An American Spy Ship?

[boatman]

really nice work Richard its good to have another floaty guy on here
chris

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Chris, with Wouter, Ralph, you and I, hope more of the floaty stuff keep coming in.

Meanwhile here's more progress shots...

Firstly I glued the platforms for the aerial drums.



The aerial drums were made from plastic tube. They were the only ones I had that were the approximate size. The tops were covered with thin plastic strip to provide a thin lip as per the reference picturs. They all had to be about the same level height when mounted so using the first one mounted closer to the deckhouse as a reference point I slowly sliced off extra bits from each drum until I was satified.



While the glue cured I adjusted each drum until they were standing vertically to compensate for the upward tilt of the deck towards the bow. Two plastic blocks were shaped into quarter rounded edges for stairways to compartments on either side of the hold.



Resting my eyes on Sunday and will continue tomorrow.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[boatman]

HI Again Richard wonderfull work an yes i get eye strain doin my small radars so i know how you feel on that an yes have a rest today as it makes all the difference an i know its 1/700 but how big is she in inches ?
chris

 

[rtfoe]

She's roughly 7 inches in length, Chris. It's a wonder how much detail can be packed into this scale. I used to think Airfix's 1/600 was already small.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[boatman]

WOW Richard no wonder your eyes need a rest think id take a wk after doin that size
chris

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Amazing the detail you're adding to such a small ship.

It's a wonder how much detail can be packed into this scale.

Only true with your skill and patience
Jim

 

[Wouter]

I had to convert the inches to centimetres and wow, that's not too large indeed. Nice bit of extra detailing again, I can imagine the eyes want a bit of rest now

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Fantastic stuff Richard, proper scratchery!

 

[Fernando N]

Most interesting project Richard, thanks for the history behind her was a great read

If anyone can getting her built for Greg it’s you, the mods and add-ons look great

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Guys,

Chris, a well earned rest of a day was good enough for me less I get lazy and loose mojo over the build.
Jim, yes and a lot of patience and a steady hand are tools I'm thankful I still have.
Wouter, the scary thing about detailing is the amount of reference that keep showing it that needs done. Sometimes I wished those details weren't there in the first place.
Andy, ....and bluffery added into the mix. Gyzmology as what Shep used to say.
Fernando, glad you liked the read. To have met Greg who actually served on it is amazing for me. Before this I didn't even know about such a clandestine operating ship of the Liberty class.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

After the rest I tackled the ship again...

Made those little funnels protruding out of the smoke stack with wire bent and edges flattened with a diamond burr chucked into a motor tool. I guess I have to replace the outer two with thinner gauge wire as they're slightly out of scale.



Then I decided to detail the Captains launch which Greg said was secured just in front of the main deck house. Reference pictures of it were obscured by the crane lifts but i could see that it had like a motorboat windshield so I got some PE from the base of a depth charge rack and twisted it into shape.



Then right under my nose was a picture of the captains launch...teach me next time to read captions properly.



So I made corrections and this is it...best I could do with me thick fingers...



That's enough eye strain for now so I went ahead with drawing up the plans for the masts with my tried and tested method of scaling the broadside image of the Oxford to 7" length and converting to centimeters. Saved the file into a thumbdrive and will visit the stationery shop down the road for a print out....my printer/scanners run out of ink.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Wouter]

Oh, that is very cool mate, the little boat reminds me a bit of the scratchwork of Marijn Van Gils' Amagi diorama.

Cheers

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Wouter, I must take a look at Marijn Van Gils' Amagi diorama.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[boatman]

Thanks Wouter, I must take a look at Marijn Van Gils' Amagi diorama.

Cheers,
Richard

HI Richard i know this captains launch is tiny an this is not critisuim of your work but i think you just need to put some small dots on where the small windows are on the white bit of s/s then it will look right but fab work
chris

 

[rtfoe]

HI Richard i know this captains launch is tiny an this is not critisuim of your work but i think you just need to put some small dots on where the small windows are on the white bit of s/s then it will look right but fab work
chris

Hi Chris, thanks for the comment. Actually the boat hasn't been painted yet and am aware the windows will need to be painted in. There's a possibility of drilling them out with my tiny burr but I won't chance that for fear of ruining it. The back of the boat still needs some PE support railings.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Using my tried and tested method...hopefully the masts turn out ok. First I matched the measurements to the kit...then only proceed.



Cheers,
Richard.

 

[wotan]

Richard

Congratulations on a really interesting and skillfully built project. I am watching each update as it comes and admiring your handiwork. BTW has the captain's launch not got the corners of the front cabin cut at an angle? It looks like it would make a more sleek shape.

John

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks John, you may be right there. From the top angle it needs tapering in.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Taking your suggestion John, I sliced the front cabin and added the railing at the rear...



The launch dry fitted onto the position on the deck just in front of the deck-house.



Will detail paint it later.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[boatman]

SPLENDID JOB Richard but how big is it ? half an inch ?
chris