Flower-Class Corvette by Yves Vidal - FINISHED - 1/48 - Bensworx Virtual Kit - 3D printed

[Haze Gray]

On 8/12/2021 at 11:03 PM, Veszett Roka said:

 

Thanks Yves,

 

i think the point -3- is the most important and the showstopper one. For -1- design, it is easy: a rod with 2 globes. For -2- if you print a couple of them  near to each other, like trees in the forest, they will support themselves. But yes, cannot work out the fragile material.

I have no any experience with 3D printing, so have no clue how rigid is the final product.

 

 

There is an option to 3d print stanchions - but it would require something like a printer that uses ultra-violet curing resin - and you'd need to select resin that is more durable than what's typically used (most UV curable resin tends to be on the brittle side).  I've not tried this but my gut tells me it's not a good option but then again I haven't tested anything. 

[yvesvidal]

A few updates. I have been waiting for more than a week for the stanchions. Age of Sails handled my request quickly, but placed my shipment on a ground Fedex carrier....$14.00 for an envelope of not even 2 ounces....

 

Anyway, patience is a must have when you try to build models during a Plandemic. 

 

As I mentioned before, the hull is now finished.... I am lying: I need to paint the rudder and the propeller and glue them to call it complete. 

 

I pretty much reached my objective which was to build the hull, with this new (to me) 3D printing technology. The long and tedious work done on the various pieces of decks and their perfect fitting on the hull, allows me to approach each segment of deck as a sub-project whenever I feel the urge to do it. That is important on a large model like this one....it is very easy to be overwhelmed.

 

So, to display the hull and most importantly to protect it and be able to store it vertically, I have also built a display stand.

 

 

The main board is a "step" made of pine of 4 feet long by 10 inches wide. It is your traditional step found at Lowes' or Home Depot. The good thing about these boards is that they are very sturdy and will not warp. On top of it are glued, 1/2 x 1/2 inches pieces of maple wood, colored with Cherry wood stain. The main board is stained with Natural color and varnished with Polycrylic Semi-Gloss, using a foam pad for application.

 

 

Two #10 (5 mm) nuts are glued inside the hull to provide for a strong and discrete anchor: 

 

 

Yves

Edited August 19, 2021 by yvesvidal

[AON]

Pic?  🤔

[yvesvidal]

MODULE #1 : the Bow

 

Well, after finishing the hull, I had a very strong urge to start at least one section of the Corvette. Following you will find the suggested implementation according to the kit and my realization, based on the kit and on pictures of the Snowberry.

 

The kit provides for a relatively detailed windlass: 

 

 

 

Anchors and guides are also provided in the kit and are very easy and quick to print: 

 

 

 

Overall, this is the end result: 

 

 

That bow is perfect for a generic Corvette and will fit most of the Lower Class ships and variants. However, the HMCS Snowberry that I am depicting after her upgrade is not exactly equipped in the same way. Finding historical pictures of good quality is a challenge, for that particular ship but a couple of archival pictures are in high resolution and offering numerous details.

 

Yves

Edited August 27, 2021 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

Here is a picture of all the parts going into the building of the windlass: 

 

 

The Deck #B, covered with fine planks of basswood and stained to show the outrages of the North sea: 

 

 

The main 4 inches gun will be part of Deck #C and is not described in this section. The platform has just been assembled to see how things fit together.

 

Below is a picture of the Snowberry after her refit: 

 

 

And here is the model. I have tried to depict all the major components, visible on the deck. 

 

 

The large ring at the bow is a piece of brass tube (not provided in the kit)

The cleat are from the kit but have been closed with small strips of styrene, to reflect the real cleats.

The two round vents are not provided in the kit and are tack pins, inserted in the deck.

The central mushroom vent is not bent...sorry.

I am also missing the two tall and thin tubes located ahead of the gun platform. Not sure what they are....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stanchions are 20 mm high, two holes and are provided by Calder Craft. They are inserted with a #60 hole and CA glue to secure them. The railing is done with Bead Stringing wire which is very realistic of a steel meshed wire used on the bow of these ships. Its diameter is 0.46 mm allowing it to pass easily into the 0.7 mm holes.

 

 

That concludes the Module #1 (bow). I will be presenting another module in a few days.

 

Yves

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by yvesvidal

[CDW]

Yves

That looks awesome! Very nice, realistic.

[king derelict]

Yves

That looks spectacular. It is a great spur to keep me moving forward with mine. I'm sitting the fence about whether to make mine a static or RC model. Initially I had planned to go for a RC model; especially as I have a lake behind my garden fence and I have never made an RC model. Seeing your wonderful results has me swinging towards a static model. I suppose the obvious answer would be to build two!

