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Flower Class Corvette by Yves Vidal - FINISHED - 1/48 - Bensworx Virtual Kit


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29 minutes ago, CDW said:

 All the pieces are sent to a central facility as they are completed, then assembled as a complete ship just as you are now building your model. I do not know if larger ships are built in this fashion, only that it applies to nuclear subs.

 

Craig, yes large ships made of metal are built in the same way: sections are pre-built and then assembled together. Same for planes.

 

Yves

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I wanted to go back to the printing process and slicing of the hull parts. 

 

The nozzle of the printer is the standard 0.4 mm diameter. The filament is extruded at 200 Degrees Celsius from 1.75 mm diameter and kept under pressure in the extruder. The pressure will be quickly relieved when the nozzle has to move to a location where no filament is needed. Then pressure is applied back.

 

I mentioned that the thickness of the hull is about 4 mm. In fact, the hull parts are made of a sandwich of two walls and some filling in between. All this is determined at the conception of the model and by setting the Slicer. I have watched the nozzle run its course and noticed that each wall is comprised of 3 runs. That gives us a total of 6 runs plus the filling in between.

 

When the filament is placed on the hot glass surface and later on, on top of the part as it gets built, the 0.4 mm of the hot filament becomes 0.5 mm. This is called over-extrusion and is accounted for by the slicer program. The net result is that we have two walls totaling six times 0.5 mm in thickness plus a middle section of 20% filling and 80% empty. Again the filling is determined by the Slicer and set to 20%, to increase speed, reduce printing time and material (filament) consumption. Walls plus filling amounts to 3.0 mm plus 1 mm, giving approximately 4 mm thickness.

 

Another interesting parameter is the printing height: it is typically half of the nozzle diameter, which is to say 0.2 mm. That is the increment in which the Z axis is building the part (vertically). For every 0.2 mm of material, we have six complete travelling of the nozzle (two walls), one Z shaped travelling (20% filling) and one additional travelling for details outside the hull, such as plates, rivets....etc. In summary, 8 complete sweeping of the part by the nozzle for every 0.2 mm on the vertical axis. For every millimeter, that translates to 40 passes.....Hull sections are 155 mm high....I will let you do the math...That is why some sections take 40 hours or more of non-stop printing.

 

Yves

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I believe the new RN aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (1) was built that way also.

Alan O'Neill
"only dead fish go with the flow"   :dancetl6:

Ongoing Build (31 Dec 2013) - HMS BELLEROPHON (1786), POF scratch build, scale 1:64, 74 gun 3rd rate Man of War, Arrogant Class

Member of the Model Shipwrights of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada (2016), and the Nautical Research Guild (since 2014)

Associate member of the Nautical Research and Model Ship Society (2021)

Offshore member of The Society of Model Shipwrights (2021)

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What slicer program are you using?

Does it allow you to make adjustments to the settings?

Not suggesting you should since everything is printing tickedy-boo right now, without errors (knock on wood)... just curious.

Alan O'Neill
"only dead fish go with the flow"   :dancetl6:

Ongoing Build (31 Dec 2013) - HMS BELLEROPHON (1786), POF scratch build, scale 1:64, 74 gun 3rd rate Man of War, Arrogant Class

Member of the Model Shipwrights of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada (2016), and the Nautical Research Guild (since 2014)

Associate member of the Nautical Research and Model Ship Society (2021)

Offshore member of The Society of Model Shipwrights (2021)

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I use Ultramaker CURA like most people for slicer program. Yes, everything can be adjusted and will go into your profile. 

But being a complete newbie, I am using the default values and sticking to what the Kit designer specified.

 

Yves

Edited by yvesvidal
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That looks fantastic. And the detail level that can be achieved with this little printer is amazing. The designer did also a good job. Are all parts of this kit supposed to be printed or is any aftermarket stuff necessary to finish the model?

Current Build:

HM Brig Badger 1/48 from Caldercraft plans

Le Coureur 1/48 by CAF


Completed Build:

Armed Virginia Sloop 1/48 by Model Shipways / Gallery
HM Cutter Sherbourne 1/64 by Caldercraft / Gallery

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47 minutes ago, captain_hook said:

That looks fantastic. And the detail level that can be achieved with this little printer is amazing. The designer did also a good job. Are all parts of this kit supposed to be printed or is any aftermarket stuff necessary to finish the model?

