SS Andrea Doria 1952 by shipmodel - FINISHED - 1/16" scale

[shipmodel]

G'day all - 

 

And I say that because three of the comments are from Oz, and the other from Canada.  Hard to remember how hard it was to make a long distance call to the next state, and now it is routine to be mates with friends halfway around the world.  Amazing . . . 

 

Greg - yes, I will post a link and set it up on my profile.

 

John - I did put in a binnacle, but I have no idea if the telegraph is right.  It just seemed that the spot needed something, although it could have been a telephone station. etc. . . I never found any clear evidence, and I am not enough of an ocean liner expert to know.  Never even heard the term "monkey island" before, but it's a perfect description.

 

Dan

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dan

Thanks for the coming link.

 

You're right it's so easy to make MATES all over the world thanks to NRG.

Havagooday

Greg

[the learner]

Great build, I liked your use of different mediums, wood, plastic, metal, paper, etc. fantastic looking model

[shipmodel]

Build Log 15 – Final Details

 

Hi and Happy New Year to all, and thanks as ever for the likes and comments.

 

This will be the last installment of this build log, covering the final details that add another level of interest to the model.  Many of these are elements that can be changed at the discretion of the captain, so I used as my guide the photographs taken at the time of the sinking.

 

The first detail was the wires for the short wave radio antenna.  These do not show up very well in photographs since they are so thin.  On the plans they are shown, but not separated from the mast support wires.  Close examination of various photographs show that not all of these wires were installed on the actual ship.  Presumably the antenna wires changed as the radio was upgraded during the life of the ship.

 

 

There is a cylindrical structure on the starboard side of the Sun Deck just aft of the Command Deck area.  Several wires lead to it so, although it is never identified, it is clearly part of the radio system.

 

 

Without any clear guide, I decided to include three wires for the antenna.  Two lead from near the top of the mast to thin poles at the aft ends, port and starboard, on the Lido Deck.  The antenna wires are separated from the poles by short lines with three insulators.  These were made by mixing white paint with white glue, then attaching small drops to the line with a toothpick.  Several coats were needed since the glue shrinks as it dries and had to be filled out again.

 

 

The third line runs from a bit lower on the mast to the top of the funnel.  All three lines are then connected to the radio fitting with vertical lines.  All of the radio wires were made from fine embroidery linen in an off-white tone.  I tried several other materials and colors, but this gave the best look, in my opinion.  It is light enough to show up in most light, but thin enough not to be overpowering.

 

 

In photographs of the ship taken on different days, there appear or disappear various sets of canvas railing cloths to protect the passengers from sea spray.  These were hung on the outside of the railings and laced to them.  On the day of the sinking there were railing cloths up to the level of the boat deck and around the command deck.

 

 

I modeled the cloths with stiffened batik fabric cut to fit and glued against the appropriate railings.  Unfortunately, once everything was dry the fabric proved too transparent, and had to be given a coat of opaque white acrylic.  But the glue proved too strong and I risked damage to the rails, so the first ones had to be hand painted on the model, while I could paint later ones before installation.  Live and learn, eh? 

 

 

I was surprised at how much of a visual difference the cloths made to the overall appearance of the model, especially when viewed from amidships.  Here are before and after photos.

 

 

The passengers were also protected from the weather and sun by canvas awnings supported by metal frames, although no photo shows the awnings spread.  Perhaps that was only done in port.  The simple frames on the Lido deck are mostly hidden behind the lifeboats, so I did not model them, but the aft taffrail deck was set up with a large awning over a complicated and interesting metal frame.  It would be a nice element to include.

 

  The frame was made up of four flat arches of differing widths set across the deck and tilting down from forward to aft.  They were connected to each other with a straight bar running along the centerline. 

 

 

For the model the frames were bent up from 0.030” brass rod.  Getting them to fit predrilled holes in the deck and still have the correct arch took a lot of trials and even more errors.  Once they were shaped the problems first started.  I planned to solder them together in a jig, then electroplate them in chrome.  I was spectacularly unsuccessful.  Once soldered in the jig, the assembly bent and/or came apart as it was removed.  Several times.  Metalworking skills are not my strong suit.  I never even attempted electroplating.  The final solution was to mount the arches on the model with the connecting bar attached with small dots of epoxy.  Once everything was set in place the deck was protected with a piece of paper toweling and the brass was hand painted with primer then silver acrylic paint.  Happily, it turned out to be quite strong and convincingly metallic.     

 

 

Some small details were added around the ship.  A dozen green storage bins were scattered around, a searchlight was installed on the aft end of the Promenade Deck near the third class pool, and photoetched life preserver rings were mounted outside of the railing cloths on the boat deck.  Ensign staffs were mounted at the extreme bow and stern.  All of these give the model a bit more 'texture' and realism.

 

It was finally time, a year after laying the keel, to hang the flag on the ship and get her ready for launch.  It was made in my usual way by printing out a skewed image of the flag.  At this scale the material was silkspan, which is transparent enough that I did not have to print the reverse side.  It was hung on a halyard running from the tip of a gaff to a cleat on the base of the mast, then misted with water and gently curled. 

