The Ship Model Forum

I have been working on a CAD model of the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 for five or six years now. I am working from the original blueprints and hundreds of photos. Progress has been slow, but steady. I am using the CAD model to create plans for a 1:96 scale model of the ship.

I still have some major details to finish, like small boats and winches, but I forced myself to finish another part of the superstructure. The attached image is a closeup of the after deck house that housed the AN/SPG-49 missile tracking and AN/SPW-2 guidance radars, Weapons Control where the Talos missile system was operated, and the AN/SPS-30 3D air search radar. This is a pretty large file (150 Mbytes) with details as small as 1/4" screws and nuts (1:1 scale) and it is a test of my patience for working on CAD drawings. It takes about eight minutes to render the images.

You can find other images at:

http://www.okieboat.com/CAD%20superstructure.html

The OK City was a modified Cleveland class light cruiser (CL-91), one of the first guided missile cruisers, and an early Cold War era ship. I was Nuclear/Special Weapons Officer on the OK City from 69-72. I spent many hours as Weapons Control Officer searching North Vietnamese airspace for targets of opportunity.

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

I have really enjoyed studying this masterwork on your site. Amazing, infinite detail. Michael

Here is another example of how CAD modeling can help with creating a physical model.

In the 1960s the US Navy began installing a FAST (Fleet Automated Shuttle Transfer) system on ammunition ships and missile cruisers. When operating correctly (rarely, if ever) it could transfer a missile every 90 seconds.

We had a FAST crane on the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 when I was aboard, but it didn't work. It was removed in mid 1971. This set the date for my 1:96 model of the ship - I wanted to include the FAST crane.

Unfortunately, I have never found drawings or blueprints showing dimensions of the thing, and the last one went to the scrapyard or the bottom of the sea decades ago. So I had to work only from photographs. I had a few closeup photos, but they didn't show all of the thing. I have a dozen or two fuzzy images taken from a distance that show some additional detail.

Working from these photos I was able to determine the approximate height, length and width of the assembly. Over a period of 39 days I made 48 pages of sketches with "photoguestimated" dimensions, and slowly built up the 1:1 scale CAD model piece by piece. I tried to get at least six sets of dimensions for every part from the photos. These were averaged, and then corrected to the nearest 1/4, 1/2 or whole inch (the original was built in feet and inches).

Because I was guessing the dimensions, I had to change some parts several times when newer pieces just didn't fit with other parts created earlier. I don't know how many times I reworked the catwalk at the top! This is probably the greatest advantage of CAD - no material wasted if you make a part incorrectly. However, the amount of time lost from restarting is about the same.

The test of accuracy of the model came when I placed it on top of the missile house and used it to create an operating diorama. I had to reposition the assembly a bit from my first guess position (12" 1:1 scale) in order to align it with the missile strikedown hatches, but the assembly worked pretty much like the real thing for positioning missiles over the strikedown elevator! So the dimensions must be close. Now I can make 2D drawings (maybe the only such in existence?) and build my 1:96 scale model with confidence that it will be "right" (well, approximately right) the first time.



I won't post more images here. You can find more pictures at this location:

http://www.okieboat.com/CAD%20miscellaneous.html

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Phil, once again I am really impressed by your work. You're definitely a 3D artist after my own heart.

Stunning. The detailing is phenomenal and even the lighting is perfect.

On the model airplane CAD forum there is an ongoing discussion that might interest you. It is about specialized software for capturing dimensions from perspective photographs. One link to a free download of Photomodeler seems particularly interesting.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... st17832488

I have not tried these specialized programs nor techniques. I think they are used mainly in architecture and forensics (e.g., accident reconstruction for the courtroom). But I am going to try to learn more about them.

Some WWI aircraft modelers use specialized software that helps extract data from photos. This is because the plans and paperwork for German aircraft developed before 1918 were destroyed. Probably a stipulation of the Treaty of Versailles. Anyway, the modelers have nothing but photos left to work from.

