Zebulon B Vance by ESF - FINISHED - Dean's Marine - 1:96 - PLASTIC - RADIO

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Lou, thanks for your insight and ongoing guidance.  When you say a lot of ballast how much do you think I should have on hand - 5 pounds, 10 pounds?  Do you have any suggestions for ballast type?  Lead bars don't seem to be available locally.  Would pea stone in plastic baggies work?

 

Bill, thanks for your feedback.  Sorry about the Bristol mishap.  When I was building plastic car models as a youth I was so anxious to get to the finish that I usually opened the box on the bus ride home to inspect the contents, and mostly skipped painting so I could get the wheels rolling.

 

Mark, thanks for your ongoing interest.  The promenade openings I'm referencing are the horizontal, oblong, racetrack shaped holes in the superstructure wall along the main deck.  In the photo above there are 11 openings in the white area above the dark bulwark, just below the lifeboats.  In the photo below (also courtesy of the National Archives) of the Vance in its hospital (John J. Meany) mode there are 10 openings just below the lifeboats.  If the openings in the photo below are numbered 1 -10 forward to aft, the second and third openings magically became three openings in the post-hospital configuration.  I went to my go to reference (Hospital Ships of World War II, by Emory A. Massman) just now and discovered that the Blanche F. Sigman, one of the six converted liberty ships, had a promenade opening configuration that matches the photo in post above, which leads me to believe the ship in the photo above is of the Blanche F. Sigman, not the Zebulon B. Vance (aka John J. Meany).  More supporting evidence is that the narrative of the Sigman indicates she was decommissioned as a hospital ship in April 1946 before returning from France to New York.  If the hospital markings were painted out as part of the decommissioning, and since both ships were in New York in early 1946 it seems reasonable that a photo of the Sigman may have been mis-identified as the Vance.

[Rcboater Bill]

Steve,

 

Doing the math, your model is going to displace about 36 pounds, when ballasted to float at the waterline.  So whatever the finished model weighs, you’ll need to add ballast to get it to 36 pounds.

 

The denser and lower in the hull the ballast is, the better - the more stable the model will be on the water.   Lots of people prefer  lead shot mixed with epoxy- that  can be poured into the hull to get the weight as low as possible.   But you don’t want to do this up to the very last ounce- it can be very hard to remove later - say if you decide to go with a larger battery to increase run time.  You may want to leave the last pound or two loose, so you can move it about as needed to adjust the model’s trim in the water.  Then you can secure in place in a way so it can’t slide around, but still be removeable later if desired.

 

As I said, lead is a great choice, but can be hard to find. Birdshot or buckshot can be found at gun shops, but not all will have it.  ( There is a growing movement to ban the use in hunting and fishing because lead is considered to be a toxic substance.).  If you find yourself needing several pounds, exercise weights might be an option. Another option is tire weights- most tire shops have buckets full of old wheel weights that are just trash to them.  

 

FYI , Here’s how I came up with the displacement estimate  of 36 pounds:

 

Take the displacement of the real ship, convert to pounds, then divide by the scale, cubed.   I found the data online for Liberty Ships as 14,425 long tons.  Multiply that by 2240 pounds per ton, then divide by 96 three times. The result is a little over 36 pounds.

Note that getting the actual displacement can be tricky, especially for cargo ships. Lots of references list the cargo capacity, and not the gross tonnage.  (The first value I found for Vance listed 7700 tons.). Also US ships are usually listed in  “long tons” which are 2240 pounds, not 2000.  This page gave both:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship

 

Hope this helps....

 

-Bill

 

 

 

[ESF]

Bill, thanks for the detailed explanation and for your research.  That's an eye opener!  I just weighed the ship with batteries and it is about 15.5 lbs, assuming any sort of accuracy from our bathroom scale, so it looks like I'll need about 20 lbs of additional ballast if I am understanding the calculations correctly.  I can get a 25 lb bag of shot online so hopefully that will do it, plus a gallon or so of epoxy to fix it all in place.  I guess I better enlist an interested family member to help lug the ship around😅

 

Steve

[Rcboater Bill]

Steve, 

 

I bought a 25 pound bag of lead shot decades ago, still have a third of it left. I remember how surprised I was to see how small of a bag it came in.  

