Looks pretty good to me, mate 
1 Like
Like all of the Veteran upgrade parts, it looks great!
1 Like
Dear all,
thanks for looking and your kind comments!
So here is a little more on the 10,5 cm:
For more details, I have created a separate step-by-step 10,5 cm blog .
Those little guns look really great, a superb kit and addition to the model by Veteran.
I’ll be busy with my 1:1 for the next week and a half, so the next update will be a bit away. I hope you all stay with me here, thanks for looking and cheers
Jan
7 Likes
Those 105s are looking truly exceptional, Jan! Your step-by-steps have convinced me to go all in on Veteran IJN upgrades for my Mogami. Thanks!
Cheers,
Marty
2 Likes
Jan, continuing to make large strides forwards with these excellent additions to the model. 
Looking very good, mate 
1 Like
Thank you very much for looking and your kind comments! And yes, those Veteran parts really are exceptional - just for comparison I build one of the Dragon 10,5 cm, and they are really fine. But next to the Veteran Model kit, well…
Cheers
Jan
5 Likes
I couldn’t agree more. Resin and resin 3D printing are a game changer. I am building a Tribal and the 3D resin rangefinder I am using is just out of this world.
2 Likes
I just found this build! It is most impressive work, something to emulate when I get around to my Heller 1/400 ships. Very well done!
Bill
1 Like
Kriegsmarine capital ships are my favorite ships of WWII, down to the Admiral Hipper class heavy cruisers. Their lines are stunning to me!
Bill
1 Like
Hi Bill,
welcome on board, thank you very much for looking in and for your kind comments! As for the DKM capital ships, I can echo that - actually, Hipper is one of my favorites, she’s on the list of future projects very high up! But I do like the, completely different, lines of the RN ships as well - I am really happy that there were a couple of cruisers in 1/350 lately, and I am still waiting and hoping for Rodney and/or Nelson, a QE battleship with original superstructure (e.g. Barham, Valiant, Malaya), and especially for Victorious or Illustrious aircraft carriers…
I do not know about your experience with Heller 1/400 ships, I built most of their RN and DKM Models early on. If you compare them to Trumpeters or Dragons newer kits, you will be deeply disappointed. They were great models in the 70ies and 80ies, probably the best you could get then, but they can’t compare to the new 1/350 kits. Details are very weak and they don’t depict the ships as they were in any given point of time, but are rather crude mixes with elements compared that were never there at the same time. But still they are not bad and fun to build, I still have them on my shelf.
Cheers
Jan
2 Likes
Dear all,
quite a break, and times are still busy, but a little bit (and a VERY small bit) to show: the singe 20 mm from Master Models:
Now I had to accept that this - at least with all the details provided - is finally too small for my skills…
So I decided on a more basic version: mount, breech and barrel for a start
But then…
…the monster scissors of your nightmares, in real life rather small
So I tried my hands on two more details, the net to collect empty rounds and ammo mags, as they are quite prominent.
I will omit the hand wheel and shoulder supports, I can’t even really see those parts under my magnifiers…
Thank you all for looking in, following and all comments and suggestions welcome! Thanks for your patience, since this will be rather slow from now on for the next weeks - my 1:1 keeps me really busy and away from home…
Cheers
Jan
10 Likes
Back at it with your teeny tiny guns I see 
1 Like
I am always in awe of the very intricate detailing of these big 1/350 leviathan’s…
Not having a real clue about the mechanisms of this weapon systems… Were the 10.5s auto loaded or crew loaded ?
Some great work here Jan, always enjoy catching up with this one
1 Like
Jan,
Thank you for responding! I appreciate it very much!.
I have built the Heller range of 1/400 kits since the 1970s. i am also very familiar with the more detailed Dragon, Trumpeter, and the Revell 1/350 Bismarck and Tirpitz. And, I agree that the RN and Italian RM ships are attractive as well. Indeed, I have the entire range of Trumpeter 1/700 RN and RM ships and have found the MENG 1/700 HMS Rodney lower hulls fit the Rodney/Nelson class ships really well. I have also found the 1/700 Royal Oak by Orange Hobby, which is also full hull. Indeed, the 1/700 ships by Flyhawk are also great!
