USS Cape (MSI-2) by Dr PR - 1:48 - Inshore Minesweeper

[KeithAug]

On 12/26/2025 at 5:33 AM, Dr PR said:

Christmas with the kids, grandkids and a horde of great grandkids.

 

Happy Holidays!

Sounds wonderful. I hope you all enjoyed it.

[Dr PR]

Thanks to everyone for the likes and comments.

 

Keith, we had a great Christmas. Seven great grandkids from 1 year to 14 years, and none was sick!

 

I am finishing up the smoke stack. I made the conical cap for the boiler vent from a brass rod, turning it on my hand drill.

 

The hinges for the diesel exhaust pipe caps were made from 0.010 inch (0.25 mm) styrene strips. First the lower pieces were glued to the brass pipes with CA gel. After the CA set the two hinge strips were glued to the lower piece with plastic model cement. I used a bit of clear acrylic sealer to "glue" the styrene hinge strips to the top of the cap. It probably isn't the most robust assembly, but they are protected by the stack cap.

 

I painted it with the grey paint I am using for the decks. It is Tamiya XF-63 German Grey. I have found that the Tamiya paints do not cover well on brass. This was all washed with water to remove the liquid flux, and then acetone to remove any resin flux and oils. There are three coats of paint on this assembly, each allowed to dry over night, and still there are places the paint just "rolls back" leaving exposed brass.

 

The platform jutting from the side of the stack is a support for a radio antenna. I suppose I could have glued it in place with CA, but the solder will make a stronger attachment. Now I need to make the complex insulators for this antenna and two more. I have the Navy electronics data sheets for the antennas and some photos taken on the ships to show me what they look like and how large they are. It will be an interesting project. But the antennas will be some of the last pieces to go onto the model.

 

The last part of the stack assembly is the life jacket locker that was attached to the lower rear of the stack below the air intake grills. The box is a bit wider than long (about 32" wide x 31" long x 26" high full scale). I folded the box from a single piece of 0.005 inch (0.13 mm) brass sheet and then soldered the edges. A separate 0.010 inch (0.25 mm) thick top plate was soldered on - this hides the folded edges that were a bit rounded. A 0.010 inch brass wire serves as the handle that released the bottom of the locker to dump the life jackets.

 

 

 

 

Here are some photos of the stack in place on the aft end of the O1 level.

 

 

 

Now I need to prime the funnel and paint it to hide all of the solder stains in the brass! I probably won't get around to that until next year.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Edited December 30, 2025 by Dr PR

[Nirvana]

Phil, again your eyes for details are amazing and all this from scratch.

Happy Ending of this new and Happy New Year!
 

[wefalck]

Brass tends to have a sligthly 'waxy' surface, an oxidation film that forms very fast and can really only be removed mechanically. Therefore, brush-painting it with water-based paints, such as acrylics can be a pain. One basically pushes the paint around the surface and it doesn't want to form a continuous film. However, when applied by airbrush, this is not normally a problem. There are also special primers for brass or you may try a very dilute solution of shellac as primer.

[Dr PR]

Eberhard,

 

Thanks. The "waxy" dull surface on the brass I am using becomes visually apparent in just a few hours. It turns from very shiny after polishing with #0000 steel wool to a duller yellowish color.

 

I am trying an acrylic sealer as a primer. If that doesn't work I will try shellac.

 

Of course the fogging of brass is familiar to everyone who had to polish brass belt buckles in boot camp!

Edited December 30, 2025 by Dr PR

[wefalck]

I am actually zapon-varnish for this, which is what is traditionally used to protect silverware (not cutlery, but other objects and tableware that does not need 'washing up' on a regular basis), but also decorative brass items. Objects can be either dipped into it or it can be brushed on. It forms a nearly invisible very fast-drying surface film. I am not sure, whether it would be (still) available in the USA, as it contains various organic solvents.

 

Edited December 30, 2025 by wefalck

[FreekS]

This is a clear primer that is very good for brass.

[Dr PR]

wefalck and FreekS,

 

Thanks for the tips.

 

I don't know if I can buy Zapon varnish in the US. However it appears to be a nitrocellulose solution. Duco cement is nitrocellulose dissolved in acetone. I suppose I could just dilute Duco with more acetone to make a thin nitrocellulose varnish.

