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Author Topic: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log  (Read 23800 times)

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #25 on: April 28, 2011, 04:58:11 am »

My interpretation of a CIWS:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #26 on: April 29, 2011, 05:31:43 am »

Well so much for my good quality Dulux undercoat - I got a bad can, with this result:



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:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #27 on: May 05, 2011, 09:31:35 am »

OK, things as they are now:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #28 on: May 10, 2011, 10:56:54 am »

Some colour on the mast:



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 :)



And you can see the shoddy hand-finished windows too. I guess that needs fixing...
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #29 on: May 13, 2011, 10:16:41 am »

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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #30 on: May 14, 2011, 07:06:36 am »

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:



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

pugwash

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #31 on: May 14, 2011, 07:28:46 am »

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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AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #32 on: May 14, 2011, 10:10:18 pm »

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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #33 on: May 14, 2011, 10:50:07 pm »

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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #34 on: May 21, 2011, 10:23:07 am »

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:



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...:



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):



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:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #35 on: May 27, 2011, 11:31:47 am »

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:



All bits here are 040 thick - which is about 1mm.



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #36 on: May 28, 2011, 04:32:45 am »

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:


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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #37 on: June 05, 2011, 06:37:27 am »

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:



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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Alister

TugCowboy

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #38 on: June 05, 2011, 01:53:47 pm »

Really enjoying this build, keep the updates coming!

Alex
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AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #39 on: June 07, 2011, 10:02:49 am »

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!!



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!



Hopefully the ballast will be enough to correct that - and hopefully it will take a fair bit too.
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #40 on: June 09, 2011, 10:48:29 am »

RC installation:



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!



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #41 on: June 11, 2011, 05:29:14 am »

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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #42 on: June 12, 2011, 02:07:05 am »

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:



















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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #43 on: June 12, 2011, 10:44:42 am »

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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #44 on: June 19, 2011, 02:50:59 am »

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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Alister

deadbeat

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #45 on: June 19, 2011, 01:10:21 pm »

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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AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #46 on: June 23, 2011, 08:53:54 am »

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:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #47 on: June 25, 2011, 01:15:39 am »

More deck markings made - still needs tidying up!




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...



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:



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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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #48 on: June 26, 2011, 10:34:38 am »

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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Alister

derekwarner

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Re: USS Hibbard - a (slow) build log
« Reply #49 on: June 26, 2011, 10:55:17 am »

 :-))...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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Derek Warner

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