Heller does offer something that the others don’t, however . . . simplicity. I like to see just how far I can take one with extra detailing. Your KM Gneisenau is a good case in point! I am currently working on converting the Heller KM Lutzow into the KM Deutschland. I had to start by using the Heller kit Graf Spee hull because that of the Lutzow is far to sharp in the bow. I also have to use the funnell of the Graf Spee, and I need to use the gun turrets as well since they are more dimensionally correct.
I hope that we can continue discussing this!
Bill
1 Like
Bill, - quick side talk from my Gneisenau… -
fully agree with you. And there are very interesting kits out there that I’d love to build, a lot of them you mentioned, but after building my F225 in 1/700 to me it is clear that 1/700 is too small.
I do like to have my models all in the same scale, I just love to see the different sizes, some destroyers, FPB’s or subs next to the ‘big leviathans’. That led me to the Heller 1/400 range long, long time ago and it was the same kits I restarted my hobby with some 15, 16 years ago. And still Heller has some kits on offer that I’m missing in 1/350 - Lützow/Deutschland, Scheer, T-Boats, M-Boats, HMS Victorious…
Towards the end of my ‘Heller-time’ I started doing about what you are talking about - I built a Blücher from a Prinz Eugen Hull and a Hipper
and stole four 10,5 cm AA from a Hipper or Prinz Eugen kit (the one between boats and crane on the picture), and the open AA fire control stations aft from Destroyer kits to correct some errors in the Bismarck
But then I came across 1/350 scale and bought a ship I was looking for quite q while, the HMS Repulse. I was stunned by the better detail of the kit and found that I could get most ships on my wishlist in 1/350, so that was when I started that scale. And once I got hooked on PE and other aftermarket stuff (that to my knowledge doesn’t exist for 1/400, apart from very few ancient White Ensign sets) there was no way back…
Cheers
Jan
7 Likes
Jan,
I agree, although 1/350 as a scale did not exist when I got started on the Heller range. Then, when 1/350 was starting to become established, that range of kits progressed fairly slowly at first. However, by the late 1990s the range in 1/350 began to be expanded, gradually reaching into the European ships that are my favorite.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no DKM Deutschland, Lutzow, or Admiral Scheer, no HMS Victorious or HMS Illustrious, no HMS Collosus.
I was happy to see Trumpeter release the SMS Seydlitz and the Austrian Veribus Unitas, These are nice additions to the ICM kits of the SMS Koenig class and the Zvesda range of Soviet battleships, as well as the Trumpeter HMS Dreadnought. The WWI range of ships has steadily been increasing in 1/350. I also love Trumpeter’s Italian Vittorio class ships in 1/350.
There are real advantages to both ranges!
Bill
| JJ1973 Patron
24 May |
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Bill, - quick side talk from my Gneisenau… -
fully agree with you. And there are very interesting kits out there that I’d love to build, a lot of them you mentioned, but after building my F225 in 1/700 to me it is clear that 1/700 is too small.
I do like to have my models all in the same scale, I just love to see the different sizes, some destroyers, FPB’s or subs next to the ‘big leviathans’. That led me to the Heller 1/400 range long, long time ago and it was the same kits I restarted my hobby with some 15, 16 years ago. And still Heller has some kits on offer that I’m missing in 1/350 - Lützow/Deutschland, Scheer, T-Boats, M-Boats, HMS Victorious…
Towards the end of my ‘Heller-time’ I started doing about what you are talking about - I built a Blücher from a Prinz Eugen Hull and a Hipper
and stole four 10,5 cm AA from a Hipper or Prinz Eugen kit (the one between boats and crane on the picture), and the open AA fire control stations aft from Destroyer kits to correct some errors in the Bismarck
But then I came across 1/350 scale and bought a ship I was looking for quite q while, the HMS Repulse. I was stunned by the better detail of the kit and found that I could get most ships on my wishlist in 1/350, so that was when I started that scale. And once I got hooked on PE and other aftermarket stuff (that to my knowledge doesn’t exist for 1/400, apart from very few ancient White Ensign sets) there was no way back…
Cheers
Jan
3 Likes
Wanted to share this…
There is or was a little bit of PE for 1/400 PE available that could be used on the Heller kits.
