HMS Lion by Ian_Grant - 1/150 - RADIO - RESTORATION - WW1 Battlecruiser

[Ian_Grant]

It's been a while. Not much work done over Christmas but I am making some progress now.

 

Used the laser cutter to etch deck planking on 1/16" baltic plywood.

 

Here's the largest piece 24"x18" with tw0 replicas of 8" wide decking, and two smaller pieces for the foredeck forward/abaft of the breakwater. I lasered these two apart following the curve of the breakwater as it seemed the best way to keep the crack less noticeable. "Planks" are 1.5mm wide, a scale 20ft long.

 

I added strips of wood just below the bulwark stringer because the new portholes fell just below it and I wanted more to glue them into than the 1/32" ply skin. You can see these new-looking pieces below, and also blocks further down into which to anchor the torpedo net booms. Teenage me just glued them into the skin but old me is fussier.

While paring material off a bulkhead, my 1/4" chisel slipped and of course went clean through the bottom. One more patch to add.

While waiting for my micro eyelets for portholes I started the frame for the removable deck portion, which encompasses "A" and "B" turrets, both superstructures, and the central "Q" turret.

 

Here we see the plywood mount for "A" and "B" turrets built into the framing.

In order to make the frame, I temporarily screwed the outer strips to the inside hull, with a slight gap, letting them bend naturally. Then I filed/sanded their tops flush with the sheer line, finally adding cross members. Hope is that after adding the deck ply, the whole will retain its shape when I remove the screws (other hope is that I can glue the deck on without gluing it to the hull....that would be a major hiccup!!

 

The fore deck continues to the aft end of the aft superstructure, where it forms the deck in this superstructure's central well boat storage.  Sadly I just noticed the tapering aft end shown here is slightly twisted off level athwartships wrt the rest of the deck. Sigh. I'll need to cut out the large plywood stiffener and fix the beams, then reapply the stiffener.

 

Temporary screws through the hull, holding the frame's outer members.

Thanks for following!

 

 

Edited January 11 by Ian_Grant

[Keith Black]

 You're making great progress, Ian. 

[Glen McGuire]

Ditto what Keith said, Ian!

[ddp]

your decking pattern appears to be the same as done on 3d printed warships which i think is wrong. border planking would be done 1st around structures & hull edges then the 1st planking would be laid on the centerline then infilled on either side of the centerline so will have staggered butt joints not what you have done.

[Dr PR]

Hull planking can be tricky. There is/was no one "right" way. Different shipyards sometimes had different ways of doing things, even on ships of the same class. And different navies had their own ways.

 

When I made my CAD model of the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 I studied the blueprints and they did not mention a central "king" plank as some ships have. After studying a lot of photos it became clear that there was not a central plank on the centerline. Instead the groove between the two center planks ran down the centerline.

 

ddp is right that there is often a wider border plank or "margin board" around structures and significant deck fittings. And there seem to be a few common ways of joining the pieces of this wider planking. But the blueprints for the USS Cape MSI-2 that I am now modeling are explicit that there is NO margin planking around anything! Instead all deck fittings were placed on the deck planking, sometimes with metal flanges around the fittings (hatches, scuttles, etc.) that rested on the planking. The planking was fitted against the sides of the deckhouse, and then a small wooden strip was attached vertically to the house side with the narrow side resting on the planking.

 

Both the Oklahoma City and Cape were US Navy ships from the middle 20th century. So you need to study the plans and photos of the specific ship you are modeling to determine how the decks were planked (if it had wooden decks).

Edited January 6 by Dr PR

[Wintergreen]

Slipping wiht a sharp chisel either makes a hole in the boat or in oneself. The latter is messier... pls avoid.

Good catch of the twisting structure and a sensible choise to rip out att correct. If not, it would haunt you later in the rebuild I think.

 

Keep it up!

[Kevin-the-lubber]

5 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

I lasered these two apart following the curve of the breakwater as it seemed the best way to keep the crack less noticeable.

Ian, in case it’s of any use, for the veneer deck on the Cutty sark I split this into 5 sections by zig-zagging the cut to follow the plank lines. The joints are virtually invisible. The key was to set the kerf offsets right for each orientation of line. This method is a little tricky with very thin veneer as it needs sheets to be near enough dead flat, but should be fairly reliable for 1/16”. (Which has got me thinking….).
 

