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

[Jim Lad]

So, just about finished then! 😀

 

John

[Javelin]

I'm really short of time nowadays, so not much progress. Also wanted to add pics of the real ship, but having some hardware issues, so I'll just show some progress pics. 

Started by painting (and currently mounting) the forward catwalk. 

 

 

During the painting process I decided to finally continue that forecastle. 

First was the Chafing Chain. It's part of the obligatory Emergency Towing System of tankers. Small tankers only have one forward, larger ones also have a system aft. 

The forward system consists of a Smit Bracket (yellow thing in the pictures), with a chain connected. In an emergency, the chain is led overboard through the Panama fairlead by either the tanker's winches or the assisting tug's winch and then connected to the tug for emergency towing. Due to a chain's strength it survives the chafing of towing in heavy swell etc. Steel wires aren't so good for that and wires deteriorate much faster than chains. 

 

The heavy chain was connected to the bracket and stowed in a small coaming. On most ships it's also covered with canvas, but invariably it ends up as a pile of rust...

 

 

I also still had the chain stoppers to do. They transfer the forces of the anchor and chain to the vessel structure rather than keeping it on the winch brake and/or gearbox. 

 

I've seen about as many versions as I've seen windlasses, so no real standard there. Generally it's a big block that's hinged between two shackles of the anchor chain with a counterweight to aid in removing it when the anchor is hoisted again. Once it's in place, the chain is lowered so that the next shackle rests on the stopper block (transfer of forces, windlass loses tension). 

 

 

 

 

I also finished the stairs to the forecastle, first stairs to be finished in over 5 years! 

 

[Keith Black]

 Roel, I love the way you've kept everything to the same scale. It keeps everything realistic and believable. Always a pleasure seeing each new post. 

[Jim Lad]

Just lovely to look at, Roel!

 

John

[Glen McGuire]

I appreciate the explanation you give for the actual purpose of each new thing added to the ship.  Every post is a learning experience!   Fascinating build log to follow.

[Javelin]

First I finished that forecastle by adding the bosun store hatch and associated davit. For the davit handling rope I used normal orange sewing thread to replicate the commonly used orange polypropyle rope. 

 

The experience of actually finishing an area was quite addictive, so I decided to move just aft of the forecastle and finish that area first. 

Truly finishing it, also means creating the stairs, a task I'm not looking forward to. There is really a huge amount of stairs on this vessel and all are different. 

I was planning to leave them for last, but I believe this may have resulted in me not making them at all or ending up with a builder's block. 

So now on to the forward part of the deck, where I just installed the catwalk. 

 

First stair steps. I made a new jig for the steps.

I already produced a lot of steps for the future as well. 

 

Then they go in the jig. 

 

 

And once we have a stair, I produce the handrails, also with a jig. This jig has both sides of the rails, but the length is not fixed. So I make the sharp end (upper)first, the check the required length with the stair. Then I mark it and form the blunt (lower) end of the rail.

 

There are 4 long and 2 short stairs on the part in front of the deck house.  Here is the forward most stair. You can also see part of the railing on deck level that goes from that stair to the forecastle stair. This is another part of the "safe acces to tanker bows" as required by regulations. 

 

 

And here is one of my secret weapons: 

 

I use a lot of these free paper measuring tapes from Ikea and other shops. Their flexibility comes in handy, from time to time I also cut them in smaller pieces for easier use. 

Edited September 6 by Javelin

[wmherbert]

The stair jig is a marvelous idea. Thanks. It's little ideas like this one that make reading building logs so worthwhile.

Bill

[Javelin]

Thanks, happy to hear someone might have a use for my posts. 

The jig was built 10+ years ago, I guess I was clever back then. 

The jig for the railing is however the 2nd version. The first one ended up being cut up and used in pieces in another build. I didn't really think of continuing this build I guess. 

 

In any case, the forward PS part of the ship is also finished. The ladders aren't glued though. 

 

In this top view you can see the railing on main deck that connects the catwalk stair with the stair to the foc'sle.

 

 

I did have some time remaining, so I also built the 2 small stairs and 1 long one on the SB side of the catwalk (without railing or paint for now). 