Gold Metal Models - 1/400 German Warship Photo-Etch
Back in the late 1990’s, when Heller re-released their 1/400 DKM Gneisenau, I picked up this set in anticipation of the 1/400 DKM Scharnhorst also getting re-released…which to my knowledge never occurred.
I probably should see if it’s still available and pick up two of these very basic sets for my old kits just in case I try to refurbish them.
3 Likes
Jan,
I forgot to mention one other range of 1/400 ship model kits, a range that ibuilt when living in Sardinia in Italy. That is the Tauro ships of the Zara class. They are beautiful models indeed! I only need Gorizia to complete that collection.
By the way, I love that photo below of some of your collection of the Heller kits. You especially did a nice job on the Blucher!
Bill
24 May |
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Bill, - quick side talk from my Gneisenau… -
fully agree with you. And there are very interesting kits out there that I’d love to build, a lot of them you mentioned, but after building my F225 in 1/700 to me it is clear that 1/700 is too small.
I do like to have my models all in the same scale, I just love to see the different sizes, some destroyers, FPB’s or subs next to the ‘big leviathans’. That led me to the Heller 1/400 range long, long time ago and it was the same kits I restarted my hobby with some 15, 16 years ago. And still Heller has some kits on offer that I’m missing in 1/350 - Lützow/Deutschland, Scheer, T-Boats, M-Boats, HMS Victorious…
Towards the end of my ‘Heller-time’ I started doing about what you are talking about - I built a Blücher from a Prinz Eugen Hull and a Hipper
and stole four 10,5 cm AA from a Hipper or Prinz Eugen kit (the one between boats and crane on the picture), and the open AA fire control stations aft from Destroyer kits to correct some errors in the Bismarck
But then I came across 1/350 scale and bought a ship I was looking for quite q while, the HMS Repulse. I was stunned by the better detail of the kit and found that I could get most ships on my wishlist in 1/350, so that was when I started that scale. And once I got hooked on PE and other aftermarket stuff (that to my knowledge doesn’t exist for 1/400, apart from very few ancient White Ensign sets) there was no way back…
Cheers
Jan
1 Like
Jan,
I do have both the Revell 1/350 Bismarck and Tirpitz. Granted, their detail is exceptional but they are very complex kits. I will build them
24 May |
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Bill, - quick side talk from my Gneisenau… -
fully agree with you. And there are very interesting kits out there that I’d love to build, a lot of them you mentioned, but after building my F225 in 1/700 to me it is clear that 1/700 is too small.
I do like to have my models all in the same scale, I just love to see the different sizes, some destroyers, FPB’s or subs next to the ‘big leviathans’. That led me to the Heller 1/400 range long, long time ago and it was the same kits I restarted my hobby with some 15, 16 years ago. And still Heller has some kits on offer that I’m missing in 1/350 - Lützow/Deutschland, Scheer, T-Boats, M-Boats, HMS Victorious…
Towards the end of my ‘Heller-time’ I started doing about what you are talking about - I built a Blücher from a Prinz Eugen Hull and a Hipper
and stole four 10,5 cm AA from a Hipper or Prinz Eugen kit (the one between boats and crane on the picture), and the open AA fire control stations aft from Destroyer kits to correct some errors in the Bismarck
But then I came across 1/350 scale and bought a ship I was looking for quite q while, the HMS Repulse. I was stunned by the better detail of the kit and found that I could get most ships on my wishlist in 1/350, so that was when I started that scale. And once I got hooked on PE and other aftermarket stuff (that to my knowledge doesn’t exist for 1/400, apart from very few ancient White Ensign sets) there was no way back…
Cheers
Jan
1 Like
Jan,
Gold Medal Models has a set of photoetch for German ships in 1/400, as L’Arsenal. Model Monkey has 1/400 3D printed 1/400 parts for these ships as well. They look quite good!
Bill