The Ship Model Forum

I know the USS Iowa BB-61 has a 1/1 scale display of the shell and blast bags used in it's 16" guns.

Oh, wow. That's interesting. Man, the Japanese seam to still be very interested in this stuff.

Adler's Nest makes a 1/50 scale version of the Yamato's 46cm/18.1" shell that you might use as a template: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10332939

Oh, wow. I didn't know that.

That's doing it the hard/not-fun way.

All of what you seek has been published in Ordnance manuals and handbooks from the era, either by the countries that produced the ordnance or their enemies.

Seek out and collect those publications (or copies) on your own, either through publication houses of vintage manuals or on ebay. *Become* the expert you seek to question.

http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/milit ... _6005.html

Go to this link, scroll down to this publication and download
B.R. 932, Handbook on Ammunition, 1945. British Navy ammunition from WW IIbr932.pdf (21 MB PDF)
http://www.hnsa.org/resources/manuals-d ... e-control/

WOW! That is a mountain of usecul info. Thanks!!

AWESOME!! THANKS!!

One thing i am planning to do is contact the governments or museums of the countries who built these ships, tell them what i am doing and see if i can't get pictures of the ships and ammo from them for the diaplay. When i do i will also attempt to get as much design info from them on the shells as possible. Any contact info and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The countries on the list so far are UK, Germany, Japan and Russia. I am on the fence with the Italians.

I know it sounds a little bit nutty asking governments around the world for design info on their weapons but none of this is still being used by them and is only part of their national heritage. Furthermore, the part of Alaska where i live gets allot of tourists from all over the world and; while it's not difficult to find museums with tanks and aircraft used by everyone parked together, there is no place in the world that i am aware of where you can find the rounds the prince of Wales and Bismarck launched at one and other, the the rounds the Iowa and Yamato came close to launching at one and other etc., all together in one display. It's an opportunity for everyone to showcase their ww2 ordnace in one place for the world to see. I think most or all will go with that.

http://www.kbismarck.com/armament.html

Length of rounds were 1.672 m, 1.710 m and 1.748 m

One thing i have been considering for the very big rounds like the 16s and 18s is to cover some large logs with plaster, sculpt the shapes and coat it with fiberglass or carbon fiber.

The smaller shells are going to be a matter of cost and convenience. I know it sounds counter intuitive but i want my rounds to be heavy. Mostly so they won't easily move around on the display.

BTW. I have some logs on my property that are already pretty close to 16 inch and probably close to 20 feet long.



The shells themselves i want to keep very raw as if someone trucked the real thing in and left it there. Right now i am aiming towards laying the shells on their sides in specially built cradles for safety reasons. ATM my plan is to incorporate the model display cases and background info in to the cradles.

The rounds themselves will be huge; you could in fact easily use a hollow replica as a display case. Just cut out a portion of the side, put in a light or series of lights, and set the model within it to be illuminated from multiple sides. It would certainly make for a unique presentation!

As for what to make them out of...there's a plethora of materials to use, from sheet metal to turned metal (if you've access to a big enough lathe), fiberglass, really thick plastic stock, or even wood!

welcome back onboard !

1/1 size shells....

that is an interesting project!



JB

Sorry guys. Was tired. Ues. Shells 1/1 scale. Haven't decided on the ship scale yet bit will probably use Tamiya kits

I think by 1/1, AK-AK means full-size.

Hello fellas. I use to be a hard core card model maker. In fact, i was a member here a long time ago and one of my models is still in your gallery. I left the model world after that particular model was destroyed (5 years work and a 3rd of a million pieces gone) but i have recently taken interest in a very large peculiar educational project that i will undoubtedly need your help with. I recently moved back to Alaska and bought half-developed land which has fallen tree trunks anywhere from an inch to bigger around than a typical hot water heater. Most of this wood is going to be used as fuel and construction material but i found another use for some of it.

I recently had an elderly man tell me the Bismarck was the largest and most powerful battleship of all time. After correcting him, a series of lengthy conversations happened in which i learned that there's allot of local fascination with battleahips but also allot of false information going around. For example, few are aware that the missouri and new jersey belong to the same class and only a handful of people i've spoken with have ever even heard of the iowa prior to me mentioning it.

So what i would like to do; perhaps as a project for next winter is build an exhibit consisting of a model of one battleship in each world famous battleship class from the dreadknot to the iowa, a brief history of the ship with the display and finally the main attraction: life size replicas of the main battery rounds.

Now, here's the issue. I want to make these as exact as possible. Not just the shape but the paint color and markings as well. And all the other fine detail. I don't think this is going to be an issue with the 16-50 rounds as they are well publicized. But what about say, the Bismarck or Dreadnought. Texas or Arizona. Also, i could use some suggestions on which ship in the class to build models of and why.

Thanks in advance fellas and glad to be back.