Building SMS Vulkan (sub-rescue ship )and its tugs in 1/350

[SG1]

MASTERPIECE!

Can you give us any tips for rigging with the nitinol wire? differences between nitinol and stretched sprue rigging? Also, what diameters are available and where to purchase them?

Cheers,

SG

[Dan K]

Wow. That is an astonishingly fine piece of work. Masterful indeed.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Gentlemen--thank you for your nice comments on my little tugboats.

These were of course compete projects within themselves-
both very interesting in research as well as most instructive
in tackling these two vessels as a scratch build.

For now they are resting in a glass case pending the completion of the towage subject. ( Vulkan )

so back to the VULKAN... which has been resting in its case also...

I have also been pondering == for the diorama--the relative positions of the tugs.
Tow lines are long and it would make a dull looking diorama -- very long, narrow footprint in a case and a desolate scene.
...==> whereas having the tugs picking up the Towlines, gets me some crew on the foredeck of Vulkan ,
as well as on the tugs.

still playing around with that.... ideas and suggestions welcomed !

I restarted the project by first tidying up small bits of paint, adjusting pieces of PE that could be straighter etc...
I started by adding the lids ( from spare PE box) to the hatches -- mostly upright

but some at ' jaunty ' angles.



These were supported by the ' toothpick wedge ' whilst glue dried.




Fwd Fairleads were made of small strips of brass, the ends of which had the casting simulated with white glue droplets

===============================================================================

The masts are a little unusual, being un-tapered poles and in that they have no rake whatsoever -
- being dead upright to the waterline.

I had previously installed some brass tube sockets into the deck so that the masts, ( tubes-) to which I had installed some long stainless steel spigots, so that I could adjust the rake to exactly 90 degrees with the masts in situ
( contingency comment on my drilling accuracy !)

Unusual also in having a substantial 'air gap' between the lower and upper mast pieces. -

this was not as easy to solve as I had envisaged. ( Fiddly! )

I ended up making some very small - but robust -brackets using some old and overscale
1/700 stainless steel 3-bar railing cut down so as to make a small 'double ended fork'

Unusual lastly-- that unlike normal practice--where the upper mast off-set is usually facing fwd-
-the aft mast has the topmast offset aft of the pole mast.

anyhow herewith the assembled masts in the raw ready for first coats of paint

Onwards.... more soon

I have a square rigger awaiting builnding !!

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Good morning Jim,

Do you have an idea already about the story you want to tell with the diorama?

The beautiful tugs you just finished met up with SMS Vulkan sometime early April 1819 in Brunsb�ttel, a harbour at the beginning of the Wilhelmskanal on the west coast, north of Hamburg. From there they set sail with their charge towards Harwich, but never arrived there. North west of Helgoland they have lost their tow at a known position. The story of this dio must be placed sometime in this period.

The calm water surface is most likely at the beginning of the journey, at Brunsb�ttel. So a story of tying up the connection to the tow. But, as we have discussed before, there might be reaons to suspect that the end might also be interesting: according to the tug crews they lost their tow due to bad weather, but that story is doubtful to say the least.

So would be the end point maybe make for a diorama telling a story of mischief?

[wefalck]

This is indeed a problem with many dioramas, that there is a lot of empty space, when you try to simulate the real distances between the actors. This also stems from the fact that we usually observe it from a sort aerial perspective - if you were to take a photograph at deck level, the scene would look much more condensed.

I don't know where S.M.S. VULKAN came from (did she come through the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, now Nord-Ostsee-Kanal or in maritime parlance Kiel-Kanal?), but she was probbably anchored in the Elbe River (there is a strong tidal current) until the tugs passed the tow-lines.

[JIM BAUMANN]

maarten wrote;

....>> ... beginning of the journey, at Brunsb�ttel. <<...

that was the intention...... because / cont......

Wefalck wrote;

...>> ... she was probably anchored in the Elbe River (there is a strong tidal current) until the tugs passed the tow-lines. <<...

I had envisaged here being tied to an admiralty type buoy ( colour...? )
probably fore and aft to prevent swing in the tidal streams

( it also gives the stern "something to do".. ie a function in the diorama !

sort of like this ;--images below


... / cont from Maartens answer....

otherwise I need to build wharves harbour structures etc=-- and as far as I have been able to see via Google,
there are few if any images of that era that are remotely useful fro even stuff like navigational markers,

[wefalck]

I don't think there were any mooring buoys in the Elbe River down there - because of the strong tidal current, but I may be wrong.