Alan

[lmagna]

There is no reason an RC model can't be static display quality as well Alan.

 

Your work on the Snowberry is really turning out nice Yves. I am certainly glad that you have decided to go on beyond just the hull.

[yvesvidal]

MODULE #4 (Galley and Smoke Cabins) 

 

This is the second module that I am building. As indicated earlier, the careful installation of the deck floors and precise setting, allow you to approach each module in an almost independent way. For our next installment, I have decide to concentrate on the Galley Cabin (where the mast find its anchor) and Smoke Cabin.

 

Before showing the implementation, let's quickly review what the Virtual kit is offering us: 

 

Decks D and E are glued together and coupled with two joiners. I have printed the Dagger plates and the D lip but will not be using them. These parts are for RC builds, to allow an easy access to the inners of the vessel: 

 

 

The Galley Cabin is depicted below: 

 

 

And the Smoke Cabin below: 

 

 

Overall, these sub-assemblies are rather crude and need some pimping up. The mast is printed with long parts, the crow's nest and the top part. I have decided to use a mast made of a wood dowel, instead.

 

The large smoke stack is nicely provided in the kit, with a ladder and the whistle pipes.

 

Since I am trying to depict the HMCS Snowberry, I needed to find more details of these areas. Unfortunately, the archive pictures are very hard to study in this particular area and not of a great help. Fortunately, I found a 3D rendering of what the Snowberry could have been at one point or another: 

 

And this is what I will be trying to model.

 

Yves

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by yvesvidal

[yvesvidal]

A few progress on the Smoke Cabin (as it is called....). First the birth of the funnel: 

 

 

And its completion: 

 

 

That is a large part. It does require some sanding and care, too look presentable. Next, other parts required for this assembly, are printed: 

 

 

The funnel stack is somewhat crude and will need some additional details. The ladder is from the kit and three brass tubes are added around the funnel, to make it look more realistic.

 

 

Again, using the same Calder Craft stanchions, the delicate building of the railings is started. Some 0.6 mm brass wire is used to fabricate the railing. It is then glued with CA and painted white to simulate the tubing found on the prototype ship.

 

 

Wooden protections are added on the sides, following the 3D rendering seen previously. These parts are extra and not provided in the kit.

 

The funnel is now added and this is a delicate task: all brass tubes have to go in their respective holes and the funnel has to have the correct inclination, which is helped by the printed part.

 

 

On the deck various chest and cowl hoses are installed. The trunk located between the two cowls, is identical to what is provided in the kit, with its height reduced by 50%. The vertical lockers (see below) are identical to the lockers provided in the kit, but reduced to 50% of their width and length.

 

 

The rigging is made with elastic wires found at Michael's or Jo-Ann's.

 

 

This section is complete and I just have to install the painted cowls, on top of their respective tubes.

 

Yves

[lmagna]

Very nice progress Yves.

 

Just as a by-the-way, and I could be wrong, but I am fairly certain that the structure at the base of the mast  is the radio room. As such I think you will find that  there should be some antenna wires that will eventually be run from the yardarm on the mast going back to the ready ammo box on the two pounder platform. I have been told that the structure at the front of the bridge had many uses, the Asdic and I believe chart and radar room. But I have always wondered if the radio direction finder antenna located on the front of it indicated that it was possibly used for that as well.

[yvesvidal]

Imagna,

 

Thank you for pointing this suggestion. It made me look into it and I realized that in fact, this little cabin is the "Galley" !!! The long and bent pipe exiting from it, is the Galley funnel, which supposedly had multiple access to remove the soot due to the cooking. I am modifying my previous post to reflect this change.

 

Yves

[Hsae]

I have to agree. It is the galley. However the galley has an “extension” . See photo.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Hsae

[yvesvidal]

Yes, I saw that on my book on the Flower Class Corvette. However, the Bensworx kit did not recreate that specific detail. 

Again, the kit is very generic and it would take a lot of time and efforts to turn it into an accurate model.

 

Yves

[Hsae]

Yep, unfortunately they copied all the mistakes from the old matchbox kit. Except the stern. The Snowberry had a round stern. Otherwise it is an impressive build! Very neat to build it on a 3D printer!

 

Hermann

Edited August 26, 2021 by Hsae

[yvesvidal]

Some pictures of the Galley: 

 

 

 

The galley combined with the other structure: 

 

 

 

 

Overall view of the beast, as it stands today. I have not glued the Module #4 yet. Most likely, I will first glue the floor, then each of the small superstructure on it. Then, there are still a few details to be added, dinghys, davits, stanchions and other little stuff. The mast will come later on as it quite prominent on that model.

