Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: timmer on January 08, 2013, 09:34:43 pm
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Hi all and happy new year.
Just thought ild share a few pics of my latest project. Ive not been modelling very long and after a call from stan with some advice i decided to give this model a go. Its the first time ive built anything from a plan and i have to say im actually enjoying it more than i thought i would :-)
Also as you'll see in the last picture ive given this soldering lark a go. Not as easy as i thought it would be but ill keep practicing
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best of luck with this hope you enjoy its as much as I do. I will be following this very closely
I'll be building HMS Sheffield too as part of my next project somerville's Force H may 1941
Glen
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That sounds very interesting glen. I look forward to seeing some pics. What sort of scale will you be working to?
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Hi Timmer
How are you getting on? looking forward to seeing more pics.
I'll be working in 1/128 scale as fitting etc are easy to sorce. I will be doing a thread starting very soon
Glen
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Your'e working from the free plan that came with Model Boat? I've thought about that build myself but as HMS Birmingham so I could camouflage her. I will watch with interest..
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you can do sheffield comaflauged as she was in 1941
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hi all.
Not had a chance to do much since my last post but i have managed to get a few coats of high build primer onto the hull as you can see in the pic. Just waiting for it to dry and then its onto fine filling and rubbing smooth.
I also had the idea of researching and building her as HMS Southampton (being my home town and all) but i think ill just stick to the plan i have. Im also toying with the idea of rigging in a car washer pump to fire water from one of the turrets (something for the kids {-) ) perhaps walking before i can run may be a better idea though :-))
looking forward to seeing these other builds and yes im using the free plans from the magazine although i already wish i had photo copied them before hacking them up. i may be in need of some celotape before i can start the superstructure {-)
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looking good mate. Interesting idea about the water jet would be a laugh. If you need another plan proberly best to buy another copy of the magazine its still avialable at
http://www.myhobbystore.co.uk/browser/17/special-editions (http://www.myhobbystore.co.uk/browser/17/special-editions)
glen
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Thanks for the link glen, I've just ordered another copy. I'll chalk this one down as a lesson learned. :-))
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In these days of Elves, Safe Tea and Litigation
Beware of squirting nasty pond water on young people.
Can you be sure there are no Germs or other illegals in
the water???
Ned
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Oh if any children were to be shot at I would make sure they my own only. {-)
No in all seriousness i was thinking more along the lines of a few floating targets rather than standing spectators and again it's just an idea. Maybe for another model
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I think people take things far to seriously these dayes sadly no ones has a sense of fun anymore
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Very true unfortunately glen
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Looking good :-)) Couple of questions, how long is the model from the plans and allso i am more skilled in using plastics so could i use sheets of styrene instead and perhaps use a piece of U shaped plastic guttering for the hull? Has anyone used plastic guttering for a model boat say U shaped for a hull or O shaped for a sub hull? Regards, Dave.
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Very few ship hulls are actually U shaped, you would lose a lot of displacement that way and thereby compromise stability.
Colin
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hello all.
Ive been pretty busy these last few days with sanding, filling and spraying then sanding, filling and spraying. Its starting to come together now thought and i think one more go with the wet and dry paper should give me the finish i want. I'm a spray painter by trade so really need to make a good job of the finish to avoid embarrassment {-)
As you'll see by the pics I've also been busy today with making a 'smoke generator'. i love seeing models with smoke bellowing from the stacks and i think with the right level of 'smoke' coming from Sheffield's stacks she should look pretty sweet. I am unfortunately working to a budget set by the wife so i decided to have a look on the web at how others had been built and copy that rather than just buy one. Ive had it working on the work bench and it gives a little smoke but not really enough to warrant installing it so I'm going to make a few mods and get hold of some smoke fluid rather than using baby oil like i am now. It wont be going anywhere near my model until I'm 100% sure its safe and I'm not going to have a spontaneously combusting ship in the middle of the pond
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Very effective hull camouflage scheme. O0 O0 %) %)
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Ok been pretty busy with armour plating and more surface finishing. I've taken pictures and I'll do my best to get them on here soon but right now I have a question on motor size. I have a speed 400 and a speed 600 that I could fit right away but the article that runs with the plans suggest a 545 size. Would the 400 really be too small? Any advice would be very welcome :-))
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I'd try the 400 first the 600 might be a fast its a warship not a speed boat after all ;)
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Thankyou glen. 400 going in soon then. :-))
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if its was my model mate i'd consider 2 385's each with ecs and a mixer unit
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ah.....a good idea there but ive already fitted the prop shaft and 400 motor. Jumping ahead as usual!!!
