NavyShooter

As the newest version of the Skegs is almost done printing (should be there when I get home tonight) I decided to do some design work for some search lights. We'll see if these will work out better than the file I got from a friend:

Thanks! A new version of the Skegs is heading to the printer in the basement in the morning - the aft end of them wasn't looking very streamlined, so that's been fixed up a bit.

At the end of the evening, here's how things look. The replacement 3D printed Skegs are almost a perfect drop-in replacement. I'm shocked actually at how well this went together. There is a small question of alignment and shaft length - I think I need to order a pair of 20" shafts, but I'll re-visit that tomorrow when I am able to thing about rebuilding her. I am quite pleased...yes, sanding, aligning, epoxying, fiberglassing and gell-coating are all still ahead, but damn....this is looking really really good.

I then had the measure of the task, and of the durability of the hull, so I went to town...and about 20 minutes later, here we are...both old shafts stripped out. There is still sanding to do - but this is the bulk of the destruction completed. With the chisel, it took a lot less time that I'd anticipated.

That is the assessment of the situation....here's what happened next. I pulled out the coping saw and started cutting. It was slow going. After about 10 minutes with the coping saw, I decided that I needed to go big...so I dug out the old 1" Stanley chisel and an 8 ounce hammer, and started tapping away.

OK, so this is how my evening started. My wife had a dinner party with some of her friends over, so after picking a minion up from hockey, I had the chance to head out to the garage and putter about. If you look closely, you'll see the cracks, and you can clearly see how the 'skegs' do not extend the whole length of the shaft line. The last 3.5" is free hanging, and you can see the cracks which resulted from that.

It was nice to have met you! You're welcome to come out to the boat club meetings at the Maritime Museum - 3rd Saturday of the month at 10 AM! Now that the show is behind me, I can look at the next major milestone, which is, I think, getting the shaft lines and hull fixed. One of the problems with the Bonnie model I'm working on is that the prop shafts aren't quite right. I tested the ship in a friend's swimming pool once and the props were poorly balanced, the shafts leaked, and were not proper stuffing boxes, rather, just a piece of 1/4" brass rod inside a snug fitting (but not tight, nor sealed) brass tube. The other piece of the puzzle is that the 'skegs' that support the shafts end about 3.5" short of the end, so instead of support straight to the end of the shaft, instead there's a poorly balanced prop, with about 4" of shaft to flap around on. That's....not good. So. How to fix that? Can I get stuffing tubes that will fit inside? Not really. Still doesn't fix the skegs...so....the only answer I can see is to de-construct/destroy, then rebuild. So. I ordered a set of 15" long 6mm stuffing tubes with 4mm shafts, and a new set of props. I've started with measuring some things...and realize that I need longer shafts than 15", but these will get things started at least in terms of fitting. I'm going to end up having to remove the 'as fitted' skegs on the model, and replace them, and in pondering the right way to do that, I decided to try my hand at some basic 3D design - and I have been able to successfully loft/blend these together. There's still work to be done, but this is a good start. With the Skegs made, I also made an alignment block for the shafts. This will hold the shafts in the correct alignment to each other as they are inserted and glued in place. Intent is to glue/epoxy the replacement skegs on, then put a layer or two of fiberglass over top and blend them into the hull. We'll see how that all works out. I'm thinking that there will be some pauses while waiting for weather warm enough to have the fiberglass actually set...so that'll give me time to detail out the hangar deck a bit as a background activity.

I brought the Bonnie out in her current state to show at the Halifax International Boat Show with some fellow modelers and their ships from the Maritime Ship Modeler's Guild. If you're in the area, feel free to drop out tomorrow afternoon, Saturday or Sunday!

That's nice work! Well done!

I've got a good start on the plank that I'll be using as the base - a layer of polyurethane applied to both sides of it this evening. I need some more lumber to finish it up - some oak for the supports, and some rails for the bottom edges to add some stiffness and strength. So, while I was waiting for the paint to dry, I decided to have a peek at the mast, and maybe run some of the signal halyards. Ended up running all 10 of them. I didn't tie them yet, I haven't thought that far ahead, but the lines are run, so that details is about 1/2 done. I'm not sure how much more rigging I'm going to add - in looking, there's definitely a flag to be hoisted from the mainmast, but I'll have to see where that is to run. This is the first time I've ever actually done rigging on a ship model, so I'm pleased that my initial design actually worked on this!

It's sometimes overwhelming to stand back and look at the whole project as well. Probably why I've picked details to focus on in a lot of cases. I think with the hangar 'figured out' I now have to put my mind to fixing the prop shaft issues that I inherited with the model.

It's sometimes overwhelming to stand back and look at the whole project as well. Probably why I've picked details to focus on in a lot of cases. I think with the hangar 'figured out' I now have to put my mind to fixing the prop shaft issues that I inherited with the model.

Very nicely done! I like how you harkened back to the original WW1 photo, and the scene is well laid out and presented. Having seen a Whippet in person up in Borden, I was a bit surprised at the size of them, I've seen FT-17's before as well and the Whippet is much larger than I'd thought it would be. Great work! NS

If you note the 2x round holes in the top surface, those are 10mm diameter, and 5mm deep. I have some magnets...plan is to add them and the island will be held on by magnets. 🙂

I've been pondering how to attach the 3D printed island to the deck, and have come across a solution. I took the 3D design, and superimposed it on a simple block - and made it a negative space/shape. So, now I'm left with a pair of blocks the size and shape of the inside of the base of the island. I will simply be able to attach these blocks to the deck, and drop the island onto them, and it should stay on. Note, the 'room' is actually visible space through a door in the island, so I built a space to be 'seen' in the shadows. I'll probably stick an LED light in it too just for the effect. This will take about 6 hours to print, so I'll let it run while I'm at work tomorrow and we'll see how it fits! Considering I'm planning to bring the ship to a show in a week and a half, I've made myself a list of priority items to complete in the time I have. Priority 1 - Build a keel block/carrying support Priority 2 - Assemble and test the elevator system Priority 3 - Mount the Island and get some LED lights working and the Radar dish spinning Priority 4 - Detail painting in the Hangar deck I suspect I'll be lucky to get the first 3 done. We'll see what the week brings!

