Nantucket Light Ship by Fright - FINISHED - Lindberg - 1:95 scale - PLASTIC

[Fright]

   After watching a program on Youtube about the disaster in 1934 where the White Star RMS Olympic cut in half and sank the Nantucket lightship, I started to look up the history of lightships. I then stumbled across someone's post of their model build of this same ship. I had never heard about these ships but I found the history and looks of them fascinating, and so I purchased this kit from Hobbylinc.

   On another site, I asked 'what year' did this kit represent?  A gentleman  by the name of Ron J, who is on the BOD for the Nantucket lightship, was kind enough to respond and said this was prior to it's retro-fit in 1960.  So that gave me a start to research what colors were used on this vessel at that time. As of 1939, the USCG took charge of all lightships and, by 1941, colors were pretty much standardized (except lightship Huron, who's hull was black). Colors were: red hull with white lettering, white superstructure and buff (also known as spar) color stack, mast, lantern galleries and ventilators. So I will try to work with this color scheme instead of color scheme shown on box lid. 

  I am planning to try to incorporate some lighting into this ship. By 'try', I mean to say that my electrical knowledge is Cro-Magnon basic! But again, a nice gentleman, who goes by the name of RCBoater, shared some valuable information about using a 360 LED sold by www.superbrightLEDs.com and a controller that simulates a lighthouse beacon, sold by  http://www.bakatronics.com. 

 

  

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

interesting history............I looked it up      sounds like a really cool project.........I'm in   

[Fright]

   On working on this kit's hull, I noticed a discrepancy between the extended horizontal ridge/line(s)? that run along the upper portion of the hull. I tried to look up what these are called and could not find my answer. On the real hull, there are two of these horizontal 'ridges' in which the black waterline (plimsoll?) is painted in between from bow to stern. On the model, there is only one of these extended 'ridges'. Can someone help with the name of these ridges/strips?        The directions that came with this kit does not name any of the parts - everything is by numbers only and no written markings. I know this is economical for the company when it comes to printing but this does not provide anyone, especially beginners, with the knowledge as to what equipment was used on the ship. Very disappointing! 

   Here is a picture of the actual ship's hull:

 

   And this is a picture of the kit's hull:

 

   I will try to duplicate this 'missing' strip with some styrene strips. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Fright

[el cid]

My first thought is that they’re hull “stiffeners” as sometimes added to longer ships, but I suspect a lightship would require support pretty often, so I’m guessing those structures are actually fenders to help prevent hull damage when vessels are alongside.  Just a guess.

 

HTH,

 

Keith

[Fright]

el cid @ Keith - many thanks for answering and it did not occur to me that they could be protective guards for hull. I really dislike the fact that Lindberg makes no reference on their plans as to what each part is called. Really makes it confusing for someone who has little or no knowledge of what each item is that is going on the vessel!  I will try to add on the missing bumper guard with some styrene strips. Thanks again for your help! 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Fright

[popeye the sailor]

if they are a molded part of the hull,  they won't mention it.  they could be rub rails.  but looking at the ship and the hull........they look like they are there.

[yvesvidal]

Talking about discrepancies, this is a Lindberg kit and as such, there will be a lot of discrepancies.

 

Lindberg was never famous for their precision. On the other hand, they offered models that kids enjoyed with moving parts, propeller and electric motors and capability to float.

 

I remember building their Bismarck when I was a kid, and being ecstatic when running it on the lake, with all the moving guns. That model was even capable of running pre-defined patterns and courses in the water.

 

Yves

[Fright]

Yves - this is my 2nd Lindberg kit and I'm finding out that some of the parts do not align up. The hull seam at some points were almost 1/16" off and the openings for the anchor on the bow, as well as the opening for the propeller, did not line up. I need to do a bit of filling and sanding along the seam  of the keel to get it smooth. As for the propeller opening, I used putty to seal the hole up. I will just drill a proper size hole when the time comes.

 

I've looked up a couple of builds on this model and I noticed that both had the black waterline under the first rub rail, but both are missing the second rub rail that should be at the bottom of the black water line. NOTE: Both of the builds are pretty spectacular and I hope mine will fair as well. The kit that I have has what looks like a rub rail that continues around the entire hull. On the real ship, it appears to be a very faint line. The NANTUCKET letters go right above this line. The next rub rail is the line that runs along the top of the black water line. The next extending line on the kit is at the very bottom of hull which I believe helps stabilize the ship in the water. 

 

So, I will try my hand with some styrene strips to duplicate the second rub rail that runs directly underneath the waterline strip. Thanks for taking the time to respond and give me your feedback on Lindberg kits. I fairly new at modeling but compared to the Revell kit that I built, I can see a big difference in the quality of the molding. Cheers!

 

 

 

This is where it appears to show that the black strip runs between two 'rub rails'. Am I missing something or am I over reaching on what I am seeing? 

