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Everything posted by NavyShooter
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I was asked elsewhere about costs and time...well, you can see the timeline for this build in this thread. Basically just over 4 months from start to finish. Here's the blurb about costs that I shared elsewhere: The plastic for printing was $470 - ish. The lead shot for ballast was $60 The fiberglass resin for sealing was $120 The paint was $150 (several cans of spray plus several pots of various colours of other paint) The epoxy outer layer was $200 - West Systems Epoxy is NOT cheap. The Stainless Steel Hardware (bolts/nuts/washers) was about $50. The Aluminum strengthening strips were about $60 (inner and outer) The Aluminum masts were about $10. The Line for the rigging was $25 That all adds up to about $1150 or so, give or take a bit. I bought the printer (used) specifically for this job (and the St Thomas model I did as a test print.) then sold the printer again, so using it for 3 months cost me about $150. Print time was about 6 weeks. Some modules took 50+ hours to print, there were 18 modules in the hull, and 8 more for the superstructure. The lifeboats and Davits were all individually printed too.
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OK, I got the masts painted this evening (hopefully they're supposed to be black...?) and I got the last of the rigging complete. I'll see about getting her out of the garage tomorrow if things are nice out and getting a few pictures. All that's left is: - LED Flashing SOS System - Float Test - Ballast installation - Foam installation - Launch.
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A couple hours of work tonight, and we have everything except the LED light system and the main mast rigging complete. I 3D printed the funnel caps and glued them on. This is hopefully the last layer of epoxy put on. Note - I filled the lifeboats with epoxy so that they wouldn't fill with water when she's in the pond. There were a few bubbles visible, so I took a trick I saw in a 'night shift' video and used a bit of flame to clear them away. Basically - she's ready for launch at this point. I need to get some outdoor photos on a nice day though I think. Here's tonight's work:
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I spent tonight doing the 'minimalist' rigging that I planned to do. Put a string around the funnel band, tied lines to that, then glued the lines down to the deck. There will be a layer of epoxy added over all of this, so the lines will STAY PUT quite nicely. The 'to do' list is now getting quite short.
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OK, Some pictures - here we go. I got the funnels back from the Guild Member who was painting them for me on the way home from work, and I decided to get them installed tonight. Each of them is both epoxied into place, and bolted into place with a stainless steel threaded rod. Then I lined up the Davits (YES, I KNOW THEY ARE NOT WELIN DAVITS, I DO NOT CARE AT THIS POINT) and glued them in place. Here's my 'to do' list: -Glue down lifeboats -Seal Funnel tops -Epoxy 2nd layer on superstructure -rigging -LED solar light SOS I'm almost ready for a test float as well. I've been collecting some scrap steel to use as ballast.
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OK, getting down to the details - I knocked off a few things from the 'to do' list. Mast bases installed in the hull tonight (2x4 blocks epoxied in place) Masts installed in bases (epoxied into the wooden block) Upper decks of hull given first layer of epoxy sealant Upper deck air vents painted Skylights painted I have to do some touch-up on the skylights tomorrow - there was some paint bleed unfortunately. No pictures - nothing really major to show....
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Here's the lifeboats and Davits laid out in place on the upper decks just aft of the bridge. I decided to see how they'd look. The superstructure now has a base layer of epoxy sealant on it, it'll get another once I get the funnels, davits and lifeboats installed. These are just sitting there for looks. I made myself a 'to do' list of items that I have to get to on this project, and the list is getting short. Only a bit of painting left (the windows in the skylights for the staircases) and I can almost see the end of this. I'll be happy to have this off the bench and get back to my Bonnie project.
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One of our Guild Members spent the weekend puttering about with some paint behind the table, and we have our Funnels painted now! A great show, some interest and a few minor donations to the cause. The only problem was the weather....we had a full blown snow-storm most of the weekend. At one point I had a 3 foot drift of snow behind my truck!
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The 2nd Mast has been started - and that's as far as I'm getting this week. Tonight the ship gets loaded into the truck and I head into the Halifax International Boat Show with her (and a couple of others) for the weekend! If you're in Halifax (Nova Scotia) this weekend, feel free to drop in and see her in person! NS
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Alrighty...I did some minor touch-up work tonight on the hull, some drips and over-runs were repainted, so now there's basically very little left to do on the hull...so I rolled it onto its side, got out a roll of painters tape, and put a yellow stripe down the port side. I'll put a second coat on tomorrow and then do the Starboard side. Things left to do with the hull: - Yellow Stripe (Stbd) - 2 coats - Yellow Strip (Port) - 1 coat - Drill holes for mast supports - manufacture mast supports - install mast supports and interior hull brackets for them I'm intending to make the mast supports out of aluminum rod, and will chock/block them into place in the hull with a pile of resin and cloth. Pictures will follow!
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OK, Had some time out in the garage last evening and got the rest of the 'details' painted on the Focs'le. All that's left is a bit of touch-up with the tan for a couple of over-runs, and the stairs/ladders. I also have some paint work done on the upper decks, and the red vent interiors really make them pop! I think I have some white-bleeding issues with my cell phone camera that I have to figure out as well...sorry gents.
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We had our monthly Guild meeting yesterday, and I wheeled the model into the museum to let the group have a look at the progress. She's huge...and starting to look more complete. (Yes, I do use a lightly modified baby stroller for moving the ship. Our Guild President uses a 4 wheel camping dolly thing, but I found it very unstable when he top-loads it. This thing folds up small, and with a wide wheel-base, it works well for stability.) After I got her home, I started doing a bit more tidy-up painting. There was a bit of red that overlapped the black on the hull, so a bit of tidying and spraying there to get sorted out. Then I looked at the superstructure, and decided to get some more white and some gray on around the funnel bases. Good news is that the gent from the Guild that's working on the lifeboats and davits took on the task of tidying up and painting the funnels for me as well, so he has those in hand now. I'll see what I can get done over the next few weeks. NS
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OK, so, sometimes one thing leads to another....and I got a request for assistance from staff at a local museum. They're having to adjust their internal aircraft layout, and I have offered them a complete set of the aircraft they have in their collection 3D printed in 1/96 scale, assembled, wings folded as necessary, and primed with a layer of grey paint. I'm almost half done - I expect I'll probably have them ready to drop off to the museum later in the week. This is related to the Bonnie because they're mostly aircraft that flew from Bonnie in the museum.
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A comment - I recall that in advance of the invasion, many of the road signs were said to have been torn down. This was an attempt by the Germans to prevent easy navigation by the allies if there was a landing. Can I suggest - take a few of the signs, paint them up, and put them in a messy pile beside the road with some broken up concrete bits/bases and such? Then there's an obvious reason for the tank commander to be seeking directions from the soldier on the ground? NS
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