Model Monkey Sneak Peeks

[Paul Peterson]

I see the ASROCs fell off the list. Bummer! Not enough interest?

[ModelMonkey]

I see the ASROCs fell off the list. Bummer! Not enough interest?

Offered by another designer. He is likely able to re-scale them for you. Sometimes other designers beat me to the punch.

http://www.shapeways.com/product/7EDTGP ... d=55512095

[Admiral John Byng]

I would be interested in N. Carolina funnels. Great looking ship and I have the kit... somewhere.

[D. Lindsey]

I will also be purchasing the North Carolina funnels, along with the 16" turrets. Any plans for Washington specific superstructure / bridge parts in the future?

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks, fellas!

With regard to Washington, no good 2D drawings have been found from which to make accurate 3D designs and there hasn't been much demand for the products, sadly.

[Mark McKinnis]

Hi Steve,


Any chance you might take a look at doing a 1/350 & 1/700 scale USS America Island? I need one for 700th scale but I would think that there might be some interest in a 1/350 scale version as well.

Thanks,

Mark

[ModelMonkey]

Hi Mark!

PM coming your way.

[SeanF]

Hi Steve,


Any chance you might take a look at doing a 1/350 & 1/700 scale USS America Island? I need one for 700th scale but I would think that there might be some interest in a 1/350 scale version as well.

Thanks,

Mark

I was thinking along the same lines, but for the Reagan and Bush islands. Thus far, Trumpeter doesn't seem inclined to make kits of these two in 1:700 and just grafting on the 1:720 Italeri island is... unsatisfactory to me. (Aside from the slight scale difference, I don't think it's proportioned quite right anyway) I have looked on Shapeways, but didn't find anything (well, not using keywords "Reagan Island" "CVN-76" "CVN-77" and so on. Is there some trick to this? Shapeways search feature seems pretty poor and usually floods my screen with a lot of unrelated nonsense)

- Sean F.

[ModelMonkey]

...I have looked on Shapeways, but didn't find anything (well, not using keywords "Reagan Island" "CVN-76" "CVN-77" and so on. Is there some trick to this? Shapeways search feature seems pretty poor and usually floods my screen with a lot of unrelated nonsense)

- Sean F.

I know your pain. The best way to find products on Shapeways is to use Google. Go to Google and type in "Shapeways" followed by the name of the subject you are looking for.

This technique works much better.

Shapeways is aware its search engine is lacking and is working to improve their engine. It is a legacy problem due to the way designers could originally create their own tags for their products. There was no limit so designers flooded the site with tags that were only somewhat related to the product. Now, designers are limited to 25 tags. Better still, Shapeways now has what it calls "facets", essentially a limited set of Shapeways' own tags designers can choose from. These facets play well with Google. I suspect that designers' ability to make up new tags will soon be retired. But it will be a good while before things stabilize.

Until then, Google is your friend.

[ModelMonkey]

Still waiting for plans for USS Los Angeles to arrive to design an enclosed, Vietnam War-era bridge. So, some work has been done this week on a project that has been on the back-burner for a while.

Calling all USS Texas BB-35 fans! Here's the fore-mast fighting top at about 80% complete.

Edit: design complete.

[janschu]

Hello Steve,

can you do your 5"/54 Mk.16 Single Mounts also in 1/350 scale?
I am planning to scratchbuild a USS Midway (shakedown cruise) so i would need 18 mounts
(9 left and 9 right).

Thanks in advance and greetings from Germany,
Jan Schulz, SIG-Waterline

[ModelMonkey]

Hi Jan!

I'll have them ready for you tomorrow (Tuesday)!

Viele Gr��e! Ich lebte vier Jahre in Aschaffenburg zwischen Frankfurt und W�rzburg. Sch�nes Land und wunderbare Menschen. Ich vermisse Deutschland sehr. Ich vermisse das Essen auch.

Verzeihen Sie meine Sprache, es ist lange her, seit ich das letzte Mal gesprochen habe.

[ModelMonkey]

Hi Jan!

Eighteen 5"/54 Mk.16s are ready in 1/350 scale:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/TJ26L5 ... d=61669890

[ModelMonkey]

Baltimore class fans - the plans from Floating Drydock shipped today priority mail! I should have them shortly.

Please patronize The Floating Drydock.

[ModelMonkey]

Los Angeles plans received from the Floating Drydock. Enclosed bridge for Vietnam-era Baltimores is in design.