 

 

There was one final detail to attend to.  You may have noticed in earlier photographs of the first and second class pools that a clock was mounted on the overhang at the forward end of each area.

 

 

I made them up from 1/10” o.d. brass tubing filled with a wooden dowel.  After flush sanding the wood the brass bezel was chamfered on a sanding belt. The wooden face was painted white.  Tiny black dots for the numbers were touched on with the tip of a sharpened toothpick.  With my finest 10/0 brush the hands were put on. The extreme close-up photos show that I was less than perfect, but with the entire clock being less than 1/8" in diameter, I have reached the limits of my talents. 

 

 

The clocks are set to 11:05 p.m.  In five minutes the lives of Linda Morgan’s parents, sister, and dozens of others will end and she will be thrust into unwanted publicity.  In just five minutes.

 

But for now, in miniature, she sails off the workbench to the customer.  

 

 

I hope you liked the journey despite my sometimes clunky sense of humor.  I will post a photo tour of the finished model when I can.  Until then . . . 

 

Be well

 

Dan

 

 

[Jack12477]

Congratulations Dan on completing her. She's a magnificent model. Glad I got the opportunity to see it up close at NRG Mystic.

[gjdale]

Fabulous work Dan. She looks terrific. I'm sure your customer will be delighted.

[Omega1234]

Hi Dan

 

Congratulations Dan, she's a beauty and a true testament to your talents. Undoubtedly, the client would be equally pleased and impressed.

 

The inclusion of the clock and the story of what would transpire in "5 minutes" is a sad, but touching tribute to the lives lost in the tragedy; all of which, makes your model even more special.

 

Well done!

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Dan.  And your humor isn't clunky either.   The clocks are a nice touch and if any viewer knows here story, they will realize the significance. 

 

Thanks for posting this and letting us follow along.  It's been a education.

Edited January 9, 2016 by mtaylor

[ccoyle]

A fabulous model and one lucky customer!

[Jim Lad]

Well done on completion of a fine model, Dan - she's a real credit to you.

 

John

[Mirabell61]

Congrats Dan,

 

with the AD you have modeled a fantastic built passenger liner. a real little memorial of a great ship that wo`nt be forgotten

Well done !!

 

Nils

[druxey]

Congratulations on completion of a years' work, Dan. Andrea looks great. I hope that your client is very happy with the end result. 

[usedtosail]

Congratulations Dan. This was a great build to follow along. You should be very proud and your client should be very happy.

 

I am a bit curious about how you made the flags. Could you elaborate on how you skewed the flag image, please. Also, it sounds like you printed directly to the silkspan. Did you use an ink jet printer for that? Thanks.

[shipmodel]

Hi all.  Yes, i think my customer will be pleased.  With some small exceptions I am happy with it too, which is not the same thing at all.

 

Tom - I go over my flag method in the Queen Anne's Revenge log.  It is spelled out in some length on page 11, but here is a shorter version:

 

I find a digital image of the flag on the net and import it into my PhotoShop program.  I use an older, middle priced version called Elements 10, but there are lots of similar programs which can do similar things.  In PhotoShop I resize the image and then skew down the outer end of the flag so it becomes a parallelogram.  Doing this allows the flag to hang more naturally, without a buildup of material at the lower inside corner.  Here is a screen capture of the PhotoShop program with the Image/Transform/Skew menus opened and the original and skewed images of the flag shown.

 

 

Then it is just a question of selecting the material that fits my scale; silkspan here and batik for the QAR.  I do print it out onto a test piece of paper first, using just a home inkjet printer.  I tape a smaller piece of silkspan over the image, then print again over the top.  It gets sealed, then cut out with a little extra to secure it to the halyard, hung and curled till I like the look.  Hope that explains it.

 

Thanks again for the compliments and for following along.

 

Be well.

 

Dan

 

 

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dan

Thank you for giving us this great log and for showing us this wonderful model.

The person who will get this model is such a lucky son of a b###h.

Well done and please don't forget to post your link on this log for your next masterpiece.

Havagooday

Greg

[usedtosail]

Thank you Dan for the details on the flag. I like that method a lot and will be trying it in the future.

[michael mott]

Great work Dan, thanks for sharing the construction details, some of them have been filed away for future use.

 

Michael

[shipmodel]

Hello to all who followed this build.  I am working on my next ocean liner, SS Michelangelo at the smaller scale of 1/350, which should be a bit of a challenge since I want to incorporate close to the same level of detail as in this build.  Hopefully it will work out.

 

You can find it here  -  

 

[Richard G.]

Hello, from the coast of New England!  I listened to the sinking of the "Andrea Doria" live, sitting on the edge of my parent's bed, back in 1956.  The ship and the wreck interior have fascinated me all my life.  I am presently writing a book for middle school aged children, around ages 12-15, on the sinking and the deterioration of the wreck during my lifetime.  I've spoken to divers, including the late Peter Gimbel, and read as much as I can about the ship.  At this stage of construction, do you have a bow-on photograph of the model, which looks at the ship at the waterline, and including the helm super-structure?  Such a photo would allow me to construct a drawing to explain a number of facts about the wreck and sinking.

Most appreciative of your time.

-Richard