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

[lmagna]

1 hour ago, ESF said:

Works great and the railing stays in place nicely while spraying.

Could you say that out loud where my wife can hear? She is totally convinced that I am pretty much useless except as a bad example!

 

The ship is starting to look much more populated, with doors, portholes, railings and all that kind of stuff everywhere you look! 

[BenF89]

Looks great! I really like her lines. Beautiful ship, even if she had seen better by the time she was a war-bride transport...

[cog]

"lat", oeps, that is Dutch for a thin strip/plank of wood

[lmagna]

There you go Carl! Using high end Dutch words that none of the rest of us can understand!

[robdurant]

1 hour ago, cog said:

"lat", oeps, that is Dutch for a thin strip/plank of wood

Almost the same in English...

 

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lath

 

Love these lesser used words... they make our languages rich and interesting.

 

Back to the ship and she's looking terrific. I built a deans kit 20-something years ago and struggled with the printed styrene... the printing didn't seem to be quite accurate (or it may just have been lack of skill on my part)... You're doing an amazing job though. The view along the superstructure is amazing and looks absolutely true... impressive for a structure that long and thin.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Rob

[ESF]

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

 

Lou, thanks for your kind words.  I still have two trays full of little bits and pieces, along with the 16 ship’s boats and 32 davits, so I expect I’ll be good and cluttered by the end.  And now, ask and you shall receive.

 

For Admiral Mrs. Imagna - LOU IS A GREAT MENTOR, and any guy who’d build the Titanic for his wife is worthy of everyone’s admiration.

 

BenF89, thanks for your compliments.  From what I understand the Vance was getting tired by the time of the war bride refit, but I have no experience with weathering and didn’t want to muck up such a big lump.

 

Carl, thanks for the lat lesson.  I was going to ask if that might be equivalent to lath over here but Rob beat me to it.

 

Rob, thanks for your nice feedback.  Lath I know about since I had many occasions to see it during a large renovation project involving over 400 old townhouses.  The Dean’s kit is good but I have also seen some inaccuracies in areas I would not expect such as a few of the laser cut styrene sheets.

 

Steve

 

Tiny production.

Fresh from the success of fabricating and painting the bridge deck starboard side wall railings I decided to count up the wall railing brackets I will need for the port side and both sides of the boat deck.  Turns out I exaggerated earlier - I only need about 120 more, which equates to 40 stanchions trimmed, cut into three sections, with each section needing an angle cut across the bottom.  So I set up a little production line, and three evenings later the pile was complete (the line only ran for about 2 hours a night).

Since I was in tiny mode I thought I’d try making some twisted eyes, following the x-acto handle twisting technique described in several spots on the site.  It was actually quite fun and I spun up a few in no time at all.  Thanks to all who shared the method.  I would like to give credit to the originator if anyone knows who he or she is.

[lmagna]

2 hours ago, ESF said:

any guy who’d build the Titanic for his wife is worthy of everyone’s admiration.

Thanks

The only problem is the word "BUILD"! I have been a bit preoccupied with some news we received over the holidays and even though I am certain that I have had the time to work on it I have not been in the right frame of mind. I have to satisfy my building desire with the work of others such as yours. Kind of building in spirit so to speak.

 

Hopefully soon things will settle down and all will change and I will make all of you suffer through my measly attempts, instead of being a pest with my comments in your builds.

[ESF]

Lou, I am very sorry for your difficulties and wish you and your family all the best.  Our family has experienced multiple instances of "news" and we have learned to truly embrace living life one day at a time.  

 

Steve

[ESF]

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

 

Steve

 

Wall railing success!

A few shots of the finished bridge deck starboard wall railings.  The overall length of the wall is about 800 mm (33 inches).  The installation went easier than expected.  For each railing section I worked gradually from one end to the other.  To start a section I used a pinhead to put a drop of medium CA into three or four bracket holes, then a drop of thin CA on the rail end, which gave time to set that group before moving on to the next.  The railing has enough flexibility to push aside without bending it, while putting CA into the next group of holes.  There’s always room for improvement but I’m happy with the result.

On this wall I stuck to a 15 mm spacing between brackets, starting at one end.  This gave a short space at the other end in a few locations.  On the port side railings, which are fabricated and in the paint shop, I adjusted spacing between the last few brackets on a run to avoid the shorts (full pants leg please).  I think it may look better.  The close up also shows how the laser etched porthole locator “x” was a bit oversized relative to the porthole diameter.  I thought the wall paint might fill it better than it did.  For some reason the “x” was bigger in some locations than others.