Most of the parts are "part" of the virtual kit. Of course, you can always add more and turn it into a museum piece, with time and money.

I am exploring the feasibility of such kits and not shooting for the stars. I intend to finish the hull, with a few decks and mingle some wood, in this jungle of PLA.

 

Yves

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On 7/8/2021 at 2:34 PM, yvesvidal said:

Well, after the long and very involved U-552 Trumpeter Submarine kit in 1/48th scale, it was time to think about another crazy project. The Flower Class Corvette seems to be the perfect candidate for this new insanity, as it represents the nemesis of the U-boots.

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/20268-u-552-type-viic-submersible-by-yvesvidal-finished-trumpeter-148-plastic/?tab=comments#comment-617816

 

This model is dear to my heart for reasons which will be explained later, but is not available as a kit in the scale of 1/48th. A couple of GRP hulls exist (mostly on the British market) but nothing else readily available. Until recently....

 

Fortunately, in the Spring of 2019, Bensworx came up with a "Virtual Kit" of the Flower Class Corvette. I debated for a long time, whether this Build Log should be posted under the Kits section or under the Scratch Build section. I finally decided to present it here in the Kits section as it is truly a kit, although "virtual". By virtual, I simply mean that you purchase a large bunch of files, a 70 pages PDF documentation and you are on your own !!! The set is sold for $50 under the CGTrader web site. Most parts are available but the Virtual Kit leaves plenty of room for details and modifications.

 

652730688_Corvette1.thumb.jpg.298c2d3c8fb22507a2b5be7cd4be1d55.jpg

 

As you may have easily guessed, the large number of files are the description (.stl) model file of all the parts needed to assemble a generic Flower Class Corvette in the scale of 1/48th. This crazy project was also for me an "excuse" to start exploring 3D printing as it is now becoming very widespread and very affordable. 

 

Disclaimer: I do not intend to finish this project or more precisely, it may take a long time. At the very least, I want to complete the hull and decks and test the feasibility of such kits and models. Who knows, maybe the energy and time to complete the model will come to me....

 

In the Spring of 1980, while being a student in the city of Toulouse (South of France), I was visiting my favorite Hobby Shop and was struck by a new kit from Matchbox: 

 

Corvette-2.jpg.2199eb1165cbb87705495f2bb0784d06.jpg

 

The Artwork, the massive size of the model and the fame of the Flower Class Corvette were all contributing to make this kit a "must-have". I gathered all my savings (the kit was 650 Francs in 1980, about $115) and travelled back home the following weekend, riding a train with that enormous box under my arm and two quarters left in my pocket. I still remember the incredible excitement and pleasure to put together such a kit, a passion that was soothing and healing a recent heartbreak. Nothing better than assembling a kit when you are depressed or heart broken. Of course, the Matchbox kit was far from being perfect, no PEs were available, no wooden decks, no metal guns and my ability to build a model was not what it is now. Therefore, I promised myself that I would build another kit of that legendary vessel in 1/72th scale (Revell) or bigger... or maybe both.

 

Some of you may be well versed in 3D printing but I am a complete newbie. When it was time to choose a printer, I was totally overwhelmed by the amount of choices, types, jargons and technologies. The only thing I knew was that I needed a printing bed of at least 210 mm x 180 X  160 mm to print the nine segments of the hull. I first looked into the Bibo 2 printer, used by the designer of the kit but its price and availability were more than what I wanted to invest. I then ordered a QIDI ImateS capable of printing PLA and ABS but that model worked for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stopped spooling the filament and never allowed me to print anything else. It was quickly returned and I am awaiting for my refund. I finally decided to go with what is now a legendary machine, embraced by thousands of people around the world: the CREALITY Ender-3 Version2.