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looking good mate. can always change later. Give it a test run before you get to far ahead
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thanks glen, will do. Ive got everything electrical ready to be fitted but im not sure weather my 7.2v batt will have enough about it to run the motor and the smoke box. would it be worth looking at a 12v alternative??? I guess ill just have to get everything connected up and have a look.
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Just a quick update...... The smoke box wouldn't entertain 7.2 volts but the whole setup works fine with 12v. Now just need to find a 12v batt that isn't the size of a house brick!! Also a longer test to make sure the smoke box doesn't explode :-))
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Hi Tim
I'd try 2 6v 3A lead acids connected in series to give you 12v if a single 12v is to big
Can you please where you got the plans for the smoke generator from.
Glen
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hi glen
For the smoker i just typed "homemade smoke generator" into google and found a few sites and forums with slightly different variations of the same idea. I also managed to find a 'how to' PDF document complete with instructions and photos. Its too big to attach to a post on here but if you PM me your email address ill be glad to email it to you.
Also i managed to find a 12v SLA battery from component-shop that fits into the space just fine and doesn't weigh too much. Thanks for the 6v suggestion though. More photos to come when i can get through the snow to my shed :-))
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"it's alive!!!!!"
After a few minor hitches, a few phone calls to Stan and a trip to Fratton Model Centre this morning, the boat is finally alive :-) :-) :-) . The problem i was having after connecting everything up yesterday was too much power going to the motor so ive had to install a 7.2v battery pack to run the motor and the cooling fan and with the use of a servo switch (something i found surprisingly easy to build) i can control the smoke generator which needs the 12v battery. Ive also fitted two 9v 'square' batts with a manual switch to run some LED lights im thinking of fitting later in the build.
I will take more pictures soon but below is a pic of the servo switch i made this afternoon.
:-))
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looking good mate
You be adding rotating turrets and sounds next
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Cheers glen :-))
Ild love to do more with her but with only three channels to play with and the boss holding the purse strings i don't think I'll be purchasing another radio set anytime soon :-)
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Evening all.
Had to pop to my dads place today so i couldn't resist taking the boat and trying her out on his koi carp pond. Not too fussed with the fish but i wish i had the pond in my back garden O0
Shes not the easiest to handle given her length but I'm pretty pleased with her. The smoke box produces a perfect amount of smoke and i cant wait to start on the superstructure.
I also had a mate make up two name plates which look great. I'm going to put one on the stand and the other on the inside of the boat once I've tided all the wiring up. :-))
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Looking really good tim especailly like the smoke unit
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hello all,
Haven't been able to get down to the shed for the last week or so but had a free day today so finally started the superstructure. Im pretty please with the outcome so far and i also got to use a load of styrene off cuts that were taking up space in the shed. :-))
As you can see by the pics ive also made one of the funnels and tested it with the smoke unit and it looks great :-))
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that is one beautiful build. im looking forward to seeing the end result
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looking good mate. hope your going to paint her in one of her camoflage schemes
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hi all
Just a few pics of my recent progress. The main structure is pretty much complete and ill soon be getting onto the turrets and detailing then its paint, paint, paint. I'm definitely going for a camouflage scheme.
More to come very soon i hope :-)) :-))
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Hi
looking good. I have also just started my first build from the same plan. I will be following with interest as you go along. please post as often as you can with updates. I have just started constructing the hull so am a little behind you. This is quite nice as you can blaze a trail and make mistakes first so i can learn from your mistakes :-)) How have you found it up to now, any problems i should know about or has it all been plain sailing (pun intended)
keep up the good work
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Looking very nice :-)) Is it balsa or ply construction and what length in inches is it please? ( oo err missus!! ) Regards, Dave.