 

Createx UVLS clear satin is sold here. I have put a bottle in my Amazon cart for my next order.

[Jim Lad]

More great solder work, Phil. But surely that's not Ensign Fuzz there with his hands in his pockets! 🙂

 

John

[Dr PR]

The same. If you keep your hands in your pockets there is a much smaller probability of screwing up things. And he's out of uniform. The Captain and XO are wearing dress blues, so that must be the uniform of the day. Fuzz is wearing working khakis (that was our most common daily uniform) and a leather aviator's jacket.

[bdgiantman2]

Great blog, the Cape is coming along beautifully. I never knew about that design of storage bin for the lifejackets, and the placement on the superstructure is very surprising.  At least the one good thing about that life-vest locker is that Cape only needed one having a crew of a dozen people, instead of needing to make and place 500 of those like for a modern aircraft carrier with a crew of six thousand. 

 

Brian D

[Dr PR]

Brian,

 

Thanks!

 

This type mechanism was common for life jackets on US Navy ships. The top is a lid that hinges up, allowing life jackets to be tossed in after use. The bottom is a door that hinges down, allowing the life jackets to tumble out on deck. I have studied the blueprints on the Cleveland class cruisers of WWII and the MSI blueprints of the 1950-60s. One thing they have in common is that the lever that pulls down to open the bottom door was held in place by an ordinary US Navy issue 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) fuse clip. Two of these were used in electrical circuits to hold a cylindrical fuse. Just one was used to hold the 1/2 inch diameter life jacket release handle.

 

The MSI lifejacket locker had to be located above a place on the main deck that was open and easy to get to but not in a passageway. As you will see as the build progresses almost the entire main deck was covered with equipment or stowage lockers. About the only place suitable for the life jacket locker was above the fire hose station at the rear of the main deck cabin. And there was nothing else attached to the rear of the stack which was directly above the fire station, so that was a convenient place to mount the locker.

 

The Cape had a crew of 19 enlisted and 3 officers. The life jacket locker held 25 CO₂ life jackets and 3 "fibrous glass" life jackets. I guess the three fibrous glass life jackets were for the officers. They didn't need a charged CO₂ cylinder. There were 6 spare CO₂ life jackets in case some didn't work.

 

The ship also carried two 15 man inflatable life boats and a 12 foot (4 meter) "wherry," a small boat with an outboard motor.

Edited Saturday at 03:01 AM by Dr PR

[Dr PR]

The smoke stack is finished (except for the antenna).

 

I painted the brass with a thin coat of FolkArt all-purpose satin finish sealer. This is what I have been using to seal the wooden surfaces before painting. The instructions on the bottle say it can be used on a "non-porous surface to add slight texture for increased paint adhesion." It is a water-based clear acrylic paint.

 

After the sealer had dried about 40 hours (delayed due to Christmas events) I painted the black top. After that dried overnight I applied masking tape over the black and painted the grey. The paint flowed on smoothly and adhered to the sealer nicely. Neither the paint nor sealer lifted off the brass when the masking tape was removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the fire station at the aft end of the main deckhouse. The life jacket locker hangs directly overhead.

 

It was an open space away from passageways where the life jackets could be dumped. However, it was just relatively open! The two sailors are standing on a "portable" (removable) deck section that is directly over the four GMC 6-71 main propulsion diesels. An inclined ladder will lead down to the main deck behind the sailor on the left.

 

When I get around to making the minesweeping gear a small winch will be mounted on the portable deck section. The winch is for handling the large float for the acoustic sweep device. Just outboard to starboard of the winch was a davit, and the acoustic sounder mounted outboard of that. The life jackets would dump on top of the winch and the spaces around it.

 

A hand grenade locker was positioned where the Captain (in dress khakis) is standing. One of the life rafts will be positioned at the aft starboard corner of the deck house. Forward of that was a pyrotechnic locker.

 

There was a narrow walkway between the lockers and life raft leading to the top of the vertical ladder. There really wasn't a lot of bare deck space anywhere on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Dr PR

[Jim Lad]

The completed assembly is looking really good, Phil.

 

John

[Coyote_6]

A hand grenade locker!  That's my kind of Navy! 😜