Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: Akira on April 04, 2018, 01:33:01 am
-
About three years ago I found an advertisement for the keel and frames for a 1/48th scale Wind Class icebreaker. Built during WW2 for both the US Navy as well as the US Coast Guard, these ships served into the 1980's. I was intrigued because during the war they were heavily armed with 4 5"/38 guns in two twin mounts, 12 40mm Bofor cannons in 3 quad mounts, 6 20mm Oerilekon cannons, 6 "K" guns, 2 depth charge tracks, and a Grumman "Duck" amphibian aircraft. They were 269 ft in length giving me a hull of 67.25 inches. I decided to take the plunge. Here are a few of the build pictures.
-
continuing on:
-
Finally, after spending far too much on Shapeways, the Eastwind is finished, circa 1943
She mounts 3 Johnson 970mmotors, working radar, navigation and towing lights, functional speed light, working search lights fore and aft..
-
I have always liked these ugly looking tubs, nicely done there...also a suitably big scale model, looks heavy :-))
-
Lovely build, thank you for sharing
-
The words 'loaded for bear' come to mind. It must have been one hell of a noise when that lot cut loose.
Lovely build and a facinating model. Thanks for sharing.
-
Thank you all for your kind comments. yes she is rather heavy. She can be ballasted down to 100-120 lbs. There is quite a range of displacement for these beasts. As for noise, yes she would make a racket, but my understanding is that the six Fairbanks Morse diesels were the real noise makers.
-
Wow! What a really splendid model. Well done and many thanks for sharing with us. :-))
Greg
-
Stunning model, its a real labour of love. Thank you for sharing.
-
Hello !
What a model !!! %%
As we say in french :" Quelle sacrée bête ! " :-))
Thank's for sharing
Christian
-
I wish to know where can one get the drawings for this icebreaker. Impressive model workmanship, couldn't wait to look at the drawings.
-
What an amazing model. Top marks from me. Fantastic!!! :-))
-
Solidus,
I source for plans was here:http://www.coastguardmodels.com/fullscreen.htm and here:http://www.rexmwess.com/cgpatchs/cogardmuseum.html This gent may also have a 1/96th hull available.
The Coast Guard Museum, Northwest is incredibly helpful. Besides basic plans, they also had plans of many of the unique boats that the "Winds" carried.
I had several of the boats and many fittings made on Shapeways. Most of the "shops" on Shapeways will be very accommodating in re-scaling any of their fittings to fit your needs. In smaller scales they would be far more economical as well.
I did find that most of these ships were not built exactly as designed. www.navsource.com has some good photos. Look under AGB here: https://www.navsource.org/archives/auxidx.htm
Again,
Thank you for your kind comments
Jonathan
-
What a great subject to model wow a real mini battleship tons of detail to look at well done like to see it on the water would look a sight need to see more different models on the water this is my pick for the model of the year every were you look you spot even more detail that is what modelling is about tassie48
-
What a lovely unusual build, that looks to be of Museum quality. Good Work Sir!!
One question I have regarding the real Ships. The third Bow mounted Propeller looks to be in a rather vulnerable position for an Ice capable vessel, I have not come across that before. What would of been the thinking behind that aspect of the design?
Nige
-
Nigel,
To answer your question I must delve into a little bit of history. Even before the US was actively involved in WW 2, the Maritime Commission, a governmental agency, began looking for designs to fill the anticipated needs of WW 2. It sent representatives to the UK and some European countries to find designs to supplement it's needs. Some designs that came back and were "tweaked" were to become Liberty ships ( British design), V-4 ocean tugboats ( based upon the Zwarrt Zee which escaped Holland) (200+ footers), and the Wind class of icebreakers. The Wind class was based upon a Finnish Baltic design that was very successful. However, The Baltic does not have the hard old ice that the Arctic does. It was not long into the Eastwind's first deployment to Greenland waters that the bow prop's vulnerability to hard ice was discovered. In 1945 when the "Winds" were turned over to the US Coast Guard, the bow prop were removed, with no effect upon their speed nor ice breaking ability.
I chose to model her in her as built configuration, it gives me one more get home prop when the weeds take over.
As soon as the ice melts here, I will post some pictures of her in her element.
-
Thanks for the explanation Akira, very interesting.
Nige
-
Thank you for sharing the sources of information; looking foward to seeing her in water.
-
That has more armament than a V&W class destroyer!
Be very proud of yourself Akira as that is an interesting and well executed model.
'Loaded for Bear', Love it {-)
-
Yes, she does. That was one of the things that drew me to building her.
Here is an early picture of her first sea trial. I hope to post a current state photo when the ice melts enough.
-
Hull looks great on the water. Finished model is a beauty :-)) .
Mark
-
The clubs from Maine and Massachusetts had a joint “Fun Float” recently. The USS Eastwind was there- I can tell you it looks terrific on the water!
Here’s a link to a photo gallery from that day- there are multiple shots of the Eastwind.....
https://billmichaels.smugmug.com/Bills-Stuff/n-BBtmQS/Kennebunk-June-2018 (https://billmichaels.smugmug.com/Bills-Stuff/n-BBtmQS/Kennebunk-June-2018)
-Bill