[Fright]

Here are two of the places where the hull did not align together properly. First picture also shows the difference in match up the keel of the ship. I used CA glue to bind the two hull pieces together. I then ran a bead of Testors tube glue all along the inside seam of hull to strengthen the seal so it will not open up when I drill to install wiring for lights. 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Fright

[el cid]

I agree, these are interesting little ships and I'll be following your build.  With patience nearly any plastic kit, even the older poorly fitting ones, can be turned into a gem.  For joining styrene, I suggest using Testors liquid or similar solvent.  With these you're not really gluing parts together, but melting them together.  With parts that fit together well, you can hold them together and let capillary action draw the liquid solvent into the joint, usually makes for a very neat job.  I haven't used tube glue since a teenager in the '70s but remember many messy glue joints (blobs and such).  CA is useful for joining non-styrene items, as is plain old white Elmers, depending of the parts and expected stresses.  Some use CA for gap filling (often w/ baking powder to thicken), but I haven't had much luck with it.  Somebody turned me on to Bondo Spot and Glazing putty (available in a tube at most auto parts stores) and I never looked back.  Dries quickly, sands easily and smoothly, and can be scribed if needed.  It contains a solvent that acts on styrene too so it becomes "one" with the model.  HTH.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[John Allen]

Fright,

 

Looking forward to your build. The black line above the waterline is to low for a fendering system I think, the ship bows out above that from appearance on the box. You will probably identify what it is from internet pics. Or one of the shipmasters on this site.

[Fright]

el cid @ Keith - thank you for your input on types glues. I'll pick up a bottle of the Tamiya liquid glue on Monday. I'll look into the tube glaze at my local auto shop. Thanks again!

[Fright]

John Allen - thanks for taking a look and I'm going to go with what I am seeing from photos on the actual ship. I also have noticed that the two Mushroom anchors are almost side by side; main on bow: main anchor on bow, the secondary anchor slightly higher on the starboard side. There is no 'half moon' opening on the real hull that houses half of the secondary mushroom anchor. Thanks again!

[Fright]

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I was able to sit down and set about creating the missing rub rail for the ship's hull. I took two Evergreen round strips and taped the ends to hold them in place on my workbench. I then used a sanding block to flatten down about 1/3 of the strips and the rounded off the ends with a file stick. I measure and marked some guidelines along the hull and then ran a strip of painters tape as a guideline for place of strip. I used CA glue to attach one on each side of hull. I then sanded off any glue marks and sprayed with primer gray. 

 

[Fright]

The past few days, I have been working on and off with putting together the pieces for the superstructures that go on deck. Almost every piece needed to be filed and sanded to remove flashing and seam lines. Many of the portholes needed to be filed out due to amount of flash that were closing up many of the holes. My inexpensive files that I purchased from Harbor Freight came thru for me on this one. After making sure a piece fit together, I used Tamiya liquid cement to bond the walls together. I also hit the inside of seams with a little CA glue to strengthen the bond. I used white glue to help fill any visible seams and, after sanding smooth, I sprayed all four deck structures with primer white.  

 

For the top decks of the structures, I sprayed them with Testors gray. After the three pieces dried, I taped off the deck portion of each piece and sprayed the edging and underside with white primer. The three pieces fit perfectly on top of their appropriate structure and all four pieces sit nicely on the deck. Nothing is glued yet as I need to do add detail pieces and do some detail painting. Note: the bottom edging on the corners for the engine room skylight (a-frame) need to still be filled to match up. 

 

 

 

[Fright]

I'm wondering if anyone can help me along with the three smaller boats on board the Nantucket lightship? I was told that this kit represents the lightship before she had a retrofit in 1960. So my question is: what color were the lifeboats, utility boats painted in the 50's? I'm assuming by this time period, they would have been metal and not wooden hulls.  The USCG standardized a color scheme for these vessels around 1940 but I cannot find a reference for these boats. A few old photos show that the boats had a red hull and it looks like black rails and keel. Later photos (almost all after 1960 show the boats to be painted white). 

Also, would the seats and rails inside the hulls have been wood colored or metal gray? Any suggestions or help on this subject would be greatly appreciated. 

[Fright]

I made a correction to the hull after looking at photos taken of the ship's bow. On the actual ship, the auxiliary mushroom anchor was located on the starboard side next to the main anchor. On this kit, the hull has a half-circle opening where the auxiliary anchor is supposed to be housed. I took a post-it note and held it up to the inside of the opening and trace the shape with a pencil. I then transferred the shape onto a sheet of styrene and and used my x-acto blade to cut the pattern. I files it to fit the opening with a nail file and used liquid cement, both on the inside and outside, to bond it to the hull. I used a little gray putty to fill in seams and left overnight to dry. I sanded down the area until smooth and then sprayed the hull with some gray primer. Now I need to figure out my game plan on creating the 'new' opening to hold the anchor next to the bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fright]

7 hours ago, Fright said:

I made a correction to the hull after looking at photos taken of the ship's bow. On the actual ship, the auxiliary mushroom anchor was located on the starboard side next to the main anchor. On this kit, the hull has a half-circle opening where the auxiliary anchor is supposed to be housed. I took a post-it note and held it up to the inside of the opening and trace the shape with a pencil. I then transferred the shape onto a sheet of styrene and and used my x-acto blade to cut the pattern. I files it to fit the opening with a nail file and used liquid cement, both on the inside and outside, to bond it to the hull. I used a little gray putty to fill in seams and left overnight to dry. I sanded down the area until smooth and then sprayed the hull with some gray primer. Now I need to figure out my game plan on creating the 'new' opening to hold the anchor next to the bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Have no fear of perfection - you will never reach it."  - Salvador dali

[Fright]

Did some work on the three small boats that will go on the main deck. I'm going with wood colored seats, white hull and black stripe on keel and rails. I will spray them with Dullcoat to flatten the glossy look and add some rope coils.

