Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: AlisterL on February 07, 2011, 09:05:19 am
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In the interests of my sanity, I decided that I needed something else to work on while procrastinating about the hard bits on my ULCC build.
I had been eyeing up the Hibbard ever since I purchased the magazine it was in back in October 2002 - actually, due to my location, I probably got it in November of December 2002...
Anyway, for those of you not familiar with the Hibbard, she is a modern semi-scale (stand-off scale) guided missile destroyer based loosely on the Arleigh-Burke class ships of the US Navy at 1:144 or so. That's what I recall from the article Mr Guest wrote to accompany the plan - my apologies to him if I have anything wrong.
Googling the Hibbard finds the plan but not any actual builds - well, that my Googling could find anyway... I looked at several plans from MB and MMI and eventually chose the Hibbard over the Nouveau (a modern commuter launch) in the April 2002 MMI as I wasn't sure I could find the rights types of wood here in dear old NZ...
Anyway, I studied the Hibbard, Googled for images of guided missile destroyers and considered altering the superstructure of the Hibbard, but have - I think - decided not to do that as I would run the risk of ruining the balance the Mr Guest achieves in his models. By which I mean the look the model, not inducing a list or something...
The next requirement was balsa - what a mission! Hard to find model shops in Auckland that supply a range of sizes and the price! 100 x 6 x 915 (or 4 x 1/4 x 36 depending on where you grew up) could be up to $11 per sheet! That's highway robbery in anyone's language! Eventually I found an online only supplier in NZ (based in Whangarei for any curious Kiwi's out there - Atomic Hobby Supplies) who had imported balsa supplies (imported cut to size rather than cut in NZ) and got 5 sheets at 100 x 6 and 5 at 100 x 5 delivered for $60. From a local hobby shop, 5 sheets was going to cost a minimum of $45 plus delivery. And lets not mention grades of balsa - there's only one grade here and it's what's in stock - none of this soft, medium or hard malarky! I think the stuff I have is somewhere between soft and medium - it's definitely not hard...
Anyway a prop shaft, prop and various other bits were required. I toyed for several days with ordering all the bits from Cornwall Model Boats - it looked like I could get all that I needed delivered for less than $100NZ. Eventually I decided to support my LHS (or nearly the LHS) and bought some bits from them. A 300mm proptube and shaft assembly, a prop and one half of a universal coupling for about $45NZ. Hmm - cheaper from the UK I think as the CMB order would have included 2 props, 2 shafts, 2 complete universal coupling and a Graupner 600 series 7.2v Eco motor (as specified by the estimable Mr Guest)...
Am I being a bit wordy? Probably so - so here's a pic or two:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2oblwry04/01_Hull_Pieces.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2oblwry04/)
Hull pieces cut as per the plan (more or less anyway). And all while epoxy was setting on the ULCC (yeah right...)
Some pieces getting stuck together:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2oc2g5exw/02_Hibbard_Hull.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2oc2g5exw/)
Some more pieces stuck on:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2oe1k9c6c/03_Hull_And_Bulkheads.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2oe1k9c6c/)
At this point it seemed to me that the hull bottom had a bit of a twist to it. "xxxxx" said I. After a few days of applying weights to no effect, I settled for a bit of steam from a boiling jug, some more weights and going away for a family birthday for three days. Oh - and ensuring that I had as flat a work bench as I could - by getting piece of 18mm MDF to use. The result is a hull so close to flat that it's close enough to work with. Probably the cheap balsa - haha!
So I stuck the deck on:
(http://s4.postimage.org/lh8b9mlg/04_Deck.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/lh8b9mlg/)
Anyway, that's almost where I'm up to, I'll get up to date in another post some other time.
(ROFLMAO - I've been automatically edited! I couldn't figure out how those X's got in place during the preview. I promise to try not to use NZ English again - but if you see X's you will know I failed ;))
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Great stuff looking forward to this build indeed :-))
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Looking good so far Alister O0
I've got that same plan squirreled away in my archive for a (very distant) future build.
Looking forward to your future postings on this one :-))
Enjoy the build.
Regards,
Ray.
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Thanks for your comments!
I tried test fitting the aft hull section and transom and had a mild panic until I looked at the plan and realised that transom sits at an angle! And things suddenly made more sense...
I sanded the angles on transom, gave things a good test fitting, adjusted things a bit, stuck some pins in it and looked at it some more. Given that it all looked reasonable, I glued the transom and remaining hull piece on.
And left it for a few days.
Then I attacked it with the sandpaper.
The end result is shown here:
(http://s1.postimage.org/22dyqr5c4/05_Hull.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/22dyqr5c4/)
And this is the current state of the hull.
The eagle eyed will have spotted in my first post that the length of the prop tube and shaft was 300mm - which is a tad bit too long. I measured from the plan the length of the tube and that came out around 145mm. Of course I needed to salvage the bearing so the first thing I did was cut off the end 20mm or so could do that. The bearing took quite a bit of work to extract - more than I had expected actually. I had previously successfully and quite easily removed the bearing from a tube from the same manufacturer (S.A.B - a NZ company) so I knew if could be done. I think the difficulty rose from not having enough tube to put in my vice without squeezing on the bearing as well. Anyway, I got it out eventually - after having chased it over the garage floor a time or two :)
I then cut the remaining tube down to about 145mm taking particular care after the cut to file the end of the tube off square:
(http://s1.postimage.org/22exh1fpg/06_Chopped_Prop_Shaft.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/22exh1fpg/)
and with the bearing back in place the whole thing is just over 145mm:
(http://s1.postimage.org/22f436tok/07_Finished_Shaft.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/22f436tok/)
And that is where we are up to. I have marked out where one edge of the tube should be on the hull, but I have not cut or drilled anything at this point.