I subsequently found (via YouTube) the method of lasering pieces (using Lightburn) that are too long for the bed, using lasered datums. It’s fiddly and I haven’t used it for decks, with their ultra fine tolerances, but it worked a treat for some big, crafting stuff I was doing. But if you are using a library laser maybe there are limits to how much you can control the cutting?

 

Are you printing the portholes? 

[Ian_Grant]

8 hours ago, ddp said:

your decking pattern appears to be the same as done on 3d printed warships which i think is wrong. border planking would be done 1st around structures & hull edges then the 1st planking would be laid on the centerline then infilled on either side of the centerline so will have staggered butt joints not what you have done.

Perhaps, but I deemed it too hard to draw the exact outline of the hull in Inkscape in order to get border planks exactly accurate. I'm not an Inscape savant and random curves are difficult. If I could have done that borders round the superstructures would have been fairly simple. As to the butt joints, I ended up drawing a 5-butt shift because that was convenient in the grid setting I chose in Inkscape. Don't know if that shift ever existed.

 

Good enough for RC I think.

 

Ian

[Ian_Grant]

6 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

Ian, in case it’s of any use, for the veneer deck on the Cutty sark I split this into 5 sections by zig-zagging the cut to follow the plank lines. The joints are virtually invisible. The key was to set the kerf offsets right for each orientation of line. This method is a little tricky with very thin veneer as it needs sheets to be near enough dead flat, but should be fairly reliable for 1/16”. (Which has got me thinking….).
 

I subsequently found (via YouTube) the method of lasering pieces (using Lightburn) that are too long for the bed, using lasered datums. It’s fiddly and I haven’t used it for decks, with their ultra fine tolerances, but it worked a treat for some big, crafting stuff I was doing. But if you are using a library laser maybe there are limits to how much you can control the cutting?

 

Are you printing the portholes? 

Hi Kevin,

 

Our library lasers have adjustable beds several inches down (actually up to about 10" if your material is REALLY thick) in the enclosure, with hinged glass covers to enclose for fume control. There's no way to "slide" the material over in increments, even between runs, due to the enclosed structure.

See some of Epilog's  machines here:

 

https://www.epiloglaser.com/en-ca/

 

In practise one places one's material in them, then adjusts the bed up and down depending on the material thickness to get the laser's focus correct. They have a little L-shaped tool that "hangs" off the laser head and when one's material is just touching said tool, the focus is correct. There's no way to "slide" the material over in increments unfortunately.

 

No, I ordered micro metal eyelets to glue into drilled holes in the ship, 1.5mm opening with 3.5mm flange. Close enough for RC......😏

Still wondering whether/how to add "glass" to them...🤔

 

Ian

Edited January 6 by Ian_Grant

[Ian_Grant]

6 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

Slipping wiht a sharp chisel either makes a hole in the boat or in oneself. The latter is messier... pls avoid.

Good catch of the twisting structure and a sensible choise to rip out att correct. If not, it would haunt you later in the rebuild I think.

Yeah, and slipping while using a bandsaw makes a mess too, which I discovered last year on another build. 'Nuff said. 😭

 

I woke up with the idea of temporarily fixing the ends of the taper at where the wood wants to be naturally and simply belt sanding the high side and the plywood gusset until level, instead of messing up the angles which were a pain to achieve. Think I'll go with that. If I blow it I can always try again with new pieces.

6 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

Keep it up!

Thanks!  And thanks for the encouragement!

 

Ian

[Kevin-the-lubber]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Still wondering whether/how to add "glass" to them...🤔

How about filling them near enough with a clear epoxy glue, or anything else that sets more or less clear, leaving a very slight recess. Then put a little dob of clear enamel in the recess. This photo shows, on the left, objects printed with transparent resin (the layer lines cause opacity) and on the right, the same but after I brushed on a little clear enamel. As I needed the enamel to be watery thin, I just sprayed some from a rattle can into a little receptacle.

 

How are you getting on with the Mingda?