 

 

Yves

[Egilman]

I do have the BoGP's (Booklet of General Plans) for both the USS Action PG-62 1943 and the HMCS Cobalt K124 1941... Both Canadian built modified flower class corvettes.... if you think the deck plans would help... I could post them if allowable...

[lmagna]

Boy did I ever get that one wrong!

 

Even now with all of the evidence right here in front of me I find it hard to believe. No wonder it was so hard to feed the crew while at sea on these ships! it looks like from the drawings that there is no means provided to transport the meals to the mess, (wherever that is) without having to go onto the open deck! I always knew that the Flowers were strange ducks in many ways, but this pretty much takes the cake. Thanks for correcting me.

 

Looking at how your build is going makes me want to go out and buy a printer. But then I remind myself that one also has to have knowledge and talent to make it look as good as yours. Even the pictures of the designer's model don't look as good as yours. You should send pictures of your build to him to show him how it CAN look. 

[RGL]

Just amazing! The wooden deck is fantastic 

[yvesvidal]

54 minutes ago, RGL said:

Just amazing! The wooden deck is fantastic 

 Thanks Greg. Coming from you, I feel honored.

 

Yves

[RGL]

Dude, you are making your own ship! I just stick bits together and whack some paint on them. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by RGL

[lmagna]

7 hours ago, RGL said:

I just stick bits together and whack some paint on them.

But you do it quite well.

[yvesvidal]

Major milestone today, with the permanent gluing of the floor (Deck #4) of Module 4 on the hull: 

 

 

This piece of deck is very stiff and thick: 3 mm!  It brings an additional stiffness to the hull (not that it would need it...). It is glued after careful placement of the forward sections of decks (#2 and #3). Deck #4 holds the tall funnel but more importantly the mast. As such it must be strong and resilient. Note that Deck #4 also rests and is glued to the large white couplings, used to connect the hull sections.

 

 

The Deck section #3 holds the wheel house and the very top heavy deck. It is made of PLA of only 1.5 mm and may sag a little bit, under the load. To prevent this problem and make sure that the decks #3 and #4 sit perfectly flush, I have added some support in the front of Deck #4. This is made using the "Deck_D_Lip" part with a 1.5 mm strip of styrene on top: 

 

 

With this approach, the deck #3 sits perfectly flat and flush with deck #4.

 

You could glue all the decks at once and be done with them. But then, working on each independent section becomes a challenge as this hull is large. I'd rather work on a small section at a time and then place it on the hull, once it is finished.

 

Yves

 

 

[AON]

Where did you get those spring clamps?

 

They look very useful.

[Mike P]

Just came across your build amazing I ‘ve built the 1/72 scale r/c version and have the 1/48 scale hull. Was planning (hoping) on scaling up the 1/144 kit parts to 1/48 and using sheet styrene. Your build is very helpful 

and very much appreciated I will follow with interest. I have to finish what’s on the board now my ww2 Liberty.

looking forward to your most interesting blog. Mikep

[Egilman]

16 hours ago, RGL said:

Dude, you are making your own ship! I just stick bits together and whack some paint on them. 

Yep, and if anyone believes this, Come see me, I have a few bridges and shore line properties to sell....

[yvesvidal]

1 minute ago, Mike P said:

Just came across your build amazing I ‘ve built the 1/72 scale r/c version and have the 1/48 scale hull. Was planning (hoping) on scaling up the 1/144 kit parts to 1/48 and using sheet styrene. Your build is very helpful 

and very much appreciated I will follow with interest. I have to finish what’s on the board now my ww2 Liberty.

looking forward to your most interesting blog. Mikep

 

Mike, instead of doing everything with Styrene (which you could do....), why don't you get a 3D printer, purchase the $50 kit, and print all decks, superstructures and fittings? It may cost you less than buying all this styrene material... (not really) and you will learn new skills that may come handy.

 

Parts can be printed to fit your hull: you can play on the width, length and thickness of the decks. It is very easy.

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

1 hour ago, AON said:

Where did you get those spring clamps?

 

I brought them back from France. Wolfcraft is the brand.... I am sure you can find them on this side of the pond...it is all Chinese stuff anyway.

 

Yves

[Mike P]

Yves, I’ll look into it and thank you. And as far as cost I was tempted to purchase the 10 3D funnels one company 

is offering In 1/48 scale at almost twice the cost. Mike Plot 

[Mike P]

Yves, not to be a pain but I’ve been looking at the printer and the Bensworx virtual kit. Does the kit come with all the 

files to copy everything? I’m a total novice so bear with me you down load the kit files to your computer and transfer them somehow to the printer is that how it works? I have a Mac computer. Thank you Mike