I have a bunch of 35mm film canisters, I filled them with shot- each one weighs close to a pound!  It makes it easy to control the lead, to add/ remove it when trimming a model.  When I’m happy with it, I then mix up a slurry of lead and glue and pour it into place.  You don’t have to use (expensive) epoxy- waterproof woodworkers glue will do the job, if you pour in layers.  You just don’t want the shot rolling around inside the hull!

 

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Bill, more wonderful guidance.  Thanks so much.  I really appreciate it.  I ordered a 25 lb bag and maybe I’ll get a stash of baggies since all my 35 mm canisters went in the trash when digital took over.  A pound in a canister - who would have guessed.

 

Steve

 

Sunday fun day.

Cargo blocks and hooks were united.

The first four lifeboats are rigged and manropes hung.  On the real ship the lifeboat rigging extends over to blocks and cleats of some sort on the cabin wall, but since the cabin section is removable for access to the innards the rigging had to be terminated at the head of the davit.  A few more photos are below.

 

[lmagna]

Hi Steve

 

Bill's estimate seems pretty close. But his method is sound so it should not be too far off.

 

I used to have the formula written down in a book somewhere but I got so used to using it I had it readily available in my mind and kind of lost track of where I had it written down. It was roughly something like length X width X depth, (at waterline) X The hull coefficient. (Think of the hull being a rectangle of cubes. But your hull is both rounded and tapered so you need to account for this. Some warships like Destroyers have a coefficient of .65 or less, some tankers can be as much as .85 or more! .70 or .75 may be good for your hull.  Then you need the displacement of water in cubic inches. I always just used fresh water at .036. So your formula would go something like this; L x W x D x .70 x .036= displacement.  That is if I am remembering it right. Like I said I used to have it in my mind but then I lost my mind due to lack of use!

 

As for adding the ballast, I have always been an advocate of "Batteries = Ballast" but in your case that would possibly be more battery time than you could possibly ever use. Steel or lead shot is my next preference, placed into bags or seal-able containers. But I have been known to use bricks, rebar, (painted to resist rust) and pretty much anything laying around in the shop! I have even used empty water bottles that I filled at the pond/lake. The ones with squared sides like milk cartons are best but any will do. But as Bill has already said, low is best. Then after placing the ship into the water, or just before, put the ballast inside and secure it into place. Normally rubber bands or similar method is fine. By waiting to place the ballast until the last minute, it makes the ship much easier to transport without damage. In most  cases you can do it all by yourself. Takes a while but you always have to do some last minute stuff at the pond anyway, like hooking up and testing your radio etc.

Edited July 1, 2019 by lmagna

[Rcboater Bill]

Steve,

 

If you don’t have film canisters, small pill bottles work well, too, to contain the shot while sorting out how much ballast to add.  If you are going to use ziploc types of bags, be careful not to put too much in. The seams in those bags won’t last long with a couple of pounds worth of shot in them!

 

As Lou mentioned, be sure to secure ballast and batteries so they can’t move about.  I make it a practice to roll my model 90 degrees (on the bench ) and give it a couple of mild shakes, to make sure nothing inside shifts about.  

 

I might have said this already, but I’ll risk repeating myself:

One of my club mates almost lost his tug.  He was hit amidships (“T-boned”) by a model belonging to an inattentive skipper.   The collision did no damage to his sturdy hull, but the force of impact and resulting roll caused the big SLA battery to fall over against the model’s side.  The resulting list put the model’s cabin/ deck joint in the water. With no real coaming , the model started to leak, worsening the list, letting in even more water.  Fortunately, the model was close enough to shore for the skipper to wade out and save it  —he got there just as the model was on her beam ends and going down.

 

A collision, a motorboat wake, a strong gust of wind — all can play havoc with a model with lots of top hamper if it catches you broadside.

