ORP Blyskawica - MM 5-6/81

[lizard]

Hello,

This is my first thread here and I hope you all enjoy the build. I definitely will.

It is a back in time journey for me with this model and also very sentimental. I have done (or should say, tried to do) few MM's when I was kid, and although it is way off from the today's standards I believe I will have lot of fun. Cannot guarantee if the build will be successful but do my best.


So far upper half of the hull frames are assembled and glued. Now need some sanding and dry fitting of the decks and hull sides.

[Butelczynski]

Hey.Welcome and make yourself at home.

I did this model in waterline version back in 88 I think along with ORP Burza.I wasn't sure if ships were my thing or airplanes (planes won).I think it still exists back in Poland with one of my relatives.

[lizard]

Originally Posted by Butelczynski

Hey.Welcome and make yourself at home.

I did this model in waterline version back in 88 I think along with ORP Burza.I wasn't sure if ships were my thing or airplanes (planes won).I think it still exists back in Poland with one of my relatives.

All mine gone somewhere in time Actually none of them were worth to keep.

Regarding the choice I'm still in between, but closer to ships. After this build I'm planning to make F-16 also from MM.

[PAPER FAN]

I learned on mm and grateful I did. Cardstock so forgiving.

[RdK]

Hi!

I am looking forward to seeing you putting the Błyskawica together! I have one myself, but a newer version from MM i think...

Rgds,

Radek

[rjccjr]

Hi;

Many years ago, I had a friend who used to trade with a guy in Poland. Whenever something ship related came along, he would give it to me. One of the acquisitions was Maty Modelarz 2-3/87, October Revolution. Building it turned from fun to sheer endurance, but it did get built.

Here are some suggestions intended to save you a lot of frustration. The card in the kit has a high acid content, is brittle and very absorbent. It yellows quickly and begins to disintegrate very fast. It also tends to swallow adhesives. The parts fit will give you nightmares. So, scan every page of the kit into a computer and save it in a folder. This gives you two advantages. First, if you cannot get a part to fit, just print another page on good quality acid free paper. It would be wise to print out the entire kit that way before you start construction. Maybe your construction isn't so far along that you can still save most of it. The second advantage is that you can put the saved pages into Microsoft paint, and redraw or recolor them when you get into trouble.

Another advantage is that the dyes in modern western ink are a great deal more durable than those of the original kit. When I got October Revolution the pages had a lot of red and orange color, which had faded badly. The deck planking was lemon yellow, bearing no resemblance to teak. Controlling glue absorption was achieved by using a Shish Kebab skewer to limit the amount of glue entering the card.

Build it on a wooden base to avoid the banana effect. Overspray the whole thing when you finish, it will protect the model, hide glue spots, and perhaps slow down the color fade and card deterioration.

Although October Revolution was not a favorite project, it is a unique subject and has a certain amount of appeal. I hope these suggestions will be of some help to you. By all means keep on with it. If you have further questions, just ask.

Regards, Ray Crean

[lizard]

Many thanks for your thoughts rjccjr. I'm fully aware of the problems I will encounter during this build. I have scanned all the pages, but my goal is to make this ship as it is from the kit. As I mentioned in my first post, this built is a kind of sentimental quest to recall memories from my early years. I haven't done paper kits for a long time, but when I got interested in making model kits it were MM's back in 1995. Actually the very first was French destroyer Le Terrible. I still have another copy of this kit and if I manage to make Blyskawica I will follow with Le Terrible then.

Regarding the poor characteristics of paper in old MM, I use Brand Clear Glue (BCG) in order to improve the flexibility. I use large flat brush and apply the glue to both sides of each page. It dries completely transparent with a light satin effect and impregnates the paper. That makes it easier to form, roll and bend. All box shaped parts I cut apart and glue edge to edge, also using BCG.

Now back to the build. I have the complete frames glued with deck. Also start to shaping hull lower part segments. One so far, but fits well to the substructure.

[PacificWind]

Nice to see an ORP Błyskawica here! I've visited this ship so many times. It's also the oldest surviving destroyer in the world, being from 1936/1937.

Originally Posted by rjccjr

Hi;
...was Maty Modelarz 2-3/87, ....
Regards, Ray Crean

Ray, I've noticed that English speakers sometimes incorrectly write/say the name of MAŁY MODELARZ. There's no " t " letter. It's Ł which doesn't exist in English, German, Spanish, French and many other languages. It's pronounced like "w" in "way".

It's much better to write Ł as L.

[lizard]

Originally Posted by PacificWind

Nice to see an ORP Błyskawica here! I've visited this ship so many times. It's also the oldest surviving destroyer in the world, being from 1936/1937.

And only surviving destroyer which served from first to last day of WWII

[hetzer]

all Iam going to say for now is this:



if you need any reference - let me know, got it photoed from every corner xD

cheers :D