The Ship Model Forum

carr wrote:Away All Boats!

carr, last year I actually bought the book. The local library did not have it. I enjoyed both the book and the movie looooong ago. I knew I was going to build some APA's and was looking for information/inspiration. The ship the book describes is a Bayfield class C3-S-A2 APA, 492' loa and 69.5 beam. Hope to build one in the future.

Russ2146 wrote: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.
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.

Russ, nothing irritates me more than criticism when I am both correct and seriously tried to explain why. The text in the post you replied to discussed both variants of the LCM. Why did you ignore this? The source for all data I quote is Friedman's U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft.

There were two variants of the LCM used in WWII.

Type.................LOA............length cargo...........service

LCM(3)...............50'..................31'6"...............1942 to 1944, 1945 modified to (6)
LCM(6)...............56...................37'6"...............1944 +

The LCVP used late in the war was 35'9". It DID NOT easily fit in the 31'6" well of the LCM(3) without the ramp being partially open. It fit very nicely in the 37'6" well of the LCM(6).

L'arsenal's LCVP and LCM(3) are both very accurate. Mine are very close. The Navsource photo that convinced you we were wrong is a May 1945 refit of the Heywood. She was then fitted with LCM(6)s because LCM(3)s no longer were standard, the LCVPs nested very well in the LCM(6). All 1944+ production was (6) and in 1945 the USN CONVERTED (3)s to (6)s.

I am building a 1944 Heywood (pic 1), at that time she carried (3)s.

pic 2 shows Welin davit construction and the poor fit of LCVPs in a LCM(3).

Jim

Most everything made & painted (still have to cast some large oval rafts).

Pic 1 A clean ship, this state will not last long, she is going to be considerably weathered.

pic 2 In the background is the "isolation block", the delicate assemblies store well there. On a clear plastic sheet is the masking residue for the ship proper with the plan underneath.

Jim

Plugging away, a lot of what can be seen now will eventually be covered with boats.

Jim

This is a lot of fun to look at!
Well done! I certainly learned a lot reading your thread.
KUTGW!
Guido

Done...

Jim

More,

pic 1 I like comparisons - gives a sense of scale - Heywood with an APD

pic 2&3 The final test...does the model look like the picture???

Jim

That's some fantastic work. You turn out scratch-builds at three times the rate I could build a kit!

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Beautiful!
BZ!

Cheers,
Guido

just outstanding work man!

Thanks to all for your interest.

carr wrote:By the way, how do you display your models when you finish them? As is? Set into a water base? Something else?

I leave them as you see them. I guess that reason for no sea base is that I always wanted to build a fleet and a base would "individualize" any single ship.

Also, much less space to store. The cabinet in the pics was "bashed" from two IKEA IVARS (added wood back and lower front, glassed in the rest). The space for ships is 69" x 46" x 12". Currently have 49 ships there and am nearing capacity.

Jim

Awesome work Jim!




Bob Pink.

Hi Jim,

a very clean and sharp build - and by the way also a fast build

I like it very much and wait for some more fine ship models

Innovative methodology!

I like the end result very much!



Jim Baumann

Great work as always Jim, You have quite the fleet amassing there. What is next up in the yards?

Matt

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carr wrote:I see two carriers that appear to be Essex class and is that top one a Midway?! Perhaps a Yorktown class in the future? Or maybe the Wasp? Do you do modern warships? Keep up the good work and please keep posting!

Bob,

When I retired and started to build again, my goal was to build a USN Fast Carrier Task Group. I decided I would concentrate on the USN with a mid to late 1944 time period and Leyte Gulf as the core - the history was fantastic and there was a variety of "looks", dazzle, 21 and 22. The 3 CV's are all Essex class, Yorktown, Hornet and Hancock (the Ultimate, the Original and the Mistake). There are also 2 scratched CVL's. I then did a 5/6 correct Surigao Strait battle line and am now building the "others". That photo is 3 years old, there is also an Enterprise (wood hull - new flight deck) and a 1942 Lexington to 1944 Saratoga conversion. I will keep posting, my kit builds are nothing noteworthy but my scratch builds of obscure subjects are incomparable - there is nothing to compare them to...

jim

taskforce48 wrote:What is next up in the yards?

Matt,

The APA's have really gotten a grip on me, so the hulls for two C-3 APA's are now under construction. The dining room table is clear, so I have to do taxes before I fill it up again, but lots of progress can still be made.

jim

Starting to work on two C3-S-A2 APAs, APA-34 Bolivar and APA-95 Burleigh (which will only be similar to the Revell model of the same name and hull #, I will show details when I have them). The weather has been so nice (70's to 80's) that I also went ahead and started four C2-S-B1 hulls, an AGC, an APA and two AKAs, as always I was intrigued by variations on a theme. Hulls and landing craft both need lots of cutting and sanding, all of which I do outside and in a few months will have limited availability (mornings only).

Pic 1 has the four C2s on the left, two C3s and a Liberty Ship for comparison.

Pic 2 shows the effect of different keel depths on the C2 hulls, the AGC in the foreground has a LWL of 22'9", the two AKAs in the background have a LWL of 25'9" and I put the APA in between.

Pic 3 is progress on more LCVPs

Pic 4 is the start on LCMs

Jim

The four C2s have been put in the "stash", the two C3s have most of the major parts roughed out. The Burleigh will now go on "hold", if I try to take two ships any further I will become terminally confused.

Pic 1 Bolivar in foreground, Burleigh and Heywood. Just for the heck of it , I eyeballed the hull sheer line of a C3 vs the Heywood and was surprised to find that they were almost identical.

Pic 2 No boats, Bolivar in foreground and Burleigh in background. You can see Burleigh has extra "cubage" aft of the stack and on top of the #4 hatch position, in the fall of 1944 she was fitted out as a "relief AGC". This also reduced LCVP capacity by 4. There is a picture of Burleigh in this fit in both Friedman's amphibious book and navsource.

Pic 3 Boats added.

Pic 4 The Revell Burleigh vs mine. The kit is really a cargo C3. even though the box art calls the ship PA-95, she is missing boats, covered over #4 hatch and the extra cubage.

Jim

If you could, I would suggest casting resin copies of the landing craft. The ships are fabulous, and deserve some epecial treatment for everything that the actuals have done!!