Though it's not the worst offender I've come across in the field of ugly aircraft, when I saw the box art of a model kit of a Short Seamew I immediately thought "Dang, that's an ugly airplane!". Coincidentally it turns out that both types of aircraft with the name "Seamew" weren't very successful.
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m1150050947
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Seamew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_SO3C_Seamew
Again, another Fairy Kikaku split hull ship kit. The subject is a somewhat obscure ferry, the Prins Hendrik.
The ship was launched/completed in 1932 and put into service in the Zeeland province of The Netherlands. My understanding is that she was used by the French in May 1940. After being bombed by the Germans she was scuttled. Post war she was raised, repaired, and modified. Eventually she ended up in Malta in 1968. Finally she was scrapped in 1988.
The ship had a top speed of 10 knots and room to carry 33 cars.
Here is the hull in its early stage of construction sitting next to two ¥500 coins. The coins are the same year but different types.
Next, the ship is shown in a dry fit configuration. I hadn't added the funnel, ventilator cowling, or davits.
Since the ship was to be painted black and white I primed the parts with white primer.
At this point the main deck has been painted and the superstructure has been glued in place.
Most of the painting has been completed here....
The completed model. I coloured the windows with a fine black marker and then touched them up using a fine paintbrush.
This was a quick build that didn't have any major problems. Right now I haven't decided on what to build next.
I was walking through the skywalk between Yamagata station and the Kajo Central building when a young woman said "Excuse me...". I stopped and then she pointed out that my shoes were mismatched! 😵💫 She was an international student who was asking for donations to some cause. In gratitude for her pointing out my fashion faux pas I donated a small sum....
It isn't the first time I've done that....
Whereupon a quick build of a ship model kit was interrupted by a short vacation....
The latest kit to reach completion is yet another Fairy Kikaku split hull wonder. This time it's the Nagano Maru. I think the real Nagano Maru was a victim of a US carrier aircraft attack. It currently is rusting away in Chuuk Lagoon.
This photo shows the parts of the kit laid out next to the kit's box top. I tossed the small blob of plastic which was supposed to represent a truck. The cube that was some undescribed structure on the deck was left off too.
Here's a closeup of the forward mast That's not a big deal but the two little pillars which are for booms looked a bit short. Sure enough when I tested the placement of the cargo booms, the pillars were found to be too short. So I sculpted additions to them to increase their heights.
At this point in time the masts and booms are in place, the hull has been sanded smooth, then primed, and wooden deck areas have been painted.
Parts of the centre island are in place here. The top of bridge will be last to be added.
Fast forward to today and we have a completed model. All in all she turned out to be a tidy and neat looking ship.
In the long run I think I ended up putting more work into this model than I had intended to. In my previous report I mentioned the photo etched ratlines I had added, the bulwarks I had removed, and the fourteen short little brass rod deck support posts I had created to replace the kit's big resin plastic deck support blocks.
So here is a shot of the model with its deck superstructure pieces resting in place. I had done a little sanding and filing to get the pieces to fit together as best as possible.
Following that photo, I glued the superstructure pieces in place, filled the gaps with liquid putty, and then after the putty dried, gave the deck a coat of paint.
Next I cut out, primed, and dry brushed the aft photo etched ratlines. Once they were in place the funnel got a coat of cream yellow paint and then ventilator cowlings were added. After that the replacement bulwark pieces were added. The next mini project was to fold a length of photo etched railing into shape and to attach it to the bridge. It got primed, painted, and then glued to the deck. I drilled two holes in each side of the hull near the bow. Then short lengths of thread were inserted in the holes, glued in place to represent anchor chains, and had their opposite ends glued to the top of anchor stocks. A short jack staff was added at the stern.
Finally, lifeboats and davits were added. I made an extra davit just in case if I lost one. Thus I arrived at this virtually complete state. I will give the model a very light dusting of clear matt coating before deeming it to be finished.
Postscript: HM Yacht Grive is mentioned on this webpage. It states that Narcissus was launched in 1905.
https://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmresdetails.php?col=MM&pid=WW2_DKK&typ=all&ord=dtadd&hit=75
This second webpage has a more detailed account of the ship:
This morning I was loudly awakened by an earthquake alert on my iPhone X (which doesn't have a SIM card but is active on my home wi-fi)…but not on my iPhone 13. After groggily getting to my feet I checked my iPhone 13. There was a text alert from the city's Line account. It and the initial alarm stated that the epicentre was in Toyama Bay (sic).
I stood there awaiting the earthquake but there was no shaking. After a minute I figured it was safe to go about my business. Then it was time head back to bed.
The actual Daido Maru (depicted here by a 1/700 Fairy Kikaku kit) was an OSK Line cargo ship launched in 1935. In 1940 she was taken over by the navy and employed as a gunship with mine laying capabilities. The kit is a rough approximation of the ship's appearance thanks to inconsistent and incomplete camouflage drawings.
Here is a starboard view of the completed kit.
The front davits are a bit wonky because the forward lifeboats are a touch too big.
Here is an overhead and port side view of the ship....
These are work in progress shots of the kit...
Here the Daido Maru sits behind the yacht Narcissus.
And finally a shot of the ship model and its box top.
