robtmelvin

Tim, thanks for you nice comments about my Fletcher build. I hope it is helpful to you in building yours. I have to say that at that scale I found the PE to be pretty unforgiving, especially the railing. Hope you'll share some photos of your build with us. Bob

Thanks for looking, and for your kind works. Over all, the PE was not too bad. It was the Eduard set, the only complaint with which I have is their tendency to pre-etch the bend points, thereby weakening the PE. Given the thickness of the PE for this kit that was not that much of an issue, but it did rear its head a time or two. I will tell you that the hardest part is the railings. At that scale they don't cut and paste as can do with them in 1/350. The cuts are simply too visible and hard to make line up so they don't show. I found that for the most part I was forced to work with the railings at their full length, which was not always easy. The best thing to do is to get out the calipers and try to measure from bend to bend, then estimate the degree of bend, which you can then correct once you begin to attach. I also found that the best way to approach it was to secure the beginning point with CA, then run the railing from there, gluing as you go. I think you'll really enjoy this kit. It was a pleasure for me to build, regardless of the difficulties with the railings, which primarily required just a good bit of patience. Bob

Glad you like my Fletch. Great kit, isn't it? If you want to do a square bridge version, Nautilus has a resin conversion set for this kit. I'm told it's quite nice. I have high hopes that this kit, along with the 1/200 Arizona and the upcoming 1/200 Bismark are the tip of the iceberg of an emerging trend toward more and more large scale kits. From what I can gather, both Fletcher and Arizona have been commercial successes, showing that there is enough of a market for these big girls to justify the cost of design and tooling. I haven't broken over and purchased the Arizona yet, and since it is really outside my areas of interest probably won't. I'm primarily interested in USN and IJN ships, particularly from the '42 - '43 period. But, I've been fascinated by Bismark ever since seeing "Sink the Bismark" as a kid (I still pop it in the DVD from time to time) and might just have to pounce on a 1/200 version of her. As stated above, I'd love to see some more DDs and even DEs come out in 1/144 or even 1/200. Some Benson/Gleaves DDs would be my heart's desire, as I think they are beautiful ships but the only versions available right now are the over engineered Dragon kits which even in 1/350 challenge my "average modeler" abilities. A Laffey, etc., in large scale would be a great companion for the Fletch, don't you think? The manufacturers are going to respond to what they perceive the market wants, so if Bismark sells well I think we have a greater hope of seeing more and more of these large scale ships, though it will take time for them to hit the shelves. Lets hope! Bob P.S. Hope you'll post some shots of your Fletch when you get her done.

I doubt I'll buy the 1/200 Bismark (not sure though) since I'm mostly interested in IJN and USN subjects from '42 through '43. But, I have to say that a 1/200 U.S.S. Missouri (or any Iowa class for that matter) in World War II fit would send me over the moon! I'd even be happy to see some DDs and DEs in 1/200. Much easier for these middle aged eyes and gorilla fingers to work with than 1/350! Bob

Conundrum, thanks for your kind comments. I was mostly pleased with the way she came out. Of course, having built her, I know where all the warts are that I'd like to have done better. Large scales are definitely a mixed blessing. In a lot of ways they are easier to work with than even 1/350, but also less forgiving of mistakes since your boo boos are also in larger scale. Getting the railing right and having it look neat and clean was probably the hardest part of the build, for the reasons stated above. I'd love to see some more ships in this scale, though as a practical matter they would probably have to be restricted to DDs, DEs and smaller. I'd love to see a Benson/Gleaves class DD in 1/144, or a Butler or Evarts class DE. Thanks again for taking time to look and comment, and for your kind words about the build. Bob

Bill, thanks for your nice comments. I actually thought she could have been a lot cleaner, but then I'm my own work's harshest critic (as I suspect most of us are). I'm very interested in that Snowberry kit. I have to admit to a weakness for those old Revell 1/72 kits, having recently finished their old P.T. 109 kit. Bob

Thanks for all the kind comments, guys. They are very much appreciated. Nothing makes me feel any better about my efforts than having them appreciated by my fellow modelers. Bob

Hi, guys. I thought I'd share some pictures of my just off the ways Revell 1/144 U.S.S. Fletcher. The kit was built with Eduard's BigEd PE set, Nautilus resin 5/38 turrets and ship's boats, G-Factor 5/38 barrels, props and 40mm anti-aircraft gun mount. I also used the Nautilus decal sets for the non-skid and ships numbers. This is a great kit with few fit issues. I found the hardest part to be working with the large scale PE railing. You would think it would be easier in the larger scale, but it is actually more difficult to deal with those large runs of railing. The ship was rigged with stretched sprue. Hope you guys like: Thanks for looking and your comments are most welcome. Bob