 

Corvette-3.thumb.jpg.b32e4343bb9a03796ecbd130dbd2afab.jpg

 

This machine is amazing, comes as a kit (which is a good thing to learn about 3D printer) and can be purchased for $270. It is no wonder it has become today the absolute reference for amateurs printing. In addition, numerous add-ons kits and upgrades can be easily found on the Internet. I assembled that printer in one evening and the following night was spent printing (with success) hull sections of the Flower Class Corvette. And no, I did not print a Benchy (even though it is a boat) or the "X-Y-Z" cube and jumped directly into the parts of my virtual kit.

 

Yves

 

 

 

 

Well, I disappeared down the rabbit hole. My Ender 3 v2 arrived this afternoon. I assembled it in a couple of hours - actually several times thanks to the less than stellar instructions so rails were installed the wrong way round at first amongst other mistakes. I found the thumb drive after clearing up packaging afterwards and the included video would have helped quite a bit. It eventually got assembled and I was thrilled to find that it worked. I wasn't brave enough to dive straight into a corvette so I started it on one of the included test files. I am glad I did because I found that after a few minutes the flow of PLA stopped and became erratic and then the nozzle clogged.  So I learned how to clear that and I think the problem was the PLA feeding off the spool with too much resistance and messing up the feed.  It seems to be behaving itself now.

I know two Ender owners and they love their machines so thank you so much for providing the impetus for me to get one and a Flower corvette to build

Alan

 

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27 minutes ago, king derelict said:

Well, I disappeared down the rabbit hole. My Ender 3 v2 arrived this afternoon. I assembled it in a couple of hours - actually several times thanks to the less than stellar instructions so rails were installed the wrong way round at first amongst other mistakes. I found the thumb drive after clearing up packaging afterwards and the included video would have helped quite a bit. It eventually got assembled and I was thrilled to find that it worked. I wasn't brave enough to dive straight into a corvette so I started it on one of the included test files. I am glad I did because I found that after a few minutes the flow of PLA stopped and became erratic and then the nozzle clogged.  So I learned how to clear that and I think the problem was the PLA feeding off the spool with too much resistance and messing up the feed.  It seems to be behaving itself now.

I know two Ender owners and they love their machines so thank you so much for providing the impetus for me to get one and a Flower corvette to build

Alan

 

The CR10 was the second 3D printer I bought. The first was a Prusa and I learned in a month it wasn't quite enough to do things I wanted to do. My CR10 is a version 1 machine, so am interested to learn what kinds of upgrades were done since I bought mine in 2018. One thing I learned before I boxed it up was that I needed to purchase a semi-expensive slicer program. I was using Ultimaker Cura 3.3.1 for free. that program was good enough for most things until I began a project that required more advanced software. I am 3 years behind the curve at this point and am not familiar with what's new.

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19 hours ago, king derelict said:

Well, I disappeared down the rabbit hole. My Ender 3 v2 arrived this afternoon. I assembled it in a couple of hours - actually several times thanks to the less than stellar instructions so rails were installed the wrong way round at first amongst other mistakes. I found the thumb drive after clearing up packaging afterwards and the included video would have helped quite a bit. It eventually got assembled and I was thrilled to find that it worked. I wasn't brave enough to dive straight into a corvette so I started it on one of the included test files. I am glad I did because I found that after a few minutes the flow of PLA stopped and became erratic and then the nozzle clogged.  So I learned how to clear that and I think the problem was the PLA feeding off the spool with too much resistance and messing up the feed.  It seems to be behaving itself now.

I know two Ender owners and they love their machines so thank you so much for providing the impetus for me to get one and a Flower corvette to build

Alan

 

Congratulations Alan and welcome to the 3D printer club. I strongly suggest you watch and follow the Video from "Just Vlad" on the Ender 3 V2. That guy will lead you through the fine tuning of the machine and the various mistakes to avoid. Worth your 40 minutes of YouTube. Really !!!

 

 

After following his recommendations, I had absolutely no problem printing. Levelling has to be done very carefully.... and then you never touch it again.

Use a very think sheet of paper (I use the little flyer provided with the kit, in the plastic bag). Perfect adjustment.

 

Yves

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18 hours ago, CDW said:

 I was using Ultimaker Cura 3.3.1 for free. that program was good enough for most things until I began a project that required more advanced software. I am 3 years behind the curve at this point and am not familiar with what's new.

 

Craig, we are now using CURA 4.10. Update is free.

