The Ship Model Forum

Shes looking good so far Jim. I hope your vacation was good, its good to see you back

Rocky Mount - as ugly as she is going to be

Jim

Truly inspiring -

That�s the kind of stuff I�d like to be building - If I could ever get the kids to go to bed!

pic 1&2 A coat of primer DOES make a difference!!

pic 3 there is some tedium involved in scratch building....bollards for the four C2-S-B1 hulls


jim

wow, some incredible builds!

Thought I would devote a post to portholes (scuttles for the absolutely "salty").

Pics 1 & 2 show the setup for large parts. The forward edge of the block has been squared and crowned on a disc sander. The white paper is just to keep the ship clean. The clamps are strong enough to take quite a bit of pressure. The porthole height line is drawn with the screw set draftsman's compass (the steel tip is extended to ride on the deck above the line) and then spacing is shown with a short vertical line. The drill used was a #57 = .043" x 350 = 15" actual size (which I know is slightly oversize). This method is fast and yields very even holes.

Pic 3 shows the x/y table used on the small parts. This was my big Christmas present last year and the cost was higher than the drill press it is mounted on.

Jim

Where did you get your XY table, Jim? I'd love to get one for portholes, as you use it, and also for laying out bolts on 1/96th scale ironclads. I haven't found anything remotely large enough, though.

Devin wrote:Where did you get your XY table, Jim? I'd love to get one for portholes, as you use it, and also for laying out bolts on 1/96th scale ironclads. I haven't found anything remotely large enough, though.

Devin,

http://www.micromark.com/MICROLUX-X-Y-T ... ,8009.html

The cat# is 82389. Am happy with it, even my brother the "professional" thought it was a good value.

Jim

Have been going crazy/blind/boredtodeath building winches, thought I would pose a question.

Pic 1, had a paint/primer failure on the weld reinforcements characteristic of this hull (and also very prominent on LSTs - which will be started soon). It was my fault, did not want the paint to be too thick so the primer was a very light coat on a 003" plastic page divider, the primer never got wet enough to bond. My guess is the longitudinal weld reinforcement was part of the first generation fix for the catastrophic hull failures the US was experiencing on the all welded Victory ships and T2 tankers. If anyone wants I could write a little article on this subject (I was a Metallurgist in my previous life), the ultimate cause was a high (over +30F - think cold water in North Atlantic) ductile to brittle transition temperature(caused by a large grain size), the ultimate fix was to completely deoxidize the liquid steel with Al as well as SI (which yielded a fine grained steel) and dropped the ductile to brittle transition to below -20F. There was also a needed emphasis on weld quality and the avoidance of "stress risers" (think cracks to sharp internal angles in holes designed in the structure).

Pic 2, the real reason for this post, this hull, as well as the three to follow all have solid bulwarks on the main deck. There needs to be ample drainage. The "chock holes" are real, you can see them in both pictures. The drain holes are fake. Do they work??? I had to fake them because they are right at deck level and I had to use epoxy to attach the bulwarks.

jim

Rocky mount is done.

The last photo shows Burleigh (a "relief" AGC) and a DMS for scale.

Jim

just wonderful builds. like to see you build a 1/350 Sacramento.

gtbred,

During 1944, the WWI gunboat USS Sacramento, PG-19, 225' LOA, 12.5 knots, was providing plane guard duty off San Diego. I doubt that I will get to her.

She was exceptional in a couple of ways, she was present at PH 12/07/41 and there is a picture of her under sail on Navsource.

note: tongue in cheek, I am aware of AOE-1, but CANNOT let an opening pass and at 67 I am confident I will never get beyond 1944.

jim

Superbe .

More C-2s, all with the C2-S-B1 hull

pic 1 The completed AGC is in the background, an APA and the two AKAs

pic 2&3 An AKA up close

pic 4 The goal for the first ship, Navsource photo credited to David Buell (the ship will be lower in the water, headed towards the beach).

jim

JimRussell wrote:The Gleaves conversion joins the flushdeck DMS's already done.

When I did the flushdeck DMS's I fell in love with the ships and took the APD out of the stash and completed it.

Some of the pre-invasion "slow element", OBB, DE, DMS and APD.

Jim

WOW Very Nice, Sir,g

gary - Thanks

Most major components are done. Now have an idea what the completed ship will look like. Plans and photos are great but a ship always looks better in 3-D.

jim

Hi Guys,
Jim,
That is some goooooooood work!
In the future, if you need some winches from L'Arsenal's Liberty Ship upgrade set, I have extras.
Great job!
Tony

Heck Tony, do not tempt me. The Liberty steam winches are too small for WWII electric winch types BUT there is another class of APA's (Harris class - 7 ships) which are also WWI conversions and for which steam winches are totally appropriate. If you look back on my posts for the Heywood, I actually broke down and bought a Trumpeter Liberty just for parts..and winches were a big reason for that decision..they were just too small for me to scratch.

The Harris class are interesting ships... 535' LOA, 72' beam, straight stem and stern, very old linerish looking....I have to have one. No plans, but I did the Heywood from a dazzle sketch and photos and I can do a Harris the same way.

These Auxiliaries have an absolute grip on me..cannot stop building them..and planning for more. So, if you have at least 8 winches (12 preferred) you have a customer. Your post convinced me I NEED to build a Harris type....shows you how over the top I am about these ships.

Jim

Hi Guys,
Jim,
Please e-mail your address to me again, and I'll send the winches that I have extras of to you. Then, you can let me know of their value to your intended projects.
Again, that's some fine work.
Tony