Omega1234

Many thanks for your kind comments Druxey, Ian and Patrik
 
Nils

Hi Nils
 
It looks like this is going to be another one of your amazing creations. Superbly crafted with precision, skill and talent. 
 
I look forward to following along. 
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Bob - I thought that but then had a look at the photos I had of her since launch. Only one or two show the stern with any clarity but I can't see a hailing port on any of them. 


The second image is August 2021.
 
 

A small update. Started the forward gantry, which is also the limit of my intended bottleneck. 
 
I also started the superstructures. However I'm stuck with a semi-finished deck. I can't mount the main deck yet, since I'd need to paint and add additional detail below it. I therefore shaped it a little oversize and keep it in place centered on 2 pins to proceed with further structures. It does mean I can't really mount anything yet.  All is dry fit for now. 
The horizontal part of the gantry is a bit thin and "light", so I'll lower the main verticals and add a thicker and better shaped top part. The ladder underwater is supported by this gantry, so I'll need to make rigging between those two parts. I intend to make that rigging fixed, then hinge the ladder in upper position to insert it into the bottle, then extend it down again once in the bottle, where it will act as the second support. 
As you can see, I now use a laundry pin to keep the ladder from slipping forward and the ship from leaning over. I intend to glue a fixed piece of styrene to hold that ladder in place and cover that with sand to hide it. 

 
 

 
The last pic shows the main spud in normal sailing position, this is however just for the placement of the details. I will be displaying the spuds upright. 

Hi all, 
 
Although the Sea Installer isn't quite fully completed yet, circumstances don't allow me to continue on that build. I'm currently restricted to a "mobile modelling set" consisting of scraps of styrene, a couple of knives, files, drills and pliers, so bear with me on my next venture. 
This time I'm going for the Cutter Suction Dredger Spartacus. The most powerful one of its kind. Practically a big underwater rock drill. It's mainly used to deepen ports or build new ports in harder soil types, where "regular" trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD's) can't do the job or where very large volumes of sand need to be dredged to build up new port areas. 
It's probably the most complex vessel I've ever tackled as a modelling subject and this is also partly the reason I'm going to try to put it in a bottle. In my regular larger scales 1/400 or 1/700, it would become such a long build that I'm unlikely to ever finish it. The tiny 1/2000 scale allows me to leave at least some of the extensive details off. 
Getting it into a bottle is of course a challenge by itself. I'm not going to "just put it in", I'll be showing it doing one of its operations underwater. 
I don't have a bottle for it yet, but I'm using the dimensions of the Sea Installer bottle for my reference and design ideas. 
Here is the website of the beast itself (yes, it even has a website😁):
CSD Spartacus
 
I would like to display her when installing/moving her anchors. One anchor hanging free, the other on the bottom along with the cutter ladder (center part supporting the big drill)
Spartacus project
 
Overall I'll go for a similar look as Sea Installer, having a bottom part at the bottom of the bottle, with epoxy for the water layer. I will however try to cover the sand with a tiny layer of liquid acrylic gel, hoping to make a smooth transition and either expel or trap any air bubbles before putting epoxy inside. 
 
Initial idea is to mount the whole thing on a base plate, which will hold the spud pole aft of the vessel and the cutter ladder forward of the vessel. I would then cover that plate with sand-acrylic mixture and insert it without the spud pole. I will insert it into a sand-acrylic mixture in the bottle to make it blend in. I will then try to mount the lower part of that spud pole in a pre-drilled hole in the plate, so I'm sure it'll stand upright and is held firm. 
Afterwards I'll mount the ship on top of that spud pole. 
 
The hull normally fits into a bottleneck, however, due to the square section of the vessel and its superstructure, I'll need to mount a couple of things separately and other will have to rotate etc. Hopefully an interesting process. 
Initial effort and size. 
 
Start of hull build-up:

 
As you probably noticed, that is one hell of a complex hull. Splitting it could make things a lot easier, but that's not an option here, as the central cutter ladder will have to hinge (insert in bottleneck in "seagoing position" and then lowered to the bottom) and is hanging by wires on the huge forward gantry. I will have to make those in 1 part to make that work. 
Below is the hinge part for the rudimentary ladder. One 1mm layer is below that to hold it in place. 

 
And here is where I currently am. The lower layer in place, but not glued. Since I don't have any paint in my mobile set, I've decided to make a decision I don't like.

The ladder needs to be painted before I insert it, however I don't want to wait to continue the hull until I have paint available. I will therefore cut small pieces from the bottom plate, so I can mount that bottom plate, sand and shape the hull, and insert the ladder hinges and the cut out pieces afterwards. 
 