 

Yves

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52 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

 

Congratulations Alan and welcome to the 3D printer club. I strongly suggest you watch and follow the Video from "Just Vlad" on the Ender 3 V2. That guy will lead you through the fine tuning of the machine and the various mistakes to avoid. Worth your 40 minutes of YouTube. Really !!!

 

 

After following his recommendations, I had absolutely no problem printing. Levelling has to be done very carefully.... and then you never touch it again.

Use a very think sheet of paper (I use the little flyer provided with the kit, in the plastic bag). Perfect adjustment.

 

Yves

Yves

Thank you very much for the video information. That's exactly what i was looking for. The levelling was very frustrating given the limited information that came with the machine but I think I finally got it set and the test piece printed OK last night and I didn't gouge the bed or wreck the nozzle. This looks like an exciting detour for me with a lot of new stuff to learn to keep the old brain ticking over

It looks like Creality are well set up with spares and accessories which is reassuring although hopefully not needed

Alan

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50 minutes ago, CDW said:

Seems to me an automated self leveling feature would be well worth the extra investment. Maybe the newer machines are better about staying level. I printed out a set of big adjustment screws that helped a lot, too.

I see a lot of print levelling kits and also off the shelf auto levelling set ups. A lot to explore here - and I have a ship to build too

Alan

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From these: 

 

DSC05238.thumb.JPG.1ac90c64cae0bb73f4608188b61772b8.JPG

 

To this: 

 

DSC05239.thumb.JPG.927bff1f430cc65f14d4f8c4dd1013c1.JPG

 

It is literally amazing. The hull as you see it, has a total cost of $45 plus $3 for the pedestal. Once the license has been purchased ($50), you could print out as many hulls and parts as you want.

 

A few more picture of this behemoth: 

 

DSC05240.thumb.JPG.84cb2c87c595eb950989b84310f28296.JPG

 

DSC05241.thumb.JPG.5b72d9575bd4c5c361eee9be57e7cf4f.JPG

 

DSC05242.thumb.JPG.60e352f970ae9cfe459d2b85d5c5aca8.JPG

 

DSC05243.thumb.JPG.de8ac458a75659baeb94ac70740d8e50.JPG

 

DSC05244.thumb.JPG.eccb6ddc4ad64821a2b78d5c7c13d475.JPG

 

DSC05245.thumb.JPG.f1520a35560fadf99acb13d3376ba181.JPG

 

This last picture gives you an idea of the size of this hull: 

 

DSC05246.thumb.JPG.4dd04058af6d5be94dae7f64c53bae5a.JPG

 

Next, is the delicate application of acrylic putty and some sanding, before a first coat of primer. Originally, this kit is intended for navigation and Radio Control and as such the designer is suggesting to cut the inside frames to gain access to the RC equipment, batteries and motors. I am going to keep them all, as they will be perfect to support the decks and cabins. Hull is very stiff and would not require them, but they will make my life so much easier for what is to come.

 

Yves

 

Yves

Edited by yvesvidal
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holy crap it is long (tall)!  :o

Alan O'Neill
"only dead fish go with the flow"   :dancetl6:

Ongoing Build (31 Dec 2013) - HMS BELLEROPHON (1786), POF scratch build, scale 1:64, 74 gun 3rd rate Man of War, Arrogant Class

Member of the Model Shipwrights of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada (2016), and the Nautical Research Guild (since 2014)

Associate member of the Nautical Research and Model Ship Society (2021)

Offshore member of The Society of Model Shipwrights (2021)

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Excellent work  - really looks Superb, and as you say  such a strong hull, looking forward to watching more on it.

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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I am now working (at least planning) on the decks. This is a delicate part of this kit for the reason that the model has been designed for Radio Control. The designer is suggesting caulking the deck to the hull, if a possible access to the inside of the hull was required, in the future. In most place the deck sits too low and we will need to come up with a solution.

 

Let's look at the stern, for instance: 

 

DSC05229.thumb.JPG.1ed216defe1a187451ec7e697cd101ef.JPG

 

You can clearly see that the deck level of the stern is not at the same level than the rest of the decks. In fact, the stern deck sits at the right height and everything else is way too low. One of the problems is that the deck pieces are not wide enough, if you raise them. Also, the scuppers must be flush with the deck, to fulfill their role.