And an overview:

 

 

 

[Paul Le Wol]

Roel, the overview photos are fantastic. Thank you for showing us your jigs for making the stairs and handrails 

[Javelin]

Thanks Paul, 

 

I must admit these overviews force me to take pictures from bigger distances due to her large size. A lot of her imperfections are therefore not visible on these pictures. 

I'd even go as far as saying I'm probably one of worst builders in this scratchbuilding part of this forum. I never quite succeed in getting things straight, always use too much glue and painting is mediocre at best. I have improved over the years, but I can not undo what I did 14 or more years ago. 

 

On her portside bow and foremast you also see damage from a collision with a bridge. Paint missing, mast severely damaged. I decided to treat that repair as a seperate project and first finish the ship. I wanted to mention that because for once it wasn't a construction or painting error by me. 😄 (it was a manoeuvring error by me though 😆)

 

One advice for anybody building a ship this size is use of a movable table or at least a set-up that allows you to move around the model.

You can't see it in the last picture, but the table feet are from Ikea and end in swiveling wheels (with brake). This allows me to turn and shift the model anyway I want and allows me to bring certain parts of the vessel closer to better lighting or powertools when required. 

 

[Glen McGuire]

27 minutes ago, Javelin said:

I'd even go as far as saying I'm probably one of worst builders in this scratchbuilding part of this forum.

I beg to differ, Roel.  Your work is very impressive.  Especially since you are always doing unique subjects, so you don't have other models to reference. 

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

I beg to differ, Roel.  Your work is very impressive.

 Amen to that, Glen. To Roel's "I'm probably one of worst builders in this scratchbuilding part of this forum" I say, hold on, Nellie, don't be tryin' to take the one award I was sure to win. 

[Jim Lad]

Roel, it's always the builder who sees the perceived errors in the model. She looks first class.

 

By the way, you probably had right of way over the bridge!

 

John

[Dr PR]

Roel,

 

I have followed this build over the years, and it has turned out beautiful!

 

If the damage is on the port side, that means you were on the bridge's starboard, so you had the right of way! I guess the bridge just couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way.

[wmherbert]

This build keeps getting better and better.

Do you have any tips on making bends in styrene rod? Due to lack of soldering skills i have been making hand rails etc from styrene. But getting bends is tricky.  I gently heated spots to get a bend which can work but is hard to control.  Many time I've had to make 45 degree cuts and then glue to get a 90.

   Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Bill

[Javelin]

Hi Bill, 

 

I guess it depends largely on diameter. I also always go for full rods, not hollow tubes, since those will flatten in the bend. 

Full rods prevent bending. 

Second thing is radius of the turn in relation to rod diameter. I don't heat anything, since that indeed often goes wrong. 

In general I use drill bits to bend around and for small diameter rod, I do still use larger diameter bits. For example, a 1.5mm rod, I'd use a 4mm drill bit. This radius avoids extreme build up of matrial on one side and excessive stretch (and breakage) on the other side. 

I also always bend (for 90° bends) in several phases. I'll bend it first 50 or 60° and leave it for a few seconds (to settle, as the styrene is plastically deforming). I'll then continue further. It's a bit of feeling, how far you can go in that first bend. 

After that I'd typically bend it beyond 90°, perhaps up to 110° or so. It will return (remaining elastic deformation) to eventually settle around 90°. 

Once it has flowed this far, it is also easy to bend a bit back if that's required. 

 

Larger diameters are harder. For 3mm, I have a tube bender, but in Chaconia I also use white insulated electrical wire, where I use the copper core to insert into styrene tubing. I do this if large tubing has a lot of bends, where the lengths in between need to be accurate. In large rods bending such shapes with accurate distances in between is nearly impossible. 

 

I hope this is of any help. I believe there are a few pictures of the electrical wire trick in this topic, not sure about the tube bender...

Edited September 23 by Javelin

[Keith Black]

 Thank you for that explanation, Roel.

[wmherbert]

Yes thank you

Bill

[Keith Black]

On 9/23/2025 at 7:13 PM, Javelin said:

I don't heat anything, since that indeed often goes wrong. 

 Roel, a bloke in the below link used a microwave  to heat styrene rod with mixed results but a candle seemed to be the preferred heating method.  

 

https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/144264-microwave-styrene-experiment/