The Ship Model Forum

wefalck

Excellent suggestion. Plexiglass it is. I like being able to see what's going on.

I'm not quite at the stage of manufacturing these perforated "walk on" surfaces, but I can now go off and experiment.

Again thanks.

Some people also use Plexiglas/Perspex for the die, which has the advantage that you can see what you are doing. When punching metal, I would prefer metal for the die, but with polystyrene Plexiglas would work.

wefalck

Many thanks for your suggestions. To keep weight down I think I might use 0.5mm styrene. I like the suggestion of the slotted aluminium to help locate the holes. I will try this with both a punch and a drill to see which works best. I think I am worrying about getting even one hole out of place by a fraction. Doing that will be so obvious and render the whole bridge platform a mess.
Thanks again.

Two alternative techniques come to my mind: punching and etching. It depends on the kind and thickness of the material to be used.

One can make a simple punch-and-die from a slotted piece of aluminium and a piece of steel rod. The punch can be driven either using a hammer or by taking up the punch in a drill-press. When you drill the die with two register holes according to the hole pattern, positioning the material for the next hole should be easy.

Etching could be high-precision alternative, but the sheet-brass may be too heavy for your model.

wefalck and everyone

These could be used for anti torpedo nets at the right scale I'm thinking.

Wires.co.uk are good.

Regarding gratings. The 1/48th scale sub I'm working on has flat walk on steel surfaces around the conning tower which serve as a bridge. The originals were drilled with holes (about 30mm OD with about 100mm spacing). Any suggestions other than marking plastic card out in a grid iron and drilling each hole one at a time.

For anyone interested in fine wire mesh, check out the offers by this UK supplier: http://wires.co.uk

Hey old fashioned methods are good. But molding is slow and expensive. 3D printing can and will be a game changer for this hobby. It cuts costs and lead time for getting parts. For example these grab irons. I can make them by hand. And they look ok. But it takes forever to bend and shape a dozen or so. And no matter what you cant get them exactly the same. even with a bending template. Then drilling and installing.
With 3D versions from Shapeways. They look the same and have all the details of the real ones . And its 12 bucks for 200 of them.
. It will save me weeks maybe months of work on my ship...saves money through time spent ...project gets thru sooner . Next project can start.

Make a prototype of something. Scan it with a 3D scanner. And print up as many as you want on a 3D printer . You don't really need to mess with CAD with this method. Costs are less than you think.
But CAD will work good to for the less complicated parts.

FYI...grab irons are now available in 1/48th at Shapeways 3D printing. I just ordered 400 of them. Look for them at T2Toms page. Im going to send him the template for 40mm gun tub ammo brackets, and other small impossible to find stuff very soon
Z

Wouldn't using a CAD style program be better suited for designing the parts? That way you could get all the finite detail perfect? Though again if I have to make multiple parts id just make a master and mold it that way. I'm old fashioned haha

Actually you will still have to Perth. But if you need say 20 gun mounts..you will still need to make at least 1.
Then scan the part with a 3d scanner and print. And you can save the data file for future use.
This looks promising.

Personally I still prefer making things as much as possible.

Keep an eye out folks...New 3d printer technology is getting more affordable. Im having grab irons made up for me. But am going to buy a 3d setup. I will be able to make just about anything in scale...Or so Im hoping..

Hi

I like using various fine guages of net curtain material. When painted it is stiff enough for the tiny area it needs to cover.

Mike

Thank you Perth .
Im working in 1/48th. I wound up having to use no-see-um fine mesh screen. Its not exactly like the real deal in pattern. But it does look good.
Z

It really depends on scale. There's a lot of PE gratings, catwalks, and checker plate available from 1/700 right through to 1/96. 1/72 and up starts to get thin in specifically made items. As I build mainly larger scales and currently 1/72 warships HO/OO train accessories which is a mix of 1/87-1/76 depending on the company can provide a whole world of stuff. For modern warship bridge gratings for example I use Tichy train groups open grate platforms which are the perfect size and pattern for what's used. Plastruct and evergreen also provide a while host of items which will be suitable as well as other Architecture model based accessories which provide brass and aluminum grating and checker plates etc.

Well I can't answer for the ship-specific part, but for tiny gratings 1/700 and the likes, I'm using these new plastic tea-bags. They have a very tiny mesh and can be painted with enough thinner to make them look nice. They don't have any strength of themselves though. After painting they are rather stiff and in 1/700 they don't need any border.
For anything larger I guess PE is more appropriate. I'm also looking at steel mesh from lids for cooking pans. There are special very fine mesh lids that keep the grease splashes inside. I've found both diamond and rectangular shaped, finer than the general mesh you can buy in DIY shops. I still have to test this though since the rectangular ones are woven and I'm not sure of the consistency of that mesh after cutting.

As for ladders they're best shaped around a jig, same for the distance between the rings. As for size I guess it depends on the ship and amount of space available, certainly for warships. These things are rather easy to bend and weld, so they aren't always pre-fabricated/mass produces like railings etc.

Actually it was a general question about those items. I just used the Iowas as an example.But I can post it there too if it solves my problem.
And since I have to scratch build these items I felt it was appropriate .

Perhaps you might want to post this question in the Iowa class thread, since it seems you are asking about ship-specific details rather than scratchbuilding techniques?

With all of the pictures I have looked at from WW2 Iowas. details of some items are difficult to see and duplicate in larger models or dioramas.
Such as.
Gratings on the catwalks around the stack hoods and after FC tower. Were these diamond shaped? Square? Rectangular? mesh.
Width of the many ladders leading to these catwalks. Ive heard several sizes 16 wide by 12in spaced rungs? 16 x16..12 x 12.
Mesh of the floater net baskets seems to be diamond in some pics. square in others