1/192 HMS DORSETSHIRE Scratchbuild

bwross11 · Post by **bwross11** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:57 pm

Very nice work Steve! Plenty of inspiration to get back to work on my own project.

Bruce

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:05 am

I�m still progressing with the deck planking. As this shot taken from above shows, the planking of the superstructure deck is complete while the main deck is about 3/5 done.

I�ve also been working on some smaller details and subassemblies. This rather odd looking structure is one of the boiler room airvents. On the real ship the concave curved surfaces were hinged at the top and bottom and opened upwards and downwards like a clam shell to provide combustion air for the ship�s boilers.

In this photo some additional detail has been added to the basic structure using plastric strip.

There will be two of them located between the funnels.

These photos show the technique I use for adding handrails to the superstructure. I use .020� rod by Plastruct, which I find is more consistently round than Evergreen rod in the smaller sizes. First, I mark the level of the handrail and then drill appropriately spaced holes for the supports. Small lengths of rod are cemented into the holes so that they protrude out from the surface.

I then use a small piece of tubing which has been sliced very thin as a guide and cut the protruding rods off at a uniform length using nail clippers.

A piece of rod is then cut a bit longer than the section of railing and one end is tacked to its support using liquid cement, such as Ambroid ProWeld.

The rail is then cemented to each of the supports in turn, the ends are trimmed and you have your section of handrail.

Thanks as always for the comments and interest.

ARH · Post by **ARH** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 am

Thats looking very impressive Steve,

Jefgte · Post by **Jefgte** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:14 am

High quality work

Jef

Devin · Post by **Devin** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 9:49 am

Love the depth gauge for cutting off the handrail mount length. That's the second great tip I've got from this board this week.

She's looking lovely Steve.

-Devin

Ship Model Gallery · Post by **MartinJQuinn** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:12 am

Wow!! She looks awesome Steve! Great stuff!

Reid · Post by **Reid** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:33 pm

VERY nice can't wait to see more!!!

Reid

Edward Pinniger · Post by **Edward Pinniger** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:44 am

Looks great! The fine detail on the cranes, fittings and 4" guns is very impressive. Might inspire me to start work on the Belfast again (although I doubt it will look half as good as your work).
I haven't really been following any of the builds in this forum lately, but will definitely take the time to do so from now on... there's some amazing work here.

You mentioned using Plastruct rod for the handrails - have you had any problems gluing this? I've never managed to get Plastruct to glue reliably using styrene cement (I use Revell Contacta)

wr · Post by wr » Tue Dec 19, 2006 1:49 pm

I have been off line for a while and therefore only just seen your articles.
It is nice to see someone tackling an original subject for a change.
With this in mind I noticed a few small things that you might be interested in. The position of the twin 4" mounts should be forward of number one and three funnels, which means that the platforms should also be moved forward. The fore to aft measurement of the twin 4"platforms should also be changed as should the pom pom platform which is much to large.
I can understand how these errors came about by using Ough's plans which are inaccurate in sutle ways.
If you are interested I can send you some material that may be of help to you. Please let me know.

Laurent · Post by **Laurent** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:08 pm

Hi all !

WOW !

I overlooked this building report for ( to me ) unknown reasons , I shoudn't have done it ...

Am I glad I joined this forum , you all are impressing me a lot ...

regards ,

laurent

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:20 am

Epinniger-In addition to their main line in grey plastic (abs?) Plastruct also makes some products in white styrene. The .020" rod that I use is one of these and works quite well with plastic cement. Where I live most hobby shops carry the Plastruct grey line, but only one, which is mostly oriented to model railroading carries the styrene. As I said above, the Plastruct rod in very small diameters just seems to be a litlle bit truer than the Evergreen. Once you get above .040" there is little to choose between the two. I hope you can get back to your Belfast soon, as I was following it with great interest and think you have made a great start.

wr-The sizes locations of the secondary armament platforms are the result of my efforts to interpret what photographs of the ship I have been able to find and overlay them on Ough's plan of her as originally constructed in 1930. Any errors are probably my fault not his. I had thought (and hoped) that I had gotten them right. I would be grateful for any assistance of information that you could provide and very much appreciate your interest in the project.

Thanks to everyone else who has commented on the build. It is very gratifying to receive compliments and encouragement from the people who participate in this forum. As others have stated, there is a lot of terrific work going on here.

KV_Pharaoh · Post by **KV_Pharaoh** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:20 pm

Wow, great work on this project. It it looking great, I cant wait until you get the contrast between those beautiful decks and the superstructure. The handrails are a great addition that really makes a model come alive
Keep up the great work and keep the updates coming

Regards
Paul

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:29 pm

wr-

In light of your comments I have been spending time since the New Year going back over photos of Dorsetshire and Ough�s plans. As I stated early on in the build articles, I do not have (nor do I know of) any plans of the ship post her 1937 refit, and had tried, using photos, to overlay the post �37 layout on Ough�s plan of her in 1930. As you pointed out, in doing so it looks like I made some mistakes and so, apparently, did Ough.

