NavyShooter

Here's the first two completed Trackers!

So...more progress...we have 2 Trackers with decals complete now. It's taking about an hour and a half per aircraft to do the decals. There's about 25 per plane to apply. It's...challenging...but rewarding when they're done. I got a layer of paint on the hockey sticks and the HF/DF antenna last evening, and retreated into the A/C for the night. Today, I had some time so I got some 3D work done on the RADAR mast on top of the island. I had previously attempted to use DSM to create the main mast, and that attempt failed rather miserably. So...today...I tried the 'simple' Tinkercad program and had some good success. Here's the plan view I worked from, and the 3D result ready to head to my printer tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Looking good! I think those 'gas cans' are actually the mufflers though 🙂

New bases are on the printer now...we'll see how it goes. I've also spent an hour or so doing up the design for this antenna (circled in red) I took the base for the 'hockey stick' antenna, squished it down by about 15% in height, then built the 'funky' diamond bit based on a couple of other drawings I found. Had my Liberty Ship out on the lake for a bit this afternoon as well - problem with taking it out on nice days on the weekend...folks in big boats are out having fun too...and my little bateau doesn't have enough freeboard to last well in waves that big!

The new version of the antenna looks good. Bases for both antennas need some work.

Very well done! I love the detail and using Train parts for ships! Your scratchbuilding skills are to be commended!

Here is the printed version of the 'hockey stick' mast.

Additional antenna designed - with base, and some additional stiffening braces added to the hockey stick radio mast. The draft version of the hockey stick mast came out OK - with the additional detail braces put in, I'm going to see how it turns out with no supports being printed. The other 'simple' antenna is a 30 footer, but there appear to be a mixture of 20 and 30 footers on the ship, so I'll just print all at 30 and snip the ends off to get the 20's. From the pictures I have, it appears that the bases are identical.

Lou - I've pondered the idea of putting in a catapult and using it to launch failed 3D prints of the aircraft...

And....while I'm waiting for the current print job to finish up (a test module for my Anchor system) I decided to do up the decals on one of the Trackers. Here's Tracker 530 with her full plumage! There will be a couple of layers of clearkote applied over top to seal and protect everything! I'm rather happy with how it turned out.

I spent a bit of time today working on the 3D design for the 'hockey stick' style folding radio masts. This is version 1...I'll print it, test, and repeat until I get the version I like...

I keep silica gel packets in my gun safes - works well. I recommend the oven for re-activating them. Pop the silica packets in for an hour at low heat (200-225) on top of a cookie sheet. Dries them out really well!

Welcome aboard!

Living in Canada, I see some temperature swings as well. My 22x22' garage is insulated, but not heated. I have a fair bit of 'spendy' equipment in it, from my 10x30 lathe, a benchtop mill, a mini-CNC mill (still not fully assembled and working) to my various hobby gear. I have a dehumidifier that I run during the summer months to try and keep a handle on the humidity - it seems to work reasonably well as I don't see any rust forming on the lathe between uses (I keep it fairly well oiled too...) In the winter months, there is actually an increase in humidity due to the snow-blower, and after use it ends up bringing in a bunch of left-over snow. I have a small 1500 watt electric fan heater that I use to dry things out, and a squeegee to push the puddles of melted snow out after I finish snow blowing. The dehumidifier doesn't work in the winter due to the cooler temperatures though. I'll suggest in your situation that a dehumidifier might be the first place to start to help moderate the humidity a bit. It may not be a perfect solution, but it is a starting point that should work in your situation for most of the year. The lack of insulation will mean that it's always going to be a fight against the conditions, so any insulation or sealing that can be easily/cheaply added will help. You don't need R-15-R20 like I had installed in my garage, but you would benefit considerably from some 1/2"-3/4" foam boards, some caulking, and an inner layer of 1/4" plywood to cover the stud walls. With a 12x24 shed, assuming bare metal walls, and wooden stud construction, that's 72 feet of wall all the way around. You would need approximately 18 sheets of foam, and 18 sheets of plywood to sheathe the inside walls all around. 1/4" OSB sells locally for $25 a sheet - that's $450 3/4" foam board sells locally for $16.48 per sheet - that's another $297 Add to that the cost of a dehumidifier, and you've got about $1K to get a space that's partly insulated, with wood walls that you can hang things on, and will serve you better than a bare wall steel shed. I realize that you are a renter - can I suggest engaging with the landlord to see if they're willing to chip in for some of it? Or simply buy the materials and you do all the labour for the installation? At a minimum, see if they'll flip for the foam board and then you can caulk that into place between the studs and get some sealing effect, and you provide the dehumidifier.

Ahoy and welcome aboard!

I have decided to pursue the FPV system for my Liberty Ship....so I've been puttering away with 3D printing some parts. I'm on version 3 of the camera mount now, and it's almost ready to assemble. If you recall my Can holder hatch covers, I've taken that same concept and created an FPV hatch cover, with a turret/dome mounted on top, wires go into the hull and there's a spot behind the turret for the antenna to protrude. Pictures will follow - I'm pondering how to make it a 'modular' setup so I can swap it from ship to ship without having to invest in a new camera, transmitter, and servos for each ship.

All 44 aircraft are now printed, it's now just a matter of completing them. I posted a picture in one of the HMCS Bonaventure groups showing the CF-100's, and there was some indignation about that aircraft having never been on the Bonnie....just wait 'til they have an aneurism over seeing the Arrows and F-35's. 🙂 I'll get kicked out of the group for the heresy I'm sure. I'll feel better about this massive pile of aircraft once I finally get a few more of them finished. The Trackers are about ready for decals next. That said, now I'm pondering printing up a couple of 20mm CIWS to stick on to be able to use instead of the 3"50 guns when I mix up the air det...I'm sure folks will disapprove of that too! In other news, my anchor winches and anchor chain arrived...so I've got other stuff to muck about with as well.

The F-18's are on the printer right now....the Skyhawks are done and primed. Here's how the Trackers look right now:

Good point! I'll see if I can find one of those...that means at least 2 more aircraft types are coming still...lots of options for my air det! Got some sanding and priming done tonight. Starting to look better! The Trackers had their landing gear painted last evening - and that went well up to the point that I knocked over the paint bottle. Silver paint all over the bench. Yah! The Sea Kings and the F-35's need some more filling and sanding, but at this point, I have the following aircraft printed: Banshee - 8 Tracker - 8 Sea King - 4 (of 6) HOS4 - 4 Bonus types: F-35 - 4 CF-100 - 4 CF-105 - 4 Still to come: A-4 Skyhawk - 4 CF-18 - 4 Any other possible aircraft that might fit with my fanciful RCN Air Det?

So, I've been busy with the 3D printer, and have built some additional aircraft options for my ship's air det. You can see the Banshee and Tracker at the front....who can ID all the rest of the aircraft? There's one more type that I'm working to find a good model of that I can print next.

Had her out again this evening - a good 40 minute run or so....one problem came up, the rudder over-rotated, and flipped the servo arm. That was - ungood...good news was that she was close to the dock when it happened, and I was able to recover her under her own power. Fixed the rudder - then adjusted the rotation limit in the radio by 15% (less) to each side. She'll turn a bit wider now, but I won't have the same flip problem.

Here she is sailing before the shaft-line failure: 3D printed Liberty Ship sailing on Canada Day - YouTube

There's the video of the rescue!