The Ship(s) That Ate My Dining Room

[towl1996]

Heck, just eat Thanksgiving dinner off the tanker.

I was wondering where the cranberry sauce was going to go. 

[Blazeman]

Well, it's better than building a boat in the basement...

Do you have to deliver it when finished or will your customer pick it up? Not like you can throw it in the bed of a pickup. Would be too long for mine.

[rschaffter]

Cool Beans, Pete!  Keep us posted on the progress... 

[peteski]

Jeez, imagine a model of that ship in HO scale, let alone O or G scale!

That is why ship models usually build large ships in much smaller scales like 1:350 or even 1:720!

[pnolan48]

I believe there is an Admiralty model of the USS Missouri in 1:48. Some 18.5 feet long, it reportedly weighs over 1200 lbs. Many models of large ships in museums are 1:192 or 1:96. It just depends on how big the museum wants the model. There is a Z scale model of a large container ship (for its time) at Mystic Seaport museum--the builder used Z scale because containers were available! And he bought a boatload from a lucky LHS. He also built a modern aircraft carrier (probably Nimitz-class) in a scale where he could get the appropriate aircraft: I think it was 1:200. As the ship gets smaller, the scale increases. You'll see this in R/C ships.

As models grow in size, construction techniques change. I'm using MDF because it is dimensionally stable and very solid--styrene just wouldn't be strong enough without an extraordinary effort and multiple plies. I may still clad it in styrene, but first I will see if I can achieve a good enough finish with just the MDF.

What I've also seen is that the larger the ship, the simpler the model form. Most of the Oceania is just a box with a cambered top--which I shaped today. What a mess that made! Planeing MDF is easy, but goggles and masks are required.

[peteski]

As models grow in size, construction techniques change. I'm using MDF because it is dimensionally stable and very solid--styrene just wouldn't be strong enough without an extraordinary effort and multiple plies. I may still clad it in styrene, but first I will see if I can achieve a good enough finish with just the MDF.

What I've also seen is that the larger the ship, the simpler the model form. Most of the Oceania is just a box with a cambered top--which I shaped today. What a mess that made! Planeing MDF is easy, but goggles and masks are required.

Wouldn't using Styrene-clad Styrofoam work?  The pink or blue stuff we use on model RR layouts.  That would be even more dimensionally stable than MDF (which after all is a wood product that could be affected by high humidity and moisture)  and much, much lighter.  And it can easily be shaped with hot-wire cutter.

[pnolan48]

Interesting idea, as I used extruded foam like plywood in my Albuquerque layout. Never thought of it. How would you attach the styrene to the extruded foam?

[peteski]

Interesting idea, as I used extruded foam like plywood in my Albuquerque layout. Never thought of it. How would you attach the styrene to the extruded foam?

Both materials are polystyrene, but obviously any solvent cement won't work (as it would melt the foam).  But any epoxy glue should work (especially since it hardens by a chemical reaction, not by solvent or water evaporation).  There are epoxies out there which have different hardening times which should give you options of choosing the assembly time.  I also seem to recall reading somewhere that the odorless CA glue does not attack Styrofoam.  BSI brand CA accelerator also does not attack Polystyrene.

[Iain]

When I did my model of North Carolina, I did the hull to the standards specified by the US Navy Heritage Command, namely, traditional lift construction of mahogany with Titebond II for glue.

At 1:100, it was 6.5' long, and all of a hundred lbs.

[jnevis]

Great start Pete.

Some of you have probably seen this one: 1:100 USS Enterprise at the air and Space Museum downtown


I've seen a 1:72 Nimitz as well.  I think it was started from a kit.

[John]

Now that was an airwing .. big cats, prowlers, skywawks, corsairs, and some screw tops

[jnevis]

Now that was an airwing .. big cats, prowlers, skywawks, corsairs, and some screw tops

There's even a couple Whales in the hangar bay.

Unfortunately now all we have is Boeing's plastic planes, but the Grumman Iron Works lives on with 50+ yrs of Hawkeyes.

[pnolan48]

With aircraft carriers, I suspect the scale of the available aircraft plays a large role in the scale of the model. Many (most?) aircraft are available in 1:144 or 1:72, and perhaps 1:100 from specialty manufacturers. For railroads, N scale is not bad, in my opinion, for ships up to about 500 feet; I really like making ships in Z scale, where I think 700 feet isn't so big you need a barn for the layout.

As Iain noted, built up mahogany, with Titebond II or epoxy, is specified by the Navy's museum curators. MDF is heavier than mahogany. And whether MDF will stand up to the standard of 300-400 years without deterioration is probably 300 years from a determination.

I look upon commercial modeling much like I looked upon my career as a writer. There may well have been better writers out there, but I was the one willing to stick my neck out and commit to short deadlines, sometimes meager pay schedules, and the whims of the clients. There are some cranky customers out there whom I will never please, and some very dedicated and precise modelers who deem my offerings as not worth their money because they can do better. I can more easily ignore the hobby end of this endeavor and concentrate on the commercial exhibit end than I can try to offer some interesting models to hobbyists.

[John]

Pete .. I like your ships .. each time you show us one, I can see an improvement in build quality .. and always seem to learn something .  have you given up the idea of another layout?

[pnolan48]

Another layout will be assembled upon my permanent arrival in Alabama.