1/200 Scale Group Build from 2015-17

[BB62vet]

Mark,

Your progress photos are quite nice! Good Job!!! I put in an order this morning - 2 sets of each, tubes & eyelets. My vision problems stem more from the Lipitor I've been on (and now OFF!!!) than anything else. If it turns out it's the BP meds. then they will end also. My vision clarity to me is more important than either the cholesterol or BP at this point.

I think the 4 items on top of the conning tower are periscopes - we also had those on NEW JERSEY. Common item extending up thru the conning tower roof.

Can't comment on the flag bag items - unless I saw the instructions that came with the 3rd party parts.

The photos of the yardarms w/guy wires/buckles does show how well they are proportioned and work on this model.

[Fliger747]

Very useful to be exposed to all of the possible products and techniques that show up here! Sometimes I feel that as a scratch builder one just can't keep up with or compete with the plethora of high quality and kits, PE products etc. Always looking on with interest and admiration at the possible results.

Regards: Tom

[Fliger747]

Current slow progress, a frequent issue with scratch building is determining even what the basic structure is with some steps forward and backwards. A few remaining basic issues about the top of the stack. When I add the cranes and all the light AA things should begin to look busier. The "hell for stout" 1980 era PE rail will probably have to be replaced. The mast at the fore end of the stack is a recent replacement turned and tapered in brass, mostly an experiment in how to turn long thin objects with taper.

Cheers: Tom

[Goodwood]

Looking good, Tom; I certainly don't envy you scratch-builders for that...

...though for a good while now it's been a bit of a "if-only" fantasy of mine to take a pack of gun turrets (my LHS has the Hasegawa 16-inch Nagato turrets) and scratch up a fake Japanese battleship with a set of crazy-ass pagoda masts...heh. A Fuso or Ise in 1/200 would be epic.

[ModelMonkey]

Magnificent, Tom, truly magnificent!

[ModelMonkey]

In an effort to make 5-inch/38cal Mk.28 Twin Mounts with improved accuracy for a 1/192 USS Missouri I've been working on, I decided to design them for 3D printing. That way they would be available to anyone else who would like them.

I scaled another for 1/200 and mounts in both scales are available to you for your 1/192 and 1/200 projects now on Shapeways.com. They can be made available in other popular scales, too if you like, just drop me a note.

Here's the product link:
1/192:
http://www.shapeways.com/product/5M3NFQ ... d=57425936
1/200:
http://www.shapeways.com/product/WH3SC8 ... d=57426087

Here's a preliminary rendering:

[Fliger747]

Steve:

Very nice and great research effort. For many of the Iowa's the Mount Captain's blast hood has been removed (two bolts) for the mounts directly under the bridge wings. Not sure why this was done (most of the time). Is it any issue to remove the blast hoods? It might be useful to make them a separate part as the Mk 32 use of them varied as well from class, ship to ship and time to time.

Regards: Tom

[BB62vet]

Steve,

Very nice, indeed! I just visited your ShapeWays Shop page and looked over your products - quite a nice assortment of highly detailed replacement for kit parts.

I will agree with Flinger747 that the blast hood may need to be a separate part that can either be used or left off. That would also allow for the inclusion of the sighting equipment within the hood - if the modeler chose to use the hood.

I'm also curious - what CAD program are you using?

Hope this is positive feedback.

Hank

[ModelMonkey]

Good point! I can indeed have the blast hood separated from the mount. I'll make that change for this mount (give me a day or two to get to it) and also for the Mk.32 to spare anyone from having to use an Xacto knife to get the hood off.

For these designs, I'm using 123D Design by Autodesk. Amazingly, the software version I'm using is free directly from Autodesk.

[BB62vet]

Steve,

Well, I'm glad to have helped (Tom, as well)! I think the additional option on the blast hood will be a great way to market your mounts.

Hank

[ModelMonkey]

Here's the separated Blast Hood modeled after one from USS Missouri. These are now on Shapeways as separate items.

Thanks for great help with the research and tweaks! Hope this satisfies.

[BB62vet]

Steve,

A good option to have - very nice indeed!! I will have to do some comparisons with the kit mounts vs your offerings - I haven't gotten to that part of the build quite yet.

Hank

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks for the compliments!