The river bed has changed a lot since 'Kaiser's Times' due to several extensive dredging campains to allow container-ships of ever increasing sizes to reach the upstream Hamburg harbour. There would be tidal flats/shoals extending several hundred meters from the actual shore-line into the estuary. However, as the river in front of Brunsb�ttel takes a slight left curve, the deep water is much closer to the shore there than on the left bank, where the shoals are several kilometres wide. I have a 1903 marine atlas (Just Perthes Seeatlas, pocket atlas, 1:500.000 scale) that indicates anchoring grounds on the left side of the river, opposite Brunsb�ttel. Perhaps one can find some pre-WWI admiralty maps of the Elbe River on the Internet that show possible mooring/anchoring in larger scale.

The mooring-buoys would have been painted black at that time.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

With a little research you might find photos of the Brunsb�ttel roadsted in those years. Like this one: https://de.nailizakon.com/b/16-sh/bruns ... -1918.html

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

I don't think there were any mooring buoys in the Elbe River down there - because of the strong tidal current, but I may be wrong.

Well, today the estuary is marked with buoys anyway:

... Perhaps one can find some pre-WWI admiralty maps of the Elbe River on the Internet that show possible mooring/anchoring in larger scale. The mooring-buoys would have been painted black at that time.

There seems to have been a 1910 admiralty map, that was in use well into the thirties or even forties (note the Third Reich emblem in the title corner). It would be great to have a larger copy of that map that one could read the details...

And one more beautiful map from 1895 can be found here: https://www.christian-terstegge.de/hamb ... 00dpi.jpeg
And in particular this one gives you all the detail you need:
https://kulturerbe.niedersachsen.de/ful ... b_21980/1/

[wefalck]

The modern chart shows that the main channel swayed further to the left bank, compared to 100 years earlier.

Navigation buoys normally are removed as soon as a state of war is declared. Not sure, whether they would have been put back in 1919 already.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Included here a cutout of the map of 1896. Depth are in fathoms (=ft x 6) I believe.

[JIM BAUMANN]

well now-- that is staggeringly helpful all-round.

MANY Thanks to all--

the image Maarten posted gives a flavour of the semi rural nature of that area back then
@Wefalck and the Charts give a proper context.
what is interesting is that when I did a search in images for Brunsbuettel ( no umlaut )

I came up with scarcely anything historical--ebven when I narrowed the search with dates 1910--1919etc etc
...( having pasted the search (from here) with an umlaut it gave better results

( dohh --I should have known that!!)

I think that as the vessel was disused by that stage
( as with the fast- growing size of submarines she was mostly obsolete as a Submarine recovery vessel by 1910
when on 10 October she was reassigned in role as a Submarine and Torpedo officer training school-- at Eckernfoerde

MB UNTERSEEBOOTS-SCHULE


she had some (wooden) temporary structures added used as classrooms ( not pretty ! )

I guess she would have been disused by 1919 any way --

So herewith a scenario ( modelelerings licence).. so maybe doubt she would not have been alongside cluttering up valuable wharfage...?

and or... as I believe I have read- the ship was out of commission and was not in steam--so would not have been able to move under her own power -- that would make my diorama feasible-- hence the the fore and aft mooring for the pick up...?

Could a local tug have moved the ship to temporary holding mooring ...( please? ) nearby fro the pick-up by the big Tug-boats...?!

below a still from some footage showing the classroom on the foredeck -- which I guess ( hope/insist!!! )
would have been landed by then...?

I have yet to find an image of the Vulcan labelled as being at Brunsbuettel...#

cheers
JB

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

Hi Jim,

A series of interesting pictures: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/allthew ... t8877.html
The steep hills on the banks suggest these pics were made at Kiel, or possibly Flensburg. Wefalck, do you confirm these assumptions?

And you are right: because of the current usually a smaller tug was used to pull backwards, to avoid the tow to veer either side when pulled forward downstream. Depending on what you want to show in the diorama then you would need one further small tug to be built... will be a challenge to identify the correct candidate then!

[wefalck]

The photographs on which the shore is visible do not show S.M.S. VULKAN, but perhaps a Russian oder Japanese one that was build under license by the Howaldtwerke in Kiel.

I quickly read up about VULKAN in

HILDEBRAND, H., R�HR, A., STEINMETZ, H.-O. (1999): Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe � Biographien, Bd. 8 - Schiffsbiographien Undine bis Zieten.- 286 p., Hamburg (Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft).

While the information there is not very detailed, it seems that VULKAN steamed through the KW-Kanal and then waited in Brunsb�ttel for several days. Apparently in those chaotic days after the end of the War, the crew behaved completely out of control and her captain asked for them to be replaced by more trustworthy men. It seems the crew went on drinking spree and rampage on land for several days and let the fires in the boilers die down before they left, so that ship was completely disabled. It may well be that she was moored then in the entrance bassin of the Kanal.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

The photographs on which the shore is visible do not show S.M.S. VULKAN, but perhaps a Russian or Japanese one that was build under license by the Howaldtwerke in Kiel.

Yes, now I see, you're right. SMS Vulkan was indeed built by Howaldtswerke in Kiel too, they might have expanded their success to foreing customers as well.