I still need to decide how to power this model - whether I go and get a Speed 600 motor, use one of my many can motors salvaged from various things or even go with a brushless option. I need to ponder all this and weigh up options and costs. Ideally I'd have all this sorted out before locating the tube and shaft.
Watch this space I guess :)
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Re-reading the construction article reminds me that the motor used was a Speed 600 8.4, not a 7.2, and that with 4 D cells run time at full gallop was 1/2 an hour.
As most rechargeable D cells are (now) 9Ah - that means the motor might have been drawing up to 18 amps - surely not! I would have guessed at a max of 5 amps? Comments appreciated.
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I solved the motor problem - waaay too many brushless options to select the right one and I don't have the budget to experiment. So that leaves leftover can motors or something bought for purpose.
A trial of can motors was very interesting: A large (maybe 700 size) 18v motor from a cordless Black & Decker weedeater turned over oh-so-nicely on a single AA NIMH - but squealed badly on 7.2v and given that tapping the motor would stop and start the squeal it obviously had a problem in it somewhere. The other two motors wouldn't run on a single cell, but needed two and were obviously fast and pulled about .8 amps.
What other options then? Well the motor for the ULCC is a very nice one... .4 amps at 6v, quiet and smooth, nominally 12v, but runs on a single cell and its easier for me run a 12v motor at 6,7 or 12 volts than it is to run a 8.4 at 4.8... So I got two of these (http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=YM2770&CATID=9&form=CAT&SUBCATID=306) - one to replace the geared down can motor in the Zwarte Zee and one for the Hibbard.
Anyway... Testing the new motor in the Zwarte Zee required some mucking about and a little bit of metal work. Plug it all and and test - hmm, no speed control - always on full , direction changes, but no central off position and no variation in speed. Neutral doesn't adjust, full speed adjust doesn't - weirdness! Check, re-check, test - problem keeps occurring. Change ESC (from Electronize 43HX) to Rokraft - problem fixed. Adjust neutral - even better. What is current draw? Good question - insert digital multimeter into circuit. No dice - can see Rokraft indicating throttle reverse, but no motor movement. Check, adjust, miss obvious, keep missing obvious, remove ammeter, test (ok), re-insert ammeter, miss obvious, test (fail), remove, repeat, wash, rinse, frustration abounding... click (what's that?) click (huh?) smoke... Something shorted somewhere - I think inside the Rokraft (I bought cheap and I thought unused) - and it is now knackered. And so, it seems is the Electronize...
And the obvious thing I missed? The lead on the multimeter still plugged into the V/Ohms socket and not the Amps... duh...
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So only small amounts of progress have been made - it's been very hot here and that has not been conducive to getting much done of an evening.
However I have managed to build the motor mount as seen below:
(http://s3.postimage.org/3ji5oqkk/08_Motor_Mount_Side.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3ji5oqkk/)
The side view is definitely it's best!
(http://s3.postimage.org/3js2wtj8/09_Motor_Mount_Front.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3js2wtj8/)
The front view is not the good at all. In short, this was piece of metal flat along it's length but with a 90 degree flange along the long edge. I straightened it out with pliers, slowly working my way along the length, bending the flange out as flat as I could, then attacked it with a hammer to render it reasonably smooth. Holes were then measured and drilled, and then the new 90 degree bend put in it. I very nearly stuffed that up and had to take some remedial work to get it nice - with a hammer of course. The yucky front view is due to me trying be smart and putting breathing holes in it to match those in the front of the motor - they are ever so slightly in the wrong place... However it needs to be functional not beautiful (or that's what I'm saying anyway). The finish of the mount is not helped by the way the filing I have done has removed some black paint finish on the metal. Maybe I should repaint it :)
I have also shortened the prop shaft and added a flat on it for the one half of the universal coupling to sit into nicely:
(http://s1.postimage.org/1dznfgbgk/10_Shaft_Tube_Final.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1dznfgbgk/)
One of these days I'll get brave and put the shaft into the hull...
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It is my suggestion that drilling holes and putting the prop tube in a hull is the most stressful part of a build...
My little helper:
(http://s3.postimage.org/18zity938/11_Little_Helper.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/18zity938/)
First I drilled a couple of small diameter holes, then some larger:
(http://s3.postimage.org/18zsr6c1w/12_smallhole.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/18zsr6c1w/)
and then still larger holes:
(http://s3.postimage.org/18zzdbq10/13_halfway.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/18zzdbq10/)
by which time there was no going back.
Balsa, being soft, made it easy to use a small chisel to shape and widen the holes - the end result:
(http://s3.postimage.org/1909ajszo/14_Alignment_Aft.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1909ajszo/)
and:
(http://s3.postimage.org/190o6dxfo/15_Alignment_Fore.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/190o6dxfo/)
Glue time! Before I glue I use some 80 grit sandpaper on the brass tube:
(http://s3.postimage.org/1913281vo/16_Ruff_It_Up.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1913281vo/)
The glue baked off very quickly in the warm afternoon, the result was not a tidy as one would hope:
(http://s3.postimage.org/1916daqv8/17_PS_Final.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1916daqv8/)
And that's where we are today.
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Late last night, on the way to bed (does this happen to anyone else?) i stopped off to do some more work - entirely unintentionally - and ended up figuring out what height the motor support block needed to be:
(http://s4.postimage.org/1fj3q23tw/18_motor_locating_1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1fj3q23tw/)
That would be, roughly, 3/32" at the low end and 19/64" at the high :)
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Greetings to all.
