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Author Topic: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.  (Read 8883 times)

Rich S.

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USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« on: April 30, 2009, 08:27:34 pm »
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Hey Gents,

I built this ship about two years ago.  It's all scratch built by me.  I have it on another site, but thought I might bring it over to your side of the world.  The techniques employed in this build make for the least expensive build possible.  Total cost of this entire project was $750 US, including everything - even SpeKtrum radio and batteries.

I always answer questions.  Lots of pics and video at end.








































Continued...

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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2009, 09:34:45 pm »
...continued









 Back door was built using old refrigerator trays.






Superstructure made with Birch 1/8" ply.


Use a piece of scrap to ensure all parallel plains are equal.


For repetitive cutting, use a jig.  Make things much faster and precise.



Stacks are two MDF halves channeled out.


Time for the arduous task of sanding.







continued...
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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2009, 09:37:59 pm »
...continued



Shafts were built with rod and stepped up by six progressive increments of tubing.



Shaft end and motor shaft do not match.  This is easily remedied with tubing.  Build up on drive shaft 'till you reach motor shaft size.



The motors I use on all of my large scale builds are water pump motors from Harbor Freight.  Catch them on sale for 25-30 bucks.



Tack stuffing boxes into place after measuring and re-measuring.  This is a critical step.  After you are satisfied with position, set with fiberglass bondo.


I connect motor shaft and drive shaft the old school way.  No need for the fancy couplers.  Be sure to counter balance screw clamp by place opposite one another.


Seal hull with 3-4 coats of resin; sanding between each coat for adhesion.


Bow Thruster - I made this unit using two small inexpensive motors.  Solder together, seal all openings, cover with a resin paste made with fine sawdust and cover with shrink tube.




Cover PVC tube w/ wax paper and apply thick paper towel and resin.  After drying, remove PVC and paper.



Cover resin tube w/ wax paper and fashion what will later be a cover for servicing motors.





Align holes into hull by using a 1/8" long drill bit and checking for plumb; now drill required holes.  Seal with a mixture of resin and fine sawdust.





continued...
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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2009, 09:39:27 pm »
...continued



Fill imperfections with an auto body finishing putty.




Non-Skid, is made with a super fine sawdust,glue and water mixture.  After dried, sand to your liking.



Hull testing is a very important part of build a ship.  It's a great time to calculate weight and determine stability.  Better to find out now just what your hull is able to handle rather than when full of electronics.


Ballast System was created with a battery shifting tray as opposed to water tanks.  The system uses a 12v geared motor and transmission (250:1).  Pulley was set-up near bow and drive unit near stern.  Batteries move forward and backward on command, this would in turn ballast stern for launching transport vessels.





Anchors - Let gravity do the work.  Wing nuts were used for anchors.



 
Electronics used were SpeKtrum DX6 radio and a Vantec 512H speed control. 




Various Tests
Ballast


Bow Thruster


Flank Speed


LCU and vehicles are wood and carved MDF.





LCAC -  this prototype proved unsuccessful.  This was probably the most difficult thing I've ever tried to build.  I finally settled for a unit with no lift and made completely of styrofoam for the illusion of lift.



Final operational rendition:






continued...
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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2009, 09:41:08 pm »
...continued



Electrical System

This build is using a six channel radio to support its 14 different functions.  This is done with a series of circuits tunned to custom circuitry built by me.  Please see pics as each individual system would take far to long to explain.  I will answer individual questions.







Here I’m building a helicopter lift.  I was going to use an auto antenna ,  but the $55 price tag meant I would be building one.  Using components from a second hand stores $3 VCR, I created this contraption.   The vertical positioned stick in pic six, rises up and down simulating helicopter take off and landing.

Since spool is coming out of casing and there is still plenty of power, I ran a line to hanger to pull in helicopter from elevator.  Rubber band will pull it back out.  Notice pics six and seven; spool is larger in pic seven in order to slow the pull speed.









Air Wing
Thanks to Scott O. for specs on air wing.  Air craft carved of MDF.








Horizontal launching Harrier


Small details added:
C.I.W.S.


Railing


Antenna, crane and mules.


Osprey lifts from lifting apparatus while blades fold downward to horizontal position.




Operational Captain's Gig that lowers and spewing water from hull.




continued...
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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2009, 09:43:33 pm »
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andyn

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2009, 09:59:05 pm »
 :o :o :o :o :o :o


Absolutely spectacular O0
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cos918

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2009, 10:01:58 pm »
Hi Rich what a top build and to do it on such a small budget wow ,you certainly have given food for thought.

John
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2009, 10:04:32 pm »
Brilliant!...... apart from the over scale seagull.....  :}
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dan

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2009, 10:15:51 pm »
looks fantastic mate  :o  :o  :o
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gingyer

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2009, 10:30:26 pm »
Excellent Rich,
Could you tell us more on how you built the hull ?

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Martin13

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2009, 10:53:30 pm »
Quote from: gingyer on April 30, 2009, 10:30:26 pm
Excellent Rich,
Could you tell us more on how you built the hull ?



Ditto that.

Martin du
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Captain Jack

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2009, 12:11:13 am »
A hearty Bravo Zulu, shipmate!
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ronkh

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2009, 12:37:00 am »
Very, very nice Rich.

How long did all that take to build?

Ron.
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Rich S.

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2009, 02:30:04 am »
.


Wow!!!


You guys sure know to to make a guy feel proud.  Thanks so much fore the great compliments.


The thing I feel is most important in this hobby is to follow your heart.  What I mean by that is to not be discouraged because you might not be able to afford fiberglass or great detailed fittings.  There is nothing wrong with you doing it yourself.  The sense of satisfaction, even with a piece that's not "perfect", goes beyond measure.


The hull was done of foam sheets glued together.  The technique I use is freehand forming, I'm an artisan by trade.  I pencil in some basic measurements and begin to hack away while looking at a picture or model.  The foam was then dressed with 1/8" thick ply X 2, after dried , foam was removed.  Fiberglass inside and resin outside.  These days I use a papermache' technique.


My style of building has changed in that I put more attention to detail these days.  ...Still, there is always room to learn.


Some of my work can be found in the "Trader" section of Mayhem



Rich S.
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Craig Kane

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #15 on: September 01, 2009, 12:05:41 pm »
What a fantastic model.

My 1:72 scale project never got started due to other commitments, but after seeing that, I'm determined to get cracking on it as soon as possible.

I have a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind trying to answer them :

How many batteries (and what type) did you use?
How much additional ballast did it take to get the model on the waterline?


Once again, an excellent model.
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Mark47

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #16 on: September 01, 2009, 01:03:52 pm »
Truly awesome scratch build. :-)) O0 O0 O0

Mark
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hazegry

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Re: USS Tarawa LHA-1.....complete build of wood. By Rich S.
« Reply #17 on: April 21, 2010, 04:37:15 am »
The only thing I can find wrong is that it should be 4 and not 1 but I only feel that way because the USS NASSAU LHA-4 was my first ship in the navy. nice work
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