The Ship Model Forum

by **snaphappy321** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:10 am

Hi Everyone,
Its hard to believe that its been more than 2 years since I've posted anything here about my USS Bennett. As with my DD-555 USS Haggard build, this build has been moved to the RC Groups Scale Boats page. I combined both the DD-555 and DD-473 into one build thread.

The plan is to build the same parts on each ship one after the other. That way they'll both get finished and working on one will give idea's for the other. As I mentioned in my DD-555 build here, uploading photos to RC Groups is so much easier than at this site. All you have to do is drag and drop your images from your computer into the comment your posting. Its very simple and you can also add captions to each photo as well.

I haven't done a lot on the DD-473 lately. The last thing I built for it was the ECM Mast and it came out great and I made one for my Bro Jerry for his 1/96 scale DD-661 USS Kidd.

Here's the link to the continuation of my DD's, the last few pages cover the ECM Masts I built: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2364571

The build thread title doesn't mention the DD-473 but it has become a thread for both of the DD's I'm building. I guess I should edit the title if its possible. Anyway, thanks for everyone that's commented on my DD-473 build. I appreciate it very much and I have to say that I've learned so much from this site. I'll be back now and then to check up on what happening here.

Cheers!!!

Roger DD-473 (DD-555)!!!

by **snaphappy321** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:38 am

Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I posted anything on the Bennett. I was successful in performing RC bench testing and I am happy to say that the Bennett will make its maiden voyage very soon.

Take a look at this short video to see the bench test. My 7 year old daughter was at the helm while I was operating the camera.

She's very excited to pilot the Bennett and Haggard during their maiden voyages, but I'm not sure if she's ready for that just yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyD3A3Xmga4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXqPeRqNZ4g

As an added bonus, the DD-555 was bench tested the same day. Both of my Fletcher's are in the same stages of completion. Maybe they will have their maiden voyage the same day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMpe6Fjom4U

As always, check back soon for more on the USS Bennett DD-473!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-555/DD-473

by **snaphappy321** » Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:41 pm

Hi Everyone,
I made a motor platform at the proper angle and the motors are mounted. I also was able to get the servo mounted today as well. I'm making my own shaft collar/tiller arm for the rudder and when it's finished I can hook up the link from the servo to the rudder. The ESC and RC reciever will be installed next. I'm getting very close to launching the Bennett for it's shake down cruise, I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:46 pm

Hi Everyone,
I finally finished making the rudder and I installed it yesterday.

This is a post WW-II Fletcher Class rudder refit to help make the turning radius tighter. The Scale Shipyard rudder is next to the one I made.

I was going to use direct drive couplings for the motors. After I made the couplings I noticed that the prop shafts ran out a few thousandths. Had I used the couplings, I would have prematurely worn out the motors and probably had some vibration as well. I got two Dumas Dog Bone type universals. I used the couplings I made as bushings for the motor side of the universal and shaft collars for the prop shafts incase the universal gets loose.

I wouldn't want to loose a prop shaft and prop.

The motors will be completely installed by the end of the week. Then the electronics will be installed and you all know what's after that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:02 pm

PetrolGator wrote:This is looking awesome, man. Thanks again for the plans!

It was my pleasure my friend!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:00 pm

Hi PeeJay,
I'm going to use telescoping brass tubing for the mast. The drive shaft will be a piece of 1/16" diameter wire. The SC-4 radar screen mounts onto a cone shaped part. I'm going to make that out of aluminum rod that will be machined into a cone shape and I will drill a 1/16" hole through it for the drive shaft. A couple drops of permanent lock tight will secure the cone to the wire drive shaft.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **PetrolGator** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:08 am

This is looking awesome, man. Thanks again for the plans!

by **PeeJay333** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:49 pm

snaphappy321 wrote:Hi Everyone,
I thought my first test of the Tamiya mini gear box was 20 rpm. When I switched gears this morning to 9 rpm I noticed the mistake I made; it was running at 42 rpm not 20 rpm. Well, for the 2nd test it's running 9 rpm. It looks sooooooooooo much better. What do you think?
DSCN0833 9 rpm Tamiya mini gear box low res.jpg
This is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaX1VZm ... e=youtu.be

Roger DD-473/DD-555

How do you plan to get the rotation up to the antenna? Are you going to build a hollow mast? What kind of driveshaft will you use?

Peejay

by **snaphappy321** » Fri May 17, 2013 12:40 pm

Hi Everyone,
I thought my first test of the Tamiya mini gear box was 20 rpm. When I switched gears this morning to 9 rpm I noticed the mistake I made; it was running at 42 rpm not 20 rpm. Well, for the 2nd test it's running 9 rpm. It looks sooooooooooo much better.

What do you think?

This is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaX1VZm ... e=youtu.be

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Fri May 17, 2013 12:32 pm

Thank you very much Nicolas, I really appreciate it coming from you my friend!!!!!!!