So...the most inspiring build, and the one that I'm really judging my own build against is that of Dan Linton. His model is on display at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa, and I recall seeing it there when I visited with the family about 2 years ago, but did not get a picture....that said, there's an old website called "Carrier Builders" where Dan did a 7 page build log showing much of the scratch-built detail that he put into his construction, and I have looked to his pictures and build log for insight. Here's the 7 pages, and one of his photos: Building a 1:144 R/C HMCS Bonaventure: Part 1 (carrierbuilders.net) Building a 1:144 R/C HMCS Bonaventure: Part 2 (carrierbuilders.net) Building a 1:144 Scale R/C HMCS Bonaventure: Part 3 (carrierbuilders.net) Building a 1:144 Scale R/C HMCS Bonaventure: Part 4 (carrierbuilders.net) 1:144 r/c HMCS Bonaventure: Part 5: The Details (carrierbuilders.net) HMCS Bonaventure: 1:144 scale r/c: Part 6: Air Wing (carrierbuilders.net) HMCS Bonaventure: Part 7: Display (carrierbuilders.net) I am personally in awe of this man's skill, and have attempted to reach out to him a couple of times through a club in Ottawa, but haven't had much success.

I am lucky to live in the city where HMCS Bonaventure was homeported back in the day. There is an institutional memory associated to her, and there are 4 other models of her in the area which I am aware of. I have, over the past year, visited 3 of the 4, and a friend of mine who has the clearances and approvals visited and photographed the Bonnie that is in the Maritime Forces Atlantic Headquarters building for me. I have been pondering the question of 'how much detail is enough'? And 'what does right look like'? as a part of this build process. I had the chance to meet the builder of two of them - the one at the Maritime Museum and the one at the Atlantic Canada Aviation museum were both built by the same person. He's a great person, and works as a model builder at the Maritime Museum, and has for several decades. So....what does right look like? I can see some examples of what wrong looks like - in particular, the model at the MARLANT HQ has the flight deck colours reversed. The angled deck section should be gray, the rest of the deck green. There is an early photo I've found that might show the whole deck as green - but...that's a mix-up. There's also some in accuracy in the aircraft - the blue on the HSO4 is quite obviously wrong. But, to be sure, the models are certainly representative, and there is no one who would ever question that it is "THE BONNIE" that they are portraying. Then there's the question of detail - how much is enough? If I look at the large scale (appears to be 1/48) at the Shearwater museum, they have had some damage done to the model years ago (apparently a kid was standing on it?) and so some of the original details were lost, and have been replaced with paper printed details that have been glued in place to give the image of 'stuff' being in the catwalks on the sides of the flight deck. The other models all have varying levels of detail, there are some with fire fighter boxes, some have spools, there are some ladders, deck cranes, etc. The one 'standard' seems to be that there must be aircraft on deck. And that must be a 'mix' of aircraft - always include Trackers, and some helos. So, in looking at the other 4 Bonnies in the area - from 1/200, to 1/144, to about 1/48, I can honestly say that with the amount of variation between them, and the amount of detail that I have on mine already, I think I've exceeded 'museum quality' for the local museums at least. Which, I think, means that I have 'enough' detail, even though I'm still making more. All this to say, I'm pretty pleased with how my Bonnie is coming along....but read along to the next post to see the 'WOW' standard that I'm sort of judging myself against. NS

Alrighty....a little update on the Bonnie. I'm bringing her in 'as is' condition to a display at the Halifax International Boat Show in 2 weeks, so I decided to dress her up and see what 'as is' condition looks like. I have printed and assembled the new hangar deck, which has the necessary wells for the elevator lift mechanisms. The hangar deck is going to be a lift-in/lift-out module that will fit below the flight deck when I'm all finished, and the flight deck is going to get sliced up with 'hatches' to allow access to remove the entire module, as well as provide access to the anchor deck area, and the rudder area below the aft cable deck. I didn't glue any of the accessories in place, in fact, none of them are really in the right spots, I just wanted to get some imagery to share with a couple of folks so they could get an idea of what I'll be bringing along to the show. I'm quite pleased with the progress - there's still a long way to go, but getting the elevators figured out has let me move the bar along considerably. NS

One module left to print....and here's how the window glass turned out:

A bit of work today on the ship. The hangar deck is about 75% printed - and I've done some more work on the island too.

She's right on about 7 feet long. Definitely too big for the bathtub...but the good news was that with the front seat folded forward, I was able to fit her into my CR-V. 🙂 BARELY!

Your work is inspiring! Having watched the build over the past several months, seeing it develop and the detail that you've laid your hands to come to completion...well done. You are a master of the art of model ship building! NS

I grabbed some window making solution/glue, and have given it a try on one of the old versions of the Island. Here's the application, the material, and the dried window. I'm quite pleased!

Alrighty....home from a busy vacation with the family...now I can relax! Spent part of today out in the shop puttering away on the forward elevator part of the project....here's how Version 1 looks: I'll call it "almost functional" - but not very reliable yet. I have some work ahead of me.

Your problems have been overcome - patience is a good thing!