I finished the motor mount off during the week, glued it in place and screwed the motor in as a final check - all good. Motor is now removed for ease of construction:
(http://s1.postimage.org/p1b1u69w/18_5_Motor_Mount.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p1b1u69w/)
In hindsight, I think I have made the prop tube/shaft a bit too short - I needed to make the holes for it in the hull and bulkhead before cutting the shaft and tube down to a size based on motor location rather than moving the motor to the prop shaft - that would probably have made sizing the mount a bit easier as there would have been a meatier piece of balsa to contend with. However it is done and it works.
I then set about the rudder bits and bobs. I scrounged up some 3/16 tube and, while trying to find some 5/32 rod, realised that the aluminium off-cut from the prop was indeed 5/32 - problem solved.
Some measuring and cutting later resulted in the rudder tube and a shaft. The shaft require a slot cut in it to accommodate the blade of the rudder and that was done with a combination of a small hacksaw and a high speed Dremel-like thing with a cutting attachment. Given that I was using brass sheet for the rudder and aluminium for the shaft I epoxied the rudder to the shaft after roughing up the surfaces of each with 80 grit paper.
Previously to that I had drilled the hole for the rudder tube in the hull. I started with 1/8, realised I had the angle slightly wrong and corrected it with the 3/16 bit:
(http://s1.postimage.org/p2lcvw3o/19_Rudder_Tube.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p2lcvw3o/)
I like to let the rudder tube protrude ever so slightly below the bottom of the hull, just to prevent any chance of the the rudder moving and binding or scraping against the hull:
(http://s1.postimage.org/p2rz1a2s/20_Rudder_Tube_Angle.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p2rz1a2s/)
I used CA to glue the tube in. What I do is to first rough up the surface, then push the tube into the hole, but leave a fair bit poking out. I then apply the CA around the tube and push it into place. The idea is that the CA both binds the tube in place as well as providing a bit of water proofing of the inside of the wooden (balsa) hole. Probably doesn't matter a damn, but I do it anyway.
Anyway, the finished rudder is put in place and held with a temporary fitting at the top:
(http://s1.postimage.org/p3ifmtz8/21_Rudder_Assembly.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p3ifmtz8/)
It seems rather large! But is exactly as per the plan.
Remaining item: Finish off (start!) the tiller - probably a bit of brass sheet soldered to the fitting seen in the previous photo. That fitting is obviously supposed to be go on a motor or prop shaft, but previously I tried drilling out the hole in it and made it wonky - too wonky to use for a motor or prop shaft as it would be off-centre and out of balance, but fine for a rudder with it's limited range of movement.
A picture says a thousand words (and I nearly had that many here describing the problem that is illustrated below):
(http://s1.postimage.org/p6l8n32c/22_Problem.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p6l8n32c/)
See that gap (MSPaint wouldn't let me put an arrow head on the curved line) - I added a strip of 1/16 balsa along the edge of the deck sheet and sanded appropriately. Problem solved.
And that's where it's at today.
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(http://s2.postimage.org/1s7q8zo10/23_Rudder_Connector.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1s7q8zo10/)
Annoyingly, about the only thing that's in focus in this photo is the net curtain at the back! But you can see that the push rod from the server to the rudder is now in place. And that means that the rudder is now irremovable.
As I mentioned previously I used that knackered bit of brass connector as the basis for the rudder arm. I cut off the excess brass, doubled some thin brass sheet over (to stiffen it enough) and then soldered the two bits together using a gas bottle. I didn't realise the brass would retain the heat as much as it did, so when I went to move the arm to quench it, the brass fitting moved about on a sea of solder! I grabbed some pliers to reposition it which also took enough heat out of it to allow the solder to solidify. A bit of tidy up of the piece with a file, some extra holes for the push rod connector (I think it's called a clevis?) and away we went. A little bit of adjusting to get the rudder plumb when connected to the servo, and it's now complete and tested with a bit of radio gear to ensure good and free movement.
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Greetings to all,
time to sheet the hull (so much for doing this when I'm not working on the ULCC!)
Sheeting the stern:
(http://s4.postimage.org/1rkq4cco4/24_Hull_Sheeting_Stern.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1rkq4cco4/)
Sheeting the bow:
(http://s4.postimage.org/1rkv2ye5g/25_Hull_Sheeting_Bow.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1rkv2ye5g/)
Lots of use of clamps and stuff here.
When it was all covered and sanded flush to the hull and deck I needed to check the lines. looking at the hull bottom you can see that I have attacked the hull on the left, but not yet the right:
(http://s4.postimage.org/1rl1p3s4k/26_Hull_Progress_Flash.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1rl1p3s4k/)
I had to add the ruler to get the camera to focus!
After a bit more work on the hull sides I checked the angle of the bow against the plan, made a line square across the width, scribed the angle from the plan down it and trimmed it to get a square end for the hardwood. That also showed that while I had sanded at the top and bottom of the sheeting, I had missed the middle, so I was able to get that correct too. I then trimmed up a piece of pine and glued it in place. I thought my method of using a small finishing brad and rubber band a good way to locate the hardwood bow while the glue dried as it left only a small hole in each surface to fill:
(http://s4.postimage.org/1rlqi5zj8/27_Hardwood_Bow.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1rlqi5zj8/)
In a couple of these shots you can see a large hole in the end of the sheeting. I literally had to screw down the sheet to hold it in place on three or 4 sheets as they went around the curve of the deck.
