You could have lots of fun trying weathering techniques on this one. Rust and dust galore!!

Think you've done a great job with that etch brass on the bow. Neat work.

Quote from: Bigkev on July 14, 2025, 05:05:33 PMThink you've done a great job with that etch brass on the bow. Neat work.

Thanks Kevin, it was just some generic stuff, not specifically for this kit.

These ships look very elegant as pre war liners. Is that an option in this boxing.

Quote from: kiwichappers on July 14, 2025, 08:52:28 PMThese ships look very elegant as pre war liners. Is that an option in this boxing.

No, this is the hospital ship, but I have the liner one on order.

That'll make an interesting comparison as the Japanese liners were very well maintained and pristine which was not the case during the war.

As rain was forecast I spent the morning on this, No rain yet!!!
It is funny, I applied the decals to one side last night, they went on a treat, this morning the other side did not want to play ball and were a struggle to apply. It must be me!!
Decals applied and some rigging with stretched sprue.

Looking very good Dave.

The aim was to prepare myself for scratch building some merchant ships. the hobby seems well provided with warships but there are not many merchant ship models out there.
I decided on 1:700 scale as 1:1200 was a bit small for me.
I have a number of books on warship models and so consulted them.
My build will be a bit of a hybridisation of all their thoughts.

I decided to build the hull from Balsa, it is easy to work and is readily available.
I intend to skin this with plastic card.

The book, Waterline Ship Models by John Bowen offers a starting point, plans are in a scale of 1 inch = 100 ft(1:1200), so I used my trusty scanner to resize them to 1:700.
Profile of the hull shape are also provided.
I am going to attempt "Egton" as she is the first and seems fairly simple(famous last words).

Moving on,
Here are photos of the work so far.

A good start - finished by tonight maybe       
You have spured me on - I will do the research of my dads trawler and backdate the "North Sea Trawler" model to a 1930 one with lots of scratch building - but I have to finish the model under construction now hohoho and do the 2 figures/busts so Howard does not shout at me.

An excellent start Dave.

More progress on the superstructure, the bridge, navigation bridge and the wheelhouse and some hatches. Nothing fixed yet, I will paint them first i think.

Looking good Zak.
I suppose the numbers of subjects to model is practically endless, perhaps a whole Merchant Navy Fleet?
Will you be skinning the hull sides?

Quote from: Bigkev on July 17, 2025, 07:31:20 PMLooking good Zak.
I suppose the numbers of subjects to model is practically endless, perhaps a whole Merchant Navy Fleet?
Will you be skinning the hull sides?

Already done, but some rubbing down and some filler needed in places.