The Ship Model Forum

Hi Pim.

On my FFG, I purchased several magnetic door sets from my local hardware store. These are a magnet in a plastic frame and a steel plate that are used to hold closed the doors on cabinets and household furniture. This works very well for holding the superstructure down, I'm not sure how strong your superstructure will be, becuse the magnets are pretty strong, mines pretty sturdy and can take the abuse. 2 sets cost me about Aus $6.00

I can send pics if you like.

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To borrow a phrase fom the philosopher Clarksonius, 4th century BC,

"How hard can it be?"

Nice subject Pim and a very interesting choice of build material.

I will be watching with avid interest

Andrew

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Ex RAN. Anzac, Duchess, Vampire, Yarra, Betano, Bombard, Brisbane, Swan, Melbourne (Carrier), HMS Leander

Dave,

I know the magnets you mean, but I do think they are too strong. I'm not using a watertight mechanism for the superstructure. Only the aft maindeck needs to be watertight.
I am considering using a different locking mechanism instead of using screws. Don't know what they are called but with one turn you can lock and unlock them. Twistlocks?

Thanks all for the enthousiasm! You are so kind I haven't even shown that much work yet..considering all the masterpieces I see on this forum Gives me an extra push in making a nice model. Going to the local model shop to get me some profiled styrene today
Pim

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1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Hi guys,

The last few days I've been busy with applying the skin with 2 cm wide strokes of thin cardboard. Much in the same way as building a ship with wooden frames and hull. The small radius in the bilge will be plated with transversely shaped pieces.




After de bottom of the hull was covered, I turned over the ship and started with the frames on the aftdeck supporting the cargo walls. A deck will be placed on top of these later after I've installed all the details in this area.


And than comes the real work. Making the thrusters below the aftship There are some models of these thrusters available in the market, but they are very expensive. And home made is better because the dimensions can be made on an exact scale from the original. But because I don't have a lathe it's a very time consuming and hard on your fingers kind of job . Yet, after a half day work see here the results. I used three different sizes of brass tube and 4.5 mm bevel gears.




The picture is a bit vague but that's because of the small size of the unit (3.5 cm prop ) A cover has to be made and paint applied but than they are ready to fit the ship. I'm thinking about the hardware still, but probably I'm using a large servo with gears to turn the unit 360 degrees. And a chord wheel in the picture on top of it to turn the props. Cause there is not much room beneath the aftdeck, the motors will be placed foward of the units. The bowthrusters will be made much in the same way. More pictures will follow!

Gr.
Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Nice thrusters ,looks like they could park that vessel anywere .

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If you are not living on the edge then you are taking up to much space

The z-drives are looking good.

You mention 0.5mm bevel gear, what diameter are those gears, and where did you purchase them?

The smallest I ever seem to be able to locate are 0.375", or 9.5mm.

.

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. http://modelsminiatures.com/model-boat-fittings/

Thanks, but it's bad for your fingers
They are covered now and I have the nozzles attached, they do look good enough for me

I've been searching for those gears for a while but finally I found them here:

http://www.lemo-solar.de/shop/modellbautechnik.php

It's in german but I suppose you know how to use the translate function in google
The gears are pricey (mines are 5 euro a piece ) but it's extremely worth it! Mines have a diameter of 4.5 mm but they have several sizes of other gears too. Really useful for the handy modeller.

Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Those thrusters are amazing ! I was on trials with a ship that had 2 of those once and the captain didn't even bother taking back power when heading for port. Instead he just turned both thrusters (that were still at full revolutions) outwards propelling water away from the ship. He only stopped them once we had the moorings attached

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Nice build and the thrusters are really very well made for this ship

Thanks Pim,

I will bookmark that website for the gears.

Umi

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.
.
. http://modelsminiatures.com/model-boat-fittings/

Hello dear readers

It's time for another update!
Some work has been done to close the hull but still a big part of the foreship is left to be done. Mainly cause I'm not sure how to fit the bowthrusters in. (my factory at home still has to commence fabrication because they are busy with the main aft thrusters )


Than the main 360-degrees azimuth-thrusters. One thruster is finished, the second one is still under construction.


