Prewar USS Indianapolis Conversion

[aptivaboy]

Okay, I think I finally have it. The rear of her bridge is beveled and wasn't a straight line! I think I am reading the plans correctly, even if the wording and notations on them are hard to impossible to read. Thoughts? Ideas? Critiques?

This is just the rough shape.I'm currently working on the bridge interior in 1/96th in basic detail. It will them be shrunk to 1/350th and reworked to comply with Shapeways' 0.3mm wall thickness requirements. Finals start this week (THANK GOD!) so once the students leave I'll have a lot more time to devote to this project. The last month of school has been simply Hellacious, the toughest semester I've had in a long, long time. To paraphrase Willie Nelson, "Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be teachers!"

Bob

[aptivaboy]

And, a little bot more progress. A few details internal to the compass house have been added, hatch locations roughed, and so on. The window framing is probably not printable in this scale, but I'll leave it there for now. A guy can dream, right? I've also revisited plans and remeasured a few things (thank you, digital calipers!), resulting in the deckhouse being reshaped a bit.

Thank you for looking!

[aptivaboy]

I think the interior is about as done as it can be.The modeler will need to supply the wheel and anunciator handles from their own PE stash, if one wishes to include them. Oh, and your captain now has a seat to sit in.

[aptivaboy]

I'm about to close out the interior details and call them finished if only because I can't find any other photos of Indy's bridge interior. Are there any others? Any details of her starboard side of her compass house, in particular?

Many thanks. If not, I'll move on to the exterior compass house details. This level should be done by the weekend. Then, the flag bridge!!! Finals end tomorrow, so I hope to be able to really bang things out over the next week or so.

As far as a parts breakdown, the tentative plan is to do each level separately, with the tripods attached to each level. After each level is down, I'll export it all to another program which is great with assemblies, add the tripod legs, and then disassemble it, keeping the legs attached to each level. It should all build up fairly seamlessly, knock on wood.

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

Looks awesome. Another project I'll want to do!

[taskforce48]

Looks pretty sweet, I am working with MM Portland parts know and was thinking that a Prewar Indy would look pretty sweet. Guess I won't have any excuse now! My only request, as cool as it is to more or less get something like a forward superstructure in one piece, it would be nicer to have each deck level separate to facilitate painting. If you are doing MS11 or MS21, not a big deal but anything else it's a real chore to get paint separation.

Looking forward to more updates,

Matt

[aptivaboy]

Thank you! They will be in different pieces, each level being separate. Its really the only way to get the after two angled tripod legs to mate up correctly. That, and in frosted detail plastics the modeler really should also paint the interior of the parts to prevent light leakage and doing the parts in different deck levels will allow this. The compass house is pretty much done and I'm examining plans and starting on the flag bridge. Certain parts of the plans don't quite match the photos, so I'm taking some time to interpret everything. I'll post updated pics by the weekend.

[aptivaboy]

i was unsatisfied with the way the windscreen were looking so I went back and redesigned them. Doing sweeps and sweep cuts on the main CAD program is NO FUN! Its a very wonky and error prone process. Anyway, here's the redesigned compass house with wind/sun screens.The good news, I was able to hollow out the undersides of the main sun screen above the bridge windows. Shapeways claims the test STL upload is printable like this, but I've heard that from them before. This little feature may go by the wayside in time, but for now its in the design. Okay, back to the other levels!

Oh, one other thing. Do you want to add your own PE doors, as the design currently calls for, or should I CAD-in some doors for the bridge wings and such. Let me know.

Bob, who is imminently overjoyed at the way Ramsay Bolton got whacked!

[Aop Aur]

Very nice! Your attention to details really benefits the buyers!
What program do you use for the designs? I am not sure, is it geomagic design elements? It looks pretty good!

Aop.

[aptivaboy]

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, its Geomagic Design Elements on this PC. On my main PC I have the full version of Geomagic Design, which is less buggy and more stable than Design Elements. I got the free upgrade and seat license the last time I upgraded the maintenance, so I essentially have two copies of the program, one on each machine which is a nice bonus.

Bob

[aptivaboy]

Getting there. Sorry for not getting more done but my summer teaching job started up and feeding myself had to take priority. Anyway, here�s a little teaser/test view. One birdbath, coming right up!



The shape of the birdbath is quite complex, and (this is starting to sound like a broken record) the plans DO NOT match the photos. Well, the plan views tend to, but not the profile views - they're way, way off. They actually show the birdbath angling down diagonally fron fore to aft. Really weird!

Anyway, the above is a little teaser while I work on the details. The shape is about 80% correct, but the little triangles in the shielding are not cooperating!

Bob

[aptivaboy]

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but work got in the way, again.Anyway, I think the birdbath is mostly correct. From examining photos, it looks like it may have underwent numerous small changes, but this is correct as per the plans as built. I was able to get those little triangles in there to port and starboard of the foremost straight part of the birdbath sticking up form the front of the bridge. Before I start adding the details interior to the birdbath, I'd appreciate some thoughts on how it looks in terms of accuracy. If anyone has drawings of the gun directors, those would be very greatly appreciated.


Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

That looks really frigging cool Bob. Nice work. You should solicit some advice from the human encyclopedia, Dick Jensen. He would be most likely be able to help you in the accuracy department.

[aptivaboy]

Thanks!

Some more progress. Does the general outline of the flag bridge look alright? It seems to comport with the plans, but somehow... it feels wrong, and I can't explain why.

Bob

[taskforce48]

Can't wait, as if I don't have enough other projects to keep me busy, I have to obsess about this now!

Matt

[aptivaboy]

I just can't help but think that the new deck flag bridge level is too wide, but that's what the C&R plans show. That's my concern. I suspect it was wider than Portland's given Indy's use as a flagship. The splinter shielding is just a rough draft, and will pick up more texture and detailing as soon as the width issue is nailed down. The superstructure inside will also be added, hopefully tonight or tomorrow depending upon how exhausted I am after rehab.

Bob

[aptivaboy]

Large update this next weekend. Trust me, you'll like it. Anyway, I hope you will. Praying...

[taskforce48]

Eagerly awaiting!

Matt

[aptivaboy]

Sorry, give me a couple more days I had a relative fly in from Cleveland for a business conference and we all met up, went around San Diego, and had a great time. That set me back several days. Basically, the forward superstructure is done but for some detailing that can only be done in 1/350th after scaling the part down.

My apologies for the delay, but seeing a family member again after a long time took priority.

Bob

[aptivaboy]

It's just as well. I just found a major mistake on the flag bridge that'll need correcting.