 

-Bill

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Lou and Bill, thank you both so much.  I was approaching sailing with much trepidation, but thanks to your feedback, advice and lessons learned I now have reasonable confidence that I can at least get the ship in the pool without it turning turtle immediately.  Hopefully when I do I can bring back some video to share.  No motorboats in the pool but I understand there was a recent addition of a Millennium Falcon float which hopefully will be stowed during test and tune.

 

My ballast is on the way!

 

Steve

 

The turn.

Apart from lettering and an anchor, both of which will be done later, the ship is ready to turn to work on the port side, the masts, the awning and deck furniture (is it all furniture or are cleats, chocks, rope reels and such considered something else?).  More shots below.

Need some straightening on the manrope tails.

Not sure what is causing the yellowish cast at the sunshade but it is white like everything else.

[mtaylor]

Thanks for the explanation Steve.  It wouldn't surprise me if some of the pictures were misnamed.  They were documenting everything so fast and such volume in WWII that things did get mixed up.  

 

Lead shot is probably the easiest way.  Way back in the dark ages of my youth, we used the tire weights. A royal headache but free.  The pill canisters are ideal, anymore.  Check with your local pharmacist.  If you know each other well, he/she might sell them for cost.  As pointed out.. definitely secure the ballast.  I have vivid memories of watching a destroyer I built as kid get hit by a wave and slowly roll over and dive to the bottom.  I suppose it's still there as we never did find it.  Went down in 10 feet of water.

[cog]

Steve,

 

It'll probably be the light or a reflexion. Take her outside and have another look. If it is still there, it is the paint. White paint can give a yellowish sheen, depending on the type of white used, e.g. cadmium white has that tendency.

 

The "Smit Nederland" I built was weighted with lead slabs, the batteries were lead too and were good for most of the required ballast

[Rcboater Bill]

Steve,

 

You asked:  “Apart from lettering and an anchor, both of which will be done later, the ship is ready to turn to work on the port side, the masts, the awning and deck furniture (is it all furniture or are cleats, chocks, rope reels and such considered something else?).“

 

Those items are all considered to be “fittings” by most ship modelers.    “Deck furniture” is literally the things the passengers sit on. 

 

-Bill

[cog]

Bill,

 

The fittings are sometimes refered to as furniture by modellers, eventhough they know it is wrong. Besides ... furniture is not just to sit on ...

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Mark, Carl and Bill, thanks for your feedback.

 

Steve

 

28 is not necessarily 28.

The lead shot ballast arrived in a very timely manner.  25 pounds in a package about the size of a brick - very impressive.

 

Now that the ship is turned to port work could commence on all the furniture and fittings.  Faced with several plastic trays full of stuff to clean up and paint I dodged the work to get past the drilling for the masts.  I previously added blocking below deck at each mast location.  The foremast drilling went easier than anticipated, which of course meant the mainmast was destined to be a disaster.  It didn’t let me down.

 

The instructions called for 28 off vertical so I went online and found a triangle drawing with a 28 degree angle.  I carefully drilled to the angle but the drill bit broke through the side of the blocking.  So I pulled the upper decks off and added more blocking, then finished drilling to depth.  But when I set the mast in place it looked lazy flat.  Re-reading the instructions (always better to do twice BEFORE doing the work) I realized they called for 28 mm off vertical at the top of the mast.  After filling the drill hole with a piece of dowel and re-drilling at the correct angle the mast was restored to its intended tilt.  I’m waiting for paint to dry on the signal halyard blocks before continuing with the mast work.

The portside lifeboats and davits patiently await their turn.

 

Below are a few pics of the small parts progress.  Continuing my stellar performance I spilled an entire bottle of paint on and under the cutting mat.  The flood somehow managed to engulf only one piece that was to be painted that color anyway.

The carley floats had a green stripe and red cross during hospital days.  I assumed the red crosses were painted over during the changeover to war bride duty.  I initially assumed the green stripe was also painted over but the float stacks looked dull so I'm painting the green stripes to add a bit of life.  A 5/0 brush really comes in handy since it is a perfect fit for the groove.  4 stacks down, 6 to go.

 

[Rcboater Bill]

Steve,

 

Once again, I get to chime in a little too late to be truly useful!  