[JariL]

Hi,

A question to Model Monkey. Would it be possible to design some of the products so that they have several parts instead of all being one item? I know it is technically possible, rather I guess I am asking if it would be economical given the time required for making the design and printing the parts. For example, I have the Lexington command tower 1942 in 1/350 scale. It would be easier to clean, detail and paint the whole thing if the two highest decks were separate parts from the rest.

Best regards,

Jari

[Admiral John Byng]

USS Los Angeles is in one of the Tintin books. Maybe I should build her as a tribute.

[ModelMonkey]

Hi,

A question to Model Monkey. Would it be possible to design some of the products so that they have several parts instead of all being one item? I know it is technically possible, rather I guess I am asking if it would be economical given the time required for making the design and printing the parts. For example, I have the Lexington command tower 1942 in 1/350 scale. It would be easier to clean, detail and paint the whole thing if the two highest decks were separate parts from the rest.

Best regards,

Jari

Hi Jari and thanks for your patronage!

Excellent question. As you suspect, economics is a big part of why the decks are combined. The other big reason is geometry. I'll do my best to offer Los Angeles/St. Paul as separate decks, with logically located separations.

Rather long explanation follows, sorry about the length (Snickers bar and cup of coffee recommended).

For some designs I choose to offer it as a single part but only after careful consideration. I recognize and acknowledge that combining decks makes the product more difficult for the modeler to clean and paint. I hope to make each design as easy as possible to finish. For Lexington, geometry and economy were both challenges. Ultimately, the pilot house and flag bridge window framing geometry is why the upper decks are combined.

Economy: Indeed, it is certainly possible to design some of the products so that the decks are separate and for some designs I do so (Arizona and Pennsylvania superstructures have multiple parts, for example. All Model Monkey superstructures are actually designed with separate decks to start with.) But separate parts means the already very expensive product will cost even more, sometimes a lot more. The typical reason many of the superstructures come fully assembled is that the superstructure is a less expensive product that way.

Here's why:

Firstly, Shapeways' cost is primarily dependent upon the amount of plastic extruded by the printer. But Shapeways also adds a fee for each additional part to be handled (oven-cleaned, two ultrasonic baths, sorted, etc.). The larger the design, the more important having fewer parts becomes in order to keep the cost down. The cost of these products remains the single biggest complaint by customers. I hear you!

The obvious solution is to attach the parts together with a sprue making them, in effect, a single part. But sprues have drawbacks, too. The sprue also gets 3D-printed which adds to the amount of material required to print the design thus driving up cost. For larger designs like superstructures, this can utterly defeat the reason to have the sprue in the first place. Where the sprue attaches to the part can become problematic, too.

Secondly, the geometry of the design may require that a bulkhead or tripod struts be supported at the top and the bottom. If the bulkhead has open windows like the Lex and Sara pilot house and fighting top do, the fine window framing makes the bulkhead very weak and more likely to get damaged during cleaning, thus, more likely to get rejected and orders canceled.

When Shapeways rejects my designs requiring alterations, it is almost always for open window framing thickness. The two most effective solutions are 1) sandwich the bulkhead between two decks, and/or 2) thicken the framing. For 1/350, frame thickening of short framing members can often be done to look reasonably in scale. But not for 1/700, the windows get effectively closed off. Sometimes, frame thickening isn't enough, particularly when the length of the framing members is long. Lex and Sara and the Vietnam War-era Essex bridges fell into this problem. Sandwiching the bulkheads between decks was the only practical solution for Lex, Sara and the Essexes.

Sorry about the long explanation. And other than the combined decks issue, I hope you found the Lexington island design to be very pleasing.

On to the Baltimores!

[ModelMonkey]

For Vietnam War-era Baltimores, there are sufficient references to design enclosed bridges for USS St. Paul CA-73 and USS Los Angeles CA-135. There are some differences between the two.

So here they are at 50% complete.

The designs are still very rough and some adjustments will be made to what you see here to better reflect photographs of the real ships. The designs are being drawn in 1/192nd scale for later re-scaling to 1/700 (Trumpeter, Waveline/SkyWave/Pit-Road), 1/600 (Aurora), 1/490 (Revell) and 1/350 (ISW, YMW and Trumpeter - we hope). Other scales are possible. In smaller scales, the SPG-25 radar antenna atop the Mk.37 director is not printable. Hopefully, as technology matures, it will be.

[maxim]

Good that the references are sufficient, very cool!