In trying to analyze your comments I have referred mainly to three photographs- the broadside superstructure views of Norfolk and Dorsetshire on pages 10-11 of Man o�War 1 and an overhead photo of Ough�s model of Dorsetshire in drydock in PC Coker�s Building Warship Models. I also have numerous other good quality photos of the Ough model (kindly provided to me by a ModelWarships.com forum reader). I enlarged the two broadside photos to 1/16"=1' based on the distance between the centerlines of the first and third funnels being 68'. I was thereby able to scale distances off the photos fairly accurately, I think (realizing that there can be pitfalls in doing this). Unfortunately the Norfolk photo is the more useful of the two as it appears to have been taken more nearly perpendicular to the ship�s centerline than the Dorsetshire photo, so hopefully the two ships were indeed virtually identical.

wr wrote:The position of the twin 4" mounts should be forward of number one and three funnels, which means that the platforms should also be moved forward.

On looking at the photos with this comment in mind it was immediately apparent to me that I had made some sort of an error in the platforms' locations. I believe, however, that the forward platform may actually be correct, or very nearly so. As I have built it, the centerline of the gun mount is two feet ahead of the CL of the forward funnel. From the photos I cannot derive exactly what this dimension should be, but two feet or so looks about right to me. The aft platform is clearly mis-positioned as I apparently assumed that the rear of the platform was where the superstructure deck originally ended. An attentive look at any number of photos would have shown me that this was incorrect-a silly oversight on my part. From what I can determine the aft platform should be moved forward about five feet. This will put the CL of the aft gun mounts two feet ahead of the aft funnel CL and give the mount and platform the same relationship to the aft funnel as the fore mount has to the fore funnel. The space between the fore and aft platforms, which accomodates the 35' motorboat , will become 45', which corresponds closely with the photos.

wr wrote:The fore to aft measurement of the twin 4"platforms should also be changed as should the pom pom platform which is much to large.

What I derive from the photos is that the fore and aft measurement of the 4" platforms was 23'-24' and the pom pom platforms appear virtually the same. Mine scale 23' on the model. Is this incorrect? Do you know the actual dimensions for these platforms? I�m not implying that I know better here, I am just relating what the photos seem to show.

wr wrote: I can understand how these errors came about by using Ough's plans which are inaccurate in sutle ways.

It appears to me that Ough may have erred in the area between the forward superstructure and the aft superstructure where the torpedo tubes, torpedo workshop and blacksmith shop are located. From the photos it appears that this area may be �squeezed� somewhat on his plan with too little space between the two. Is this what you were referring to?

wr wrote: If you are interested I can send you some material that may be of help to you. Please let me know.

As I stated before I would be extremely grateful for any information that you could provide. Do I need to get in touch with you off-line, if so, what is the best way to do that?. Thanks again for your interest.

wr · Post by wr » Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:25 am

The best thing that I can suggest is to obtain from the NMM the "as fitted "plans. THese will give you accurate information, but at the same time it may make you wish to consider major alterations.
If I remember correctly the Ough plans show the ship before the 1930s refit.
I have heard recently that there is a project to produce a large scale kit of one of the Counties using Oughs plans, but NOT of the Dorsetshire.
I mentioned that this would produce a badly inaccurate end product. I believe however that my advice was/has been ignored. I find this to be a very unfortunate state of affairs when the correct set of plans is readily available.

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:54 pm

I will inquire about obtaining the plans from NMM.

wr · Post by wr » Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:28 pm

I have been informed that the museum allows digital photos to be taken free of charge. If you know of someone who can make a visit this will reduce you costs greatly.
Placing a request on the boards for this assistence may help.
PLease let me know how you get on.

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 12:23 pm

I've took my camera in there before, but there are barriers like having to fill in forms and make an appointment before your even let in the door!

Also they question exactly what you want the information for, but as its model making this won't be a problem.

They will post them in a tube to you via airmail and usually do you full sized copies, on the day if your there, or if ordered via email or telephone they normally post that or the next day, so expect 1-2 weeks from the time of order until they hit your door in the USA.

They are much more efficient that the IWM.

I would offer to go there and take the pictures for you Steve with a scale rule on the plan, but its a 200-mile round trip and would cost me about �40 to get there and back.

Perhaps someone in London might offer to help or we can wait until I've spoke to others here in the UK.

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:51 pm

Thanks, Laurence. I'll wait to hear back from them and see what they have. Every ship modeller should have some genuine NMM plans in their collection. Ironically, I visted NMM back in March, but unfortunately didn't realise I would be in need of this information.

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:10 pm

Steve Sobieralski wrote:Thanks, Laurence. I'll wait to hear back from them and see what they have. Every ship modeller should have some genuine NMM plans in their collection. Ironically, I visted NMM back in March, but unfortunately didn't realise I would be in need of this information.

Well there not at Greenwich, there more on the outskirts of SE London at Woolwich Arsenal in an out-station called the Brass Foundry, just to make life even more simple!

Steve Sobieralski · Post by **Steve Sobieralski** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 2:34 pm

Well, Greenwich or SE London, it's a moot point to me now. Good to know if I ever make it back, though.