And that's where we are today.
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Much time was spent carving away at the pine bow to make it right. I also realised that I had sanded away too much of the hull sheeting and it was too narrow at the pint were it met the ping bow. To correct that and to fill all the wee nicks and dents I put some filler on. This just a standard building/home handyman type product. I thought about using a body filler type, but on the balsa I didn't want hard filler to sand away against soft balsa. One application of that was done then some sanding and another application to get the bits I missed.
(http://s1.postimage.org/24fbxsosk/28_Filler.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/24fbxsosk/)
By this time I think I was creating as many dents as I was filling, so decided to get some sanding sealer on the balsa. I don't have any dope, and at $20 for 250mls I wasn't about to get any!
I have had a can of sanding sealer for quite a while now, so, after I had found it again, I put a coat of that on.
(http://s1.postimage.org/24fqtmt8k/29_Sealer_1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/24fqtmt8k/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/24fsh65qc/30_Sealer_2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/24fsh65qc/)
I have just given that a light sanding. Even though I brushed and vacuumed it after sanding, there was still quite a bit of dust left on it. I tackled that by wetting a cloth in very hot water, wringing it out so that there were no drips, and then lightly wiping down the hull. I'm now waiting for that to dry and then I will apply another coat.
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Forgot to mention - somewhere in that process I also sanded a radius onto the bottom sides of the hull.
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The plan calls for card to glued ontot he hull to create a waterline and to protect the hull. Having salvaged some cat food boxes I set about putting the card on. When complete and with some filler in the joins it looks thus:
(http://s3.postimage.org/txhic4uc/31_Card.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/txhic4uc/)
I have also started some of the bits and pieces to go on her. These are the two guided missile silos and the forward gun:
(http://s3.postimage.org/txmgy6bo/32_Bits_And_Pieces.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/txmgy6bo/)
If you think the left silo looks like it's not square then you are correct - I got carried away sanding. The forward gun is made up of four pieces of balsa laminated together then shaped.
I made barrel today for the gun. 1 piece of aluminium tube, 1 piece of brass tube and a length of 1/8" brass rod, superglued together:
(http://s3.postimage.org/txt33kas/33_Forwardgun_And_Barrel.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/txt33kas/)
I stopped of at the LHS early this afternoon to get some stuff: "Tissue and dope please" I asked. "I don't stock that" was the reply... <sigh>
And that's where we are.
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Well I got carried away and the plans have changed - literally:
(http://s1.postimage.org/hetjjuh0/34_SSPlan.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/hetjjuh0/)
Lines in red is the redesigned superstructure, lines in dashed green are the existing hull openings. Printed on A0 paper would be at build size.
No other progress.
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Coaming:
(http://s1.postimage.org/1znnnnmkk/35_Coaming.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1znnnnmkk/)
Forward superstructure starts to take shape:
(http://s1.postimage.org/1znpb6z2c/36_Fwd_SS_Front.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1znpb6z2c/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/1znxkvpj8/37_Fwd_SS_Side.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1znxkvpj8/)
5mm and 1.5mm balsa - maybe even the odd bit of 6mm too.
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More superstructure:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2r2qxi1pg/38_Side_SS.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2r2qxi1pg/)
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Progress:
(http://s2.postimage.org/30mvoasys/39_Fwd_SS.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/30mvoasys/)
And aft:
(http://s2.postimage.org/30n2ag6xw/40_Aft_SSBase.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/30n2ag6xw/)
I sourced some tissue - except that it's not tissue - it's something called Litespan and apparently it requires something else called Balsaloc and an iron to apply. Not what I asked for...
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More progress:
(http://s1.postimage.org/ut9y4090/41_SSprogress.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ut9y4090/)
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(http://s1.postimage.org/1c70la6o4/42_SSon_Bench.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1c70la6o4/)
and on the hull:
(http://s1.postimage.org/1c78uyx50/43_SSOn_Hull.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1c78uyx50/)
The bridge is sitting but not glued in place. I'll probably finish and paint the bridge and that deck area before glueing it in place...
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The start of a mast - it's just sitting in the bridge balsa block and not glued in:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2679t0fac/44_Mast1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2679t0fac/)
This is a length of 1/4" OD aluminium tube that was squished in a vice with a piece of 1/8" rod in it to limit the amount of squish.
And my Araldite's gone AWOl...
I have attached, in case anyone is interested, the DrafIT file that has the superstructure. It (should be) an attachment to this post.
Even though it is attached as .txt, you should remove that extension when saving the file. (DraftIT is a free download from Cadlogic.com in case anyone needs to get that too.)
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More mast. Now glued in to the bridge block.
Side view:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2x2zgq1r8/45_Mast_Side.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2x2zgq1r8/)
And front:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2x3149e90/46_Mast_Front.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2x3149e90/)
The bridge block is still not glued in place and isn't sitting quite level...
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A "no photo" update.
The last week or so has been all about sanding sealer, sanding, undercoat, sanding, filling and more sanding. And vacuuming up the dust... Then repeat (except for the sanding sealer bit...). Funny how a dose of undercoat highlight all the imperfections you thought you had sorted out.
With any luck I will get the first topcoats on the hull this weekend.
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The workshop (read garage) is very, very dusty at the moment - even though I stop regularly to vacuum up the dust from the sanding process...