 

Regarding your paint spill-  I learned the hard way years ago, so now I never paint from a bottle on the bench.  I set the bottle inside a roll of electrical tape- it fits snugly, and the roll keeps the bottle from tipping over when (not if) I bump into it.

 

”Been there, done that, ruined the tee-shirt!!”

 

-Bill

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Bill, that’s a great tip, thanks.

 

Steve

 

All together now, left hand to right toe.

Earlier I committed to trying the awning shown in this neat pic that Dean’s Marine sent along with the kit, so here goes.

The awning location on the aft bridge deck.

I started with a paper template with a roof frame pattern similar to the photo.  Mine will have some extra framing at the perimeter to help stiffen the assembly.

The test fit went well.  I cut a hole at the two lockers so the template would lay flat.  The hole has nothing to do with the framework.

I taped the template to a flat piece of wood, then wrapped it with wax paper.  I taped the frame parts securely in place and touched each joint with thin CA.  Since the real frame was demountable I overlapped the joints rather than attempting to butt them.  I plan to do the same with the posts to help with the temporary look.

The frame is quite stiff.  The perimeter posts appear to be tied to the railing in the photo so I plan to do that too.  The awning fabric will be my first attempt using silkspan.

I have also been working on deck fittings and furniture and most are in place except the rope reels which just got assembled this evening, and the carley floats which still need some green stripes.  A few progress photos are below.

 

[popeye the sailor]

   she looking super.......you've made a lot of progress since I last looked in.

Edited July 10, 2019 by popeye the sailor

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Denis, thanks for visiting to catch up and thanks for your kind comments.

 

Steve

A progress shot of the awning fabric as it dries.  It is a 3-layer silkspan construction strengthened with 50-50 white glue and water (thanks to Nic at Bluejacket for the tutorial in the newsletter archive - look for silkspan sails). I’m trying for a quickly draped and saggy canvas appearance over the brass frame.  Pencil lines on the middle layer hopefully will look like seams.  After trimming the edges I'll try lashing them to the frame.  I’m guessing a very light paint wash may be in order (or not?), particularly if the silkspan sticks to the brass and I can't remove it to paint the frame(!)  Learning, learning.   

[cog]

Steve,

 

Sorry to disapoint you, but the centre cabin or shed isn't covered on the photograph. If you look well, you even see something like a stack of lifeboats/carley floats or a gun tub on the block. Back to the drawing table, and you can put your seamstress at work so it seems ...

[ESF]

Carl,

 

Great catch.  I had been thinking that they used the carley floats to help hold down the awning fabric, but when I looked closely at the photo I realized sunlight was shining on the cabin wall, through the gap between the awning and the cabin.  Calling the seamstress now (oh, that would be me.  I do all the sewing in this family after being taught as a kid).

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[cog]

Well, my friend, get your needles and thread out, you've got work to do. I could do it on the machine for you, but I'm afraid you will have to wait far to long before I could get it done, and delivered to your doorstep

[popeye the sailor]

simple fix........just cut out the square    you'd be going a light gray anyway.......if it sticks to the frame,  it will aide you when you sew it to the frame.  the support posts can be white.  coming along nicely!

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Carl, I had access to a sewing machine when I made a three foot tall teddy bear for one of the children, but the machine eventually died so I’m reduced to hand sewing when needed.

 

Denis, the hole is duly cut out and thanks for your color suggestion.  A light gray was just the ticket.  The frame will be white.

 

Steve

 

Awning yawning

I have spent a number of late nights trying to encourage the awning parts to work together in harmony.  There always seemed to be one or two miscreants who thought it more fun to drop out of line than stay in good marching order.  In fact, in the beginning about half the perimeter posts went AWOL and had to be corralled back into service after stern words to all.  We're making progress although there are still some slackers in the formation.  I think they need boots of concrete.

The hole at the carley floats is cut out and the fabric has received a one pass coat of very light gray on top and bottom sides.  The fabric is trimmed back from the edge to allow for lashing to the perimeter frame.

With a grazing light the awning sags and wrinkles show better.

