allowed to dry/harden completely before being cut to height (about 2-3mm) before being affixed wth regular poly cement (modelmaster pro and bent as required (glue the length before the bend into position, allow glue to set, then bend and glue into place to the next bend etc; 🤬😳, just remembered a trick mit brass and will give that a try next... (This lil' sod ain't gonna beat me ! ) 😈

Also doing away with IBG's all brass oerlikens, (too fiddly by half and they end up with visibly square barrels and breeches -ugh !)... Raiding Norfolk's spares for same and will remove IBG's moulded on pedestals for their brass no-see-ums, so the Norfolk spares will sit at the proper height on the bridge wings and elsewhere they're needed. Harvester's being finished as just she was just off refit, post Narvik, refitted as a Convoy Escort Destroyer (US classification DDE) minus her A and X turrets, Her A turret was replaced by a Hedgehog launcher, X turret replaced by Depth charge storage and her second (aftmost), set of Torpedo Tubes replaced by more Depth Charge storage, plus a couple of Depth Charge throwers ("K guns") and their associated charge loading derricks. Her engines(and top speed were downrated at that time, so her top speed afterward was 15 knots or thereabouts (Convoys travelled at the speed of the slowest ship in the convoy), usually between 8-12 knots. 

Decided to leave Calcutta alone for the moment, going to finish her as she was at Narvik, not in her as kited condition, which is how she was lost at Crete, thinking of getting another Calcutta kit, in order to do her more famous sister, HMS Coventry, another loss at Crete (along with several K class destroyers, including Kelly, Kandahar and Kipling (scuttled after picking up survivors from the others and ferrying them back to Malta, with her decks almost awash after copping a couple of bomb hits from Ju-88's off Crete

Edit (5 hours after the above ) 

Harvester's bridge is dun, with the kit supplied brass - ignored the etched bend lines, (which were in the wrong places entirely !) and just bent the bits by eye, and superglued them down.. bits where the 20mm's are either side of the bridge are kit supplied brass too - got a tad quick with thw hairy stick on them ! Also added the upper gundeck splinter shields from the kit brass, bent by eye (etched lines on those were way out of place ! 🤬







Best
Gomez of the Admiralty 😉🙃

[JCON]

Moving forward is always a good thing!!!

[Dukemaddog]

Well done on the brass! You still got it. I'm also still praying for you.

[WardWorks]

That's where the slipway news is temporarily halted (having discovered my eyes would not focus on anything smaller than the ship's hulls with any detail vision or using whatever magnifying apparatus.. 😖🤯I've probably overcooked the eyestrain levels trying to do both projects, switching from one to the other as and when) both ships are now on the backburner temporarily, whilst I proceed back to the 35th AFV production lines for a bit of eye saving sanity (no eyestrain caused or needed with 35ths !) 😎 I will return to the slipways in time, both ships will be finished this year, hopefully before June, progress will be reported here as and when it happens...

There's a 35th Dragon Late Panther G in the stash, a very late job, with a single steelwheel down the back each side that's rather taken my fancy, as has the half finished ICM King Tiger I nicked bits from when repairing another KT in my collection, I've now replaced the bits I nicked from the kit, courtesy of a mate who bought the same kit to use as a "breaker" (source of spare parts for KT's in his collection), so I can finally get on and get that one dun as well...

Which one gets to go first ? 🤔 Stay Tuned, I'll letchas know as soon as I do !

Best
Gomez of Eye Sanity 😉🙃

[JCON]

Don't overdue it for your eyes...

[WardWorks]

Neither of the Tanks are on the line.. I think it was the necessary (has to be installed) brass on Harvester that caught me out 😖 plus the fact that what looked like a BCC on my right eye wasn't, it was a skin cancer that started on my eyelid and burned off with liquid Nitrogen two days ago (talk about OUCH ! 😲) My eyes weren't playing the game for the last couple of days and is coming good again now, nothing to do with the ships. Harvester has been parked in a drawer of stasis and I will return to her later. She's been replaced on the line by the All Plastic (no brass included), Flyhawk kit of HMS Penelope, which is at thehull and maindeck assembled stage at present, as is the large lump on slipway #3, the Trumpy kit of the Large Cruiser USS Alaska (always liked the look of the Alaskas) 😆

Photos within a couple of days, weekly sitrep style postings from hereabouts from now on

I also forgot a couple of things I've said in previous pages, and have been kicking myself mightily for so doing !!! 😳

Best
Gomez (back at the Admiralty) 😉🙃

[JED]

Great work Gomez, far too much tiny stuff for me!

[Robbo]

I like ship building, build some, paint some, build some, paint some etc

[WardWorks]

Cheers Folks ! 👍

Jed, I don't mind the tiny bits, if they're too tiny, they can be left off (its better than grotting about on the floor trying to find the little beggars !) 🤬🤫

Robbo, I don't mind the build a bit, paint a bit cycles, as long as there's not too much of the brass a bit stuff ! Next stop for the pair I'm working on is the fit the ship's boats and davits, then rig a bit (stretched sprue to the fore) - where's me sprue stretching candle gone ? 🤔

Sitrep 14 April

HM Cruisers Norfolk and Calcutta are ready for final fitting out, needing their boats fitted,(Norfolk - Calcutta's got most of hers), followed by Davits. Then a tad of stretched sprue rigging, before their pre-commissioning shake-down cruises.





On Slipway number 2, HM Cruiser Penelope is at the hull maindeck and maindeck houses fitted and painted ...



On Slipway number 3, The US Large Cruiser USS Alaska is at the Hull and maindeck fitted stage, the white(ish) paint on the maindeck gun embrasures etc; is an undercoat (had to git rid of it somehow !) 🤔🤫



That's where things are at this week at le works de la Gomez !

Best
Gomez of the Admiralty 😉🙃