Next up will be the boat deck wall railing but now that I have the hang of it, and with the brackets all cut ahead of time, the progress should be quicker.  Maybe on the next ship I'll graduate to soldered intermediate supports to avoid the bracket heads cluttering the railing line but aligning all those little bits of wire was too much for me on this ship.

Edited March 23, 2019 by ESF
add a note about soldered railing brackets

[cog]

I am sorry to have to point out to you, that you will have a serious problem with the door on the second picture. Steve. Iknow you don't like me saying it, but you also want me to point it out ... It won't open all the way as the other door does ... the railing advances to close to it.

 

With regards to mounting the railing: Since you predrilled the holes for the railing, you could have pushed them through, CA on the inside and pull the supports out slightly ... no need messing about

Edited March 23, 2019 by cog

[ESF]

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

 

Carl, that's why I glued it shut😀.  But thanks for pointing it out.  You'd think I'd be more sensitive to door issues, particularly since I had to straighten out a problem in a very large project many years ago where the designers had specified doors so thick that the way they were detailed didn't meet code requirements for clearance between the door and jamb.  And the problem wasn't discovered until after the heavy limestone surrounds had been installed at all the door openings in 10 buildings.  Bit of a bugger, that one.  Hopefully I can trim and reset the railing end without mucking up the lot.  Thanks also for the CA suggestion.   

 

Steve

[ESF]

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

 

Steve

 

Door swing redux.

Here’s the railing fix so the door can swing open and not stay bolted all the time.  The painters are off for the weekend and will patch up the old railing hole next week.  I know, it's probably still a little tight but I needed room to return the railing to the wall, and they can tie the door off to the railing if they need to.

I knew part of the railing would conflict with the ship’s ladder between the bridge and top decks so I folded up the ladder, test fit it and trimmed where needed.

While getting out the ladder pieces I noticed the three steps to the compass platform which were folded up and painted awhile ago.  I hadn’t put them in place since the glue surface to the platform side is minuscule and I hadn’t figured out the railing.  I decided I better do it before I lost the steps.  This is the second try at the railing - after installing the first try something seemed odd and then I realized the railings were so high they would be in someone’s armpits, or hitting them in the side of the head if they were vertically challenged. Since the railings are anchored into the side of the platform they provide some support to the lower part of step stringers.  Next time I'll leave the tails of the top platform railings long to make a nicer transition into the stair rails.  Learning, learning, learning.

[lmagna]

20 hours ago, ESF said:

Maybe on the next ship I'll graduate to soldered intermediate supports to avoid the bracket heads cluttering the railing line but aligning all those little bits of wire was too much for me on this ship.

What you my discover Steve, is that an RC ship is NEVER finished! Any and all weak areas will soon make themselves apparent, some possibly more than once! You will have plenty of opportunity to do things different.

 

Or possibly I'm just a lousy builder and navigator and it was just my ships that needed constant updates, improvements, and repairs.

[cog]

2 hours ago, lmagna said:

What you my discover Steve, is that an RC ship is NEVER finished! Any and all weak areas will soon make themselves apparent, some possibly more than once! You will have plenty of opportunity to do things different.

 

Or possibly I'm just a lousy builder and navigator and it was just my ships that needed constant updates, improvements, and repairs.

Or you are not so easily satisfied ... Like Steve, with his railing now

[cog]

Steve, nobody told you modelbuilding wasn't a walk in the park!? Or are you, like others on this forum, a glutton for self inflicted punishment/mutilation. Oh, about the learning. You will make the same mistake another time, maybe not all, but some. I know I did ... but then I tend to forget things too ...

[lmagna]

2 minutes ago, cog said:

Or you are not so easily satisfied

No I'm pretty sure it was original poor building. Each time plastic broke it was replaced with brass, each time a glue joint failed it was either bolted or soldered. In my last move about nine years ago I built a shelf about five feet from the floor of the basement. The design was weaker than I thought it would be and came down along with all the ships! When I saw what had happened I thought all I would have left was trash. But surprisingly all of them survived with really little damage considering what had happened. Given a few weeks work all of them could be made at least as good as they had been before the fall.  

[ESF]

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

 

Lou and Carl, I appreciate your spirited insight.

