Polar research ship Fram (1/700)

[maxim]

This year is the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen. Therefore I have decided to start to built a model of her in my usual scale - hopping to collect some models for this anniversary on www.modellmarine.de.

Fram was built in 1892 in Larvik, Norway for an expedition of Fridtjof Nansen. She was designed to survive to be frozen in the pack ice. Nansen tried to reach the North Pole using the drift of the pack - but failed narrowly. Afterwards Fram was converted. On her forecastle an additional deck was added to improve sea-keeping and habitability. In this fit Fram was used by Otto Sverdrup in 1898�1902 for an expedition in the west of Greenland. In 1910 she was again converted for the Amundsen expedition. The steam engine was replaced by a stronger diesel (and the funnel was removed). 1910-12 Amundsen used Fram for the famous expedition to the South Pole (originally announced to to the North Pole). In a race with Robert Scott Amundsen reached the Pole first. After the expedition the ship was not used anymore, but fortunately it was saved. Since 1935 it is on display in Bygd�y, Oslo.

Today she is displayed approximately in the fit of Sverdrups 1898-1902 expedition, but there are also some differences to this fit.

You can see the different fits in the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway:
http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?op ... &catid=178
http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?op ... &Itemid=55

As reference I made a lot of photos of Fram in the Fram Museum and bought drawings of her in the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum). You can find also many photos of the 1910-12 expedition in the Fram Museum. Some of those could be also found in Cold Recall - Reflections of a Polar Explorer by Geir O. Kl�ver (editor), Oslo, 2009.

[maxim]

The drawings from the Norsk Maritimt Museum are in 1/50, the details in 1/25 - very useful to measure the parts.







Additionally I scaled the plans contained in Polarschiffe by Ingrid Schmidt to 1/700.

[maxim]

The hull is made of 0.5 mm thick plastic:





The deck is made from V-Groove sheets from Evergreen





The gaps were filled in and the form of the hull was modelled.



The bulwark at the stern is made from 0.25 mm thick plastic with 0.3 mm "frames".



I am working now on the armour against ice - looking like an armoured belt of an cruiser, but is made from wood. Here is only the upper part:

[Tom L.]

A very cool project, and a great start!

I'll be avidly watching this one!

[JWintjes]

Great scratchbuilding!

Jorit

[maxim]

I have continued with the armour against the ice adding additional sheets below the first one:



I tried to make them fit to the waterline and to adjust them to bow and stern shape - which is not so nice, because in this area the bow and stern is curved.

[maxim]

The hull is finished (except smaller details):





I have started to built the deck details:



I got the new book Ordeal by Ice about Antartica polar research ships. In this a deck plan of Fram in the fit of Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole contained - which provide the missing information about the shape of the bridge deck.

[callen]

Lookin' Good Lars!!!!

She's up and running! Glad to see you finally blogging this.

Keep us posted on your project. One more chapter of Naval History opened in 1/700th Scale!

[Richard J OMalley]

Love sailing ships .At one time that is all I made .Looking forward to more .

[mabmanu]

Hello .
Very interesting project

[JIM BAUMANN]

well now--that is an interesting subject!

watching....

JIM B

[maxim]

The last weeks I had worked very slowly on the deck details (winches, capstan, companions, hatches, skylights...)



I have started to make the deckhouse below the bridge, but for the bridge I need the mizzen first. Therefore I made first the masts from brass and some parts (not specially made for Fram) by BMK:





The masts of Fram are strange. The main mast is a normal one with a upper spar, but the foremast and mizzen mast were made from one piece.

[callen]

I like it Lars!
Keep 'em coming!

[maxim]

I had painted her, before I continued to build the bridge:



Next step was the bridge:

[callen]

I'm enjoying watching one of my favorite modelers at work. Really great to see this historic ship taking shape.
Quick question; the grid in the pics, I assume those are square centimeters? Could we persuade you to pose the FRAM with a household object to give us a sense of scale? (Particularly for us non-metric heads? ) Looking forward to your next post.

[JIM BAUMANN]

That REALLY is a most unusual rig--tall pole mast fore and aft and the conventional set up midships



agree with Callem-- you need a pencil of similar

( allegedly my photo/size illustrative pencils are custom made ,......

3 feet( a bit under 1 metre) long to make my huge models look more intricate-just like a 1/700 model ....hahhahahahahah!)

[maxim]

Sorry, it took some time to get a big pencil...

I added bollards, wheels (WEM PE parts), Diesel exhaust, the fans of the engine room, compasses:

[maxim]

I added the first boat (from the British Harbor Set by Combrig) and the spar of the main mast. Additionally, the tops and yards were made.

[Pieter]

Where's that "like" button when one needs it?

[maxim]

I had stopped to built Fram, because I waited for some parts, which I had ordered. They are not arrived, but it is time to continue with Fram:





I added the crow's nest, the anchor (together with the chains and crans by BJ Modellbau), two pumps near the main mast and reserve (?) spars. Currently I am working on the rig.