 

[ddp]

Keith Black, i did have build logs on another site til i took the logs off due to issues with that site. have been thinking of doing build logs on a couple of sites but might wait til i finish editing/cleaning up well over 140 Booklet of General Plans of the US Navy i have saved on my computer. my smallest warship is about 6" long & the biggest is about 52" long. my current long term project which is on pause for the past 3-4yrs due to medical issues & the editing of those plans is doing all 16 USN OBB's during ww2 & 1 after using Revell's 1/429 scale model of the USS Arizona as a basis to kitbash those ships.

i have also been doing some model warship consulting with 3D-Wild plus providing them with plans/drawings or links to same.

example: http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=393968

Edited January 6 by ddp

[ddp]

not all plastic stuff as most of my 1/144 scale warships are balsa frame with 1mm thick styrene plastic skin for the hull & superstructure. my 1/144 scale County class Destroyer is balsa frame & skin as it was my 1st big model ship. did a billings boat decades ago & i think i have it somewhere that is if my cats did not chew it up. but my biggest wood scratch building was my friend's 25'x35' garage that i had to partially redesign before helping him build it.

[Ian_Grant]

8 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

How about filling them near enough with a clear epoxy glue, or anything else that sets more or less clear, leaving a very slight recess. Then put a little dob of clear enamel in the recess. This photo shows, on the left, objects printed with transparent resin (the layer lines cause opacity) and on the right, the same but after I brushed on a little clear enamel. As I needed the enamel to be watery thin, I just sprayed some from a rattle can into a little receptacle.

 

How are you getting on with the Mingda?

 

Nice Victory lanterns, Kevin!

 

I bought the Bambu A1 instead, in the end. We were away and then Christmas loomed; I haven't done a damn thing with it other than printing a "boatie" which my daughter immediately claimed. Last thing I recall I was having trouble getting my PC to "see" the printer through our WiFi. Will need to look into it as I'm getting close to needing some 3D printed superstructure parts.

Edited January 6 by Ian_Grant

[Ian_Grant]

4 hours ago, ddp said:

not all plastic stuff as most of my 1/144 scale warships are balsa frame with 1mm thick styrene plastic skin for the hull & superstructure. my 1/144 scale County class Destroyer is balsa frame & skin as it was my 1st big model ship. did a billings boat decades ago & i think i have it somewhere that is if my cats did not chew it up. but my biggest wood scratch building was my friend's 25'x35' garage that i had to partially redesign before helping him build it.

That's a big garage - hope some of it is devoted to a workshop!

[ddp]

i split the garage in half with 1 half as an insulated wood workshop & the other half to be for their 2 cars but endup being used as a metal working workshop, storage for riding lawn mower & for his Harley.

your east of me as i'm in Lefroy south of Barrie.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

12 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

I bought the Bambu A1 instead

Oh yes, of course you did. You should be able to print some pretty small, finely detailed items even with the 0.4mm standard nozzle and finer still with a 0.2mm. I printed my original Victory side entrance steps on my filament machine.

[Ian_Grant]

1 hour ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

Oh yes, of course you did. You should be able to print some pretty small, finely detailed items even with the 0.4mm standard nozzle and finer still with a 0.2mm. I printed my original Victory side entrance steps on my filament machine.

Hmmm.... I've been wondering about ladders! Teenaged me used some brass coarse representations of ladders I found somewhere. Probably will need more to meet increased accuracy requirements. I see a 0.2mm nozzle in my future......

[Kevin-the-lubber]

It's worth giving the 0.4 a whirl as well, as you're unlikely to be wanting narrower line widths and you can set the layer height to superfine. The smaller the nozzle, the more likelihood of blockages and first layer adhesion problems. The 0.4 seems to be the sweet spot, which I guess is why every printer under the sun comes with that as standard.

[Ian_Grant]

First piece of deck glued down to the removable frame, and hopefully not to the nearby hull frames. This deck runs aft from the breakwater to beneath the forward superstructure where it is full width, to hide the seam. The next piece will run the remaining length of the removable portion.

 

Here it is weighted down while glue sets; sadly I lack sections of railway track. I'm considering bringing in some of my extra bricks from the garage when the next, longer, section of deck goes on.

 

I can't glue down the forward and aft fixed decks until I do a float test and decide how much unaccessible ballast to add - I'm shifting the main battery forward one compartment compared to the original location to allow the smoke unit to take its place between the fwd and aft stacks. (Assuming I can fit in  the unit and its piping). I expect less ballast to be required at the bow.

Edited January 7 by Ian_Grant

[Ian_Grant]

Decks bandsawn (bandsawed?) roughly to shape. Decks have a "shelf" projecting slightly beyond hull side for most of the length; this was used to store the brailed-up torpedo net. God knows how I am going to make the "brailing davits" which occur about every 2" along the rails.

 

I made a start at marking out superstructure locations in green masking tape. Foredeck and aft deck not glued down for reason given above.