When are you going to build a 1/96 scale Battleship? I promise, you will have the time of your life detailing a ship of that size. The best part is cruising around a lake with other warship models of the same size. Please check out these two videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcSvDUvP ... e=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuLohUOL ... ture=share

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **LE BOSCO** » Fri May 17, 2013 11:02 am

Hello Roger

always nice to see your WIP

it is clear and precise
cheers
Nicolas

by **snaphappy321** » Fri May 17, 2013 8:30 am

Hi Everyone,
Here it is, the deck is finished.

Now I can finish the drive line installation, make the rudder and take her out for a test cruse!!!!!!!

As alwasy, check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Thu May 16, 2013 2:35 pm

Hi Everyone,

Today I fitted the Port and Starboard amidships deck strips. First, I cut some strips of 1/8 inch thick balsa wood and laid them on top of my cross beam to shim up the removable deck section. Then I centralized the removable deck section and taped it down. I cut two strips of gator board and I placed them one at a time against the center deck section and traced the outline of the hull on each of them.

I took the pieces down stairs and cut them on my table saw. The outside surfaces of Gator board are actually thin sheets of wood with a Styrofoam core. I take the blade guard off and I use a scrap piece of pine board clamped to the table as a cutting surface. It works great to cut any thing that's fragile so it will not get pulled down by the blade into the space between the blade and the guard. The photos explain it better than my description.

I also added the wood strips to support the stern deck section and made the last deck beam and glued it in place. I hope to cut and fit the stern deck section later today and the deck will be finished.

As always, check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Sun May 12, 2013 12:05 am

Hi Everyone,
Here's a little more work on the Bennett. I also took some photos of my removable deck section placed on top of a set of plans. This is so you can get an idea how much room I will have to perform maintenance and replace batteries. Also you can see the relationship between the twin 20mm Oerlikon's, K-guns and depth charge racks will be in relation to the removable deck section.

This is the same technique that I developed for the USS Haggard DD-555 I'm building from the Lindberg Blue Devil. The Lindberg kit if built OOB requires the whole deck to be remover to change batteries and perform any maintenance. I feel that the many details at the edge of the deck could be easily damaged and that's how I came up with the removable deck section that the amidships and aft deck structures are attached to be removable instead of the entire deck. Any way, enough talk here's the photos.

Also, here's a neat little Tamiya gearbox that will be used to rotate the SC-4 radar screen on the main mast. It's part #70189 from Tamiya in case you�re interested.

I posted a short video of the gearbox in action on You Tube today. Let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivDxDiv ... re=mh_lolz

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!
Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Thu May 09, 2013 5:15 pm

Hi Everyone,
Today I'm adding cross braces and working on the deck. Most people make it so each deck structure is removable to access running gear and replace the battery. I am attaching the amidships and aft deck structures to a removable deck section to give me more room to gain access to the hull. This is the same method I used on my USS Haggard DD-555 Lindberg Blue Devil. The removable deck section will be held in place by a couple magnets.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Mon May 06, 2013 8:47 am

Good Morning Everyone,

I decided to permanently attach the forward deck house to the deck. I first screwed balsa wood blocks inside the structure and then the blocks were screwed to the deck. The underside of the deck was reinforced with strips of sintra so the screw heads wouldn�t pull through the deck. The three screws that hold the deck house to the blocks above the deck will be puttied over and be hidden after all of the detailing is completed.

If the deck house needs to be removed at a later date, all I need to do is scrape off the putty and remove the screws. Why do this you might ask?

The main reason is that I don't want to damage the mast if the forward structure is removable and I feel there is no reason to access the forward section of the hull.

The first image is just to entice myself to continue onward!!!!!

This is what the stuffing tube installation looks like from the inside of the hull.

Deck house attaching blocks.

As always, check back later for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Sun May 05, 2013 6:40 pm

Thanks Nicolas,
My enthusiasm has been reignited and it feels very good to work on the Bennett again.

You are refining your model making it look the way it should, while I feel like I am still performing general construction as if I were building a house.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **LE BOSCO** » Sun May 05, 2013 11:43 am

Hello Roger

glad to see progress on your Bennett :thumbs_up_1:a work always more accurate my friend

I hope soon see new progress .....more quickly

friendships
Nicolas

by **snaphappy321** » Sun May 05, 2013 11:09 am

Hi Everyone,
It's been way too long since I did anything to the Bennett.

I have sooooooooo much to do on her. Here are a couple photos of fitting the forward deck. I'm using 3/16" Gator Board. Its very light weight and very strong; it will allow me to put in less cross braces as well allowing greater access to the running gear inside the hull. I still need to add the deck edge supports to the sides of the hull. They will be glued in before the deck is glued in place. Its easier to fit the deck and get the curvature to fit properly without them in place.

The next two photos show that the bottom layer of the Gator Board is slit every 1/2 inch for the deck to conform to the sheer angle of the hull.

Hopefully, I will post a couple more photos later today or tomorrow. As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

by **snaphappy321** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:01 pm

Hi Everyone,
Those of you that have followed my build from the beginning know I chose to use stuffing tubes instead of the more expensive original type open prop shaft set up.
Here�s a couple photos of my completed stuffing tube and strut installation that I finished yesterday.
Next, even though I purchased a rudder from Scale Shipyard, I think I�m going to make a post WWII rudder to cut down on the turning radius.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555