The Ship Model Forum

If it were me, I'd address #1 and #2 in a similar way; instead of stripping/scrapping/replacing, I'd just apply some sandpaper to the existing surfaces and re-paint.
You can use double-backed tape attached to a flat file, or something else that is good and flat, and go to town with 400-800 grit sandpaper on the flight deck and get it worked down to a good surface for re-painting.

Paint can be worked to a wonderful surface awfully well with care and fine-grit sandpaper.

Issue #3 is pretty subjective, I rather like your wood base with historical info.

Well, I hate to go, but it's time I said "Goodbye" in this thread..........but only for a limited time. I'll be gone for Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and visiting family, then working some long work shifts the next few days. So I probably won't have anything new to report till beginning of December.
But here's one last tiny update for now...........
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02727.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02728.jpg

I've been working on removing/stripping the dull coat and Dark Sea Blue paint off the flight deck as I had previously mentioned in an earlier post further above about a mistake I made when trying to paint the flight deck. I've been using a product called "Gojo" which is a pumice hand cleaner that another model friend told me to use and it seems to be working ok except for trying to remove the yellow line.......which I might have to use sand paper for. Anyway, it's a slow process that'll take me a few days or so.

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Nothing major new to report. The holidays are still keeping me busy. But I've got a important question to ask and I need major help.
I'm still having problems on how I'll build, and what to use, for the 2 dozen turboelectric engine pods that are around the circumference of the Habakkuk. The only thing I can think of to use and modify is some aircraft bombs. But I haven't been able to find and buy the right type and quantity I need. Casting parts in resin is out of the question as I don't have the materials, skills, and no experience casting stuff in resin. The turboelectric pods are supposed to look like the following. I scanned a page from that William J. Wallace article about the Habakkuk which someone sent me, which was in Warship magazine or whatever.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... l/scan.jpg
The actual dimensions of the pods would've been 60 ft. long x 25 ft. high x 18 ft. wide. In 1/700 scale, that comes out to roughly 26mm (About 1") long x 11mm high x about 8mm wide.
Does anybody have ideas/suggestions on how I can make these and get the extra propeller shafts, propellers, and support struts?

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Well, it's a whole new year, and my resolution is to try and get this done by April for a future contest. So today, I started to get back to work on sanding the flightdeck down and removing the botched paint job I made which I explained about a few posts earlier. I used a pumice hand cleaner called Gojo which worked fairly well 70% of the time. But there's areas that it didn't do so well like the yellow stripe down the middle, and near the edges of the flightdeck. So this afternoon, I've been sanding down the flightdeck with 60 grit, then 100, then 150 to try and remove as much leftover paint as I could. When I feel I've reached as far as I can, then I'll finish with 220 grit. But the question is: Do I have to COMPLETELY get off ALL the previous blue paint, etc. before re-applying with new paint and dullcoat? There's some spots that seem just too stubborn and won't come off no matter how much sanding I do.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02769.jpg

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Random Habbakuk sighting!!! You know the U-Haul cube trucks that have small murals painted on the sides of the cargo area? They usually have animals or states on them but low and behold I saw one with a Habbakuk on it!!!! Bow on shot with some of the deck showing. Sides were all white and I think it had a Spitfire taking off and flying towards the viewer. Anyways, thought it was neat, keep an eye out next time you see a U-Haul cube truck on the road.

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Drawing Board:
1/700 Whiff USS Leyte and escorts 1984
1/700 Whiff USN Modernized CAs 1984
1/700 Whiff ASW Showdown - FFs vs SSGN 1984

Slipway:
1/700 Whiff USN ASW Hunter Killer Group Dio 1984

Probably of no use but....

Combined index for WARSHIP

http://www.fritzwagner.com/warship_tabl ... dex.html#H

Article and reference links

http://ww2history.suite101.com/article. ... t_habakkuk

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Chief of the Boat

EJM wrote:

>>,....Well, it's a whole new year, and my resolution is to try and get this done by April ...<<

welcome back !

I am intrigued to see how this will carry on--a most worthy subject!