 

One solution would be to slightly increase the width of the deck (X-Axis) when slicing the model. An increase of 2% may do the trick but may also result in an opening for the engine room, which no longer fits. You still have to raise and support the decks, from underneath....

 

The other solution is to raise the hull side/support and to use a thin styrene strip to fill up the gaps. This is the solution I will be using.

 

Another thing to take into account is the use of wood planking, while keeping a constant height for the deck. I will be presenting a solution in the coming days, that may work to my satisfaction.

 

In the meantime, let's enjoy some pictures of the recently glued stern. And yes, the hull received a first coat of primer.

 

DSC05248.thumb.JPG.7648de8344b50fee906982c461001f33.JPG

 

DSC05249.thumb.JPG.77bcd977ce777e89f41f6e3a3ca7927c.JPG

 

Yves

 

Edited by yvesvidal
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On 7/23/2021 at 3:30 PM, AON said:

I believe the new RN aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (1) was built that way also.

Twas indeed  - each section then moved by sea  to the main ship builders  where they were mated together  - that inlcuded the Two Huge Islands.

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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Some good progress. I think I solved the deck issues, at least in the stern area. Hopefully, this method may help future builders of this virtual kit.

 

The set of decks, out of the printer looks like this: 

DSC05228.thumb.JPG.95d1d116447d0386048f3eece7936be2.JPG

 

The stern railing is glued to a frame that help connect the following deck, and holds the platform with the depth charges.

 

DSC05232.thumb.JPG.bae0992f3251aaf95b9e1ad54b53a21b.JPG

 

These parts are glued with the MEK, resulting in an unbreakable and very solid part. That MEK is just perfect as it flows by capillarity between the parts and weld them. Do not forget to "cut the corners", as they will conflict with the hull stern.

 

DSC05233.thumb.JPG.7d4dcf75fe823789ea902a6794b3bd60.JPG

 

I am cutting the U shaped deck and using the two short legs with the side decks of the engine room. This is done to provide a base that will be planked with wood. The Matchbox/Revell models are only specifying a very short section of wood planking, but that does not make sense as we will see.

 

DSC05247.thumb.JPG.5a406d7ce586778622a5bd8cdbf1d631.JPG

 

The side deck and short piece are glued together and planking can start. Do not forget to leave un-planked, a small edge that will fit on the side of the engine room walls.

 

DSC05255.thumb.JPG.742d741ffa42ddf26ce047b0613af55a.JPG

 

To finalize the installation of the rear decks, you will need to assemble the four walls of the engine room: 

 

DSC05253.thumb.JPG.29def1846d7e568abf74a0e6bd7a181d.JPG

 

The engine room will be positioned into the hull and locked with two small pieces of styrene: 

 

DSC05254.thumb.JPG.c241f8907e1d47fd84aafe46b65cf6e4.JPG

 

It was necessary to shim the front wall of the engine room, to make the top of the planking, flush with the culpers. The front bulkhead rest on the white coupling part and on the shim.

 

DSC05256.thumb.JPG.38492005dd05f2cd56c021ab877a547c.JPG

 

The side decks are now correctly positioned and fitting perfectly. We need to work on the stern decks. The stern decks (metallic) must be flush with the planking and will need to be raised a tad. Raising these decks, will make them a little bit too small in the width dimension. We correct all this, by gluing a 1.5 x 1.5 mm square styrene strip (raising) and a 1 x 3.2 mm strip to fill up on the side: 

 

DSC05257.thumb.JPG.176a7177eaaf41570acbbcda9bf57311.JPG

 

At this point, the rear deck fits perfectly and no gaps are visible: 

 

DSC05259.thumb.JPG.bd8f577c04a35726b9aa8d7e48a63bf4.JPG

 

Putting everything together, we now have a smooth transition between the decks and a perfect match with the culpers, to evacuate the water: 

 

DSC05251.thumb.JPG.ea920529616a5b749e423a1ad7e69353.JPG

 

The same recipe will be used on the bow and the rest of the decks.

 

Yves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by yvesvidal
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