The Ship Model Forum

gtb,thanks

Jon, good eye , the answer is here viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25746 The meas 21 ship is the Idaho, the tell is the single 5"-38's in houses.

Jim

http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/107.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/107.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/109.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... /2206.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/224.html

http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/556.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/554.html

Time to start.......again.

The new ship will be APA-6 - Heywood. There were four ships to this design - APA-6,7,8 & 9. They were built in the USA to a British design late in WWI, sold to merchant service between the wars, and acquired by the USN in 1940 to eventually become what were called Attack Transports. The four ships gathered 26 battle stars during WWII, most in the Pacific.

The ships were 507' LOA with a beam of 56' and a speed of 16.8 knots.

The only plans I found were the 32-9T camo design sheet, which is in Friedman's Amphibious book and online. There are plenty of pics so I should be able to get close. The one area of the hull I was nervous about carving was the counter stern. It turns out that the 1/570 Titanic scales out to a 56' beam when converted to 1/350. This was considered an OMEN and the initial plan is to use the Titanic hull. It only cost $15 and if it does not work out I will still have a good pattern for the stern if the plastic bash is a bust and I have to carve the hull from wood.

The pic roughly shows how much the hull has to be shortened. It will also be waterlined.

Jim

A photo of the shortened and semi waterlined hull.

Plans to the extent that they are drawn.

Jim

I had to straighten the new stem after cutting off 1.3 inches from the hull (pic 1). The left is the straight Titanic stem and the right is the curved new stem.

Water at 195 degrees F for 20 seconds did the trick (pic 2).

Straight stems. More bend to the bow was also added to make up for that cut off. Pic 3 is the result.

Jim

Pic#1 The wood core roughed out.

Pic#2 The Titanic hull sides have been epoxied to the finished wood core and sanded down to the main deck and waterline.

Jim

Following your thread is really informative! Your idea to use Titanics 1/570 as a base for your 1/350 Heywood is excelent
How will you replace the planking at the bow and stern, where you have used wood?

Christian,

The wood core will be completely covered by plastic. The hull sides with the Titanic hull and the main deck with styrene sheet (yet to added).

The project has gone better than expected. The only problem will be removing/covering up all the "Titanic" detail on the hull sides.

Jim

Everything rough. I guess the construction method for the superstructure could be called sandwich and pin. So far all has gone well, I am starting to like this ship.

Jim

I'm amazed at the versatility and the speed of your scratch-building skills!

What kind of wood are you using?

Devin wrote:I'm amazed at the versatility and the speed of your scratch-building skills!

Well said. This is a treat to watch.

..

Thanks to all for your comments. I took a two month break and found myself "itching" to go.

Cliffy, I use milled poplar that I get from Lowe's. It comes 4" wide (enough for all USN WWII ships) and in an assortment of thicknesses.

For hulls I sandwich with carpenters glue 2 or 3 pieces of whatever thickness gives me the height I need.

For superstructures I layer .250" wood with .030" styrene sheet. This gives me a deck to deck spacing of .280" which converts to a prototype 8.17'.

Poplar advantages. Inexpensive, milled, clear, sands well.

Poplar disadvantages. A tendency to chip/splinter at exit of drilled holes and scroll saw cuts (but that is what Bondo is for).

Jim

Pic 1 A sow's ear, do not hope for a silk purse but a functional pigskin wallet is a goal. The funnel was salvaged from the Titanic.

Pic 2 After lots of sanding with 120 grit paper. On to Bondo and the finer papers and resist priming too soon.

Jim

Plugging along. The brass rods show the location of masts, but do not indicate height or diameter. As you can see nothing much has been done regarding lift (masts & booms), boats, davits or cradles. I must be leaving the easy stuff for the end.

I did break down and buy a Trumpeter Liberty for parts (and I am known to TIGHT). During what the Phoenix area considers BAD winter weather (low 60's, cloudy, rainy and windy), I did not venture outside to do hull Bondo work. Tried to duplicate the steam cargo winches on the Liberty kit and failed miserably. Broke down and bought the kit for parts, winches, cowl vents etc.

The BOATS........the main armament

pic 1 The full complement. 4 L'arsenal LCVPs in 4 L'arsenal LCM(3)s, 14 scratched LCVPs and 1 scratched LCPR. It turns out that I will have to scratch the LCM(6)s for the next ships. The original LCM(3) was 50' long and could not swallow the 36' LCVP with its ramp up while it's replacement LCM(6) grew to 56' and would easily swallow the LCVP. The Heywood's beam was 56' so a 56' boat would be cramped while a C-2 or C-3 hull would easily accommodate 56'. I started to scratch the LCVPs because I calculated I would eventually need well over 100 and I did not want to change my status wit5h L'arsenal from good customer to shareholder.

pic 2 Front row scratched LCPR vs ISW LCPL. Back row L'arsenal LCVP, scratched LCVP and ISW LCVP.

pic 3 Parts to scratch a LCVP.

jim

pic 4 The dry fit.

Magnifique

..

The LCVPs dhould fit within the cargo decks of the LCMs and the ramps of the LCVPs should be below the tops of the LCM ramps.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/100300623.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/100300622.jpg

From your photos, it appears that the breakwaters attached to the ramps of the LCVPs are too large, both on the purchased boats and on the scratch builds. And purely for reference