So, had my first experience at a model contest yesterday...

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-21 11:37pm

Yesterday was the Cincinnati Scale Modeler's annual model contest and swap meet; taking a wild hair up my ass, Tuesday when I found out about the show I decided to try my hand at competition.

I build better ships than aircraft, so I figured I'd just dust off my build of Combrig's Imperator Aleksandr II, re-rig it, and adjust a couple things...I busted the damned thing in the attempt, and gave up any thoughts at going...until I thought about that unfinished Almaz kit that's been collecting dust for two years...

Normally, I build excruciatingly slowly, a 1/700 scale ship takes me up to 3 months.
I had three nights to finish this one, and managed to fuck off a goodly portion of Thursday glued to the TV set, due to some potential severe weather in the area.

I also decided to dust off my build of Jemchug Friday night and take it, too.

I was still applying dullcoat to Almaz 2 hours before the show was set to begin...not so much as a wink's worth of sleep Friday night.

I had a sneaking suspicion I was in good shape when several people began asking questions and complimenting my builds before I'd even filed out the registration paperwork.

It was a near-perfect day of modelin' fun; everyone I spoke to was friendly, the organisers had their shit together so everything ran as smooth as clockwork, there were quite a few vendors with some nice deals and a metric assload of goodies, the weather was perfect, I won three raffle prizes, and I FUCKING NAILED IT!

Almaz: 1st place in small-scale ships.
Jemchug: 2nd place in small-scale ships.

I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face since yesterday afternoon.

Photos of the show found here.

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2007-10-22 12:25am

Nice job, especially for hurry-up work. We were thinking of hitting up the cincy show, but the timing just didn't work out. If you want shipping goodies, keep an eye out for Great Adventure Hobbies. They've worked several shows in the Ohio area, and the last time I dealt with them I got the 1/350 Trumpy Hood for $90. Also, if you can, hold your buying off until later in the day when the vendors are starting to plan on packing up and are not looking forward to re-loading everything. That is the time they are most receptive to haggling.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-10-22 03:16pm

Only one post? For a model this awesome and great?

I shall begin the summary decimation of SDNet posters until someone says something good.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-10-22 06:08pm

Beautiful work, sir. Only thing is, next time take closer pictures of your ships. Closer!

I'd sure like to see more of this kinda thing posted in AMP from the different members who build. Maybe it'd give me incentive to actually finish one of the dozen things I'm working on.

Scottish Ninja · Post by **Scottish Ninja** » 2007-10-22 06:13pm

I wish I had the money and time to build models; I wanted a huge 1:700 scale fleet for naval battles in RPGs, which would be the craziest thing ever.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2007-10-22 06:55pm

Excellent work, you should get some arty photos by putting your ship against a cool background and lighting.

darthkommandant · Post by **darthkommandant** » 2007-10-22 07:34pm

Very nice models and congratulation on the win.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2007-10-22 09:44pm

Congratulations Frank. Those are some fine models. The Jemchug is quite a beauty.

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2007-10-22 10:18pm

Out of curiosity, how are Combrig's kit's? I've been looking into getting some of their WWI British stuff once I get my current crop of bills cleared up.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-23 03:08am

Thag wrote:Out of curiosity, how are Combrig's kit's? I've been looking into getting some of their WWI British stuff once I get my current crop of bills cleared up.

Combrig's British WWI dreadnoughts and battlecruisers are just about as good as a model kit can get.

Generally, most of what else they produce is good, but some of their kits can be hit-or-miss.
I'd avoid their WWI Gangut class dreadnoughts, Poltava class pre-dreadnoughts, and some of their early release Soviet subjects like the helicopter cruiser Moskva altogether; they're almost devoid of detail even though the shape and dimensions are good.

Combrig pics and previews

AnimeJet · Post by **AnimeJet** » 2007-10-23 04:11pm

I don't know a thing about modeling (other than gundams XD), but those look damn nice =)

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2007-10-23 08:20pm

YAY Hipper! What a way to top a Birthday week!

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2007-10-23 08:44pm

Do you have small close up shots?

Beautiful ships. What kind of ships are they? I can make out a couple of guns I believe.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-23 10:33pm

LadyTevar wrote:YAY Hipper! What a way to top a Birthday week!

In-deed.

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:Do you have small close up shots?

Beautiful ships. What kind of ships are they? I can make out a couple of guns I believe.

Technically, the Russians called both "Cruiser 2nd Rank", but Almaz realistically was little more than an armed yacht.
Jemchug is really an early light cruiser, firmly in the German mold, and was a repeat of the German designed Novik.

Better photos were taken Sunday (including one of me, Einy

), but I'm still waiting on an E-mail.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-10-24 01:06am

You're awesome

I still can't get any time on hands to assemble my beautiful 1:400 Aurora and Potemkin models!

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2007-10-24 03:20am

Nice!

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-31 08:39pm

Updated with more pics...I was not the photographer, and I'm not especially pleased with them, but what the hell, yes?

Almaz:

Jemtchug:

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2007-10-31 10:07pm

I'm having trouble seeing. Did you wash the hull and decks, or is that just the base paint? It looks like you put a light one down, but I can't tell if that's the case, or if the monitor resolution just sucks.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-31 10:19pm

Thag wrote:I'm having trouble seeing. Did you wash the hull and decks, or is that just the base paint? It looks like you put a light one down, but I can't tell if that's the case, or if the monitor resolution just sucks.

On Almaz, I did a base coat of MM Radome Tan, and did a planking effect with Wood.

Jemtchug/Zhemchug is straight MM Wood.

The hulls on both are washed with thinned Light Ghost Gray, and that in turn is washed with very thinned Flat Black.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-10-31 11:11pm

Great new pictures! That's some really beautiful work.

Did either or both kits come with the rails? It's not clear from the description on the manufacturer's site you linked above (unless I missed something).

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-10-31 11:55pm

FSTargetDrone wrote:Great new pictures! That's some really beautiful work.

Did either or both kits come with the rails? It's not clear from the description on the manufacturer's site you linked above (unless I missed something).

Railings are Tom's Modelworks on both. Not the best, but they work just fine.

The Combrig kits that have photo-etch don't include railings, except for Imperator Pavel I and Andrei Pervosvani.