signal lamps

They just look great when illuminated !!

Mast

I installed the mast today, the mast itself  is pretty much as suggested by the kit, the only thing I added was a "parallel pipe" which also can be seen on the original ship.
Additionally I use this pipe to hide the wires connected to the 3 signal lamps in the mast, and I used the brass pipe itself for the ground wiring of the lamps.
I found a cheap (Christmas) light chain with 10 small Ø 3 mm white LED's but unfortunately they were too big to fit inside the original kit's signal lamps so I had to make my own.
I used a Ø4mm brass pipe, created an oval hole, shortened it, fitted the LED and glued a slice of Ø3mm wood on top of the LED inside the pipe.

Another thing what can be seen on the mast of the original ship is a long ladder, I tried to create one in the right scale for the model, but my talents (and/or used materials) where not perfect.. so I gave up this idea for now..



Weathered cranes

I found some time to finish the cranes.

For the yellow color (on the entire ship) I use "pale yellow" (no.81) as the base color and "dry brush" it with "trainer yellow" (no.24) to create a more brighter yellow without overdoing it. After this I give it "rust" (no.113), "dark gray" (no.32) and "aluminum" (no.56) to create the weathered look.

I also "weather" the wires/ropes by soaking them in a thinned mixture of "dark grey" (no.32), wipe them clean and give the same treatment again but now with a thinned mixture of "rust" (no.113).

Afterwards I slightly dry brush it with "aluminum" (no.56) and this gives an realistic impression of a "steal wire"..

The mentioned numbers are refering to "Humbrol" enamel colors.

 

Crane No.1

Finally I can present a preview of one of the 3 cranes.

I used the kit version as a guideline and I tried to copy the original cranes as much as possible by adding more details with common materials like wood, nails, brass and electrical wire.
It took longer time as expected but i think it was worth the efforts..