USS San Pablo 1920 by Ras Ambrioso - Scale 1/64 - River Gunboat

[Ras Ambrioso]

My next project has been on my “to do list “since I saw the movie The San Pebbles in 1966. The San Pablo represents one of the many gunboats that were used by the western nations to patrol the waters of the Yangtze River in China during the period of the Chinese wars between war lords, nationalists and communist’s factions. The movie involves a sailor in charge of the steam engine that powers the ship. 

 

The USS San Pablo was a 150-foot steel-hulled gunboat, built by Vaughn & Yung Engineering Ltd. of Hong Kong.

There is a lot of information on the web about this ship and about the real US Navy ships that were used in this service such as the USS Panay that was bombed by the Japanese in 1939. Following are some links to sites on this subject.

 

https://industrialhistoryhk.org/sand-pebbles/

 

https://www.thesandpebbles.com/naval_history/real_sandpebbles1.htm

 

ttps://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2000/february/real-sand-pebbles

 

As I said before, I had this project in mind for a long time but could not obtain proper plans. Finally ,last year, I found a link to a French magazine that included the plans for this gunboat. The plans were at 1/45 scale that made the boat 40” long so I had the plans reduced to 1/64 scale with a length of a little more than 28 inches.

I decided to build as plank on frame method used MDF boards for the spine and frames but the material I found was 1/4” thick and the resulting ship skeleton looks very heavy, but it will provide plenty of surface for the planking. Following is the progress to date.

 Developing the frames pieces

Starting the framework.

The first long plank.

 Then, the development of the conical shape and using a wood mold to bend the wood pieces that will form the aft bulkwark will come next

 

 

[ddp]

BOGP's PG45 USS Panay 1928 (Yangtze River Gunboat, reclassified PR‑5 '28)  

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/mz81mayc5eoa6svhws8cy/ACbuzDy6E6HS2hT_gcp98o8/PG45 USS Panay 1928 (Yangtze River Gunboat%2C reclassified PR‑5 '28)?dl=0&rlkey=wolm1da4b6wtrvw7yi1tbszyc&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

[Valeriy V]

Hi Ras! I'm glad to see you back in business!  
These gunboats are very original in their style and I'm looking forward to watching your progress!

[yvesvidal]

15 hours ago, Ras Ambrioso said:

So funny that you would find information in the Modeles Reduits de Bateaux magazine (MRB). My father and I later, have been reading and collecting this magazine since the early 1960's. Fantastic source of information and very exciting model that you are starting to build, Ras.

 

Yves

[FriedClams]

Great looking new project, Ras.  Lots of interesting details and structures to model. This will be interesting!  Best of luck.

 

Gary

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks to all for your likes and comments. This is indeed a challenging model with many details that include rivets. Now I am still dealing with the hull construction.

[yvesvidal]

Ras, I hope I am not hijacking your thread with this post, but there is a modeler in Spain who has been building the San Pablo in the 1/35th scale:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/326240588162?itmmeta=01JMJ20BHNV76DFB5CNMDBBQCS&hash=item4bf5745182:g:ZyUAAOSwZupggtEC

 

 

It is a very impressive model and I thought that some of his pictures may help you. That Spanish gentleman is definitely the "Rey of the the Styrene sheets". I love his models.

 

Yves

[KeithAug]

Another interesting vessel Ras. I look forward to seeing how she develops.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thank you Keith. I am currently struggling with the hull. Planking is not one of my favorite tasks.

[Ras Ambrioso]

Ives, thanks a lot for the pictures. They will be great help. That model is huge and this guy really went into details  including the million rivets. In my scale I am going to try using pounce wheels with different spacing of rivets and hope it will show.

[Keith Black]

 Ras, are you aware you can get transfer rivets in multiple patterns and scales from Archer Transfers? If not, see the link below.

 

 https://www.archertransfers.com/search?q=rivets&type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage&options[prefix]=last

[Ras Ambrioso]

Keith, thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

[Ras Ambrioso]

The fan tail bulkwark came out OK.  Made a wood mold with the proper angle and used 2 pieces 1/32" thick.

 

I also installed a sub-deck on the hull and started the planking.

Thanks for watching .

[Keith Black]

15 hours ago, Ras Ambrioso said:

Keith, thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

 You are more than welcome, Ras. I first became aware of Archer rivet transfers when following @mcb Blairstown build log. His use of Archer rivets adds striking realism, much much better than a bounce wheel. 

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Finally, I get some time to post some progress. I have been busy elsewhere and also fighting mistakes made at the beginning of this build. The hull has been a total nightmare as I had a difficult time fairing the frames and installing the planks . I tried to save time by using plain sheets of wood and then wider planks. The results were horrible.

Spent a lot of time filling and sanding.

Also installed the main deck planking.

But again, after looking at it for a while, I decided that the planks I selected were too wide: therefore I am in the process of replacing with smaller planks. Also I will change the color to a more subtle wood color.

 

As a distraction from the above mentioned troubles I started to work on the cabins. All of the cabins, with the exception of the rear top one, are rivetted steel. I have been looking at different methods for representing the rivets. On Keith advise's I ordered a sheet of Archer's transfer rivers at a cost of $17.95 per sheet. They look great but the sheets are only 3" by 5" and with the large amount of rivets required by this build it will be a very expensive detail.

I decided to make a wood panels of the cabins with their openings. Then then glue a very thin sheet of plastic on which I would have made the rivets using a pounce wheel.

First I had to make a mockup of the superstructure since the plans are difficult to understand and, unfortunately, I  have found a few mistakes in them.

The mockup is not to scale but allows me look at the different levels in 3D. Followings the set up of an assembly jig and the first wall panels.

Thanks for your comments and likes.

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 Ras, I'm sorry the Archer transfer rivets aren't going to work for you. Hopefully you can use the rivets  you received somewhere and it's not a total waste of your money. 

[Ras Ambrioso]

Thanks for the likes, and Keith, I am my own sub-contractor with no deadlines and an ample budget. So good to be old and retired.

[Ras Ambrioso]

As I mentioned in a previous post, I changed the color of the planking in the main deck and the forecastle. Following is the before and after.

I think the planks are now more to  scale and the color is more compatible with the boat's white paint. Also started the development of the riveted joints. The panel was cut out of basswood and, using O.O5" thick polystyrene (almost like heavy paper), I reproduced the panel's outline and openings. Then, using a pounce wheel, the rivets were punched from the backside thus producing a very realistic riveted line in the front. 

The plastic sheet has not been glued to the panel and I will try to better locate the rivet lines. Also covered the fantail steering station with mosquito net painted black to simulate the tread plate surface.

Thanks for the comments and likes.

 

 

[Ras Ambrioso]

After a couple of failures trying to keep the row of rivets straight, I came up with an idea for a tool to help. Using a metal ruler, a cutting board and a couple of bolts with wing nuts I came up with this baby.

This is like of the tool to bend etched parts. The results speak for themselves.

 

In using this tool I found that you have to keep the pounce wheel tight against the ruler with equal amount of pressure and make just one round. Another thing to remember is that the rivets are rolled  in the back of the sheet so that the rivet shows up at the front.

Just wanted to share this with y'all.