Well This is a nice PE work
I need to jump onto this but i need space and equipement
Congrats Jean
You are the man of PE work
Cheers
Seb

Hey Seb thanks! the pieces for the equipment don't cost to dear and it takes roughly one day to build everything. But then yes you nees a bit of space and being cautious too with clothes and your immediate surroundings, as the acid that bites the metal basically stains everything it touches!

Scott you are pretty right, it just like the fact I need some nylon thread to attach the drets when i dip then in the acid -whenever i am at the supermarket i can't remind to buy this useful stuff!!
But indeed Photoetch is the must for scratchbuilding that is obvious. It took me a few months training at the beginning of this year, but as you say, i can now go in strides with this diorama, and it's also very exiting to play it's own Dragon or Edurad you know: you let the computer design the model!

Well, back to the thing with a bit of soldering for the 2 stairs I need. one has to be pretty much destroyed.
Sadly 2 of the 4 recto-verso pieces for the side stairs i had design went in the acid too much time and separated, no problem as those stairs have to be stiucked on one side of the cabin, so it was just a bit tricky to solder to a bit of metal given the fact that i didn't have any guides, but well it went okay andnow it's just *so* strong!
I use carr's green dflux +° carr's solder. Both really work well.
one word of notice: the pieces have to be cleaned with some acetone because there's till some of the photoresist material on them and the solder won't take if you forget to remove it!!

Well Working with acid stuff and corrosive materials is my daily life at worK
But I will try in a next future if i can find the materials here in Mexico
Cheers
Seb

There is no reason why you shouldn't find any of the material in Mexico Seb. this is actually the same kind of stuff as you need for printed circuits. The main difference is that you need some photoresist coated brass and this is probably the kind of stuff you'd have to import from the USA.
the acid you need is not very dangerous compared to what I suppose you have to use, but it ruins the clothes

Uh well yesterday evening i spent lots of time on something that only mildly worked, so here's what i have been doing afterwards: the 2 parts support for the gun, in soldered brass and Magic Sculp. No big deal..

Good progress going. Nice steps, good solder control.

Still watching

Hi Jean Bernard,

i'm following this with great interest and admiration.
I must admit that i am very happy that the build of my rural houses do not request this kind of photoetch knowledge. This is really not the kind of stuff i want to go into. To technical for me.

Cheers
Claude

I don't have a problem using photo-etch, in fact I think it's great, but the process of designing and producing it is too mind-boggling for me to ever comprehend attempting!!

Looking great though JBA


Chas

Jean, brilliant pe creation and construction !!!
Nice progress also, considering everything is scratch. Patience pays off as is evident !!!
I'm really looking foward to step #507 though to see this thing in more of a ship - shape condition.
Glenn

Claude and Chas ...

Technical.. I am sure that you will understand me guys but when it comes to dioramas i am a real furious and I would be ready to learn basically everything in order to get the special effect that I want.
it took me *a lot* of time to perfect my photoetching method at the beginning of this year, but now I master that technique I can really scratchbuild what i want.
The thing is, here I am I show my dioramas, and any panzer, ship or plane guy could come to me and say " your stuff is okay, but I have an array of aftermarket stuff that I can add to get some real details on my machines that you can only dream of with your boats in 1/35" and he would be right!
The only way i had for my dioramas to match my imagination would be to learn plenty of different things, from computer graphics to photoetching making, to welding to etc etc..
The reason i do this diorama while interrupting the big project I am working on is because I want to practise welding and also to create a great bit of sea using new techniques. I can afford loosing Galilée in a polyester-water making accident, I can't afford to loose the big project i work on.
Anyway, look at that pic I took for you this morning, how on earth could i have made those pieces of plastic?

Claude, think about window panes, drainpipe attachements, ironware on roofs or windows

Glenn and Scott thanks for the comments!!
Anyway, here I am back with the gun -there is almost no photoetch in it!
The first bit I show becase that's the sight on the top of the gun. it has been made on half dried Magic Sculp, I "printed" a drill in the mastic and then cut out the bit

The following pics show the gun in the making with magic Sculp, stretched plastic sprue and Tamiya mastic.
I still have details and rivets to add on the gun support as well as the trigger and the shoulder thing to detail more than I did,




Anyway, bye for now, next time I can post something will be either monday afternoon or tuesday morning

exellent and exciting progress JB.

Steve

Haha, thanks for that!

I will recheck your Sokol posts with the description of your first efforts.

