The Ship Model Forum

Next step was to test fit rear area cargo holds and crane bases. Chain is a bit overscale maybe but the result is acceptable. Cargo holds are scratch built and crane bases -which are also storage rooms- are 3d printed. I need only to sand them down so they can fit with the deck which leans towards the sides.

Like in the rear section I printed the crane bases-rooms for the front part. The cargo holds are already in place.

I took the long time abandoned superstructure pieces and joined them together with wood glue and body car filler on the front side. After sanding it become smooth, needs to br painted. All parts were placed on deck for final fitting and evaluation.

]Work slowed down because of other project but now I'm back on track.

I decided to make the masts. Wasn't sure how, finally the design and 3d printing was chosen instead of scratch building. After many hours of design I got the first result, two successful prints while one collapsed partially. Using my skills I manage to repair it and save another 6 hour printing season.

Mike:

Good progress, indeed the streamlined superstructure with the compound curves a challenging subject. A very slinky cargo ship, reminds me of the nuclear powered Savanah from the 1950's.

Cheers: Tom

The 1950s were the age of 'curves' ...

Interesting progress on the masts - 3D-printing makes making such complex and delicate structures a lot easier.

_________________
Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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Thanks for the comments

Indeed some people do confuse those identical vessels.

Some say that 3D print is a cheat as it doesn't include any hand work. But in fact as long as you design and print each part its a kind of handcraft work, even in digital form.
Anyway I am still working on the pulleys. The number required is great, Not sure about wooden ships but here more than 50 needed from what i see on the plan

There are also double and triple pulleys that will be used. I am using photos of my archive as a guide to position them and differ remarkably from my plans. Rigging will be more challenging that it seemed initially. Most possibly won't be 100 accurate but thats ok.

Meantime I decided to install the anchor machinery and drill the anchor holes all the way to the ship sides while working to improve paint details on deck

ndeed, 3D printing isn't "easy" but it does have the advantage of being able to replicate many items, which is ship model construction can be a common issue. It's not a push button technology yet but requires what I would call considerable process engineering. Previously I used replicative techniques such as resin casting but that has it's own issues. On my APA project all the winches (a lot of the m) are resin cast. Today I would print them, perhaps with slightly better results, though they are "OK". For myself there are possibilities of creating miniatures that I would otherwise be unable to create.

I still have hats off to some of the most astounding hand creators such as Song, who can create wooden hand carved chains! I did that on the APA, out of styrene, his are much better. Again today I would print those.

Keep plugging away! Tom

while preparing the superstructure for final fitment I made the winches: main body and another piece were designed and printed plus a plastic rod and a pin.

I used copper wire primed and painted black. then i put the winch cylinder on the main body and secured the whole system with a pin which i chopped the extra length and glued the last part.

so got a fully functional system minus the motor which i can adjust the length of the wire during the rigging phase, i only need to add more black paint to fill the gaps on the white reel.

While working on the masts suddenly realized that I was totally out of scale.

I reprinted two of them with some modifications on top and other an one inch extension to the 3rd one.




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And a last pic with the funnels on

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Good on ya for persistence! You haver learned a lot here and experimented with various techniques to achieve your goal.

Regards: Tom

Thanks for the comments

Too much trouble for little progress. I added some shelters on bridge deck. Started with scratch building then decided for a more delicate job so I just printed them. Still measurements were incorrect, so multiple couples were tried to get the final fitment. On the top I used sandpaper 280bgrit pieces to simulate the material show on first pic. Before installation, a pair of compass were fitted one of each side of the bridge

Work on cranes started. I printed the parts. Then assembled together and paint. Put crane frame supports using 1mm chopped plastic rod. After the fitment I scratch built a crane holder and glue it on port side on deck. It was difficult because my scratch built skills have been deteriorated since I spent most time on 3d design than making my parts by hands

I'm working at the funnels. Its a highlight spot of this ship. I printed a couple of pairs and I had to do some scratch work to correct some mistakes

After lot of sanding I get a desired outcome

Next was to replace the swimming pool. I printed the walls, glued them together. Wood fillet chopped ,varnished and put on.

Next step was the davits. The base was 3d printed but the upper part was a bit hard to draw so it was scratch built from 1mm styrene. Then 2.5mm reels added.

It was about time to do what I avoided to do lately. To paint the hull.
Body was prepared by sanding it with 400,600 and 1500 grit sandpaper.
For this size of hull an air compressor with a medium pistol would be ideal. Spray cans are far away from appropriate. The museum models are painted with colors from automobile industry therefore looks so impressive even bit unnatural.
Then I layered tape strips and start spraying. The curved rear area was troublesome to tape. This hull also requires 3 colors, white, red and brown.
After finishing the layers it took me another week working on evenings to get the desired outcome. Finally a medium gloss varnish was used


.

Ahh, the White Swan, as she was dubbed at some stage, I believe

_________________
Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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Last 2023 update.

I was looking for a way to make the cargo masts. I opted for a durable material so I skipped plastic over brass. The ends were a bit thinner and these were designed and 3d printed.

The 2.5mm brass tubes had thick walls and proved to heavy for the resin base tip. So I took some 2.5 mm plastic tubes and reinforced them by putting a 1.5 brass piece inside them. Then resin edges were glued. Therefore a desirable stiff part was created without being extra heavy.

Finally I printed a pair of life boats and started the paint job

Looks as if you have come to a good solution. For masts and booms that I 3FD printed I reinforced them with piano wire. I wish I had had the technology available when I did the plethora of masts and booms for the APA. Yours is not an easy model with very few surfaces which are not compound curves!

Best regards: Tom

Happy new year.
I thank all the members for suggestion and comments
I made the rest of the cranes. All were put in place except those based on the rear sides of the funnels. The model almost has taken its shape except some radar masts and smaller details like winches etc. I ended up with the most messed workbench in the world but in return I got a model of a fine looking vessel