Posts by chris palmer

Hi Guys and thanks for the comments.

I've been a member since 2007 and have previously published the 1:200 GPM Bismarck and Admiral Graf Spee - still can't find either these on Kartonbau site or the Micromodels Cris was kind enough to send me the link to!

I'll put some other Micromodels on the site in the appropriate sections in due course - I've been making these all my life (I'm now 65) and started with them by sending off for a sample in response to an advertisement in the Meccano magazine when I must have been about 10 years old; I received Dracow the Dragon which my poor father had to help me with!

Other models in metal and plastic followed this over the years but I've now gone back to Micromodels as there's only so much space in our house for huge battleships and equally huge airships hanging from the ceilings; I've been doing railway engines over the past two years.

The attached are some models from my collection dating back to the late 1960s.

Best wishes

Chris

Hello to all, here are two photos of my completed Queen Elizabeth from the Micromodels set SIX; I would be most interested to see other Micromodels on the site (the recent Ransomes Giant Excavator diorama was brilliant) but I think I'm missing something because the "search" box always tells me there isn't a match for any of the keywords I enter - basically, I can't find any of the subjects I've either seen in the past or published! Any help or advice would be welcome!

The kit as usual needed some mods. - Microdels always do! The rear superstructure and the funnel casings needed re-design which I did with simple computer drawn parts and the hull upperworks needed some adjustment in length and alignment; the most troublesome part of the build was of course the 26 lifeboats and the 52 supports for them - the boats were carved and the supports are from fine electrical wire.

That said, and again like all Micromodels, the end result is a delight and has the great advantage of taking up such a tiny amount of space - after my 1:200 Bismarck and the similarly scaled Graf Spee (both were on the site at one time but again I can't find them) this is a big advantage in keeping peace at home!

Best wishes

Chris

I published some progress photos a while ago in "Construction Reports" - here is the completed model.

That's a very kind offer Rick - right now some close ups of the searchlights would be very useful and for the future, the diagonal framework between the upper deck supporting the boats concerns me - to my eyes what's in the kit looks as if it wouldn't carry much weight at all and in my experience, what doesn't look right probably isn't right!

I can't find any photos of this structure at all and so if your book does have some info. it would be very welcome

all the best

Chris

Thanks for the info. Rick - so far I'm finding that the book is out of print but I may get lucky - probably when I've finished this model!

A little more progress since my last post - the Arado is complete and on the catapult; I used most of the kit parts but the cockpit needed reducing slightly in height and some modification at the front end to meet the fuselage.

The launching trolley is missing from the kit and so I had to research this and construct from plastic rod and wire.

Chris

Hi Rick, thanks for the tip but I can't find this title on Abebooks who I usually use to access rare/out of print books - who is the author?

Good luck with the new model!

All the best

Chris

Hi Papercaptain, thanks for the comments - you're quite right, a bit of a problem here! I will have to - very carefully - make a hole with a steel drill or point through the upper deck and carefully enlarge by filing, again very carefully. There should be a slightly smaller hole in the main deck into which the crane pivot can be pushed to get the right alignment.

Chris

Hi Guys and thanks for the comments - in answer to your request, Ricky, here are the main points:-

hull - pointed stern should be rounded, armour belt needs to join hull differently at both ends (haven't been able to figure out how!), hawse holes should be further back from stem, curve at deck to hull sides (I could only deal with the last mentioned out of this list)

torpedo tube housings need rounding off, not bent, where sides meet top and top slopes down; I think it's part 131 in the GPM kit should be a slope backed rectangular duct with a liferaft on the back, not a circular tube as per the kit and the superstructure between main and quarterdeck should be light grey and with windows slightly bigger and in different positions

superstructure - add shelters at deck level below tower, tower profile has slope to underside of bridge overhangs, wire reels need proper detail (my replacements aren't too good, I should have drawn the parts on the computer), rangefinders need more detail and aren't quite as per original (photos on internet are useful, especially salvaged items and US Military Archive photos of wreck), cowl ventilators either side of funnel aren't in kit (mine are from cherry stick plus card tops), brackets to underside of funnel platform need extensive reworking and additional items, landing sail beam on port side should be omitted (not on photos of ship in camouflaged colour scheme, I believe it was dumped overboard on last voyage), add missing paravanes at either side of forward superstructure, altered and additional detail inside forward open bridge, masts need modifying, tower rangefinder mesh mattress too large - I had to carefully cut and rejoin the brass etched kit component for this to get the dimensions right.

I think that's about it and I hope it's of some use - I am attaching some more photos which might explain some items in better detail.

All the best

Chris

Hallo fellow Card Modellers

Here are some pictures of my version of the GPM kit of the Admiral Graf Spee on which I have been working for the last 18 months - progress has been quite slow as you can see!

As with my previous model of the Bismarck, much needs to be done to improve the accuracy of the kit as related to photos of the original but unfortunately, some things can't be done - the stern for example should be round, not pointed; however, one thing that I think is really important which I did make some improvement on is that where the hull sides meet the deck there should be quite a noticeable curve and this I did by adding an extra thickness of card below the deck and carefully rounding the deck edge before adding the hull sides.

Also adding character to the model are the various structures supporting the platform around the funnel - these seem to have been quite large and complex and the simple triangular brackets in the kit just don't look right, so I've modified and added bits in this area.

I also noticed that part of the superstructure to either side and below the tower is missing from the kit and I've therefore added these parts in card printed to the correct colour on the computer.

I hope this is of interest - there don't seem to be many models of this handsome ship either on this site or available as kits, nor are the available plans very accurate.

Chris Palmer

Thank you for all your comments - there were some problems with the model (no surprises!), mainly because I managed to get a very useful book of photos part way through building - Warship Pictorial no. 19 - and realised that the kit was inaccurate in many ways compared to the original; I retained most of the kit parts but had to modify many items (the main and secondary armament in particular) and this slowed me down very much. It also meant that I had to paint over the parts I had altered to cover over the wrong shapes and it is always difficult to match printed colours with the available model paints. The same thing is happening with the GPM Admiral Graf Spee which I am now working on - tonight's task is to add some missing portholes/windows using a draughtsman's pen and some watercolour; I am not really looking forward to this!

Never mind, models of these beautiful ships at this scale are really worthwhile - the only problem is housing them; our home is nearly full up and it's good that the Graf Spee is a smaller model than the Bismarck, otherwise there might have been some problems - we have already two airships at 1:200 scale hanging from the ceiling!

Hi Rene, thanks for your message which was much appreciated - I rarely get to discuss my hobby with a sympathetic (or indeed interested) audience as card modelling is very much a minority interest in England!

Here are some more pictures in close up.

Kind regards

Chris

My sincere apologies, Jorge, it hadn't occurred to me and it should have - must be old age! Here are are two further photos which should be o.k.

Greetings, fellow card modellers (I'm sorry this isn't in German!)

Here are some photos of my version of the GPM Bismarck kit which I finished last year after about 4 years of work.