I admit this project may be over ambitious considering the amount of detail and rigging all around the vessel and my lack of experience in this tiny scale. It may turn out impossible, but we'll see where it goes. 

Greetings all and thanks for the kind comments and the "likes".
 
Before moving on to the backbone, the station curves on the body plan need to be completed and developed into station bulkhead form patterns, printed, cut from plywood and finally arranged on a building baseboard.
 
The model will be displayed with the fish hatches open and probably a bunker plate removed to allow a peek into the dimly lit partitioned hold below.  The positioning and spacing of the stations as indicated on the original plans are provided only to define the shape of the hull and of course, do not reference any structural element.  But because I'm using those stations as bulkhead locations, where they land within the fish hold area is of consequence.  As luck would have it, station # 5 intersects the forward hatch and #6 lands on a coaming timber at the aft hatch.  So those stations needed to be removed and three new modified stations added in replacement.  In the drawing below, the vertical red lines are the removed stations #5 and 6.  The blue lines are the replacement stations 4A, 5A and 6A, which as you can see do not interfere with the hatch openings and will provide a landing spot for the hold outer wall planking.
 

 
 
Body plan curves for three new stations were generated from the "lines" drawing in the same way station #1.5 was done in my previous post.
 

 
 
Stations #5 and 6 were removed from the body plan and 4A, 5A and 6A were added.
 

 
The added station forms were hollowed out to the width determined by the hull framing at each cross section.  Deck beams will eventually strengthen these openings and be installed after the form extensions are cut from the hull and the fish hold is planked and partitioned.
 

 
The remainder of the station bulkhead forms were then drawn up.  Each one has a drill hole mark and separation cut line that will allow the forms to be detached from their extensions once the hull is fully planked.  One end of the scroll saw blade will be inserted through the drilled-out hole and used to cut along the separation line.  A Dremel rotary saw will be used to make the final separation.
 

 
I printed the forms on full sheet adhesive labels and affixed them to two 12” x 24” sheets of 1/8” craft plywood taking advantage of the factory cut edge.
 

 
Scroll sawed, filed and sanded.
 

 
Attached to the baseboard.
 

 
Next came the backbone drawings.  The original plans show very detailed dimensioning describing the shape of these timbers, so it was mostly just an exercise of re-plotting this data onto a newly created grid.  Rather than tracing an imported CAD image, I took this extra step because I already knew the original photocopies were slightly skewed and the import process would have only exaggerated the problem.
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
Here's how the backbone will sit on the station forms shown in profile.
 

 
Before I physically cut and assemble the backbone, I'll make a cardboard mock-up and test fit it to the forms.  It would be beyond irritating to say nothing of embarrassing to spend hours carefully making a backbone that doesn't quite fit because I botched the drawing.
 
I look forward to the end of this preliminary work and to begin actually building the model.
 
Be safe and stay well.
 
Gary
 
 
 

Thanks Phil!

Hi folks. I’ve been working on my latest mega yacht model named Inspiration over the past 14 months and is, as yet, still incomplete. As is customary for all my models, all of her decks are fully removable to reveal a fully detailed interior, from the engine room, right through to the top deck.  
 
I’ve still got quite a bit of work to go, but I hope you like her so far. 
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

Very cool!

Hi folks. I’ve been working on my latest mega yacht model named Inspiration over the past 14 months and is, as yet, still incomplete. As is customary for all my models, all of her decks are fully removable to reveal a fully detailed interior, from the engine room, right through to the top deck.  
 
I’ve still got quite a bit of work to go, but I hope you like her so far. 
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

Hi folks. I’ve been working on my latest mega yacht model named Inspiration over the past 14 months and is, as yet, still incomplete. As is customary for all my models, all of her decks are fully removable to reveal a fully detailed interior, from the engine room, right through to the top deck.  
 
I’ve still got quite a bit of work to go, but I hope you like her so far. 
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

Hi folks. I’ve been working on my latest mega yacht model named Inspiration over the past 14 months and is, as yet, still incomplete. As is customary for all my models, all of her decks are fully removable to reveal a fully detailed interior, from the engine room, right through to the top deck.  
 
I’ve still got quite a bit of work to go, but I hope you like her so far. 
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

I`ve just kicked off my new project, It`s a tramp Laker Steamship based on an 3 island superstructure and on a real appr. 2150 tonnage freighter built in 1918, now in (H0) scale 1: 87.
Who still remembers the Warner Bros movie "The Sea Chase" of 1955 staring John Wayne in the roll of capt. Ehrlich of the ERGENSTRASSE and Lana Turner as an attractive female agent as the only passenger.
 
