Hi Jan,
Good progress on the underwater hull - glad to see you back at this one!
I can imagine what you are going through… here in California, 40°C (104°Farenheit) is pretty routine for this time of year… but air conditioning is common here too. One summer a few years ago our AC went out and my wife almost killed me - global climate change can be deadly! 
Hi Jan 
Great to see Gneisenau back on the bench and chasing down that glacier. Life sure has thrown a few hurdles in your way lately, so hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here on… 
40 degrees is unbearable at the best of times 
, but suffering a cold as well takes it up a notch… 
As a kid, I remember summers of endless weeks of hot stifling weather and sweltering nights, and back then air conditioning was something of a luxury, but our houses weren’t built for colder climates, to keep the heat in, so I can’t imagine just how uncomfortable it is for you guys at the moment…
So my fingers crossed for you, for a change in the weather soon! 
@TimReynaga Tim, our power went out a few years ago during one of the hottest nights of the year, but the really awful part of that was that the people on the other side of the street still had power-we sweltered through the night, all the while looking across the street with envy at their lights and air con running happily away 
Nice to see some progress Jan, however small.
I do understand, durring the heatwave in London I made no progress on anything.
Cheers,
Si
As said above it is great to see her back on the bench and getting underway…Cheers Mark
Excellent to see the update!
Dear friends here at MSW,
that’s so great and that is the spirit of this site that I like so much, thank you so much for your kind comments and ‘welcome back’, things like this keep motivation high and carry prolonged builds through more difficult periods! Thanks again for your patience and still sticking with this build log!
This weekend was again ‘away from workbench’, but I should have something up after next weekend!
Cheers
Jan
Ok, so as promised, here’s a little update. I actually found some time to spend at the workbench this weekend, getting back into the build and manly doing small stuff.
But first of all, propulsion installed:
The fit of the kit is really excellent, this was the smoothest alignment of shafts, propellers and rudders I can recall in a build!
The rest were ammo boxes, doors, scuttles and other stuff, needs all touch ups, partly another layer of paint, but that’s not a problem.
No wood provided, so I started with a coat of ‘flat earth’, will lighten that, needs much more yellow, too, and some oil. It should end up somewhere near the wood colors of the decks.
There might be another 14 days gap…I have to see whether I get something done during the week. This weekend, actually extended weekend, I will be in London with two fellow navy officers, a good old tradition that had to pause two years for CoViD, visiting the Great British Beer Festival (and of course London). I hope they don’t cancel the flight on me, it’s crazy these days in Germany with overcrowded airports and Lufthansa on strike last week…
Anyway, 
Jan
Nice progress on the props Jan,
It is always a pain when you don’t get a all the wood you need, nice bit of texture in the base coat on the bridge deck, will fit in nicely when you have it finished.
Hope you get to London ok, a bit busy at home next weekend so won’t get time to get over the Great British Beer festival this year, pity, I haven’t been since before Covid.
Cheers, Si
Hi Si,
thank you very much! Well, there’s more than one area I spotted where I need to improvise some wood. While I used the generic wood deck on the bigger parts of the deck, I don’t see a realistic chance in cutting appropriate pieces for those small and edged areas. Some paint will have to do.
Same for me, last GBBF in 2019, a little tradition with a bunch of friends from various nations, this year the group is down to three, but we decided to go anyway. Are you a fellow CAMRA member, too?
Cheers
Jan
Very nice work on her props and Skegs. What gets up my goat are the Number of Ship Models you see and they paint the Shafts in an Antifouling colour instead of their natural Metal…Cheers Mark
I do mine in the antifouling because most reference photos I have seen show the shafts in that colour (granted most of the photos are post WW2 as colour photos weren’t common back then so very hard to judge shaft colour)
Well, that’s a very good question…to be honest, I don’t know. I did the shafts on my RN ships in anti fouling red, also. I read several references indicating that they were painted, but no color pictures clearly showing it.
I decided for the bare steel here mainly to add a little color and make it look a little more interesting, and some references indicate it could be true, but again no proof.
From a more modern ship well known to me I do know the answer, however that doesn’t necessarily mean it was like this in WW II, and actually, this could have changed basically during each and every docking period…
I appreciate your comments and thoughts! Maybe anybody has some evidence to proof the one or the other?
Cheers
Jan
It makes sense to paint shafts with anti fouling - marine growth there is as undesirable as it is anywhere with the additional potential for sending the shaft out of balance. It may be that centrifugal force as well as scouring will make it less durable but I should think that they would be painted nonetheless.
I agree
JJ1073 non dimenticare che la struttura di poppa del Gneisenau aveva un passaggio tra le due torri binate da 150 mm . Ciao da Francesco
Hi Francesco,
thank you for dropping by!
As I’m not speaking any italien, I asked google translate and was confirmed that you were talking about a passageway in the aft superstructure between the aft twin 15 cm guns.
I got your post I think, thank you and indeed I had missed that so far.
That area here has an open passageway on Gneisenau that Scharnhorst does not have.
I’m going to cut that out, will have to add a little wooden deck, but that should be not a major issue.
As references I have on that are weak (but clearly show it’s there) I am going with an estimate. Will cut this away and create the open p-way. Thank you for that valuable hint!
Cheers
Jan
And just a very little bit in the evenings after work, more like half an hour every then and now…
Cable reels, will add some thread to make them look a little more realistic.
And adding a little oil to the deck to create a little wood-like uneven expression. The areas in question will be rather small in the end, somewhat concealed and speckled with equipment, so that should do…
Again, I have to ask your patience - I should find some time tomorrow and Sunday, but all my workbench plans are once more overcome by real life. It became apparent over the last weeks that there would be another moving coming towards me, and this was confirmed only two or so weeks ago.
So while this is highly welcomed this time, as I am getting out of Berlin just after one year and got my next tour near home, this ‘only’ means clearing my commuter flat and moving everything back home. However, as I had build up my shipyard in Berlin, this means once more moving all my workbench once again. Gneisenau will have some considerable milage even before commissioning…
Cheers
Jan
Closer to home is always good Jan… Work on Gneisenau is looking very good. Will look forward to the next update as and when. Safe move 
sono contento di esserti stato di aiuto
Jan, I know how that goes! Still, despite your “real world” commitments, Gneisenau is moving steadily forward - and I’ve been enjoying every minute of it. As a slow builder myself I appreciate your steady progress, and although updates aren’t as frequent as I’d like, every one is a treat! 
