The Ship Model Forum

You sure are moving right along, looks great. I love those "others"

Paul

First pic is an overall view of the ships current state.

A few pics showing the production of some parts.

Pic 2&3 are the the mast cross tees, the first is the parts used (.005" brass for the tee) and the second the means used to keep all square during the application of super glue.

Pic 4, 5&6 are the "endcap", the "fixture to keep the holes at location, the product after drilling and the part in location.

On to hull fixing and priming.

Jim, I don't know how the hell I missed this thread for so long, but man, what a great job! Tireless scratchbuilding and top-notch quality throughout! Well done indeed. Now I have to go back and go through each page in detail. Keep it up man.

Ryan

The paint job on this ship is going to be unusual...not a standard USN color.

The EXCELLENT website below (which is a resource for USN auxiliaries)

http://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux/frameset.html

tells how the USN acquired the ten Victory Ship "AK"s.

On SEP 23, 1944 CINCPOA asks for ten Victory Ships to be manned and used by the USN for transport of ammunition to the forward areas. The first load will be ready at a west coast port about OCT 10, 1944. The CNO and the Maritime Commission (MC) strike a deal. The ships will be made available with NO USN modifications, standard freighters will be delivered. Boulder Victory commissions OCT 12, 1944.

Paint... I need to paint the Boulder Victory the standard color for Permanente Metals #1. I could find no direct information. Scott Reigel posted pic #1 on the Liberty/Victory board. Calship's (another MC west coast yard) standard color is light gray. Another MC paint characteristic was one color everywhere, so the deck will also be light gray. The hatch covers were chosen to be a "natural" canvas. It is worth mentioning that the museum ships American Victory (Tampa FL) and Red Oak Victory (Richmond CA) are also painted this scheme, if I am in error I have good company.

Pics 2&3 show a "just about" completed hull.

Easiest paint job I can remember, used my rattle-can primer and did not mask a lick.

Jim

the more I read your thread,more I tell myself that I must try one day a full sratch !
you been an "engine" for me,thank you to transmit your knowledge
cheers
Nicolas

Nicolas,

Glad to have "inspired" you. Your modifications on the Richelieu show that you can do anything above the main deck. Doing a hull is NOT an "overwhelming" task.

Select a ship that you REALLY want to have a model of that you do not think will ever come out in plastic or resin. Obtain plans that include hull lines. Make a hull, either using my method or the sandwich/lift method that Paul Budzik used on his Enterprise viewtopic.php?f=59&t=98433
Any reasonable amount of care will yield a result that is superior to the Hornet or Tribal that Trumpeter is selling today.

Jim,
I truly admire your scratchbuilding thread. Extremly inspiring and encouraging following your steps. The modells you selcet not always these well known items. I also love these species of naval vessels behind the curtains.
Fantastic work!

With best regards
Peter

The boulder Victory is done, got "into" this build and it went fast. Her "cousin" the APA will not go as fast, at least 2 times the parts and a dazzle scheme.

The pics include a comparison to a Liberty Ship, the two most numerous cargo ship classes produced by the Maritime Commission in WWII.

HI Jim
Not content to work well, you work a speed that surprises me more than convincing,felicitation for your realisation!
cheers
Nicolas

Most of the major components are roughed out...a good place to compare the Haskell class APA to its cargo Victory Ship origin. It is worth noting that 113 Haskell class APAs were commissioned, the preparation for the invasion of the Japanese home islands was certainly a monumental task.

This conversion was more extensive than the earlier C-2 and C-3 conversions, both #3 and #4 hatches were covered by an extra level of superstructure, almost all the lift and cargo hatches were relocated or modified. The pilot house and the two levels of superstructure below it managed to stay unchanged.

Great work on the unsung workhorses of the Pacific War.

Hi Jim,

Always a pleasure to look at your perfect work � very well done!

Jim, you do such a great job of making it all look easy. I'm still muddling through my first scratch-builds, and the way you pull these off simple yet high quality builds is amazing.

Excellent work, as always, Jim!

Hi Jim,

I really like your work. There was another post where someone was building a Buckley APD and you had posted some pictures of landing craft davits you had made.




I am going to try the Iron Shipwright's U.S.S. LLoyd. I have a lot of Buckley APD pictures and profile line drawings, but the only line drawing of the deck I could find was from: U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History (page 197 off Google books). It is helpful, but pretty small. I didn't know if you could offer any insight on building the Davits or had any info on some of rear upper deck layout.

Thanks,
Jim

Jim, I have the Lloyd kit in my stash..it has all the parts you need for the davits and they are generally finer than what I scratch out and should assemble to a "nice" model.

If you are unsure as to where to locate the davits (there is no help on the model) the drawing with the instructions should do the trick. It is 7.42" long, the 1/350 model should be 10.49" ((306' x 12")/350). 10.49/7.42 = 1.41 which is the conversion factor to get any dimension from the drawing to the model.

My copy of Friedman's "U S Amphibious Ships" the drawing is 5.00" so the conversion factor to 1/350 is 2.10.

Thanks Jim, the Llold does look to be a nice kit. Just in process of researching and correcting a few things the hull. Wish they would rerelease Friedman's "U S Amphibious Ships" as it is selling for $450.00 and up. Looks like a good read.

Hope my 1/350 IronShipWrights AFS-1 Mars looks as good as your builds.

USS Kenton, APA-122 is done, enjoyed the build. The Kenton was picked because she was the lowest hull # to have a 1944 dazzle scheme per Tracy White's Haskell class addendum to the S&S camo database. It is interesting to note that the 32-4T scheme is the first one that I have encountered that is symmetrical, port & starboard are the same.

pic 1 A USN photo from Navsource, quality not the best but then it is easier for me to make it like the picture.

pic 2&3 The ship.

pic 4 Kenton and her cousin AK-227 Boulder Victory.

Beautiful work!