Building a Giant - Page 2

**Bluewavestudios** · 08-03-2007

Duncan,

Picture rotated as requested, As for changing the name of the Thread, I think I will wait and see what Martin says on that one. If it's OK with him then I think we can sort that out No Problem.

Some Nice Boats in your pics by the way !!!

Regards.....Mark.

duncan · 08-03-2007

Did I mention www.warshipmodelsunderway.com Pages 6 and 13 in the Gallery. Plus another biggie has revealed itself in the USA which reminded me that the Warsash Maritime Training Centre , near Southampton , England, use this type and size of ship for training full-size skippers and pilots. (1st pic) Next three are the USA version, privately owned and built by Bill Smith.

MartinH-K · 08-03-2007

I've have no problems with that at all. I like the point about building a boat, not a big model. In many ways, that makes things easier. Exact hull dimensions and configuration could potentially be problematic and also unstable without the diplacement the real ship would have had. By tweaking a flat bottom design, we would have stability. It would also be possible to build in a 'drop board' (like a sailing dingy) to increase that stability... Mmmmmm I think I want to keep thinking/drawing for a while as I'm going for as much authenticity as I can... eg I have a design for making the guns appear to fire without actually doing anything- probably re-inventing the wheel, but that's part of the fun isn't it?

duncan · 08-03-2007

Yep the centre-board or drop-keel works wonders and it should have an iron plate at the bottom of it to lower centre of gravity a bit. Bilge keels as per full-size (or a wee bit bigger) help too. Two full length 3" sq. strakes and a fin at rear will make her track straight. Ask Roger Wilkinson about firing guns using black-powder and then forget it ! Regarding displacement, my 31ft X 4ft hull displaces over 4 tons , it weighs about a ton so I have to fill 20 five gallon drums with water to get her down to the waterline. I had considered floodable compartments, might still do that. One cubic metre of water weighs one ton if that helps your calculations. I just did it by TLAR system (that-looks-about-right) and left a foot off the draft leaving about 18" to 24" hull depth to waterline.

duncan · 08-03-2007

A couple of battleships in Australia that would appeal to Martin, not man-carrying but ....Wow. Pics courtesy of nick75au