USS Onondaga - ACW Ironclad Monitor

[tea monster]

I'm starting a thread for this. Most of this is 'spare parts' from the Tecumseh, but after a quick start, I got something that pretty much resembles an ironclad! I'm going to finish it off in time (possibly quite some time ) but I'll keep on this.

I need to rebuild the stern under the water line, and the vents are just place holders.

Owen

[Roscoe]

Cool, I was looking forward to seeing you continue on this, it looks great so far. And that's a good idea on re-using the Tecumseh parts, it'll sure help speed things along for you.
Now I need to get working on that other thing we talked about.

Cheers,
Dean

[tea monster]

Thanks.

I don't think that the crew would feel the same way if they were told they had a 'remanufactured' ironclad to go up against the Confederacy with!

I eventually also want to kick out a Passaic class as well.

Let me know how you get on with the other thing. Some time this week I'll start my end of that and let you know how it turns out.

Owen

[Devin]

Nice looking model so far. She's on my short-list of ships to build in 1/96th.

[Roscoe]

Maybe you could show a pic or two of what you have up your sleeve with the turrets?

Just so people know, these turrets, the stacks, and whatever else Owen wants to make, will be available as 3D prints when he is happy with them. I'll leave the details for him to explain.

Cheers,
Dean

[mcg]

Owen and Dean,
This is a really exciting project you have put underway. I have had some CNC-machined parts made (for work) but never tried 3D printing, so I am not sure I understand what is possible. For example, would it be a realistic idea to print out those gorgeous white awnings in 3D? Maybe as an integral part of the turret?
Michael

[Fritz]

I dont know if I would do the awnings as SLA. Minimum thicknesses for un-supported sheets tend to be about 0.006". However this is an extreme, and would be too fragile to lend itself to sanding. I did the bilge keels for Gudgeon at 0.008" and they themselves replicated, but the junction with the hull was weak, and brittle. They had to be replaced in order to make decent molds.

However, If you wanted, you might be able to make a solid former in SLA, then use that to vacu-form some awnings. This may be the better approach, assuming you wanted to make many copies. If you want to make only one or two, it would be far more economical to make them the old fashioned way with tissue from scratch.

[Roscoe]

Thanks Michael.

Fritz is right though, doing something like those canopies, your better off making them from scratch. It's cheaper too.

Take care,
Dean

[tea monster]

Here is the turret top. I've booleaned it together and now I'm just cleaning it up be ready for printing. I'm currently worried about all those holes. I'm hoping the printing process will be kind to them!

Owen

[Roscoe]

That looks really good, nice job! As long as they are about .015" or bigger, they shouldn't be a problem. They'll make it lighter too.
Can't wait to see this and the turret together.

-Dean

[Devin]

Dean did turret tops for the 1/200 scale versions we had printed. The holes are visible there for the most part, but even a thin coat of primer filled most of them. In 1/72nd and 1/96th, they should show up fine; in 1/200 the turret roof really needs to be done with photoetch. I'm checking my stash to see if I have anything that'll work.

[tea monster]

As to the parts, I have a 1/72 turret set with pilot house here.

Standing back and looking at the whole thing, I'm personally thinking that it's going to be too expensive to have them printed. If someone thinks otherwise, then let me know.

I've been working on the rest of the model recently and got most of it together. I've redone the hull got the vents sorted out. Most of the basic shape is together, I just have to pore over photos and get the surface details sorted out.

After that, its texturing and rendering.

Owen

[Devin]

Looking good!

I agree that printing some things in that scale are going to be cost prohibitive.

[Roscoe]

That looks great Owen!

As for getting those parts printed, it's really a matter of how you value your time, and if you enjoy scratch-building. Do you want to spend hours making them yourself from scratch, or pay someone else for a product that needs a little clean-up, and some detailing?
I was talking with my boss the other day about this, who's also the owner of our company, and he was surprised that you could get a semi-finished product for what he thought was a cheap price. Now to most of us, 3D printing seems like it's fairly expensive, but his perspective was, where else can you get a unique product, made to your specs, for that price. Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

Anyway, I think that getting the turret printed with polished alumide would be pretty cool myself, although not the cheapest material, how cool would it be to have semi-metallic turrets on your model.

-Dean

[Devin]

Dean,

I agree with you on the difficult to make pieces. For instances, the fluted cowl air vents. Those are nearly impossible to scratch build and make look right!

-Devin