Gentlement I present for your approval my 1/72 Revell P.T. 109 built with WEM's PE set. The model is supposed to represent the 109 at the time of her loss. A good degree of artistic license was used, since hard evidence as to what she looked like, from the color of her paint to mast vs no mast is hard to come by and much of it is contradictory. I used WEM Colourcoats paints and elected to paint her Tropical Green. The .50 Cals. are WEM gunmetal and the Oerlikon is flat black. The torpedo tubes were stripped of all detail except for the very front and rear parts and all detail is either from the WEM PE set or scratch built. I elected to show her with her mast, as this is a disputed question and I like the look of the boat with the mast in place. I used the kit mast, depression rails for the twin .50's and for the Oerlikon since those parts in the PE set seemed too 2 dimensional in this scale. This kit took me about three months off and on to complete. Some of this time was spent with the build on the shelf waiting for some items to come in from John R. Haynes. I finally got tired of waiting and finished her with the kit parts and the WEM PE. I'll use the Haynes items on another P.T. I'm considering. One of the biggest tasks was to sand off all that molded on deck detail. The 37 Millimeter is lashed down with actual hemp. This build was a labor of love for me. I must have built this kit a half dozen times as a kid, though nothing like this turned out. My dad took me to see the movie "P.T. 109" when I was about six and I guess it marked me for life - I've never quite gotten over it and have been fascinated by the 109 and her story ever since. I recently had the treat of sitting down with my seven year old grandson to watch "P.T. 109" with him and he loved it! Now, without futher ado: I invite you comments, Bob

I don't know about the B-25, I'm immersed in ships right now (no pun intended - well, maybe), but I do have to have that B-17G. They bill it as both F and G models, but all I see is a G. For an F, the Cheyenne tail would have to be replaced and the off set waist gun mounts heavily modified to have them not staggered. I'm wanting to do a very special tribute build on the B-17G. A few years ago I had the lifetime opportunity to fly in a vintage B-17G, the Liberty Belle. Some of you may know that she crashed a few months outside of Chicago and burned - tragically, a total loss. Flying in her was truly an experience of a lifetime. A friend of mine is a former commercial artist and he has agreed, when the time comes, to try to reproduce her nose art for me. I think I can mask and paint the tail marking, etc.. I think a tribute build to this very, for me, meaningful bird is a worth project. I have a lot of distaste for the way they appear to have done Martin, but it is what it is. Only real downside is I don't know how much I'm going to have to save, or try to slide past the C-in-C. Also, there are some large scale ship kits coming out, including apparently a 1/35 mid-war Elco 103 Class 80 footer, that are must haves. So many kits, so many of them larger and larger, so little cash and so little time! Bob

Tim, Trumpy is coming out with a 1/200 Bismark this year! I think we may be seeing quite a few more offerings in the larger scales in the next few years. Bob

That is some truly beautiful work on that Fort. Your detail work on the interior is particularly impressive. I've always thought it's too bad that so little of that kind of thing is easily viewable. I'm primarily doing ships right now, but I've got a couple of 1/48 Forts in the stash, along with Revell's new 1/72. Looking at your work makes me mighty tempted to take a break from the salty side of things and build me a Flying Fortress. I'd love to do a G model as a tribute build to the Liberty Belle, which tragically crashed a couple of months ago outside Chicago. I had the privilege of flying in her a few years ago and believe me, it was the experience of a lifetime. Even though we were only at a few thousand feet in friendly skies, I could close me eyes and conjure in my imagination what it must have been like to have been in that thing at 30,000 feet, freezing cold, flack and enemy fighters trying to send you burning into the ground, praying to do your job and just get home. Though my imagination was but a pale shadow of the reality the men who flew those bombers over France, Germany, etc., endured day after day, it nearly reduced me to tears thinking about the sacrifices they made. Everybody with an interest in World War 2, especially the air war, should make the opportunity to go up in one of the few remaining flyable B-17s while they are still here. Bob

Excellent, for a first effort. Very nice. Bob

Agreed! Though lately I have mostly returned to my ship building roots, I was very interested in the B-25s. But, after the way they treated Martin, I think I'll pass. Same on the planned B-17G, though I'd about give up a body part to have a 1/32 B-17. In good conscience I can't subsidize the people who treated Martin so shabbily. But, the good news is that Martin's new company looks like it will be doing a B-25! Thanks for your information guys. Bob

Does anybody know what ever happened to the much heralded 1/32 B-25? The last I heard the Chinese company Martin was dealing with had screwed him and he was folding Wingscale to start up another company. In the meantime, the B-25 was supposed to be released with Martin working on some other projects. There were a lot of people who had pre-ordered these kits. Now they seem to have dropped off the radar. No mention on Sprue Bros. or any other vendor's site. Just seems like they dropped off the face of the earth and I never seem to see them mentioned any longer. Bob