A shot of the deck with a light dusting of undercoat applied to it:
(http://s2.postimage.org/19v6410x0/47_Deck_Undercoat.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/19v6410x0/)
This is all rattle can paint - the undercoat is the Dulux brand and it is good quality stuff. On the other had, this is the second can as the first developed a problem and let go all it's contents in a short period of time... My bench and a lot of the bits that are on it got a fair number of splotches on them before I could wrestle the can outside... Fortunately I wear glasses or else I would have had an eyeful too - I had to clean my glasses with turps to get the undercoat off...
Anyway, I sourced some .010 plastic sheet and have started to make some of the detail bits.
VLS tubes for the rear of the modified superstructure:
(http://s2.postimage.org/19xdhtomc/48_VLS1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/19xdhtomc/)
And two shots of hatches and vents applied to the superstructure:
(http://s2.postimage.org/19xlrif38/49_SSDetail1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/19xlrif38/)
(http://s2.postimage.org/19xu175k4/50_SSDetail2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/19xu175k4/)
Humm, that's a bit hard to see being white on white and all, but that's where we are at today...
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My interpretation of a CIWS:
(http://s3.postimage.org/180sofclg/51_CIWS.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/180sofclg/)
Still working on the hull, sanding a filling, but very close to acceptable now. I have top coat on the superstructure too, a light coat that has not covered all the edges of the plastic yet, but the finish from the rattle can is very good - very smooth, more so than I was expecting. It's a little bit dark however... I guess that's the stealth bit :)
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Well so much for my good quality Dulux undercoat - I got a bad can, with this result:
(http://s4.postimage.org/31urjbntw/52_Hull_Bad_Spray.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/31urjbntw/)
I rang Dulux's customer service number this morning and they identified that can as being part of a batch that had been recalled - one wonders why the major retailer I bought it from still had it on their shelves...
Anyway, I got rid of all that mess and fixed some more rough bits. I've come to the conclusion that I must have soft balsa - it damages very, very easily. Just sanding on one side will result in damage on the other, which has to be repaired and I think I end up chasing my own tail. It must also be said that I'm my own worst enemy - I will be doing something and carelessly give it a knock - not in my estimation a hard knock - but that also results in some damage. I've been using a 3" brush to dust the hull off and a couple of times I have knocked the hull with the handle of the brush and done some more damage. I must be a bit of a klutz, but I wish I'd put a coat or two of resin and cloth on it to make it stronger... Hindsight is always 20/20 :)
So I decided to cut my losses and paint the hull. Here we are with the first coat of grey on:
(http://s4.postimage.org/31veouiqs/53_Hull_Grey.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/31veouiqs/)
This is a can of cheap spray on enamel from Super Cheap Auto - Aussies will be familiar with this outfit, and I'm quite impressed with the paint. The instructions say to give a light coat, wait 30 seconds for the solvent to flash off then another light coat and repeat for a third time. The result is a very nice coat of paint! This is mid grey and as I commented before, I think it's a little too dark, but I will live with it quite happily. Of course I have the black to do under the waterline and the deck, for which I have a darker grey to use.
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OK, things as they are now:
(http://s1.postimage.org/v2p12gas/54_All_The_Bits.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/v2p12gas/)
Yes the SS is on backwards :)
Deck has been sprayed as has the rest of the hull, but the sides of the hull and the black below-the-waterline need to be rubbed back and sprayed again. I thought I had waited long enough for the grey sides to harden before masking with a low-tack masking tape, but it has left marks on the side, so maybe I didn't. I will wet & dry the black, paint that, then wet & dry the sides of the hull and then mask and paint that.
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Some colour on the mast:
(http://s1.postimage.org/2g0de1tdw/55_Mast_Colour.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2g0de1tdw/)
If white counts as a colour :)
I decided I didn't like the CIWS in balsa - too hard to finish to any decent standard - so I made up a replacement out of styrene. This is using 040 and 010 styrene to build the shape up and next to the old one. The new one(s) still need to have a based added. This is actually the Mod 3 version as I had the proportions wrong on Mod 2 - so much for working to drawings :)
(http://s1.postimage.org/2g1ub8x6s/56_CIWS_Mk2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2g1ub8x6s/)
And you can see the shoddy hand-finished windows too. I guess that needs fixing...
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Maybe it's not me but the masking tape...
I've been conducting a little experiment - I put a length of my 3M low-tack masking tape on the underneath of the hull, out of site unless the hull is up-side-down, and left it there for a day or so. Upon removal I can see that it has left marks. It doesn't seem to have left a sticky residue (and whatever has happened isn't removed by warm soapy water) but to have actually affected the surface of the paint. Given that I had left this paint for about 5 or 6 days, I'm a little annoyed about that. To continue my experiment I have now got a small piece of ordinary masking tape on the hull plus another piece of the 3M tape that I first stuck to a glass chopping board to try and make it even less tacky...
We'll see what happens.
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Well trying to make the low-tack tape even less tacky failed - same result (marks) after less than 12 hours of contact. And I must apologise to 3M - that was not one of their products!
Funny thing is, the ordinary making tape left absolutely no traces after the same amount of time...
So I used that to mask black on the lower hull and the deck. Result:
(http://s1.postimage.org/mpc078ec/57_More_Hull.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/mpc078ec/)
I have to say that the ordinary masking tape has not left a perfect edge, but as the edge is below the ridge created by the card it is hardly visible.
Of course in removing that tape from the deck several bits of paint were removed. This I will fix by hand rather more masking and spraying.
Interestingly the stand in the above photo is sprayed the same colour as the deck and this is a slightly darker grey than the sides of the hull.