I investigated and found out that the Laker ship "Corsicana" aka "Margaret Shafer" had been engaged for the movie in 1955, hereby renamed to ERGENSTRASSE.
For my model I used the Corsicana`s data  for the Ergenstrasse rating and for hull, frameplan and general shapes those of a wooden Ferris-Ship of the American emergency fleet, being round about the length, width and depth an tonnage of the Laker Corsicana .
The movie ship was fitted with the following changes compared to the Corsicana :
- Masts changed from four to two, these placed in the forward and aft welldeck areas
- Outer bridge ends fitted with wing cabs
 
My model will be performed completely from scratch and in the same way as my previous models and bearing a rivited metal plating skin
 
Data for model ERGENSTRASSE
scale           1:87 (H0)
Length        87 cm
width          15 cm
depth            7 cm
 
I decided to fit 23 plywood frames, and to provide stringers and pine plank strips beneath the metal plating
The model will set up on 2 brass pedestals and wooden stand baseplate
 
Nils

This is the Corsicana, built 1918

This is the steamship ERGENSTRASSE aka Corsicana aka margaret Schafer

Captain Ehrlich aka John Wayne




This is a pic from the web representing a laker steam freighter, not my model

Hi Albert
 
...and what beautiful 'sawdust' it is, that you've created. Your Naiad looks brilliant so far. I'm definitely looking forward to following your progress.
 
All the best!

Hi Dave
 
What a beauty! What makes this build even more special is the personal connection that the boat has for you and your wife. The fact that she's a real looker (Molly) is even better.
 
I also especially love cut away models and yours is no exception.
 
Well done and pls keep the updates coming!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hi Elijah
 
For some strange reason, I've lost track of your wonderful build log...and that's saddened me.  My apologies!  
 
On a far brighter note; my word, what a top job you've done on your ship.  She's got heaps of character and heaps of charm, all combined with a large dollop of 'wow'.
 
I'm really pleased to see the final result and I'm looking forward to following your next little beauty.
 
All the best!
 
Patrick

HI everyone
 
I was just clearing out my cupboard and found that I have both volumes of the Naiad Frigate books in mint condition.  
 
I have placed a post in the trading forum if anyone is interested in offering to purchase them.
 
Thanks
 
 
Patrick

HI everyone
 
I was just clearing out my cupboard and found that I have both volumes of the Naiad Frigate books in mint condition.  I have never used them to build the model and as such, the pages and dust jackets are clean and in perfect condition. Both CDs and plans are intact and have never been used.
 
Pls note that I am in Australia and the buyer will need to factor the shipping costs into the purchase price.  Pls message me to discuss.
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

HI everyone
 
I was just clearing out my cupboard and found that I have both volumes of the Naiad Frigate books in mint condition.  
 
I have placed a post in the trading forum if anyone is interested in offering to purchase them.
 
Thanks
 
 
Patrick

Happy New Year, folks! Here’s my latest update of Splendid.  Most of the accommodation across her six decks have been completed, but lots of work still remains;  particularly in her two-decked engine room.
 
I hope you like where things are so far.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick 

Happy New Year, folks! Here’s my latest update of Splendid.  Most of the accommodation across her six decks have been completed, but lots of work still remains;  particularly in her two-decked engine room.
 
I hope you like where things are so far.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick 

Hi folks!  I hope you’re all well.  Pls allow me to show you the latest update of my scratch-built miniature model, Splendid (1:500).  During the past few weeks, I’ve spent more time building the individual cabin walls and bulkheads for the internal accommodation across Splendid’s five decks as well as more preliminary work on her two decked engine room.  
 
More work’s still required, of course, but…she’s getting there, folks; she’s getting there…!
 
Have a great week.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hi folks!
 
I haven’t been able to do much on Splendid lately as I’ve had some ruddy kidney stones removed. All good now, so far (fingers crossed).
 
Anyhow, here’s the latest. I’ve cut out all of Splendid’s five decks and started to add the cabin walls, etc. There’s still a long way to go, but some progress is better than no progress at all, I guess. 
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Happy New Year, folks! Here’s my latest update of Splendid.  Most of the accommodation across her six decks have been completed, but lots of work still remains;  particularly in her two-decked engine room.
 
I hope you like where things are so far.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick 

Hi Pat. Many thanks and much appreciated! 
 
Sometimes life just gets in the way; hence my sporadic appearances on MSW. Hope you and your family have been going well. 
 
Take care. 
 
Cheers
 
Patrick