[wefalck]

It seems that one of the Russian one built under license was kept in service until a few years ago, but I don't have any detailed information.

[JIM BAUMANN]

well now , that makes interesting reading all round...
fascinating!

drunken tearaway sailors, and boilers that were out.... so far --it fits well... c


at this stage-- with the Vulcan firmly affixed to the sea... I am unsure if I want to introduce ( or build ! ) another tug...! )
not sure if the third tug would fit astern.
certainly makes sense to have steerage aft on a disabled ship if running with the tide...

I am however in favour of Vulcan being moored fore and aft-( tidal stream ) -
while the two big tugs manoeuvre to pass/ pick up towlines...

The scene that Vulcan was only temporarily at Brunsbuettel as a staging post for her her disposal voyage to Harwich UK

would / could lend credence to her being moored rather than alongside.

============================================================================

so ... new queries arise-...

-if the Vulcan arrived at Brunbuettel under her own power and control;
but was then deserted by her hard drinking / high jinks crew.... with all loss of steam pressure

Could the original intention have been for Vulcan to make the voyage to
Harwich under her own steam-( its not that far !)
-ie were the 2 x Tugs Retter and Schelde called in at very short notice--
as the ship being ' cold' and not able to manoeuvre / travel independently being an unforeseen event ?

So we blame the crew !
then-- allegedly the ship founders in wind Bf Force 5 ( not thaaat much wind) big ship like that should not (suddenly) start sinking
unless...==> - with the boilers shut down there would be no power of any kind for (high speed) pumps...
so maybe she made some water and then more water
making her unable to rise to the waves and thereby thewater issues becoming exacerbated ...?

unless.... it was a deliberate act -- ala the scuttling @ Scapa Flow..? as she sank really quite some way from any route to Harwich...?( !!)

get more interesting by the second--!
Thank you Wefalck and Maarten for your time and thoughts hitherto !

[JIM BAUMANN]

@ Wefalck

The Russian Navy - (much enlarged !) version of Vulcan is called Kommuna ( ex Volkov)
and is quite a beast! launched in 1913 (!)
more infos and images here
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military ... olkhov.htm

[wefalck]

My (secondary) sources do not say anything about the original intentions. However, the commander of the cruiser REGENSBURG, who accompanied the towed convoy of VULKAN and CYCLOP considered VULKAN unsuitable for crossing the open North Sea. He was afraid that the movement of the connecting arches in the long squall would tear holes into the two hulls. When the tow began to encounter Force 6 winds VULKAN's crew was transferred to ? and they noted later a light listing of her before she eventually sank. The commander of REGENSBURG recommended a more sheltered route along the Dutch coast, but that was not followed.

[Maarten Sch�nfeld]

My (secondary) sources do not say anything about the original intentions. However, the commander of the cruiser REGENSBURG, who accompanied the towed convoy of VULKAN and CYCLOP considered VULKAN unsuitable for crossing the open North Sea. He was afraid that the movement of the connecting arches in the long squall would tear holes into the two hulls. When the tow began to encounter Force 6 winds VULKAN's crew was transferred to ? and they noted later a light listing of her before she eventually sank. The commander of REGENSBURG recommended a more sheltered route along the Dutch coast, but that was not followed.

VERY interesting information, Wefalck! We can deduct valuable data from it for Jim.

So a few remarks:

1: I checked the Dutch historical weather reports for 5 and 6 April 1919, these can be found here: https://www.knmi.nl/nederland-nu/klimat ... aggegevens
Only from two stations there are relevant data: Eelde (near Groningen) and De Kooy (near Den Helder). Only Eelde measured a highest wind velocity of 9.3 m/s on April 5th, equalling 5 Bft (fresh breeze). However, the average wind for those days for both station was only 4 Bft (moderate breeze). As the windforce at open sea is 1-2 Bft stronger than on land, we have to add 1Bft to the measured values. Anyway, hardly weather conditions that would keep any sailor at home. (It would be nice if we had weather reports from Helgoland too...)
The commander of SMS REGENSBURG apparently regarded the condition of SMS Vulkan not good, given his concern even in the favourable weather conditions. So the conclusion must be that the state of maintenance was very poor. So back to the weathering of your beautiful model, Jim!

2: SMS REGENSBURG: I have worked my way already through four German WW1 cruiser classes, converting these from the venerable 1:350 Revell Emden/Dresden kit. My last one was the Kolberg class, with a suitable hull extension. It's not difficult at all. So if suitable drawings can be found, I think the Graudenz class (of the Regensburg) is well within reach. If you want I could do the basic conversion for you, leaving the superb detailing of course in your hands. (note: I have a good plan set of the Brummer/Bremse, with all the other data I have it should be possible...)

3: and I see you have built a model of GRAUDENZ already! Albeit in her Italian mod form... But in 1:700 that is.