1/144 Scale USS STODDARD (DD-566) - Kitbash, Revell FLETCHER

[BB62vet]

Willie,

Thanks so much - yes, I think this 3D printed version is a bit sharper in detail than my purchased item, and I've been able to get a nice smooth sprayed coat of both deck and haze gray without overdoing it. I'm now adding a few incidental pieces as well as detail painting various parts.

I've reprinted the 01 Level Fwd Deckhouse and have a much crisper part to work with - although the fwd replenishment station rings and loops haven't printed as well as I'd hoped for - I've got to check those out before deciding on perhaps another print. Still working on the design of the open bridge deck part - maybe get that finished this coming week. It's currently at this stage -

I still have some controls & instrumentation to add to the fwd bulkhead - also, the RADAR repeater and some other items. FYI - the six pins on the deck are for the Pilot House location.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Good progress on the pilot house O1-O2 assembly so far. Setting location pins always a good idea. 3D printing as come a long ways in the time you ave been working on this model. I expect that the capabilities of the resins and printers will continue to improve as these have the potential of more industrial uses behind them, not just a tool for niche hobbies.

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Thanks Tom! Yes, the pilot house and adjoining structures have inherent problems that require careful attention. I've now gotten the entire assembly put together and have just finished designing the 3 canopies that will be added. Here is a composite design picture of the whole unit (minus antennas, searchlights, etc.) -

As this view is rather hard to see from the angle, here it iis from another angle -

I will be doing a print run of the 3 canopies and some other small items this a.m. so we'll see whether or not these fit as designed!

I've also got the after deckhouse in place and with the exception of a few small items, it's pretty well complete (3" mount is only located, not cemented) -

I might add at this point that this superstructure is completely 3D printed except for the main deck level bulkheads (modified kit parts). This is different from my earlier postings of the original scratch built unit which I've discarded.

Photos I took of the Fwd 01 Level Deck assembly are not in focus, so I'll post them later. Design of my own 5"/38 gun mounts proceeds, but at a slow pace. As I have commercially purchased 3D printed ones on hand, it isn't fully necessary to do this, but more out of seeing whether or not I can match or better the details on those items. I have 3D design/printed side ladders for the existing parts if I so desire to use them. In doing research on the mounts, I've discovered that they are NOT all the same; two types, one knuckle/two knuckle, but each type is not common, so I've now got 4 different design files going on these.

Hank

[BB62vet]

After several print sessions to nail down the smaller and larger parts that make up this fwd superstructure, I have it pretty much completed. Here are photos of the 01 Level Deckhouse, 02 Level Open Navigation Bridge & Pilot House, including the Mk. 37 FCD -

Tomorrow I will add the forward canopy over the windscreen and also the side canopies and that will pretty well cover up the nav bridge details that can be seen at present. The port/stbd whip antennas will also be added. I will put that unit aside for safe keeping while I begin to do work in earnest to get the fwd main deck superstructure and its supports in place. I still have some 3D design/printing left to do on all of that.

Hank

[BB62vet]

Last night/today I've added the side & front canopies to the pilot house -

Also, with a new scalpel blade, I've cleaned up & touched up the handrails and other items that needed some work. I had not originally planned to show the NBC washdown piping, but have 3D designed the parts for the nav bridge -

If these print later today, then they'll be added. I don't know how much of this piping I'll show, but where it's prominant, then probably will design parts to use. This piping is designed to be trimmed as needed on the supply end. Next up will be the addition of the 2 whip antennas on either side of the pilot house.

Hank

[BB62vet]

At this point I have completed the forward deckhouse (01 Level up) and have put it aside for safekeeping -

The Ribbon Boards will be added once this unit is added to the fwd. main deckhouse.

I have now turned my attention back to finishing the design of the 5"-38 gun mounts and have now Mts. 51/52 on the printer. I've already made 3 print runs of these at various points of the design, all at incorrect scales as it turns out, so this run has been carefully scaled - it has one mount each for the fwd two mounts. None of the 4 gun mounts are identical, 2 are single knuckle and 2 are double knuckle, but those pairs are not completely identical due to handrail and other small part differences.
Here is what these mounts look like -

Mt 51_1.JPG (16.95 KiB) Viewed 1197 times

Once these finish printing, I'll move on to setting up a print file for Mts. 53/54. I have designed these parts to use the commercially purchased gun barrels rather than designing these myself. I doubt I could do anything differently on these parts.

[SG1]

Stunning! I've been following your thread over the last 2 years silently, waiting for the sub-assemblies to be added and painted. Your ability to 3D design/printing is admirable, and your research work turned into the crafting of every single detailed component is just amazing. Bravissimo!

SG

[BB62vet]

SG,

I certainly appreciate your comments - thanks so much!! That really is a great inspiration to continue. Glad you have been part of the "silent majority" for the last 2 years.... I do know there are followers who haven't made comments, so again - thanks for coming forward!!

