Chaconia by Javelin - 1/100 - RADIO - LPG Tanker

[Glen McGuire]

7 hours ago, Javelin said:

I had a slightly oopsie with the catwalk.

That catwalk is particularly well done, Roel!

[Jim Lad]

Delightful work on that catwalk, mate!

 

John

[Javelin]

Thanks guys, 

 

so time to finish that piece of catwalk, and finally most of the back part of this ship. Note the finished pump dome of Tank 3, the davit was only dry fitted and later on removed again since I was hitting it a lot of times... 

 

 

That little railing on the back was something I hadn't quite thought about in the past. I wasn't planning on placing those, but since I was at it, might as well place it right? 

Valve wheels are also in place now, the only thing left there is a small platform next to the dome with a small stair going to the deck. 

 

Also both cargo tank safety valve (white lines from tank dome 3 to vent mast) are now mounted and painted. 

 

And a larger overview of the whole mess. 

 

 

 

And with a 30cm (1 ft) ruler in front of it. 

 

 

Decided to spend my some remaining time on cleaning up the workshop, including some new furniture etc. instead of continuing on the vessel itself. 

 

Still undecided if I'll keep all the stairs for the end of the construction or if start making them as I go forward. Mass production is boring, but on the other side a lot more efficient... 

 

Looking at what I did the past weeks and what lays ahead I believe that I should be able to finish her in perhaps 1 year?! Depending on other projects and family/home situation of course. 

Edited November 14, 2024 by Javelin

[Dr PR]

Sort of reminds me of the spaghetti I had for dinner.

[FriedClams]

Looking great, Roel.  Extraordinary detail - fantastic!

 

Gary

[Javelin]

After my little foray in the SIB theme, it's time to get back to this one. 

 

I had a few options, I guess I want for the most logical one and that is going forward from where I left off. 

 

So this is the area I'll be concentrating on for now. A cardboard template of the catwalk in that area is fitted to check out for size and fitting. 

 

Slight adjustments are required to let each part fit. However first I'll need to do that details on the lower levels inside the catwalk area. I'll probably destroy that catwalk if I'd put it on first. 

 

So you can see that white, unpainted structure with stair, that's one of the pieces that still needed to be made. That set me off on a whole series of small stairs. Basically each tank dome has a small 4-step stair to the main deck, so I started making all those first. 

This jig is about as old as the model itself, not perfect, but still good enough. 

 

It also allows to adjust angles for the different stairs etc. 
And the first ones are there. The one connected to the platform is a bit too flat, the angle isn't correct, so I'll change it by a steeper one. 

 

And the additional details required on the tank dome are the instrumentation box, cabling between the two pumps (similar to the aft tank dome) and the handrail. 

 

For the instrumentation box I needed to make the legs. To get it firmly on that deck, the legs are drilled into the deck before gluing. First I made a template based on the box bottom itself. I drilled 4 holes to fit the corners of the box. I then used that template to drill the holes in the deck. I then cut the legs to length, glued them to the box and used the template again to get them straight, so they'll fit in the holes in the deck later on. 

 

So here you see the glued legs to the box in the template. Hopefully it'll fit nicely in the deck now. 

 

[Thukydides]

Good to see you back at it. I like the stair jig.

[KeithAug]

Such neat work Roel - fabulous.

[Jim Lad]

Good grief! Even the catwalks are complicated on that ship. 😀

 

John

[Keith Black]

 What a monumental accomplishment, Roel. 

[mtaylor]

My mind gets blown away with every update, Roel.  Just amazing detail and craftsmanship.

 

[Glen McGuire]

17 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

My mind gets blown away with every update, Roel.  Just amazing detail and craftsmanship.

Agree with Mark.  Your ability to duplicate all the intricate piping and mechanical structures based on your own pictures and memory is what amazes me the most.

[Javelin]

Thanks for all the praise, it really is too much coming from builders like yourselves! It's all a bit crooked and far from the sharp level of modelling you mostly display! 

 

Unfortunately not much progress was made. It's not a real builder's block, since I'm still working on it, but priorities have shifted a bit and for this kind of detailing I need long stretches of time in which I can fully concentrate. Those long stretches of free time are missing at the moment. 

 

However some progress is made wherever I can. Not in the pictures, but I did also start making that railing on the portside forecastle to eventually finish that area of the vessel. This basically involves drilling the fairleads, adding stanchions and going from forward to aft, it only takes about 15 minutes for each, so I can do that when time is short. 

 

However, the main activities in the past weeks were those little stairs/platforms. 

Each pump dome has a platform with a stair:

 

Here you see tank 1. The stair on the vapour dome (forward, rectangular thing) still needs feet. Particular to these areas is that the tank dome are part of the tank and the tank is independent from the vessel structure. It basically sits inside on supports, but is not welded to the vessel. All this is done because of course the tank shrinks quite a lot when it is cooled down from ambient temperature to the low cargo temperatures.

Underneath the skirts around those tank domes is a big rubber connection to keep the space around the tank air/gas tight. 

All this means that the tank dome comes down when the tank shrinks and comes back up when the tank is heated up, so there can not be any fixed/welded connection between the vessel and that tank. The stairs between the main deck and the tank dome are therefore fully resting on the main deck. Hence the need for these platforms and legs. A logical thing when you think about it, but very often still mistakes are made in shipyards where they do connect things like that... 

 

And as @Jim Lad rightfully mentions, those catwalks are also complicated. I've made steady progress on the most complicated part. A constant sequence of fitting, adjusting, fitting again, etc. 

 

In general I build them this way to get some rigidity in it. 

 

Two flat lines are used (in this case the side of a heavy battery and the steel ruler) and a small weight (in this case a sharpening stone) to push the grating into the glue. I use multiple sections of grating to keep the, often bent, plastic L-shaped parallel, while I glue the first piece of grating. 

Afterwards I make my way forward. 

 

The intersections are chosen to create maximum strength in the direction I want it, be it longitudinal or transversal. 

 

As long as it's not complete, it's wobbly, so I use the cardboard template to test fit it. It's a very delicate fit, since I don't have anything to really hold it in place. It's not only longitudinal or transversal fitting, but also rotation, I need those catwalks to be parallel to the centerline as well. And since it's extremely light, it shifts off the supports the moment I touch it. 

 

That said, the main part is done. It's now "self supporting". As you can see the forward edge is not finished yet. Next step is now measuring and finishing the aft edge, where it connects to the existing catwalk. When that is done, she's "fixed" in the longitudinal direction and I can cut the forward part to length and finish it. 

It also needs 3 additional smaller platforms that lead to stairs, those will follow afterwards to make sure they are resting on their supports. 

After that it needs railing and that is a very time consuming part. I also noticed I'm going to be short of PE stanchions for my railing... And probably by a LOT. 

 

As a last note, you also see that complicated bended pipe (unpainted) that I needed to make. That was a rather impossible part to bend in one piece, so I had to build it up out of several pieces. Still not fixed though. There's another, easier one, towards the back, but it's not in the picture. 

 

[Jim Lad]

I can just hear two naval architects talking, "You call that a catwalk? Hold my beer." 😀

 

John