The Ship Model Forum

That's right, Tom - these will fill the bill!!!

I've got mine on order

Here is a current picture of the starboard after deckhouse w/CliffyB's ship's emblem that he made for me in his Illustrator graphics program - We put this emblem up when we made port calls, etc. - sort of a welcome aboard for visitors!

If you notice, the Mk. 37 director - that's the replaced item from Shapeways (Model_Monkey) and will soon be completed with radar dish assembly after I return from a week's PTO/Holiday.

The emblem is a nice touch. When I went aboard in '68, I went through one of those doors as we went up the aft brow. Neat stuff.

Now I know what that bracket was for that I built on my Missouri!

Coming along really well! Tom

Mark, Tom - thanks so much for the kind words. Always welcome.

I got my Shapeways order for the Mk. 37 Radar Dish Assembly - WOW!!! they are spectacular!!! Model_Monkey outdid himself on this project - I hope to post some photos in when I return to the shop in a week or so.

Hank

Hank:

Glad that the radar assembly came out well. I hope that it isn't too fragile! PE is frustrating to try to turn a 2D item into a 3D item, if strong enough perhaps the 3D has some really good possibilities.

Building the other aircraft/boat crane today, a rather tedious item, piece by piece.

Cheers: Tom

Thanks, CB!!!

BB62vet wrote:I got my Shapeways order for the Mk. 37 Radar Dish Assembly - WOW!!! they are spectacular!!! Model_Monkey outdid himself on this project - I hope to post some photos in when I return to the shop in a week or so.

Hank

Thanks! Can't wait to see them on your New Jersey!

Next time you upload pictures is it possible to post a picture of the whole ship? I'd love to see how she looks so far.

Steve - I will start work on the Mk. 37 Radars in about a week when I'm back at my shop.

TKO wrote:

Next time you upload pictures is it possible to post a picture of the whole ship? I'd love to see how she looks so far.

Tom,

As this is a top down build, I've only been working on the superstructure up to this point. I'll see if I can't get a shot or two of the entire superstructure - I haven't started the hull/main deck yet.

Hank

tko24 wrote:Next time you upload pictures is it possible to post a picture of the whole ship? I'd love to see how she looks so far.

I too would like to see a shot of that. I imagine it is quite impressive.

No hull work done at this point as I mentioned above. Hopefully, soon!!

Hank

Interesting how we build ship models, the opposite from actual ship construction, we typically start with the top and extremities and work downward!

Looking forward to photo updates, most likely after turkey is digested!

Cheers: Tom

Yes, Turkey first, next week some photos. Digestion in between!

Dec. 2015 Progress -

Well, I started work on finishing the Mk. 37 FC Directors last night - the Shapeways Mk. 25 radars come (4) on a wafer - see photo: Once these were painted (Monday night) I attempted to remove them from the molding wafer. First, separating into 4 separate units and then removing each part from the wafer. In attempting to do this, I managed to quickly destroy 3 of the 4 units. These are extremely fragile and it doesn't take anything at all to ruin them. The last one I managed to remove (45 minutes of work) using a cordless Dremel tool with 1/2" dia. abrasive wheel and then mounted on one of the 4 director bodies: So, after 2 1/2 hours of work, I have one completed unit, 3 destroyed units and a lot of frustration over it all.

I did, HOWEVER, purchase a 2nd wafer of 4 units so tonight I will begin the process again - this time taking EXTRA care in how I remove the unit from the wafer base.

My recommendation to anyone else purchasing the MK. 37 FC director from Shapeways (Model Monkey) is to buy the FC director WITH the radar unit included - you will only have to worry about painting it, not separating it from a baseplate. Had the final version been available when I made my purchases, I would have done that also. This recommendation does NOT apply to those building a MISSIOURI or IOWA in the WWII or Korean War versions of the class. This FC Director/radar unit only applies to mid-50s - present.

The overall results are very good, my photo doesn't really enhance the unit, but seeing it on the model really looks a lot better than my first scratchbuilt attempts.

Hank

The completed unit looks awesome!

BB62vet wrote:...My recommendation to anyone else purchasing the MK. 37 FC director from Shapeways (Model Monkey) is to buy the FC director WITH the radar unit included - you will only have to worry about painting it, not separating it from a baseplate...
Hank

Unfortunately, Shapeways has rejected that design in 1/200 scale. I sent that scale's electronic file to Carl Allsop at 3DModelparts. He uses a different technology to print and can produce finer open structures like a lattice. Let's hope he will be able to print the combined Mk.37 Director with Mk.25 Radar.

I'd like to take a crack at the radar assembly, separate from the director. I can see 2 ways to attempt overcoming the wafer issue. Steve sent me the Mk37 plus radar, but I think we can skin the cat without Hank having to re-do all the directors. Can that be a separate file?

With sincerest apologies to any cat fans out there. Figure-of-speech and all...

-Carl

Hate to say it but it looks like you're simply bumping up against the limits of the technology here. The radar units look great but also look like they could be crushed by breathing on them. That lattice would be better if done in photoetch me thinks...

cba@3dmodelparts wrote:I'd like to take a crack at the radar assembly, separate from the director. I can see 2 ways to attempt overcoming the wafer issue. Steve sent me the Mk37 plus radar, but I think we can skin the cat without Hank having to re-do all the directors. Can that be a separate file?...
-Carl

If I understand right, I'll send you a file with just the radar, no director, nor wafer. Is that right?

Channell wrote:Hate to say it but it looks like you're simply bumping up against the limits of the technology here. The radar units look great but also look like they could be crushed by breathing on them. That lattice would be better if done in photoetch me thinks...

There are definitely strength advantages to PE for some structures. 3D-printing has other advantages. Presently, 3D printing and PE compliment each other, which is good for all of us.

Yes, the designs not only push printing technology, they push the software, too. For example, some shapes are too complex for affordable software to render. Also, the designs have to be under 65MB for Shapeways to accept it (this is why the twin 5-inch mounts are sold only singly or in pairs; too many turrets or two many parts = too big a file). Some features, like a planked deck, blow up file size. And very big files push printing technology. Balancing design requirements with printing requirements can be a vicious self-consuming circle. I was able to include planked decks for USS Portland but we're all still waiting to see how a planked deck looks 3D-printed.