The Ship Model Forum

Current configuration of my project. As one gets into the detail stuff progress slows.. and slows.

Cheers: Tom

You are right about that slowing down problem.
Your photos have helped me make a better model.
Thanks Fliger 747

You model is very nice and accurate too.

Luky:

Found the perfect item for the small for and aft spherical radomes: At Jo-Anne Fabrics in the bead section there are 16 mm Acrylic beads, both clear and silver. For an all wood model there are similar sized turned wooden beads. Just a couple of bucks a package.

Did the top of the Foremast yesterday and finished installing all the magnets to secure the 5"38 mounts in place. Sometimes what I work on is determined by what PITA items I don't want to work on. Suffering a bit from no longer having a Hobby shop within a couple of hundred miles. Some larger brass is available, though no plastic sheet etc or model paint.

Running around the model and adding the plethora of small lockers. Making these out of the various thick acrylic sheet sawn out on the bandsaw and touched up on the disc sander. Can add doors or overlaping tops as necessary from thin card or plastic sheet. Wish I could find some very small square brass stock for the main deck lifeline supports. Many moons ago I made a very small (1:550) Uss Whitehurst, DE 645 and did the lifelines with pins or brass wire supports and strung with hair contributed by an old girlfriend. Held up well for the last 25 years. I have lots of photos, though not of everything, just ask if you have some areas that are vague on the plans etc.

Regards: Tom

At least Missouri sailors can go Tuna fishing now..... Two items I have been avoiding are the four supports and radar dishes for the MK37 directors, and the same item for the aft MK38. Very fussy items! Reasonably happy with the platform at the top of the fwd mast. I made it out of card and cutout the open areas and then reinforced the structure with plastic box section 1/16". The top is decked with some small mesh ribbon that I stiffen with a light coat of paint before cutting to shape and applying.

About time to make several winches and cable spools. Also avoiding the big tasks of doing more hull work and adding the helicopter deck.

Cheers. T

Still flailing away at the small fussy stuff! But some progress. I like to (and don't like to) photograph models as they always look worse in photos! Also a good chance to check for bad areas and mistakes. An example here is the unintentional rake in the topmast which I will go back and correct. Though I have not painted them as yet, looks as if the 5"38 mounts should have deck blue on the tops for the period I am making the ship. Haven't gotten my rail soldering skills up to Luky's yet!

Cheers: T

Sometimes a few steps forward and a few backwards. A few months ago I had some expanding foam leftover and decided to shoot some into the bow section for floatation and add some strength. Very bad idea! Popped some glass exterior out from an area where I had modified the bulbous bow section. So time to get out the disc sander, sanding blocks etc and bring things back to the original contour. What helped a lot was to carefully drill through the fibergalss and shoot some CA in there and clamp.... Bondo setting now. So a good time to work on the bilge keels (did add the center short skeg) and start thinking about adding the hull details such as rivet plates and bilge drains. Anybody come up with a way to simulate the padeyes in the bow overhang section in 1:192?

T

Fliger747 wrote:Sometimes a few steps forward and a few backwards. A few months ago I had some expanding foam leftover and decided to shoot some into the bow section for floatation and add some strength. Very bad idea! Popped some glass exterior out from an area where I had modified the bulbous bow section. So time to get out the disc sander, sanding blocks etc and bring things back to the original contour. What helped a lot was to carefully drill through the fibergalss and shoot some CA in there and clamp.... Bondo setting now. So a good time to work on the bilge keels (did add the center short skeg) and start thinking about adding the hull details such as rivet plates and bilge drains. Anybody come up with a way to simulate the padeyes in the bow overhang section in 1:192?

T

To make that padeye on the bow I just drill two holes with a .020 drill and insert a U shaped bras wire and slather epoxy all over it.

By the way on the railings:
I have discovered a huge way to improve the attachment of railings.
Instead if just holding the railing up to the sides and using JB 6 minute setting epoxy, i now drill one hole in the superstructure on each end of where the railing is to be positioned and then on each of the section of railing I make a 90� bend. I put that bent 90� end into the hole and then I do not have to try to hold the railing up while the glue is drying . I will post a pic soon.