JIM B

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....I buy them at three times the speed I build 'em.... will I live long enough to empty my stash...?
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

IPMS UK SIG (special interest group) www.finewaterline.com

Thanks for the links, jimbuna. But I've pretty much got everything that I could find on the Net already bookmarked and saved. BUT........I'm always on the hunt for any new information or pics that might show up in the future. And I've already got a copy of that WARSHIP "Habakkuk" article that someone sent to me.



You're not the only one that's intrigued. I've got a waiting list of a few dozen other people that are waiting to see this ship.

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Your welcome sir....here's one I built earlier

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Chief of the Boat

Ok, I'm back......and will hopefully be trying to get more progress done on this ship in the next several weeks.
Anyway, I sanded as best I could the flightdeck which I showed in an earlier pic. But there were still areas around the edges of the flightdeck that no matter how much sanding I did, the previous blue paint would not come off. But I've got it to about as smooth as I could make the deck again, and then repainted the deck:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02792.jpg
So now.....I have a question: What color should I make my flightdeck markings? From all available pics and sketches I've seen of the Habakkuk, there's a wide line going down the middle from bow to stern. Then two more lines going across at the stern and the bow. Sorta like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... bbakf1.jpg
I was thinking of painting the deck lines yellow to show a little more color so that the model wasn't so "gray, blue, and red" so to speak. Or does anyone think the deck lines should maybe be white?

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Looking good...

Are you sure that the USN painted their carrier decks with deck blue?

I recently saw an episode of Mythbusters that they used newspapers and ice to build a boat.. And then they used an outboard motor to a speed of 20 knts....

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NIKOS (NICK)
ΜΕΓΑ ΤΟ ΤΗΣ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ
(GREAT IS THE NATION THAT MASTERS THE SEAS)

The Habakkuk is pure speculation. Nobody knows what the ship would've had or looked like since it was never built. I'm taking a guess that if it had been built, it would've been done so by the Americans and Canadians since we'd have had better resources than what Britain did back in WWII. Therefore, the ship probably would've gotten some type of US paint measure. I'm speculating that it would've been Measure 13 which is this:
http://www.shipcamouflage.com/measure_13.htm
And also.........


Makes perfect sense if you ask me since the Habakkuk was designed to operate in the North Atlantic area which was infested by German u-boats. And the weather in that region is cloudy, foggy, hazy, and overcast pretty much.
But anyway, all I really need to know is what color to paint the flight deck markings?

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

@GTDeath: Pretty much all USN CVs in WWII were given a dark blue deck - a stain for the wooden deck and a paint for the metal decks. Exact formulae differed as the war progressed, but it was always a dark blue-grey .

For the lines, I would go with white, since that's what they used on the other CVs. If you want a bit more variety in your colours, perhaps MS 22? It was quite widely used. MS 14, which used Ocean Grey overall, was also used on some CVEs.

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Yo dawg, I heard you like PE, so I put some PE in your PE so you can use PE on your PE.

@Timmy: I've already pretty much painted the ship MS13. That's the measure I'm sticking with.
As for the flight deck markings/lines, White might seem ok, but in the weather conditions I described for the North Atlantic, pilots might have a hard time seeing them. I was thinking that yellow would stand out more as that color is brighter and would give pilots a better visual for landing. But on the same token, somebody would say that I may as well paint a big red and white circular target on the Habakkuk too since that's what the yellow would seem to an enemy aircraft if flying overhead. But what possible harm could an enemy aircraft do? Very little I think since the hull is 40 ft. thick, and the Habakkuk has nearly 200 fighters that could protect it.

So what do you guys think: Yellow markings or not?

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Yellow is fine... And it makes a sharp contrast to the deck blue... White will not be very useful to pilots, especially in rough seas... White tends to mix with all other colours surrounding it...

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NIKOS (NICK)
ΜΕΓΑ ΤΟ ΤΗΣ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ
(GREAT IS THE NATION THAT MASTERS THE SEAS)

Got the flight deck for the Habakkuk pretty much finished. Only thing I need to figure is the aircraft elevator(s). I was thinking of painting thin colored lines or using decal lines to show the outline of the elevator. Anybody got any suggestions? The elevators in all the pics and sketches I've seen were in the center of the flight deck (One elevator at each end of the ship.).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02803.jpg

The superstructure and planes are just sitting on the deck for scale reference. They are not glued on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02801.jpg

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

I think that four elevators would be much more possible... Two at each runway, for and aft... Decal stripes would look okey, and an engraved line perhaps...