 

I took a walk around the pond to enjoy the warmish (50 F) weather and to reconnoiter possible launch areas.  Turns out there is barely any area with a gradual slope, and mostly stones or weeds near the shore.  More thinking needed.  I also realized early spring is not a peaceful time on the water.  The ducks and geese have arrived and the ducks in particular are having intense battles to win favor, including beak grabbing, wing flapping and mad rushes across the surface.  Certainly no consideration for the odd ship that may stray into their path - the nerve of them.

 

Steve

 

Moving downstairs

After finishing the bridge deck wall railings (yay) I moved downstairs to tackle the even longer boat deck railings.  The wings at the forward end made it awkward to set the deck on its side so I blocked up some rigid foam.

The boat deck has a more pronounced sheer than the bridge deck so there was some extra layout time to ensure the railings follow the curve.

The wall is curved at the forward end of the boat deck.  Some model photos I have seen don’t carry the railing around the curve but it seemed a logical thing to do, and a little extra detail, so I decided to give it a shot.  One challenge was how to work at the narrow end of a 40 inch long piece.  The drafting board depth and the drafting work lights really come in handy.

The next question was how to maintain a space between wall and railing around the curve.  I’m not sure if this is a standard way of doing it but it seems to be working for me.

There are several spots on the boat deck where the wall is longer than the length of the railing pieces.    The clothes pin/vice soldering jig is crude but the wood is soft enough to bend a bit for horizontal alignment and the clamping surfaces allow vertical.  Between the two it’s possible to get perfect alignment for 0.020 wire.  I snipped off one of the legs on each pin.  The longer leg goes into the vice and the shorter leg still operates.

[ESF]

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

 

Steve

 

Short visit.

All the boat deck railings are fabricated and awaiting cleaning and painting.  I learned that an end-to-end soldered 0.020 railing is not particularly sturdy.  The solder grips the railing very well but the actual butt between pieces is still weak and snaps off very easily.  For one railing I ended up re-soldering it a third time, but in place rather than in the jig.  The problem is I still needed to remove all the railings for paint and it ended up breaking again.  So I gave up on it tonight and will revisit next session.

 

Anyway, the pic shows the forward end where the railing wraps the curved wall.  Seems decent for a first time effort and the paint should help it blend in.  I’m not showing the other railings since they all look the same, but you’ll see them when the bridge and boat decks get glued together.

[cog]

Glad you got that wrapped around. Next time build a larger scale, it will be easier by far on the soldering. You might want to get a larger dining table too in that case. Your railing looks actually rather good, just enjoy the view

[ESF]

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

 

Carl, thank you for your kind comments.  If I build to a bigger scale I’d be relegated to the garage, which is packed full of snowblower, mower, firewood, old concrete patio pavers and other detritus.  But the pavers had so much fun during the hull construction I decided to bring them back indoors for another visit.

 

Steve

 

A big day.

 

All the wall railings are fabricated, painted and in place.  I also strengthened the bracket connections from inside the walls (thanks again Carl) with dabs of medium CA.  The short bits of railing that had snapped at the solder joints installed so tightly and in such good alignment that a bit of thin CA at the butt joints was all that was needed to stabilize the joints.

 

So it was a big moment to finally marry the bridge deck to the top deck.  The Bondo can appreciated being able to participate in a bit of clean finish work rather than its usual schmoozy supporting role.  For you eagle-eyed, there are some holes for uninstalled railings in the small aft bridge deck cabin that I mistakenly drilled after forgetting that ladders run up the walls on both sides.

After looking at the Vance name for awhile I'm getting more convinced it should be white text rather than black.  The question is, how do you find white text on a white decal backing sheet?  Guess?  Put a black outline around the words?

 

Next up are the top deck cabins, 10 stairs and perimeter railings, unless someone thinks I should hold off on the railings until all the deck furniture and fittings are in place.  Or if I get in the mood I might redirect to the lifeboats and davits.

 

If anyone knows of a guide on what is typically attached to the two masts on a ship like this please point me in the right direction.  The instruction photo below only includes the forward mast, and only shows a pretty basic arrangement.  It would be good to know what should be there for rigging (rope or wire?) and what I'm guessing are communication wires(?).  The kit includes a few dowels, some ladder material and a crow’s nest.  It also includes some heavier brass wire but I am guessing it is not intended for any of the mast work.  Then again, if it is not I don’t know what it is for.  Maybe RC'ers keep it simple since the masts are part of the upper deck areas that get removed and reinstalled to get the motor running.