Thanks for the suggestions. Got the outboard shafts in minus the struts and the bilge keels and the bow fixed. What i need to get now is more paint, the hull will use a lot.

T

Fliger747 wrote:Thanks for the suggestions. Got the outboard shafts in minus the struts and the bilge keels and the bow fixed. What i need to get now is more paint, the hull will use a lot.

T

I guess once the shafts are in, it makes it easy to measure the struts.
I did not think about that.

Getting the shafts in line brought forth some questions. What I finally did was to take a piece of wood and drill holes to slip it over the inboard shafts which are easy to locate. Then drill holes for the extended outboard shafts . Then one can easily both align the shafts and size and locate the struts. Wish I had thought of that to start with!

Cheers. T

Fliger747 wrote:Getting the shafts in line brought forth some questions. What I finally did was to take a piece of wood and drill holes to slip it over the inboard shafts which are easy to locate. Then drill holes for the extended outboard shafts . Then one can easily both align the shafts and size and locate the struts. Wish I had thought of that to start with!

Cheers. T

That sounds like a very good method.

Two pics of the most recent work completed.

Looking good! Wood is fun to work with, always amazed at how much can be done with it. Put a bunch of thin coats of Lacquer Primer on the hull today, wet sanding in between. The idea is to simulate the fore and aft plating lines by masking and building up one line of plates at a time. Got some thin brass bar stock to make the prop shaft struts from, guess I will make some paper templates to get the right.

Cheers: T

Note on the Mk37 directors, the rangefinder tubes that protrude on each side are just that tubes. Because they could be stabilized they have fabric bucklers like the guns. The trapezoidal shapes seen in the photos are a relic of deactivation preservation and were not on the active ship. On my Alaska I cast them with the bucklers, haven't gotten to them yet on MO.

Regards: T

Fliger747 wrote:Note on the Mk37 directors, the rangefinder tubes that protrude on each side are just that tubes. Because they could be stabilized they have fabric bucklers like the guns. The trapezoidal shapes seen in the photos are a relic of deactivation preservation and were not on the active ship. On my Alaska I cast them with the bucklers, haven't gotten to them yet on MO.

Regards: T

I could easily change those. Hopefully without breaking something else. Thanks.

Fliger747 wrote:Looking good! Wood is fun to work with, always amazed at how much can be done with it. Put a bunch of thin coats of Lacquer Primer on the hull today, wet sanding in between. The idea is to simulate the fore and aft plating lines by masking and building up one line of plates at a time. Got some thin brass bar stock to make the prop shaft struts from, guess I will make some paper templates to get the right.

Cheers: T

What i do is solder a pin (.030) to the flat plate and then anchor it in the hull.

I cut the struts from flat brass strip on the bandsaw and soldered them to the shaft bushing (tube). On the end of the strut against the hull I left a nub to fit into a hole drilled into the hull. For alignment I had the shafts in position while I fitted and glued. I hadn't used it before, but a small micro torch seemed to work well for soldering the struts to the tube. The props and shafts are tapped with 6/32 threads to screw them on. A little Loctite a bit later in the project will keep them on there. The most secure method would be to run a threaded rod through the hull and secure with a nut. I am sure that your method is quite secure!

The whole hull is now sprayed with lacquer primer which I wet sand between coats. The upper will be airbrushed with the same Model Master acrylics used for the superstructure, not sure about which paint I will use for the bottom. The props are OK, at least for 25 years ago, but might want to find some better ones. They are the correct 4 and 5 blade units.

Cheers: T

It will be interesting to see the hull that you built.

I just have to finish the stern rollers and rear pocket platforms, and I will be ready for paint.
I might do that next week and then get back to the radar antennas later.
I re did those MK37 director ears and made them as tubes.

A shot of the props. Haven't excavated for the nixi deployment at the fantail as yet. Not fully happy with the props and will replace if I can find better ones. As this was originally intended to be a RC working model the rudders work in tandem, I need to trim down the nuts at the bottom holding them on!

What are you doing for props?

Cheers T

Ship sitting on my (tilted) drafting table in the studio. Hull has one error that cannot be corrected, not enough turn in the bilge abeam turret two.

T Haven't added the Helicopter deck as yet either!