The Ship Model Forum

Hello all,
this is my first attempt at scratchbuilding a ship. It will be a 2.7 metre long V&W Class destroyer- one of the Scrap Iron's. I go the plans from the net and then blew them up on the photocopier to the size I wanted, so I am not sure about the scale. I am finishing fibreglassing the hull and then onto the deck and superstructure. I have 1mm ply for the superstructure but any advice about what to use for it and the decking would be appreciated. Cheers Will

Wikipedia indicates 95.1m long overall - divide by 2.7, and your model's in 1/35.2 scale! Great for putting some 1/35 armour kits next to it...

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De quoi s'agit-il?

either way...--it is huuuuuege!!

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

Really looking Forward to this one, hard enough in 1/72! Good luck!

Thanks chaps, it may take a while - my wife just gave birth to number 7.... I want to keep the top weight down as much as possible and keep the ballast low. Any ideas on either?- materials for deck and superstructure - weights or water for ballast. Thanks for your encouragement, cheers Will.

Wow that's an odd scale. But will be very impressive on the water, I would suggest using cheap 3kg dumbbells (the rubber coated ones from kmart are good) for ballast plus your drive batteries a couple of heater fan motors from a wreckers should drive it ok too...

A question? Why did you pick such a large size I know from experience how much trouble large hulls are to transport!

If you had gone with a conventional scale like 1/72 you could have got a ready made super detailed hull, plus all the deck (weapons,etc)fittings and still end up with a reasonable size model. With plenty of scratchbuilding still for superstructure, etc.

Bruce

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building:
1/72 RC USS LONG BEACH CGN9
1/72 RC USS CALIFORNIA CGN36
1/72 RC USS SAIPAN LHA2
1/72 RC USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG53
1/72 RC USS SHARK SSN591
1/72 RC USS SEAWOLF SSN21
1/72 RC USS ALBANY CG10

I have only done the standard 1/350 scale kits and to be honest I was sick of doing kits that small. 1/72 was bigger but not enough for me. I want to try to scratch build everything on this build and I am sure it will test my novice abilities. I have always loved the big scratch built ships I saw as a child thought I should have a crack at it and worry about the logistics later.... but you are not the only one to question its scale - my wife rolled her eyes and said that it was too big!

From my experience with a 1/32nd Type 42 destroyer, the bigger the scale, the more detail you need to work into it and the list of fittings you need to scratchbuild seems to become endless! Good luck with getting this done.

I am up to putting the plating effect on the hull. Can anyone advise which is the best method - tape, painting with primer and removing the tape, another sort of tape that stays on the hull etc. I am scratching my head with what will give the best effect on a hull this size

You can take a look at Ron Horabin's plating method using lithography plates: viewtopic.php?p=103881#p103881

You may be able to find some similar material.

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De quoi s'agit-il?

A very ambitious project! The hull progress already looked great. Keep the photos coming!

Aop

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On the way:
--1/350 Tamiya DKM Tirpitz Nov 1944

--1/350 scratch-build HMS Lion never built battleship (1938)

And our artworks!

The size is impressive. I like it very much. Very good work

Jorge

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Beautiful Girls in your city

I have been trialing different ways to hull plate on a mock up piece of hull - aluminium tape, spray paint to get different levels to give the effect, and have looked at litho plating. I have also tried gluing styrene sheeting in different layers to give the effect. I think I will try the styrene sheeting, 0.25mm. It looks good even on a hull this big. i will just need to get the correct glue that will adhere the styrene to the fiberglass hull. Does anyone have a thought on using styrene and what sort glue to use?. I know it can bend in the heat and I wont be using it for superstructure - just for hull plating so I dont think it will be an issue. Will get some more photos on soon, but here is an earlier one, Cheers, Will

G'day Will

In what time period are you building your V & W destroyer? At commissioning in 1917/8 or at transfer to the RAN in 1933 etc.

And where did you find the ship plans on the net? Google has not been my friend when I have searched for details about changes to the fit out of the V&W's. I have Showcase Models 1/350 HMS/HMAS Vendetta kit which models the ship in its 'as commissioned' configuration whereas I want to show the Vendetta as it was when in the Scrap Iron Flotilla on the Tobruk Ferry Service (ultimately I want to model all the Australian Scrap Iron Flotilla V&W's).

Thanks
Rod

Thanks for the advice David, it gives me confidence with my build. G'day Rod, I have always loved the V & W's - grew up reading all of the J.E MacDonald books like "Big Bill the Bast--d" which has the sad demise of a V & W on the cover. I am not sure which one to build. I am going to get the hull ready and then make up my mind. The more research I do the more complicated it seems to get as they changed so very often in their lives. It will definitely be at the end of their careers. I have found some great photographs of HMAS Waterhen like the one below. Let me know what you think, Cheers Will

Sorry Rod, forgot to mention that I got the plans for HMS Vega from an Ebay seller about ten years ago. I got the HMS Valhalla plans by David ABBOTT from a Canadian Ebay seller - easy to find on Google.

Hello, have sprayed the hull interior and am now strengthening the deck, cheers Will

G'day Will

How are the chilly mornings out there at Hill End? I can remember a gold panning camping trip one August weekend out that way many years ago. Have never been so cold in all my life.

I am looking at modelling all of the RAN V&W class destroyers when they were part of the Scrap Iron Flotilla on the Tobruk Ferry, although I am not as ambitious or skilled/talented as you in building them from scratch. I am using Showcase Models 1/350 scale HMS/HMAS Vendetta kits and hopefully will be able to convert them. It has been difficult to find much information about the ships configuration, armament, camouflage pattern etc for around that time other than a couple of photos.

I going to enjoy watching this build of yours.

Rod

PS: And just found I repeated myself.

G'day Rod,
you made me laugh, I was reading you last and thinking, "this bloke is repeating himself" and then you realised, very funny. You are right, it is hard to find their configuration late into their lives. I seem to find more on the Waterhen than anything else. I guess if we keep looking something may pop up, cheers Will

Huh. So these mounted 4 × single QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk V guns...
Here's a review of a 1:35th scale kit
http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/mo ... nt&id=9404

http://www.cmkkits.com/en/afv/naval-102mm-4inch-gun/

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Current build logs -
1/72 110' Subchasers as Rum Runners
1/96 Japanese 'Steel Truck'
1/96 12cm pre-Dreadnaught deck gun
1/124 CS Privateer 'Beauregard'
1/124 CS Blockade Runners Pevensey & Ella Warley
1/192 scale whaler PEQUOD