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Alister I know you said you were conducting an experiment with various masking tapes - but why would you want to
leave the tape on the hull that length of time. Most people remove it as soon as the paint is dry, I usually remove it
just before it is bone dry and have not problems. As for the stand being a different colour - was it primed etc in just
the same way, if it was it probably means your primer or top coat is not thick enough OR there was a great difference
in the original colour of the two types of wood.
Geoff
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Hi Geoff,
good questions. Firstly the rattle can stuff I was (am) using said recoat in 20 minutes or 24hrs. I did not want to go through a re-masking process, so in the case of painting the black over the lower part of the hull, the mask stayed on the grey sides overnight. This is probably bad time management on my part. Also, when I sprayed the deck, the mask was on for a much shorter time, 4 x 20 minutes, but it still affected the surface.
WRT your second question, I think the difference is the angle of the surfaces and nothing more. If I was brave I would take a photo with the hull on it's side (and the deck vertical) on the stand and show that it is the same colour. Note I said "if" :)
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One more thing - that masking tape said it was safe to use on freshly painted surfaces for up to 7 days...
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So, and ho-humm...
I have repainted the deck, by hand this time, using a 50/50 mix of Tamiya XF-26 (Deep Green) and Tamiya XF-66 (Light Grey) and the result is, perhaps a little too green and a little too dark, but I think it looks better than the grey that was on there before:
(http://s4.postimage.org/yt0y0k6c/57_5_Green_Deck.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/yt0y0k6c/)
I also used this colour on a couple of the "deck" areas on the SS - although not all of them as yet. And umm, yes, the superstructure... We had to have a little corrective surgery there... A work in progress shall we say... The bridge wasn't on square and was really obviously not square - how that happened I'm not entirely sure, but I reeked of self-disgust for several days afterwards...:
(http://s4.postimage.org/ytksgq3o/59_SS_Fix.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ytksgq3o/)
As I say, a work in progress, but we are getting there.
And the hull again, and those grey sides... Long story cut short: repaint, with handbrush, Humbrol Gloss #40, one coat so far (but a much more appropriate shade of grey):
(http://s4.postimage.org/yub92a04/58_Hull_Paint_Take32.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/yub92a04/)
It's amazing what sins a nice hand brushed coat of paint will hide :)
And the CIWSs... We are up to Mod 5 I think:
(http://s4.postimage.org/yujir0h0/60_CWIS_Mk3_Mod5.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/yujir0h0/)
That photo might have mods 5 and 6 in it... The difference in height of the two units is an experimental modification <cough>... The previous versions were too tall and were too long in the base - these are much closer in height to those on the plan and nearly square in the base.
And the main gun, well, from one view it was great, from another it was a parallelogram... Not good, cut to pieces to salvage the barrel. Replacement to be made out of styrene, which, with any luck, I can make square.
A frustrating week one way and another as our 11 month old car go rear-ended too. On a positive note, my ESC's (Mtroniks) arrived on Friday. I could have ordered these locally, but for a little more than the price of one ESC sourced locally I could get two units from Cornwall Model Boats, and when including shipping, the total for two ESCs came to about 2/3rds the cost for the same 2 from the local supplier! I'm all for supporting the LHS, but we were looking at a $50 difference!
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Not much progress during the week, busy at work etc, but did manage to do some research on on the main gun.
Google is, as ever, our friend and turned up some interesting images and some of them were even of DDG main guns!
So after quite a bit of drawing with a pencil, including restarting several time due to getting overly complicated, I have made a start:
(http://s1.postimage.org/2bks2911g/61_Main_Gun1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2bks2911g/)
All bits here are 040 thick - which is about 1mm.
(http://s1.postimage.org/2bkx0v2is/62_Main_Gun2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2bkx0v2is/)
And the sides are 010 thick.
The top and rear will be 010, but the from piece will be 040 as well, giving a nice meaty bit of plastic to glue the barrel onto.
And that's where we are today.
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More main gun, needs finishing as there are some overlaps etc, this is the final shape. It will be mounted on a bit of 15mm diameter dowel about 4mm high:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2we4tygmc/63_Main_Gun3.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2we4tygmc/)
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Right well, much paint has been applied by hand to hull and superstructure. Interesting that there is a thread on here about Humbrol paints as I had trouble with a can of their gloss black today... On the other hand, the Humbrol paints dry to a nice tough finish that, when painting an surface that is at a right angle, allows a lightly turpsy rag to wipe of any excess and make a nice edge. Other paints, in my recent experience (rattle can) do not do this even after a week of curing time, and any hint of turps will create a smear on the paint surface immediately.
Anyway:
(http://s1.postimage.org/2ccr94tdw/64_SS_Green_Deck_Large.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2ccr94tdw/)
Sorry about the lack of light on this shot, but this is the SS with three coats of Humbrol #40 and with one coat of "my" deck green on it. Nearly there with this apart from some radar, CIWS and a touch up to the black paint on the top. And the bridge...
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Really enjoying this build, keep the updates coming!
Alex
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Thanks for your encouragement Alex!
I got brave this evening and put some of the running gear into the hull - motor, shaft, prop, rudder servo. Then sat a 7.2v battery pack, a Viper ESC and a random receiver in it.
And then, 'cos I was still feeling brave, I stuck it in the bath!!
(http://s3.postimage.org/1syw64csk/65_Floating1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1syw64csk/)
I needed to make sure the battery was on the centre line and the Hibbard floated on an even keel - about 15mm or so above the water line. Not too bad.
So I put the superstructure on. Wow! All over the place, leaning right over each way with the slightest movement of the SS or battery or even the ESC!
