USCG FRC Emlen Tunnell by highlanderburial - Dumas - 1:48 scale

[highlanderburial]

Greetings All, 

This is my build log for a USCG FRC (fast response cutter) at a length of 154 feet. This class is only a few years old and even though it is intended for R/C I will be building it as static for display. 

I will likely post a Youtube video of the unboxing of the kit. So far from what I have seen this looks like a great kit by Dumas!

Pictures are from official USCG sources. Hull line diagram is from the actual vessel plans.

 

154-WPC_85_301_1_-_B.pdf

[Roger Pellett]

This looks like an interesting project.  I look forward to following along.

 

Roger

[highlanderburial]

Started gluing the frames. Keel pieces are doubled laser cut. 

[Old Collingwood]

Looking forward to this  must get my chair  - gonna be a smasher for sure.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Interesting build. Is this cutter named for Emlen the Gremlin, a long retired NY football Giants player?

[yvesvidal]

Unusual ship. I will follow your build log.

 

Yves

[highlanderburial]

5 hours ago, Canute said:

Interesting build. Is this cutter named for Emlen the Gremlin, a long retired NY football Giants player?

It is indeed. After conducting some research the CG found out he had served in the CG in WW2. He earned 2 lifesaving medals while serving.

Edited July 28, 2021 by highlanderburial
Grammar

[Thistle17]

You may be interested to know the following.

 

On September 26, 2008, Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana, was awarded US$88 million to build the prototype first vessel in its class.^[6] The Sentinel-class design is from the Netherlands-based Damen Group, and is based on that company's Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel. The first vessel Bollinger built became Bernard C. Webber, which is the first of 58 planned Sentinel-class cutters to be put into the U.S. Coast Guard fleet to replace their old 110 ft patrol boats (and their unseaworthy 123 ft cutters), starting with the first six based in Miami, then six in Key West, then six in Puerto Rico.^[7]

On July 24, 2014, it was announced that the, U.S. Coast Guard had exercised a $225 million option at Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana for construction through 2017 of an additional six Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRC), bringing the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 30. On May 4, 2016, Bollinger Shipyards announced that the U.S. Coast Guard awarded it a new contract for building the final 26 Sentinel-class fast-response cutters. That brings to 58 the total number of FRCs that the USCG ordered from Bollinger.^[8] Acquiring the 58 cutters is expected to cost the federal government $3.8 billion — an average of about $65 million per cutter

 

Bernard Webber piloted the crew of CG 36500 in saving the crew of the Pendelton tanker sinking off Cape Cod in the 1950's.

 

Joe

Edited July 28, 2021 by Thistle17

[highlanderburial]

Greetings All.

 

I just posted the unboxing video to Youtube:

 

 

 

Sorry the quality isn't great.

Enjoy.

[highlanderburial]

Frames individually assembled w/ 1/8 inch basswood strip.

[highlanderburial]

Laying out the frames and assembling the lateral supports. Really spend some time drawing out where the frames need to go. I glued them down with hot glue. Frames 6 and 10 have a specific orientation so be careful with those 2. The parts slid into place. Use epoxy to glue the supports together to keep them flexible.

Edited August 2, 2021 by highlanderburial

[yvesvidal]

Super skeleton. Great job.

 

Yves

[lmagna]

This looks to be a MUCH nicer designed kit than the older but similar USS Crockett gunboat kit they make. Your progress so far looks impressive. 

[highlanderburial]

Side battens and keel was put in places. Once again all my careful measurements and leveling have paid off with any amazing fit.

By the theme of my photos I would say stock huge amounts of clips to build this kit!

[mtaylor]

Taking shape which is great.   There's a old saying around here...."you can't have too many clamps". 

[highlanderburial]

More battens added. Final structure in place. The stern needs sanding as well as the keel at the bow.

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice progress  - sure looks like a large  piece of kit.

 

OC.

[highlanderburial]

Rear transom pieces attached.

[BobG]

This looks like a great project and I'll be following along. There aren't that many Coast Guard models available to be built. I was in the Coast Guard from 1966-70 and served aboard the USCGC Storis out of Kodiak, Alaska, for 1 1/2 years followed by 2 1/2 years on the 40 footers based at the Captain-of-the-Port Los Angeles/Long Beach Station. So I love it when someone posts a build log of a Coast Guard model here.

 

I've been thinking of eventually building the one of the old Dumas models of a Coast Guard 40 foot utility boat. I believe it is out of production but can still be found on eBay occasionally. The Dumas model 40 footer has the hull number 40414 which was one of the boats I was a coxswain on so many years ago.

 

Good luck with your build!

[highlanderburial]

I had to take the kids to visit the Mouse in Florida and now I am back to the build.  The hull is made of ABS plastic so I have been using both epoxy and super glue to post the panels.

[Jim Lad]

A very sleek looking craft.  She's coming along nicely.

 

John

[highlanderburial]

Hull sheeting complete today. I will need to use some filler despite a nice fit up.

[Jim Lad]

Nicely curved sheeting around the bow.

 

john

[Nautical 1]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:52 PM, highlanderburial said:

Laying out the frames and assembling the lateral supports. Really spend some time drawing out where the frames need to go. I glued them down with hot glue. Frames 6 and 10 have a specific orientation so be careful with those 2. The parts slid into place. Use epoxy to glue the supports together to keep them flexible.

What a wonderful gift you have for modeling this vessel! I have learned so much with you posting your pictures! I can see in my build where I may be wrong. You have a very interesting article via images and I am so intrigued. Thank you sir for sharing your creativity! 

[highlanderburial]

The final bow rail pieces were fitted. There is a jig provided in the kit to true these up relative to the deck. Since both pieces extend beyond the stem I decided to simply bend the plastic back and use it as a clamping point. The worked well. They boat well in the stern went in fairly easy but your need to do a bunch of angle tapering to get it to fit. The plans say to sand the pieces flush with the frames. I highly encourage you to do this prior to glueing them in.

[Jim Lad]

Coming along nicely, mate.

 

John

[Nautical 1]

Yes, I like very much!!! Your imagery is quite nice, as well. 

[highlanderburial]

I have been laying out the rudders. The kit clearly makes some changes from the original cutter for R/C operation. I looked at the actual line drawings of the cutter and see that the rudders are very far back on the actual ship. I scaled the drawing up from 1:50 to 1:48 which is what the kit scale as. The picture I took was of where the kit says to put the rudders stocks.

[Nautical 1]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:52 PM, highlanderburial said:

Laying out the frames and assembling the lateral supports. Really spend some time drawing out where the frames need to go. I glued them down with hot glue. Frames 6 and 10 have a specific orientation so be careful with those 2. The parts slid into place. Use epoxy to glue the supports together to keep them flexible.

What a beautiful work of art, design, and engineering you are crafting! Your build thus far is awesome! Congrats! 

John

[highlanderburial]

I created a couple of 3D print files today. The props on the FRC's are four bladed. I have seen various photos of the real ships but several of them seem to look different. I settled on the 4 blade model attached here as an .obj file. This kit comes with NO PROPS so you are welcome! In addition I needed two decently scaled rudders to replace the brass flat plate and copper tube stock that Dumas included. While the rudder I made (on the computer) is still not perfect to my liking I will be playing with it. I started the print about 20 minutes ago for the rudder so I want to see if the file is viable in the real world at this point. In 1/48 the rudder from tip to hull protrusion should be about 19mm high. The fore and aft length should be similar at around 17mm at its widest.

propeller.obj Rudder final scale.stl

Edited September 4, 2021 by highlanderburial
Added detail