There is one downside to creating a detailed CAD model like this. When I try to build the real 1:96 scale parts I just can't add all the details that I know are there! I have tried to construct the smoke pipes (funnels) out of brass. I have been happily surprised at being able to get some of the tricky details right, but the catwalks have been nothing but frustration! I am trying to make them with photoetch, and I have a long way to go on that learning curve! And there are these extremely tiny (0.03" long x 0.005" diameter, or 0.75mm x 0.125mm) "ladyfingers" on the top frame that were used to tie down canvas covers that were placed over unused pipes in port. Patience is a virtue hard to come by!

The radar antennas will be another challenge. Building things like the FAST crane and the burtoning winch will be modeling projects in their own right.

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

I am working on the midships superstructure now, and it has a lot of complex details like winches, kingposts and booms, etc. Some of the remaining details are the boat decks, motor whaleboat boat davits, and all the boats.

The davits were a problem because I have no drawings. They were a modification made after the ship was commissioned, so they don't appear in the blueprints. Furthermore, the davits on the USS Little Rock CG-4 museum ship are different - they are the originals that are shown in the blueprints. So I had to resort to photoguestimation again.

Two images showing the davits in the raised and lowered position are attached. There are more pictures and a description of how they worked here:

http://www.okieboat.com/CAD%20miscellaneous.html

This was a major hurdle and I am glad it is done!

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

More of the midships superstructure - the boat decks. These are a good example of how complicated modeling can be on a ship that was in service for a long time.

I have the original blueprints for the boat decks. The ship had two 40 foot utility boats nested on the port side and a 40 foot personnel boat nested over a 40 foot utility boat on the starboard side. It also had double level gravity davits with a 28 foot motor whaleboat nested above a 28 foot personnel boat port and starboard. However, the ship was top heavy after the guided missile conversion, so it went into the yards for a 15 month weight reduction program.

Both double level davits were removed, and replaced with the one single level gravity davit for one motor whaleboat, as described here earlier. On the starboard boat deck the 40 foot utility boat was eliminated, leaving just the 40 foot personnel boat. On the port boat deck the upper utility boat was removed and was replaced by a 28 foot personnel boat. These modifications scrapped much of what was shown in the original blueprints and I have found no drawings of the modifications.

Once more I had to examine a lot of photographs to determine just what the new boat supports looked like. Fortunately, the basic dimensions were the same as the original drawings, and only some details had changed. The framework was still the same as the original, but the boat nests were quite different.


Above you see the port boat deck, minus the 28 foot personnel boat (I haven't modeled it yet). The 40 foot utility boat is cradled inside the support framework for the nested boat.


The image above shows the boat cradles without the 40 foot utility boat.


The image above is the port side of the midships superstructure. There are still lots of details to add. The picture below is the starboard side. You can see how the boat decks fit into the design. You can also see where the motor whaleboat davits were located relative to the boat deck.



This image shows the starboard boat deck with the 40 foot personnel boat. Below is a picture showing the boat cradle and tie down arrangement. It is much simpler than the port side arrangement.


The ship had one more 28 foot personnel boat for the 7th Fleet staff. It was carried on a mobile carrier that was located on the O2 level top of the missile house.

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Beautiful model, just a great example of what can be achieved if your willing to dedicate plenty of time and effort. Very nicely done...

Dean

That is a frightening amount of detail. I saw that the boat davits work, how much of the ship is rigged to 'operate'?

tm,

Actually, none of it is set up for animation. The program I use can do animation, but it really works only with very simple things like doors opening, etc. With the boat davits there would be pieces moving in all directions at once, and I'm not sure I could choreograph all of that to work simultaneously! Besides, it is taking forever to finish this thing as it is - I don't need another diversion.

I have modeled a few parts in two states (boat davits, FAST crane) in order to illustrate operations for my web page.

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Here is another small part of the full ship model. It is the Burtoning Winch. This is actually a model of the winch on the USS Little Rock CLG-4 museum ship, but photos show that it is almost identical to the winch on the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5. I have modified it slightly to conform with photos of the winch on the OK City.

Like so many of the individual parts of the ship it is a model in itself. At some point you have to ask yourself how much detail is enough? I admit that I sometimes perhaps go too far, but in this case I drew the line. There was cast in lettering on top of the large gear case and I have clear photos of the winch on the USS Little Rock. I could have modeled it, but I decided to leave it off, so the model isn't "perfect."