And the hoodless mount:

[Fliger747]

I would think these could be popular items. Another possibility would be to include holes for the grab irons, made to fit some popular size PE grab iron. Certainly the mounts are largely covered by the two variations you have described. The Gearing and Sumner's mounts had external stiffening of the face to reinforce the lighter destroyer structures against the impact of green water over the bow. Not sure how many are indulging on such projects!

Cheers: Tom

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks!

Okay, the Mk.32 is ready and for sale on Shapeways. Although it is difficult to see the dimensional differences of the gunhouse between the Mk.32 and earlier Mk.28 in the rendering below, they are there. The roof is 3 scale inches shorter, the floor is 0.5 scale inches higher, and the forward, lower plate is extended. Go to the link below and spin the rendering around and you'll see the differences better.

http://www.shapeways.com/product/NPAKXF ... d=57448766

It is available right now in 1/200, 1/192 and 1/96 scales. Other scales are certainly doable.

[Fliger747]

Steve:

For those of us unfamiliar with the materials used in the shape ways products, could you discuss which might be most suitable or advantageous?

Regards: Tom

[tegunn]

Items are 3D printed in a resin, usually a clear, "frosted" type which lends itself to better, finer detail. Parts do require some finishing since they have the frosted finish. Small parts can be brittle, so do all the finishing on the tree, then disconnect the part.

[ModelMonkey]

Yes, all true. And here are some comments from "patmat" specifically about Shapeways products:

You don�t mention which type of print, which does make a difference. I�ll assume that you�re buying the finest detail material from Shapeways, their �Frosted Ultra Detail� (or the slightly rougher �Frosted Detail�), both of which are UV-cured acrylic plastic, and specifically �Visijet SR 200� from 3DSystems, printed on a multijet machine such as a Projet 3510 HD from 3DSystems.

�Cleaning� has several aspects:

1. These parts are printed with a soft gooey support wax UNDER all overhanging part surfaces� basically the entire vertical shadow is a block of this wax. Most is washed off by Shapeways, but depending on the technician�s willingness to scrub your delicate details, much may be left behind. The stuff can be cleaned with strong solvents, but warm water and water based cleaners will do the job too. Spic�n Span, Simple Green, etc. I use a cheap ultrasonic cleaner, and follow up with pipe cleaners into any holes.

2. Wherever the wax touched your part, the part will have a frosted surface. After cleaning, this will look like a white crust of mostly parent plastic, but it seems to contain some residual wax too. I scrape/scrub/sand this, as best as I can manage.

3. This mechanical cleanup can also address any visible �print lines�, but it�s made harder for you if the designer has included a lot of integral surface details. (I prefer to make loose details for later assembly, rather than one solid and complete model).

4. Finally, paint ONLY with water based acrylics. This plastic seems to be �wet�� I don�t know if it�s uncured resin, or excess plasticizer or what, but SOMETHING in my printed parts prevents oil based enamels from curing. Water based acrylics cure just fine.


If you are trying to save $$ by buying the cheaper "Strong Flexible" material, then you are getting an "SLS" (Selective Laser Sintering) part, which is fine nylon powder fused into a solid mass. Not only do you have coarser print lines to deal with, you also have a porous sandstone-like surface to seal... AND a very tough nylon material which is near impossible to sand. Yes, layer after layer of sealing material is needed... fill with sanding sealer or primer/surfacer, and then good luck avoiding a globbed-on appearance.
I have used SLS on larger structures where I could smooth out large flat surfaces... I then populated the details with finely printed FUD parts.




FUD details on my latest 3D Printed model in 1:24 scale (cabin was made with yet another process, "stereolithography"):

PT-61_07.jpg

[tegunn]

Ok all I've found a stopping point to post my progress so far. Since the last posting, I've completed the stern portion of the ship including the second aircraft crane station, casemate/guns (which involves building walls inside) and the cranes(to be painted the next job). I added the ARIZONA name to the stern. I hit a dilemma in which during this time everything was painted the hull color; no name highlights. I used their resin letters on decal film from Archers Fine Transfers. This was a challenge getting all the letters to align! This gave me the raised letters as on the actual ship. All the photos are pretty much self explanatory. I changed the cable line between the different runs on the cranes(I didn't like one version) and added motors and winch drums for the first hook.

[tegunn]

Between postings I visited the USS Texas down in La Porte, Texas(Houston) and took some pictures. I'm about to go to the bow area of the model now and thought these would be good to have. I know Mark is about to begin the hull. I focused this posting on the capstans(wildcats) and the brake detail as well as the anchor chain fixtures..