I've also started detailing the sidewalls of the cargo deck. Here I'm fitting the hull stiffeners.


There's a big foldable deck on the aftship which serves as a foundation for an optional winch.
When it's not in use it's in vertical position.


I'm trying to make this working on the model as well. I've fabricated a modified servo with microswitch to fit in the space aft on the maindeck. It won't be controlled RC but by a simple switch somewhere hidden in the forward superstructure.




The aft cargo doors will be made functional as well using this system.
But the mechanism is placed below the maindeck in this case.

Enough going on , I'll be focusing on closing the hull this week to get it ready to cover with resin and painting.

Gr.
Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Hi Pim
I was going to ask how maney degrees the thrusters would rotate but you just answered .Looking forward to seeing her in resin

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If you are not living on the edge then you are taking up to much space

Yeah, good question;)

I'll be placing a heavy servo (15 kg.cm) with a 4:1 gear ratio next to the thrusters. This will rotate them 360 degrees when the servo is travelling only 90 degrees. I'll have full proportional control over it by having a modified RC-sender with a gear ratio build in a rotating stick. I'll have to partly trash a RC-sender for it but that will come later
It's not an endless rotating solution but it suits my needs for now

Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Your thruster looks nice.
And you seem to be planning some great functions aboard the boat.

My thrusters (graupner) rotate 270°, but it would be great if I could get a hold of one of these
circuits at Kagelmacher= Modellbau, and their stepper motor.

http://www.kagelmacher-modellbau.de/epa ... cts/08-008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-z-mKjl6z8

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.
.
. http://modelsminiatures.com/model-boat-fittings/

Very good--very clean and sharp methodology!

I shall be observing with interest!

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

Yeah it's a great piece of electronics but you'll have to be a millionaire for that

- 2 thrusters means 2 circuits, 2x130 = 260 euro
- I need 2 stepper motors, 2x12 = 24 euro
- new RC-sender, price 150 euro (?)

You do the math;)

For now I did not save that much money and 2 new servo's only cost me 60 euro so I'll be sticking to the 4:1 servo solution

Gr.
Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I posted an update but that's because I really want to show something instead of making a picture of every little fitting that is added on the ship...

The hull has been closed now, it will be covered with a few layers of polyurethane resin first and when the material is saturated the epoxy can be applied:







All the openings in the hull were already cut because it's easier to do when the hull is still thin and weak. Now they have to be closed with temporary 'insert plates' to prevent epoxy from dripping into the detailed gangway:



In the gangway around the cargo deck, the lighting was added using LED's:





And finally the bowthrusters, homemade They are removable for maintenance or fitting of different propellers in the future. 4x M3 bolts keep the unit in place and a rubber ring seals the whole thing. On top of the shaft the motor has to be fitted still:









Filling up the forward area in between the thrusters with resin to facilitate easy cleaning and prevent moisture building up:



Now comes the grinding and shaping :



Greetz,
Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..

Pim
Different way of building .I like it .

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If you are not living on the edge then you are taking up to much space

Hey former collegue!!!
Nice build you got there.
Still working at IHC?
I did internship there a few years ago.

Greetings Josse

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Making a complete new Well Enhancer, again scale 1:75.

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the compliments! I've been trying to do something nice with the very detailed drawings that I have to enjoy looking at it and sailing the ship for many years to come.
I'll keep the frames in, they give much strength. The average distance is about 6.4 cm. I wanted to use polyester with fiberglass mats first. But my materials supplier advised me to use an epoxy-based filler and told me that it gave enough strength for a ship of this size and shape.
We shall see. The construction method differs a bit from my previous projects and it's a bit more experimental. If necessary I can always add an additional layer later on but for now it certainly doesn't make me cry..

I'm not at IHC anymore Josse. I'm currently employed in the yachtbuilding business. Designing really expensive vessels

Pim

_________________
1/50 P4
1/50 ASD Waterstroom
1/50 Stantug 1907
1/50 AHTS Maersk Helper
1/50 AHT Zeus
1/50 ASD Mercurius
1/75 Stril Odin

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail..