The Ship Model Forum

Current progress, none of the on deck items are attached. Am re printing aft superstructure for various reasons.

Cheers: Tom

"Stuff" piled on the deck and not attached, current progress. Not inclusive of all items currently produced for this model.

Cheers: Tom

Adding the waterway lip to the deck edges. I am using copy paper saturated with CA and trimmed to a thin band. Measured, this works out to a scale 0.6" thick but is not particularly easy to work with. But going... A better way of doing this might have been to print a small lip on the deck for alignment. A couple dozen more projects perhaps I'll have much of this worked out.

Tom,

Looking 1st class with all the additional work and details!!!

Hank

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Almost finished stringing the waterway, the saturated (by CA) paper can be sanded so I will worry it down to the proper height using a method used by a gentleman over in Pic Post on his 1:200 gearing DD. At that point I will be close to doing one of my least favorite tasks, painting the hull, in this case in measure 22. To get the hull lines straight I'll have to make a building cradle, another diversion. We all have our favorite parts of building, and I like adding small details. As a matter of procedure I have already created a majority of the items, an advantage of 3D design and printing. Many have been adapted from pre existing designs that I have use on other projects, a few such as the rudders and props, major superstructure sections etc are simply modified from the one's I used on the smaller pre model. Easy enough to take an Orlikon or Bofors that I designed in 1:120 to use in 1:144. I can either reduce in the design program or in Chitubox slicer. Big size changes usually necessitate some design changes, if reducing a lot, such as in the 1:514 model, beefing up of smaller item necessary to ensure printing of some components, or for strength.

Cheers: Tom

Last night I printed a set (3) of hull support brackets to keep the hull level while I scribe the lines used for painting the boot top etc. I went to the hull file and made three cross sections and created matching form fitting supports which I will mount on a base board today. Flat bottom hulls are much easier to deal with such as my Missouri and APA.

Cheers: Tom

Began painting the hull, starting with my secret home made hull red. Next will be boot top with Liquitex flat black after the red thoroughly dries. I did thin with "Valley Jo" airbrush thinner and flow improver. Seemed to work well in allowing a longer session without brush clogging.

My magnetic adjustable arm which I use for scribing hull lines is currently MIA, will turn up, I hope!

Tom

Found the tool holder. It's mostly for holding dial gauges used in measuring runouts etc and adheres magnetically. It's performance was enhanced when I took a .5mm mechanical pencil and turned down the plastic ferrule to fit the holder. Scribed the appropriate lines and masked and painted the hull body in measure 22. The deck remains to be finished in 20B though I have laid out a preliminary coat.

Also spraying the superstructure pieces with my formulation of 5H. Due to the complexity I'll probably have to hand paint many of the deck areas in 20B.

Another product of Pisantium boat works, printed a small oil tank and depth charge impulse charge locker. The oil tank is on the main deck at the aft end of the superstructure, port side. Haven't seen these on other ships, looks like something a farmer might have next to the house gravity feeding a drip stove. Maybe a refill source for the smoke generators? The number of small items to create is not quite endless, but occupied me for a year or two on the APA.

When I took the hull into the house to scribe the waterlines, using the large flat area of the table. I neglected to remove the props first, at least I found one. Typically I should have spares, if not print a new set. Two steps fwd and one back...

Cheers: Tom

Tom,

Yes, finding these items and enough info to make a fairly decent facsimile is challenging, but fun! I also printed an 80 gal. oil tank on stand (gravity feed) for the T-3 - it's located behind the bridge level deck house where radio central was situated, so my guess is that there was some sort of oil-fed heater inside and this was its fuel source. Don't know any other reason why it would have been there.

You seem to have the same problem that I do with getting items either in place or about to be located and then break them somehow before they can be finished or break them in moving the model around. Always something!!!

