Hi looking very good ,and well photographed my camera on phone went up it ,so got no pics of last 2 months on mine I'll pick it up from issue 67 ,now got new phone cheers mick.

She's coming along beautifully Gray, you're obviously enjoying this build and I'm certainly enjoying your diary.... Very well done.....

Regards

Alan

This is a great build Gray and the photos are excellent! Very nice work!

Regards,
Phil W.

Replacement Issue 71 in hand, it contains another keel section.

The connector piece is fitted loosely to the keel first. I find that if you fit the screws loosely, these sections go together easier. The keel section has a lip on one edge. This lip sits under the connector, and the other two screws are fitted. Once all screws are tightened down, this completes Issue 71.

Store away safely. At this rate, i'm going to need a bigger cupboard

After the last two easy issues, we get a bit more to do in issue 73, where we make the gear assembly for the second 38cm gun.

Retrieving the motor assembly from Issue 72, we fit the cog onto the end of the shaft. The shaft has a flat spot to align the cog correctly.

This is then fitted to the deck assembly. Care needs to be taken here not to damage any fittings. The motor is fitted so that the teeth on the small cog fully engage with the teeth on the large cog. Once happy you can fit the motor housing cover.

Now we build up the second 38cm gun. The cog is fitted to the gear housing with the teeth uppermost. Meshing the teeth again, the large cog sits centrally over the small hole, and the hub is fitted to keep everything lined up. Screw in place.

NOTE 1 If your unsure which screws are which (coz, you've guessed it, they aren't marked on the packets), the screws you want are in the bag with the small shaft.

NOTE 2 In the instructions, they tell you to next position the peg on the left when the small cog is at the top. DO NOT DO THIS because it will stick when activated (i know because i built it as instructed, and then tried to turn it-stuck half way around!). Fit the shaft over the peg with the peg on the right hand side. Insert the small shaft into the centre of the small cog. Fit the other housing cover and screw in place.

This would be a good time to try it to see if it works ok. Put a cross-headed screwdriver into the visible cog and turn at least 360 degrees to make sure it works smoothly and doesn't stick. I built this a couple of times before i realised the correct way to assemble it so it turned. You might get lucky, but this method worked for me .

Once happy with the above, fit the two support brackets, which are labelled 'L' and 'R'. They slot over the two pins and are screwed in place.

The next part is VERY tricky. I found the easiest way was to lift the gun barrels so the motor mounting is at it's highest point and the gear arm is at it's longest. There are two pins on the end of the gear arm and these snap into place around the motor mounting. Once firmly in place, the support bracket is screwed to the cog.

This completes Issue 73, but keep everything handy for the last issue this month

Coming along beautifully Gray, certainly growing now....

Regards

Alan

Looking really good Gray!

Regards,
Phil W.

Looking very nice Gray. That is some size judging by all those sections you have.

Mark

Hi Gray looking good ,you feel like you had a rest on the guns,looking ahead it's all fiddly etch an details next .cheers mick.

Coming together very nicely there Gray.

Was looking on the German site earlier and issues 83 and 84 look interesting. Looks to be the main controller as its a packaged circuit board that appears to have a stack of wiring plugged into it.

The lower hull piece is also interesting as it has a couple of large round holes that certainly do not look like part of the original ship - wondering if they might be magic eye ports for the remote control commands.

At the moment my parts are being stored as not had the time or inclination to start the build. Its like most of these recent part-works from Hachette. fail to get in at the start and you do not get to start.

It is a lovely model so i am continuing to collect but what i do with it all when the series is over I am not sure.

Hope yours continues well.

Tony