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Fright

[popeye the sailor]

"Have no fear of perfection - you will never reach it."  - Salvador dali

 

yes........but if one never tries,  one will never achieve  

 

I'm a little late on the subject of the ship's boats,  but you could take a look at how others painted their boats.  but,  in the case and function of this vessel,  you could very well follow a 'safety regulation' type paint scheme.   most life boats don a bright color,  such as white,  red,  or even orange, above the water line......below you can give it an antifoul.   some instances even allow a color stripe just under the cap rails.  seeing that this vessel is red,  you could easily follow the same scheme with the life boats.......if you have the vessel name embossed on the bows,  that would be a nice touch too.   you did a great job of eliminating that opening....looks very good so far   

[Fright]

I changed my game plan with my lighting and went with a different company for my lights. I went online this morning and purchased lighting gear from https://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/   I ordered AA battery pack w connector; shrink tube; a pair of wired connectors; 1.8mm led (red & green) for port and starboard lights; 2 3mm flashing bright white lights for masts; and 2 Pico warm white lights to illuminate the inside of cabins. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out all of the connections correctly! LOL

Edited August 30, 2018 by Fright

[Fright]

Back to work. My lights for the ship will be arriving Tuesday - yeah!  I started to think about this main cabin and I suddenly noticed this open hatch. With a light inside, it would just show an empty compartment and that's not good. I"m thinking about creating a small wall (made from styrene) just behind the door to block looking all the way through. My wife suggested taking a photo that shows an inside picture of the cabin and then shrinking it down to paste on my 'fake' wall. I'm also toying with the idea to cut a small opening into the deck just inside the door and then adding adding stairs that would appear to be going down into the hull. So, here are two photos before any work begins. I also have to tone down the bright green to more of a pastel shade of green

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2018 by Fright

[popeye the sailor]

sounds like an interesting idea.   instead of a picture,  try looking through magazines or surf the net for images to download.   don't create a partition,  it might ruin the depth of the room.   you could even try and scratch build a table and furnishings.  use your imagination on the rest.......wire makes good conduit piping  

[Fright]

popeye - you've stirred the spinach pot. Good ideas!

 

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

Was going to ask about Lighting before I saw your post!!

 

All the best, an interesting subject.

(I'll "Lurk" to see wot transpires.... 🙂 )

 

Cheers....HOF.

[Fright]

HOF - thanks Hof. My electrical skill are not the greatest, but the led system by Evan Designs that I purchased from Modeltrainsofteware.com  seem to be pretty simple. The led's already have resistors attached and everything looks fairly simple to connect up to a AA battery pack which I will try to hide inside the base.I ordered 5mm, 3mm and Pico size led's. 

[Fright]

Thanks to Popeye for suggesting to create possible interior furnishings in the main cabin. I just needed something to block the emptiness if interior and this is what I came up with. I made a little chart table by cutting the legs and table top from a styrene sheet. I used a small piece of styrene square to support the side legs. I made a little drawing on a post-it and cut it to shape and glued to the table. I cut a tiny 45 degree shape as my triangle and glued to table. I had a small piece of styrene that I used for my rub rail and I painted them black/blue and glued to interior cabin wall. Pretty simplistic, but I think this will help tone down the light emitting from the open hatch when all if finished. Still needs paint and detail work done to the outside.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Fright

[Fright]

Someone brought to my attention that I should make sure all superstructures were 'blacked out' to prevent any light leaks. I painted all interiors and bottoms of their ceilings with silver paint. Once everything had dried, I painted a coat of flat black over everything. Once this has dried I will repaint the interiors with white and light green.

 

I put those aside to dry and marked two location about midway on the hull, just above the waterline, and drilled two small holes for the intake/discharge openings. I then marked and masked off the upper portion of hull and sprayed the lower hull with anti-fouling red. Here are two photos of the hull:

 

 

[Fright]

I masked off the upper and lower portions of hull and painted the boot stripe with flat black. I used Tamiya tape for curves for the edging and wider blue painters tape for the large ares. It came out pretty clean looking.

 

 

Edited September 5, 2018 by Fright

[Fright]

Today's work consisted of masking off the lower portion of hull and sprayed the upper hull with my red. Once this has completely dried, I will spray with Dullcoat to flatten out the gloss. I also taped off the superstructures so I could paint the handrails brass. I can see I'll need to do a little touch up here and there. Filed all of the flashing off of the ship's propeller and then painted it brass. I will try to give it a slight patina look with some weathering powder when dry.