 

 Some turret barbettes were made from some old pine I had lying around, by gluing up a rectangular blank, centre-drilling along the axis, then sitting the blank on a rod inserted into scrap plywood and rotating the blank into my tablesaw blade. They're good but not perfect; I had planned to 3D print them in PETG and will probably do so anyway.

 

Micro servo which rotates the forward turrets sticks up through the deck behind "B" turret; it will be hidden in the forward superstructure below the shelter deck. I'll need another big hole under there for the sound effects speaker to emit into air without being muffled by the hull. Luckily the fwd shelter deck is open along the aft edge.

 

I've realized that dad machined the front lower corners of the turrets a bit too low. Am considering adding shims tapering from 1/16" to zero at centre of each turret. Also need to 3D print some rangefinder and sighting hoods.

 

Thanks for following.

 

Ian

 

Too bad about the plywood flaw to starboard of the turrets. Oh well.....😞

[Keith Black]

 You're doing a great job, Ian. I'm starting to learn to live with imperfections by embracing them and utilizing them in some fashion. Nothing we build is perfect. 

[Ian_Grant]

I forgot to include a shot of the remaining removable deck glued to frame and weighted down, with what I had available.

[Ian_Grant]

Added the portholes to starboard side with the aid of a couple of little jigs to define vertical and measurements from drawings for horizontal. One small hitch - on Etsy the eyelets were described as having a "central opening" of 1.5mm which I took for hole diameter. This would have been perfect. However, in actual fact 1.5mm is the hole you need to accept the eyelet body and the eyelet hole is somewhat less. Too bad but it's (altogether now) "close enough for RC". 😉

 

Ports for admiral's/captain's day cabin, and wardroom.

Other portholes.

I'm starting the superstructures. I figured I might as well laser the secondary battery casemate openings so started drawing in Inkscape. More to do, then another trip to the library.

Still waiting for the smoke unit.

 

 

 

Edited January 13 by Ian_Grant

[Kevin-the-lubber]

31 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

However, in actual fact 1.5mm is the hole you need to accept the eyelet body and the eyelet hole is somewhat less. Too bad but it's (altogether now) "close enough for RC". 😉

If anyone asks, just say, in a tone that brooks no argument, that sailors were extremely small back then and didn't need large windows. And then send the ship shooting across the lake 🙂

 

[Ian_Grant]

Finally got my laptop to bind to the 3D printer via our wifi (simple once you know how but a bit obscure in Bambu's "instructions", ok let's be honest and say non-existent) and tried a test print in PLA for the portion of the conning tower above the flag deck.

 

Here I highlighted the viewing slits with a bit of paint. Sorry for poor focus; the hole to mount the range finder is nearly invisible.

I will print the "real" part in PETG.

You can see the conning tower behind "B" turret in this 3D render, except the conning tower is shown as round, as is the main funnel, which is not in agreement with my Norman Ough drawings.

 

Edited January 19 by Ian_Grant

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Looks good, welcome to the rabbit hole 😀.

[Ian_Grant]

Getting to love my 3D printer. I drew the secondary battery casemate gun mount parts (what I'm calling the vertical cylinders from which the barrels project) in TinkerCAD and printed three revisions of a set of four in a single hour including CAD time. Had I gone to the library with Rev1, the printer would have been far slower and I would not have had time in the booking to do two more revisions, perhaps not even one. Here I just send the slicer output file to the Bambu over WiFi, and if the filament is already loaded in it just goes ahead and prints without me even having to go upstairs (when it starts a print a window opens on my laptop with the printer's status screen). Looking forward to doing more and getting this model finished.

 

Sixteen Rev 3 gun mounts being printed:

The back of the parts is flat to lie on the print bed; the fronts (at top) are slowly being rounded out as layers are added. These took 50 layers.

 

I also drew and printed the main capstan and associated rollers, for the foredeck. This has 40 layers.

Here it is with a quick splash of some matt paint applied so details are visible. Camera is certainly unforgiving; the naked eye hardly sees the striations.

They should be better with more paint layered on.

 

Edited January 21 by Ian_Grant

[Glen McGuire]

I feel like  caveman with stone knives and bearskin tools when I seen you doing stuff like this!  Very cool!

[Keith Black]

50 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

I feel like  caveman with stone knives and bearskin tools

 Those of us without 3D printers and the ability to use them may as well be living in the stone age, Glen. But i look at it this way, I can't burn the house down with my flint knives.