Hank

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Hank:

The props, just had them slipped on the shaft ends and forgot to remove them before carrying the hull into the house so one of the little gentlemen probably dropped off into the snow... An advantage/disadvantage of home printing is one can produce a more fragile and accurate item than you would want to print commercially or assemble from bought pieces. If I bozo a piece up de platforming, little loss as I usually make a couple to ensure a good one. I have boxes of extras at this point. Getting a lot better at designing the original printing file and in orientation such that the first round print success is usually high.

Attaching and aligning the superstructure parts will be a bit of a touchy evolution.

Cheers: Tom

Update:

Attaching the bridgeworks to the hull with epoxy at this moment! I like epoxy for this, strong and takes a little while to set so precise alignment is possible. The hull is on a 3/4x4 board spanning an open sawhorse. Clamps can press down on the O1 level aft of the bridge on each side and on a block placed on the tub of the 32 mount. This firm pressure ensures a close and tight adherence. I will work aft with the mid and then the aft superstructure sections. As the after sections are not laterally symmetrical, accurate alignment will require careful measurement!

I'll give the epoxy an hour or so then start on the mid section.

Up Update: All three superstructure sections epoxied to the main deck. Clamped and curing, will let it set for a few hours whilst it cures. The 3D printing process gives very accurate deck heights between sections so only very minor filling will be necessary.

Cheers: Tom

Current progress, all the stuff here is attached. Note puttied areas on O1 level where superstructure modules join.

Tom

Many items to produce and add. I already have many items such as the 26' Motor Whale Boat and radars but mast works, lifelines, and the large power cable spools remain to be designed and produced. Cable spools are currently on the (low priority) Roundtuit list. A large number (approx one zillion) of small parts to produce and add such as position lights, loudspeakers, chain stoppers, vent pipes and whatnot.

Cheers: Tom

Putty? I figured the crew had been chipping the deck and it was red lead.

Phil

_________________
A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

I was thinking the exact, same thing - LOL!!! Excellent work, Tom!!!

Hank

_________________
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69

Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors
Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48

Ha! When I looked at the photo first, I was amazed at how the flash had brightened the putty and indeed looking like the crew had been kept from the hands of the devil.

Added the front gun shield and working on the midships main deck bulwarks. They did print out fine but going to make a few adjustments. I do have some fine chain left over from the DMS which should be suitable for the short runs from the hawse to the anchor winch.

It appears that the K guns were staggered and not opposite each other. Perhaps to avoid having the impulse on both sides being transferred to the same frame member? Brings up the question as to the firings being staggered as are multiple guns in a turret, though that's usually for reducing dispersion.

Cheers: Tom

This is the mystery oil tank. Perhaps for aging Torpedo Juice?

Tom

Under the wah hail section of the model researchers bible, some do and some don't. Some DE's have mirrored K guns and racks port and starboard and some don't. It appears that the mirrored ones are located opposite each other, the non mirrored ones staggered? So far I have produced mirrored ones for Whitehurst, but need to confirm this is the proper configuration. Different units with smaller racks were installed in 1957 when the movie was filmed aboard so this is not a lot of help.

Drawings can only be considered secondary or tertiary sources if not USN documents. As she was originally built next to England, and is only one hull number before and should have been close to her configuration, but who knows by mid 1945 after her Pearl Harbor damage repair.

Back to the photos!

To answer my own question after photo examination, she had in 1945 at Pearl, the mirrored K guns located opposite rather than staggered.

More stuff added, things seem to progress fairly rapidly. Much of the wartime shipbuilding rapidity relied on standardization and availability of off the shelf components. Much in the same way having built several WWII era USN ships, I have accumulated 3D design files for many common shipboard items. 3" 50 cal mounts, 40 mm Bofors, 20 mm Orlikons, chocks, bitts, directors, searchlight and whatnot. Some items with minor modification such as the K Gun racks which are slightly different than the DMS ones.

3D printing has an advantage in being able to produce multiple items and also mirror them where traditional construction would be very time consuming. The level of detail is often better than I could produce by manual means.

Many traditional constructors such as Willi, Mr Bauman, EJ Foeth, Song etc far surpass my abilities. But I am still enjoying my ship construction, which is the reason I do it!

Cheers: Tom