After handling a couple of the printed mounts last night, I saw that I had once again broken a few of the tiny, detailed pieces so those are printing again now. While everything printed very well, I won't know if the overall size is correct until I remove the mounts from their supports and do some clean up. Having the commercially purchased items to make a 1:1 comparison will determine whether I use those in the end or mine. While mine have more detail, I do want to ensure the size is correct and at this point in time, don't feel like redrawing from scratch if this becomes necessary. As I've already mentioned, I have printed side ladders that can be CA'd to the existing mounts and with those added, they would "suffice" in spite of lacking a few of my finer details. I may be able to use a couple of these detailed parts on the commercial items with some patience & care. Here is a shot of Mts. 53 & 54 after drying overnight while still on life supports

I've lightened the photo a bit to bring out some of the details a bit for visual note.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

It is frustrating that we sometimes need to go through several iterations to get the final product. Then there is the destruction of small parts!

Persistence pays off and looking very good!

Regards: Tom

[BB62vet]

Tom,
Thanks again for the positive feedback, always welcomed!!! Yes, between removing from the printer, handling and removal of supports, you're lucky if the part remains intact - esp. when dealing with fine details.

I did go in and beef up a bit the parts in question and you can't visually see any differences - but that slight adjustment may keep them intact! I hope to get 4 good mounts to use for comparison with the commercially purchased items.

A couple days ago I got the impression that even though I drew up my mounts precisely as shown in the plan book, that the footprint was slightly off - less than one mm in width at the back of the mount, so as I mentioned in our correspondence, I set the scale in Chitu to 1% more in width - not realizing that the circular distortion effect would come into play. When I go out to remove the first of these mounts from their supports, I will check to see if the round base ring is actually "round" or has any distortion. I guess the answer to this would be to make the mount floor & base ring as a separate part, printing it at the single correct scale and simply have it fit into the mount shell. Again, these differences can't even be seen with the naked eye, so it's so much fluff in the long run. Sometimes, this anal exactness is more detrimental than beneficial to the overall outcome of the model.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

In the final result all your parts have turned out well. One of the things I like about printing is it's not that hard to go back and make improvements, though as a practical thing, we try no to engage in this ad infinitum.

The bridge assembly looks quite excellent as put together!

Cheers: Tom

[Mgunns]

Just now following this Hank: Outstanding work on this model. From the looks of things, you are now 3D printing your own parts. Good on ya. It's neat to see you transform this model into a real museum piece Hank; your research and diligence have paid off handsomely in this replica of the ship you served on.

[BB62vet]

Just now following this Hank: Outstanding work on this model. From the looks of things, you are now 3D printing your own parts. Good on ya. It's neat to see you transform this model into a real museum piece Hank; your research and diligence have paid off handsomely in this replica of the ship you served on.

Mark,

Well, hey again!! Thanks for the nice comments - always appreciated! Yes, got into the 3D design/printing about 2 years ago and sort of go back & forth with Flinger747 on collaborating in design & printing and problem solving. I began this build manually and once I had "gone to the dark side" - there's no turning back. I get a much higher degree of accuracy and detail this way - also, less strain on the fingers when the arthritis decides to flare up.

Glad you're checking this build out! Any projects in hand?

Hank

[BB62vet]

After printing close to a dozen 5" gun mounts, I've finally come to a finalization on size/scale and have now 2 good mounts (51, 52) that will be cured and painted for use. Mounts 53, 54 will be printed either today or tomorrow using the same criteria.

Setting up the print files, I've forgone using supports on the tiny rungs, etc. and so far these have printed out fine without support. So, this method seems to work fine. I'm now printing some other smaller parts (vents, handrails, etc.).

Here are design shots of Mounts 51 & 52 -

These are the latest (final) version of these mounts.

Hank

[BB62vet]

I now have excellent prints of all 4 mounts and will begin to clean up & paint. Also working on the main deck stanchions/lifelines which are being revised from their original design to standardize diameters, etc. Having to make these in sections as the printer is only so big. A bit of touch up to do on the stern after installing the BT Winch/Shield, Fanfare/Shield, and the Mk. 9 Depth Charge Rack -

[Willie]

Hi there Hank and all,

Your stern and transom look awesome, and full of crispy details. The "Stoddard" in black also adds lots of realism. I am amazed with your 3" a/a battery; again lots of details, level with the rest of the structures.

Keep the excellent work. It is already coming out, and so nicely.

Nice going in NC,

Willie.

[BB62vet]

Willie,

Thanks again for the positive comments - always welcomed!!

Last night while going over photos of the class, I discovered a vent that sits in front of the after stack that I wasn't aware of - it is shown on many of the BoGPs I have available to review. So, in spite of the lack of actual details of this vent, I've come up with an acceptable solution -

I viewed all the photos I have of 4 gun FLETCHER class DDs and none show this particular vent in any detail with the exception of USS UHLMANN (DD-687) and it too is rather vague. So, this will work as it is a relatively small item and fits the general shape of the vent in the photos (sq to round to square).

Always interesting to find additional items that need to be designed & printed for using on the model!

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

I know you have been making progress behind the scenes despite the usual and unusual life interruptions, so looking forward to updates! It's looking quite spectacular so far!

Best regards: Tom

[Iceman 29]

Excellent

[BB62vet]

Pascal,

Thanks, nice to see you're still in attendance. Working slowly on the main deck lifelines - this may take a while with the mini-project going on simultaneously.

Hank