(http://s1.postimage.org/368c2pbd0/66_Floating2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/368c2pbd0/)
Hopefully the ballast will be enough to correct that - and hopefully it will take a fair bit too.
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RC installation:
(http://s2.postimage.org/163buuyp0/67_Radio_Setup.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/163buuyp0/)
Just blocks of balsa locating stuff in place - nothing too serious was really warranted I think.
And because I could, with SS sitting on to. Note the 144th scale heli on the aft deck!
(http://s2.postimage.org/163vpb4mc/68_Coming_Together.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/163vpb4mc/)
Note the hole where the forward VL tubes should be also.
The rear of the SS is not sitting as flush to the deck as I hoped... Pity, as before paint it was OK.
In other thought, the .010 styrene sheet was too think really for the main gun. It will work out alright, but just flexes too much when trying to sand it.
Tomorrow might be ballast night...
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A no photo update.
Ballast is complete - as far as could be done in the bath anyway. A total of around 400gms of lead sheet went into various places, more aft than forward to compensate for the 7.2v battery pack. And some extra to compensate for the rudder servo as well. I am using the BEC on the ESC rather than a separate battery pack for the receiver.
We also had a power test in the bath, with the assistance of my wife who was there to make sure nothing got bent, dented or scratched - we succeeded admirably :) The result indicates that the motor battery combination will be plenty sufficient to drive the Hibbard, I would guess at scale + speed too.
Some touch-ups on paintwork done, the bridge might go back on later tonight and the CIWS are pretty much complete.
Things to do:
- Radar
- Life boats
- Complete the scale Heli (which may or may not go on, as being an Apache LongBow, it's not exactly a Navy chopper...)
Tomorrow we might go to the pond - depends on the weather.
Very happy with progress today - it's amazing what you can do when all the kids weekend sports get cancelled!
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Well. We've been on the water. Everything worked - apart from a booboo I've made with the rudder - nothing that can't be fixed. But boy-oh-boy does this thing wobble about! It's very quick to respond to the rudder and the turning circle is quite small, but she does lean over in a turn and the merest twitch on the rudder causes a serious wobble. I thought I had some video, but I think my boy (7) was still trying to figure out how to take a video :) and so we don't have one. Lots of pics though:
(http://s4.postimage.org/2ps6ibq90/On_The_Water1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2ps6ibq90/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psi335pg/On_The_Water2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psi335pg/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psjqmi78/On_The_Water3.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psjqmi78/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psle5up0/On_The_Water4.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psle5up0/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psn1p76s/On_The_Water5.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psn1p76s/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psop8jok/On_The_Water6.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psop8jok/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psqcrw6c/On_The_Water7.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psqcrw6c/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2pss0b8o4/On_The_Water8.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2pss0b8o4/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/2psgfjt7o/On_The_Water9.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2psgfjt7o/)
A great turn of speed too. Too much speed actually, but that's just a matter of taking it easy. And I think we might be a bit bow heavy too.
Not sure what to do about the wobble however... I guess all I can do is ballast it and try not to have it sit too low.
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So as of later this afternoon there's another 350gms of lead in the hull, most aft but some forward too. It doesn't sound like much, but the Hibbard now sits quite a bit lower in the water. Also, in the build article, Mr Guest refers to a design weight of 2.3Kg's - we are now at 2.25Kg's, so that's got to be pretty good.
Nothing I can do now but wait until next Sunday and try again.
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The extra ballast made a significant difference - much more stable in the water than previously, but still has that warship desire to get a lean on in the turns.
No other progress...
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I had the same problem with Dean's HMS Nubian, there are photos on this site, the problem you have is firstly the majority of your weight is on the centre line, if you can spread the extra weight you added as far apart athwartships it may help. Also the torque of the motor in a single shaft vessel throws it over a bit, quite alarmingly on a turn, one side is worse than the other depending on the direction of rotation of the prop. Spreading the weight athwartships will help this as well, but not eliminate the problem. Other remedies to the lean to think about are: a smaller motor or a smaller prop.
I made GG's HMS Ivanhoe years ago and never eliminated the lean, it was retired from service early. Good luck.
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Thanks for your comments DeadBeat - I don't think it's bad enough to consider retirement, especially as the latest run was with what was almost a fast electric making waves in the pond - it seemed much more stable.
Flight deck markings started - just need to do the circle:
(http://s2.postimage.org/2wl2lw604/69_Flight_Deck_Markings_Started.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2wl2lw604/)
The temp has dropped a couple of degrees today so no painting this evening/tonight, although I have started marking out the markings in front of the main gun.
There needs to be a little tidy-up of some of the edges as the paint leaked under the tape a little.
The eagle-eyed will spot a rudder servo relocation too...
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More deck markings made - still needs tidying up!
(http://s1.postimage.org/3ukxtq4k/70_Aft_Deckmarkings2_1.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3ukxtq4k/)
(http://s1.postimage.org/3umld2mc/71_Aft_Deckmarkings2_2.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3umld2mc/)
The above two photos are the same - the only difference being one was done with a flash and the other without. The flash really shows up the green on the deck.
Forward markings - needs lots of tidy up - lots of leakage under the masking tape. Obviously I still need better tape. Probably modellers tape and not home-handyman stuff...
(http://s1.postimage.org/3v34qjk4/72_Forward_Deck_Markings.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3v34qjk4/)
And finally for today, some hatches to go around the place. These are 8mm square .010 plastic, seen here CA'd to toothpicks so I could paint them white:
(http://s1.postimage.org/3vbefa10/73_Deck_Hatches.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3vbefa10/)
2 of these will go on the main deck between the main gun and the VLS, the remainder of the deck of the SS in appropriate spots.