Have a good weekend and 14 juillet

Claude

Thanks Steve and Claude!
Claude I think that as you are probably as furious as I am when it comes to your diorama, homemade photoetch is somehting that you should at least check

Okay here are a few extra steps and then the glamour shots of the Hotchkiss canon
:)

back to cutting plastic, this time for the "bunker". like I mentioned I found no evidence of any opening at all in that bunker which is situated below the cabin. it's armoured all around with some weird looking bat like attachments to the bridge which is being made of wood.
those attachments are for later, first plastic cutting.

the whole point is having an almost perfect cylinder at the end of the game



the 2nd smaller round is being situated at the top of the first round

then i have to fix this kind of flying pan looking like top -which is partt of the armour -it wasn't that easy for the right bend to get
IMG]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273/jbandre/flyingsaucer.jpg[/IMG]



Here it is finished. Now on to work with the curious looking attachments

Incredible
ever surprised me more than the ability to produce elements that have so complicated and difficult
you're a teacher and an artist

Domi

Thank you Domi my friend!

About those bat like attachments. it took me a while actually to understand what was going on on the plans, but in the end I had to do new Photoetch sheet..

let's trim the little bits

let's fix them underneath -you note that I have been taking out the bottom of the cylinder -that's for easier fixing on the main cylinder that is

OK, it should look like that in the end..

well, I had some plates left from the Masséna's hulk, so I cut out some and put on each side, I guess it's more logic to assume these were fixed like that, despite the fact there is no evidence eh.
the attachments near the inner circle are not tops, but they will be hidden by some wooden work!

ok, now it's time to assemble the bridge

Jean, stunning scratch craftsmanship. She's starting to take more shape.
Glenn

Thanks Glenn, yes she does take more shape, but even more today and tomorrow
More soldering today! First here are all the metal pieces required to work on the bridge



soldering!



what you've got to remember with PE is that it's bad with thickness, so back to plastic for a bit of extra thickness!


here is an approximation of the final result -sort of a dry fitting, of course everything will be tied together by the wooden part of the bridge which i hope to make tomorrow

Balsa cutting, I hate that actually


I use white glue to glue all the different bits together and there's quite a lot of them actually..


The cabin will be partly destoyed, so I scratched the balsa with the back of my knife, when it's enough eaten, I just tear the wood apart


here is the way with which I manage to make some angled borders. it's quite rude like most of the tricks I use actually..


even more welding -this time it's all the "accessories to the stairs which lead to the roof



As you can see in orange, maanging to get some perfect angles on the corners is not that easy. i will have to use some filler hereand there..


here what's the cabin looks like today...




... tomorrow the details should be added as well as all the other wooden parts of the boat!

Great work Jean, are you going to put in a ships wheel and accompanying bridge equipment ? Now that I'm asking , is this the pilot house or observation bridge ?
Great work as always .............. even if nothing is painted .......................l.o.l.
Love it , keep going man.
Glenn

I love cutting and making stuff from balsa. I'm planning a damaged log bridge for an upcoming diorama, and your SBS is very helpful to me. Thanks esp. for showing your techniques to damage it.

Chas

Wow, that's great PE work. i was very curious how the pieces on the "fret" would come together and it has wonderfully.

JBA
Really great outstanding
BTW where did you get you plan ??
Cheers
Seb

Loving it JB you a real craftsman mate.I really got to look into this photo etching,could be real usefull for me.

Steve

Thanks for all your reactions guys!

Glenn, I can't really tell, I think it's a pilot house as indeed there is a wheel on the plans. Thankfully, it's a very simple wheel with no handles and it will definitely be a part of the build
I should start the paint on monday or so

Chas, happy you may pickup something of interest here!

Scott thanks! I know I got a couple of things wrong with the end of the bridge but really..

Seb, if you want to model German, English or American WW1 it's hell to find the plans unless you pay a vast amount of money to some leech.
Russian you can always find as Russian forums are very generous to say the least. But French it's a different matter: the Service Historique des Armées just unleashed TONS of plans for free! have a look there and cry
Now the real downside of modelling early XXth century French stuff, is that asking a question in a French forum is like asking some question on the top of the Everest. The feeling of loneliness is impressive. i guess the people who actually know the stuff don't even remember in what century they live in, and the ones present don't know anything.
If you prefer, modelling French early XXth century navy means: plans but no pics and no help. Exactly the opposite as if you want to model any other "big" country.

Steve, thanks for checking, homemade PE is lots of practise at first and then it's the bliss!

Anyway, back to the diorama with a bit of sea -I will have troubles with drying times so I prefer to begin it straight away.
First a mockup, I need that to really be able to undertand what will be the final dimensions of the thing

I cut some feather cardboard,, and I will use a long blade to "sculpt" the waves

When I am done, some plaster to cover the irregularities

In the end you get that:

I built a wooden frame around, and then it's time for a few layers of latex

then some extra latex mixed with some gauze to create the mould! gauze is for strength

let dry overnight..

well some extra coats tomorrow, it's going to be a dull day

JBA
What a nice website you send me.
Thanks Seb