Nice yellow colour... Really shows..

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NIKOS (NICK)
ΜΕΓΑ ΤΟ ΤΗΣ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΗΣ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ
(GREAT IS THE NATION THAT MASTERS THE SEAS)

Actually, from all the reference pics I have, the Habakkuk shows only 1-2 elevators, and they were on the center line of the ship. One aft, and another possibly near the bow. I'll probably stick with just 1 or 2 since that's what most reference information I have shows.

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Next items to tackle were the aircraft elevators. From all the reference pics and sketches I had, there wasn’t any concise plan as to how big the elevators were supposed to be, nor how many the Habakkuk was supposed to have, or even the locations of the elevators. Everything was one big guess. Most sketches I had showed just one or two elevators, and these were usually located along the center line of the ship (One near the bow, and the other near the stern.).
What I started to do was take a drafting template with lots of square and rectangle shapes and use that to help scribe the elevator “gap/panel lines” into the deck which you see in the first pic. These lines turned out very nice and crisp. I made one “elevator” near the bow of the ship, and the other near the stern.
My elevators are also “slightly” larger (1” x 1” inch square) than those found in a 1/700 scale Essex aircraft carrier kit or other AC kit (Average size of 3/4” x 3/4” inch). The plane in the second pic fits very nicely within the elevator square without having to have it’s wings folded. I tended to feel that this size was not too small nor too big.
But here's my main question: Someone suggested painting the elevator "gap/panel lines" black which is what I did in the third pic. But after I did that, I'm kinda regretting my decision and am wondering if I should paint the gap/panel lines a different color? If so, then what?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02805.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02806.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02809.jpg

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!

Ok, I'm undecided again. Question to all the modelers here: If a real Habakkuk had been built, then how much armament do you think it would have had?
There are no accurate listings of amounts or types of armament that a Habakkuk would've carried. As originally conceived, the Habakkuk was a British design and was to have British armament, namely the following. However, since no references discuss how much armament the Habakkuk was to have, nor the exact locations, etc., the listing here is an "educated guess" based on what was commonly used during WWII by the British.
Approximately 20-40 4.5" dual barreled DP (dual purpose) turrets.
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_45-45_mk1.htm
And numerous lighter anti-aircraft armament of various amounts of the following:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_2pounder_m8.htm
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_5-62_mk3.htm
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_2cm-70_mk234.htm

But since I'll be building an "Americanised" Habakkuk ship, I'll be adding American guns instead. So what I'm going with for my model is the following (Estimated):
20 5"/38 cal. dual barreled gun mounts:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-38_mk12.htm
Approx. 25(?) 40mm gun mounts:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_4cm-56_mk12.htm
60-70 20mm anti-aircraft machine guns:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_2cm-70_mk234.htm

The placement of all my armament can be seen in these three pics:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02328.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02329.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02330.jpg
Those three pics represent a "preliminary" placement of armament I'll have. The placement of all armament is 90-95% "locked in" so to speak. The only decisions I haven't made are at both ends of the hull, as well as any armament to be added for the new bridge superstructure I have yet to build.

HOWEVER.........things change. I just recently thought about the following tonight:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... C02823.jpg

In the above pic, you can see the placement of the round 40mm gun tubs, the skinny 20mm gun balconies, and the placement of the groupings of 5" gun turrets. Originally, I was going to have two 5" turrets (as shown in the upper left corner) in each unpainted white section. But since those white sections are so long/large, I am now thinking I can fit three 5" turrets in each section........or would that be overkill? But if I add more 5" gun turrets, it means I also have to possibly add more Mk.37 radar directors, possibly one at each corner (red dots) of the Habakkuk as shown in this pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... l/dot2.jpg

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Battleship modelers build with BIGGER guns!