Raimund Paul Kelterer

JSC Nr. 38 Graf Zeppelin 1:400 Part II

photos from author

preface
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Construction
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Hull (part 1)
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From now on I did not follow the assembling instructions exactly. Due to some imprecission of the build parts I planed to build as much as possible from the hull connected parts to reduce the multi fits on bow and stern.

The pictures need not much additional comments. The coloring of the edges is a problem, because the hull's color is very bright. My brightes light gray is only a compromise. If I do use nothing, it is definitely to bright. So I did it with this light-light gray which is a little bit too dark and misses the yellow, green tone.

First I built the cavities. The designer forgot to add the thickness of the paper when forming inside boxes, some parts had to be trimmed before they are glued into final position (vent outlets). The dividing walls are to low (I added a smasteel rulerll strip on the top side).

After these delicate parts I did some larger parts. The anti torpedo bulges are very easy to assemble. I put them aside to enough time to dry. The inner construction of the bow and stern is comparable to the already existing hull except the keel. The platform of the stern section is to be mounted on a 3 to 4 sheets of paper to fit the level line on part 88.

The bow is more sophisticated, because the hull sides will be applied immediatly. I separated the deck and the hull of part 102 completely and added 4 additional strips. Furthermore I used two strips to close the triangle slot. After putting all deck parts together I glued the sides in place. Finaly I inserted the inner structure with enough glue. To reproduce the shape I applied a little external construction and let it dry thoroughly.

The hull side parts are cut out, scored (torpedo bulge, partly one deck down from the flight deck) and formed according to the frames. I used small strips an a steel ruler to connect the parts for each side before adding the already built cavities. On starboard the equivalent part of 157 is missing. I scanned the parts 156-158 and printed them mirror inverted to get the parts for the port side. The bottom deck of the cavities is to be aligned slightly below the lower edge of the opening.

I chose this order, because I did not rely on the correct placement of the cavities in the deck-hangar construction relative to the hull sides. Moreover some misfits are avoided.

(to be continued)