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Hi all
In answer to your questions she has been a pretty hassle free build. i have made a few adjustments to the plan with regard to materials used as i haven't been able to get my hands on things so ive found alternatives. She is exactly 49" long (lucky me) and i would say about 95% balsa. well everything below the superstructure is balsa anyway. I built the stacks using two different sized pipes as formers and wrapped them in card. I found it a bit awkward to make them using the formers on the plans and still having them open for the smoke to go through
markit, please post some pics of your build. you can post them on here or start a new thread but it would be great to see how somebody else is doing. :-))
I haven't had a lot of time recently to get in the shed and get on but im hoping to get on with it soon. i think im going to have a crack at the turrets next so look out for the pics.
thanks everyone for the positive comments, they're all very encouraging to read :-)
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H
I didn't want to hijack your thread so i statred my own, its in the Biginners start her section just finished the hull ready for sealing. about to start on the super structure now. Don't have a lot of time so build is progrssing slowly (spend just as much time clearing up so i can work as actually building at the moment)
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Looks fantastic, Timmer
The 'Shiny Sheff' lives again! :-))
Can't wait to see it on the water, if you are interested there is a book available about the Town class cruisers either from Amazon or navybooks.com. Gives the service history of each vessel (10 in total) and some nice pictures if the last few books from this publisher are to go by.
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whats the book nick?
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Hi glendavis1971
The book is called "Town Class Cruisers" by Neil McCart and published by Maritime Books.
The best place to get it from after my search a few minutes ago is:- www.navybooks.com
I have two previous books that are similar to fore mentioned book entitled "Battle Class Destroyers" and "Castle Class Frigates" both by Ian Ballentyne and published by Maritime Books.
The next in the series is "CA Class Destroyers" of which HMS Cavalier is member of.
They have a general history of the technical side of the ship and then each subsequent chapter is dedicated to each ship in alphabetical order. They are not small books with over 300pages on average, the Castle class frigates having close to 600pages!
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hi again all
Ill have to have a look into that book nick. I had a look on the web when i first started the build and found a few good bits on info but im always interested to find out a bit more and if there are good pictures and photos im sure that can only help when it comes to painting and detailing.
I had some unexpected free time this afternoon so had a go at the turrets after all. I dont think there's any need for me to cover them in card like the plan says. I used the bench sander to shape them so they're pretty smooth and once ive sealed them and given them a few good coats of primer they should look good enough. I also built the main director as you can see in the pics, using the same build process. (to be fair most of the boat has been made using the bench sander :-)) :-)) )
have a good week everybody
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starting to come together nicely mate
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very nice looking indeed :-))
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Thanks for the nice comments chaps. I've got a bit of spare time tomorrow so I'm thinking of doing some experiments with the smoke box. I need to make the smoke a little more dense so any suggestions would be very welcome. :-))
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<:( <:( <:(
Ive had a bit of a disaster....
Below are a couple of pictures of my progress. I got her out on the water a few weeks ago and she didn't preform too well so a little work was needed to try and stable her a little. i added a small keel piece just forward of the prop and a bilge keel either side and hoped this would do the trick.
I took her down to the lake again on Monday and she seemed a little better but still a little unstable. i even managed to get a short video clip of her which you can have a look at on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqV0IvMP3nU&feature=youtu.be
then the disaster struck and just after i stopped filming her stern was washed over causing her to flood. I managed to grab hold of the bow just as it was slipping under and rescued her from completely sinking. :(( She was unstable when turning but Im not ruling out bad handling on my part as the biggest problem. Still we live and learn i guess. Ive tested the electrics and everything is still working and Im now pretty happy with myself for placing the receiver as far forward as possible. I think i also need to bite the bullet and rebuild part of the superstructure as it seems to be too top heavy. so back to the work bench we go. :-))
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Hi Timmer
She is looking lovely. I.m wondering if she might be a bit top heavy I had a simular problem with one of my destroyers and solved it be by making a keel from lead flashing which solved the problem. I watched your vid and would say its same thing and you need to get all the ballast as low as poss to move the centre of gravity as low as you can.
The flooding might be simply a lack of coamings under the superstructures around the access holes. I use the tallest possible. It may also be getting through the gun turrets if they arent sealed
Hope you solve the problems its all part of the fun
Glen
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hi glen
Had the same thoughts myself regarding the superstructure being too heavy. I think im going to have to rebuild it with balsa instead of the plastic i used. She seems to run pretty well when i take the superstructure off. :-))
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Hi Timmer
I was looking at the previous pics cant be certain but looks to me like you made the superstructure from thick sheets to form a solid block. When i build my sheff I'll use 0.5 and 1mm styrene sheets to keep upper wieght to a minimum and replicate the smooth finish of steel.
Glen