 

[mtaylor]

There is some white decal paper for use with ink jet printers.  I'm not sure who makes it and will need to be sprayed using a clear lacquer if I recall correctly.    Denis (Popeye) uses it on many of his models.

[cog]

Questions, questions, questions ... decals ... white text. You make outlined text, the outline should have the same colour as the background you put the decal on, the surrounding area of the decal to. Not that hard I woul say, just to come up with, I needed it a while ago, hence the quick response

 

I'll look into the mast. You'll need riging from the yard down (flags and such) wire to the readio room etc. Look at the plastic builds!

Edited April 2, 2019 by cog

[ESF]

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

 

Mark, thanks for the suggestion.  I got some inkjet compatible decal paper through Amazon.  A test piece went through the printer fine and I sprayed it with matte clear but not lacquer because I’m concerned the lacquer might dissolve the ink.  The computer will make white letters but I’m trying to figure out how to find them after I print since the backing paper on the decal sheet is also white.  I was thinking about putting a black line box  or some black corner marks around the entire word or the whole column of depth marks so I would at least know where to look when I'm cutting up the decal sheet.

 

Carl, thanks for offering to look into the mast and for your decal suggestions too.  I have seen a bunch of photos that show multiple wires or ropes coming off the masts.  It would be nice to know what they are for so I don’t mistake standing rigging or flag halyards for communication wires - I’d never live it down.  I’ll keep looking too.

 

Steve

 

A blank canvas, sort of.

The marriage between bridge and top decks was a success and the top deck cabins, compass platform and funnel are now firmly bonded to the parents.  Below are a few pics of what now feels like a blank canvas, waiting not so patiently for MORE DETAIL.

Starboard near midship

Yes, I know it looks like a plastic imitation of an explosion over the radio room.

Radio room looking forward

The circles for the "painted over" red crosses seem forlorn and in need of a new task.  One photo I saw had a railing around the circle, presumably to keep people from trying to store things on top of the red cross.  But I don't know if they would have retained the railing after the red crosses were deactivated since it takes up valuable storage space.

Bridge deck detail 

I sure hope a tipsy sailor doesn't try to navigate the aft bridge during docking.  The gap between boat deck and cabin walls  is where the superstructure separates for access to the motor room.

Tried to show both aft ship's ladders

Railings or boats, which will be next?

[cog]

depends, which will be less tricky to put on when the other is present. My plastic builds require me to work from the inside out. I can imagine it's not so much different for you. Although, I do have the stanchions mounted before I add the davits and boats, but my railing is EZ-line and by far easier to attach than your rods

Edited April 2, 2019 by cog

[Kevin]

LOVE THIS BUILD

just caught up with your build, hence a few more likes, 

 

she certainly took to the paint well, 

 

 

[Jack12477]

15 hours ago, ESF said:

but I’m trying to figure out how to find them after I print since the backing paper on the decal sheet is also white.

Testors makes both a clear and white background decal paper. I've gotten some in Hobby Lobby.  Denis (Popeye the Sailor) has another source online. PM hi.  The sheets are roughly half an8 x 10 or 8.5 x 11 sheet. Testors also makes a decal sealant spray specifically for ink jet printers to set the ink before applying them. I've used them successfully in a number of applications include on sails (cloth).

[cog]

Steve,

 

You want white letters, the only way I know you can do that is with white decal paper, or paint them. Printers do not print in white. If you go for the decalpaper, you create an image in paintdotnet, Adobe Photoshop, The Gimp, or whatever program you use for drawing and such. You draw a rectangle and fill it with the colour of the hull, add the white text and print it on the decalpaper, cut it out and slide it on the hull. E.g.

 

[Kevin]

red crosses

https://www.alwayshobbies.com/materials/flags-and-decals/red-cross-custom-decals

 

letters and numbers, 

https://www.mayfairstationers.co.uk/office-supplies/letraset-dry-transfers.html

Edited April 3, 2019 by Kevin

[robdurant]

Don't know whether these guys have already been suggested... 

 

http://www.becc.co.uk

[robdurant]

When I had to put a badge on the funnel of my HMS Cottesmore, I tried using printed transparent decal paper but it was too see through where it was printed. So I printed it out then carefully painted in the colour and used that as the decal. This allowed me to get the fine detail but also the painted look I was going for. The whole was then sealed with varnish (and because of the paint didn't run. Perhaps a light grey printed decal gone over with white paint? This was at 1:48 though so you.may find 1:96 lettering too fine for this approach.