Here are images of the CAD model.






This is an image of the winch in position on the ship, with the winch control stand. The Burtoning Winch was the largest winch on the ship. It was used for highline transfers between ships, and also to lift the ship's boats or other heavy objects. It is flanked by two Topping Winches that were used to raise and lower the large booms on the kingposts. Someday I will add the cables and tackle.



I still have the large boat winch to do. These things take about a month to finish.

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Phil, honestly, nobody is going to accuse you of slacking! The amount of detail in just the Burtoning Winch is truly, jaw-slackingly amazing. The winch isn't just a model in itself, it's a whole project unto itself.

Absolutely amazing.

What's the file size of this monster? How much have you got left to do?

Owen

Phil,

Superb work, you definitely have a monster project here, it's just fantastic watching it come together. I don't thing anyone could fault you for not adding the cast lettering, that would be close to insanity, wouldn't it?!

Dean

Another home run. What a beauty!

WHAT?!! No lettering on the case? C'mon Phil, You know you want to.

Seriously though, excellent work. Keep it up as it does inspire.

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Best Regards

Fritz K.

Fritz,

Yes, I do want to add the lettering, and maybe I will some day. I sort of feel like a slacker for having left it out. But in actuality there are bunch of similar details that I have left out.

I have run into file size problems. Just opening and rendering something like the after deckhouse takes 15-20 minutes. After that I can edit the file fairly quickly, but major changes can take many minutes to complete. Right now I do not think I can combine all of the parts into a single file and work with them. The last time I did, over two years ago, it took 90 minutes to generate a shaded image, without shadows!

I am planning to create a set of strip-down files without all the nuts, bolts, screws and washers, and use these to assemble a full ship model. From a distance of a few hundred yards the small stuff isn't visible anyway. It will be interesting to see what part of the total file size is just nuts and bolts.

Someday I am hoping to be able to assemble all of the high detail subassemblies and create walk-around videos.

Owen,

I'm not sure we can relate DesignCAD file sizes to any other file format, but here is some information (file sizes in megabytes):

Burtoning winch 4.9
40 foot personnel boat 8.5
Motor whaleboat 4.5
AN/SPG-49 tracking radar 46.4
AN/SPS-10 surface search radar 4.6
Mk37 director 9.5
Anchor 1.5
Propeller 1.5
FAST crane 19.5
Launcher with two stripdown missiles 37.5

Whole ship:

Plated hull with main deck (incomplete) 121.5
Forward deckhouse (rudimentary) 12.1
Midships deckhouse (incomplete) 117.1
Aft deckhouse/missile house (complete) 237.5 *
Forward radar tower (almost complete) 31.5
Midships radar tower (almost complete) 17.3
Aft radar tower (almost complete) 9.5
Total 537.0

* Includes two SPG-49 radars and the aft radar tower.

I haven't added the wooden decking and lifelines to the main deck (a major task). The forward superstructure is just the deck house sides and decks, with almost no details. The midships superstructure is probably 3/4 done, but I still have a bunch of vent ducting and blowers to add plus all of the doors and air ports. There are two 27 foot personnel boats and two boat winches to add. I need to rework two of the radar antennas - what I have now are just place holders. And I need to model a Kaman SH-2B helicopter for the fantail.

I am guessing it will be 600-700 Mbytes when it is done. Actually, it is really encouraging that the "to do" list can be expressed in just a few sentences! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel ...

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

WOW,what a masterpiece.I do a lot of modeling,but nothing like this.I served on the Okie from 71-73 as a radarman.

pjkemo,

We may have crossed paths. I was aboard 69-72. Ever stand watches in CIC?

Phil

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A collision at sea will ruin your entire day. Aristotle

Phil
Spent many watches in combat and on the bridge.
Im sure we crossed paths some where
In one of my Fine Scale Modeler mags,a guy from Pa. scratch built the clg-4 Little Rock.
I called him and I think he said it took him about 20yrs off and on
It is a pretty big ship,and is perfect to the tee.The only thing different are the numbers.