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Great sailing this morning. Very successful. The Hibbard sailed very, very well. She responds to the rudder really nicely and the turning circle is really good.
Not a great video, but gives an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzYMp_VYzV0
The amount of roll left in her is more than acceptable - all the additional weight has made a real difference to her handling. I suspect these ships rolled quite a bit anyway, so what I can see is likely quite OK.
More detail to put on, but very happy with the Hibbard so far. Run time on a 7.2V 4200mAh pack is well in excess of 30 minutes at good clip - mostly faster than in the video (my son was being very cautious!).
On another note, I found some Tamiya masking tape at the almost LHS. Will see what that does for the paintwork!
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:-))...great .mov AlisterL ........all 5,000 tonne warships roll in real life O0 & possibly quite a bit more than many realise :-X ..........Derek.
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AlisterL,
Have been watching your build with some interest, its good that you took the opportunity to modify and personalise the model rather than slavishly copy the published plan.
As Derek Warner says, all warships roll in real life and this is no problem provided they return upright! The original model sails in much the same way and smooth operation of the controls keeps rolling to a minimum.
Glynn Guest
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Nice build Alister :-))
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Thanks for the comments Gentlemen - and Glynn in particular. I confess I was wondering just a little bit what you made of my superstructure, and was worried that I'd make a mess of it quite frankly, but it seems to have turned out OK!
It's not quite done yet, so a few more details will be added over the next couple of weeks or so.
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Another video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XsiFIXtazU
Added some deck hatches - again more to be added. Temps have been really low, so not much opportunity for painting stuff on week nights...
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Radar! Only the one however and this will go on the aft superstructure.
Base is 040 plastic and the dish is 010. The rod is slightly more than 1mm brass... I shaped the disk by hitting (with a hammer) the handle end of a screwdriver into a piece of balsa, sitting the plastic into the curve and then alternately heating it with a hot air gun and pressing down on it with the screwdriver handle. 010 plastic when over heated curls up... The pointy bit is the end of a tooth-pick!
(http://s2.postimage.org/22u6ibxlw/74_radar.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/22u6ibxlw/)
Warm enough to do some paint today too. Just working on these small bits now.
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Radar - actually it's a satellite dish - is now on and it seems that the satellite is really low to the horizon...
(http://s3.postimage.org/tq6s80sk/75_Radar.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/tq6s80sk/)
I felt I needed to add a helicopter to the landing pad - but I couldn't find an appropriately Navy kit. At least the one I have is in the correct scale!
(http://s3.postimage.org/ttyeahac/76_Heli.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/ttyeahac/)
(http://s3.postimage.org/tu01tts4/77_Heli.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/tu01tts4/)
I'm kind of amused by that :)
The only remaining items I'm planning on adding are 4 inflatable life rafts - these are under construction now. With any luck I'll be done over the weekend.
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Needless to say these were not done over that weekend - it was too cold to paint unfortunately. I've also had other commitments that have lead to this delay in updating.
(http://s2.postimage.org/cvvfskf8/78_Life_Rafts_Hole.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/cvvfskf8/)
The liferafts are 8mm dowel with 1mm wide strips of .020" plasticard CA'd on at appropriate places. It works for me.
You may also note the grey filler on the hull. In transporting the Hibbard and the Zwarte Zee to the club static competition I discovered that, without the fitted mat in the boot of our car, the models slide around - I've not done this previously and never gave it a thought (the mat was removed as we were using the 3rd row of seats). Unfortunately, the Zwarte Zee moved, fell over and the top of the fore-mast punched into the Hibbard and made a wee bit of a dent, before breaking off. Bother... Lesson learned. Boxes will shortly be constructed to house and transport the models.
I will also be putting a number on the Hibbard - 75 as this is my club membership number, even though it relates to an existing Arleigh-Burke class DDG. I doubt anyone will mind.
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And here we are with the number:
(http://s1.postimage.org/2c1bmv62s/79_Number.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/2c1bmv62s/)
And that, I think, is that - all done.
The model sails very very well, and I can highly recommend this type to anyone who wants to give it a go. Someone with more time on their hands would be able to get it done much quicker than I did as this really was easy to build - it was only my foray into personalising the Hibbard a bit that complicated it for me. I think I should have stuck with some of Glynn's designs, for example the CIWS's, rather than go for my own, but I made that choice myself and must live with it. On the other hand I like my version of the superstructure a bit better than what was on the plan - sorry Glynn! :)
Many thanks to all those who commented - I really appreciated it. It's nice to know people are watching.
Now I need to resurrect a another build thread...
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Have been following this thread as it has gone along, Great Build, Really clear pictures and nice video to go with it, I think this could be worthy for putting in the Masterclass thread as a Nice easy Build. :-))
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LOL - I doubt it - but thanks for suggesting :)
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A very nice build. I learned from seeing how you installed your prop shaft tube and your rudder tube. Your build demonstrated that an operating model boat need not be complicated or that challenging to construct. Well done.
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I was told yesterday via PM that the DraftIT drawing I had done for the superstructure wouldn't open in DraftIT when downloaded, so I checked and indeed it failed to open - thanks Will for letting me know.
As a couple of people tried to download it, I have come up with another method for hosting the file. Anyone who wants to have a look can download it from the following link, and thanks again to Will, we know it works:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B209xZxYK7f5d1oyLU9SelhULWEwX2JOLTZieGlqZw