I lashed the post tops to the roof pipes to continue the temporary installation scheme but they are not trimmed yet.  The lashing also helps anchor the posts which are otherwise quite fragile.  And yes, in hindsight it might have been better to solder but I’ll need more skill, and probably a micro torch before I attempt that.

Next steps are painting the frame, tying off the fabric to the frame and figuring out how to set all the posts even and as plumb as possible.  The starboard, port and forward perimeter posts will be tied off to the deck railings as in the real ship (which means I can’t do the final installation until the port railing is finished) but the aft posts and interior posts need some sort of landing.  The photo implies they set in little sockets.  I have some aluminum tube that is a perfect fit for the posts and I’m thinking I might try drilling the deck, setting short tubes into it, and sliding the posts in.  The question is whether I can get all the alignments to work.  Alternatively I could slide a tube section onto each post, set the whole frame in place, and jigger the posts to vertical before putting a drop of CA on the tube bottom and sliding it down to the deck.  Guess we’ll see what the future brings.

 

[Kevin]

the awning looks fantastic

 

[cog]

Tape them shufflers to their spot. Use e.g. masking tape. As Kevin so eloquently put it: Fantastisch (the Dutch version)

[lmagna]

I have no idea what the American version of fantastic would be;

 

tremendous, extraordinary,  remarkable, great, terrific, striking, impressive, outstanding, phenomenal, monumental, overwhelming, marvelous, wonderful, sensational, magnificent, outstanding, superb, superlative, excellent, very good, first-rate, first-class, dazzling, out of this world, breathtaking, terrific, tremendous, fabulous, fab, mega, super, stellar, ace, magic, A1, cracking, cool, wicked, awesome,  way-out, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, brill, smashing, bosting, topping, tip-top, top-notch, capital

 

but whatever it is consider it applied.

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Kevin, Carl and Lou, I am truly humbled.  I have always appreciated your ongoing support but I am at a loss for words to respond to such kindness from you.  Thank you so much.  I sure hope my sewing doesn't screw this up.  I think the teddy bear (below on the ride to his new home) sewing experience may give me a shot at it.

 

Steve

[popeye the sailor]

superb job on the awning.......perhaps you can use the template to mark out the posts,  for drilling...                                                                                                                                 

[cog]

Nice bear, Steve. What's next ... a bear suit? You have the prowes.

[mtaylor]

I love that cover.  It just needs the exercise ladies under it.  With the work and detail you've done, I'd be afraid (very afraid) to actually put it in a pond.

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Denis, Carl and Mark, thank you for your kind remarks and suggestion.  No bear suit, but after the bear I made a doll for my daughter with yarn hair, nightgown and slippers.  I’m fully committed to a maiden, and probably only, voyage and if it sinks, it sinks.  What is it they say, It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.  This journey has been well worth it, however it turns out.

 

Steve

The awning lashing holes are pierced.

I cut some post sockets from 1/16” OD aluminum tube.  Then I drilled holes in the deck after using the paper template for the layout.  I offset the drill holes from the centerlines to match the  placement of the posts, or so I thought.

I added some tape strips to keep the sockets from sliding off the posts.  But when I turned the frame over and slid the sockets into the drill holes the posts were slightly off vertical.  I realized the frame was being kicked aft, due to projection of the roof pipes and posts beyond the end of the frame, the half round along the top edge of the cabin wall and drilling slightly too close to the template centerline.

I trimmed the overhanging roof pipes close to the posts and notched the half round to increase the clearance for each roof pipe/post.  Verticality of the posts at the sockets, while not perfect is much better.  It reminded me of the fellow who told me he drew his own house plans because he thought architects charged too much money.  When I asked him how it worked out he said the only problem he ran into was losing three feet out of the bedroom because he forgot to allow space for the stairs coming up from the first floor.

After making the adjustments I reset the frame.  At each socket I added a drop of CA on the outside of the socket, then slid the socket down the post and into the deck hole.  This allows the frame to be removed as needed.

 

With the basic fabrication and fitting finished I washed and rinsed the frame and am waiting for it dry for painting and lashing.  The plan (I’m beginning to dislike that word) is to hold off on final installation until the port railing is installed.