1/200 Wine tanker Alvin, ex btitish monitot M20

[setori]

My next model will be a wine tanker I used to see in my town Sete. I found it funny. In the fities and sixties the wine produced in south of France was low in degree alcohol and quality, Sicilian and Algerian wines were imported and mixed with local wine to get a higher degree of alcohol. And Alvin (ex Augusta, ex Marie des fleurs, ex M20) arrived once a week loaded with sicilian wine.
On the first pic you can see Alvin Sicily bound passing in fron of my house around 1966.

[Dan K]

Did you know it was an ex-monitor back then?

[setori]

I was around 15, but I had heard dockers say that she was an ex warship and that she had concrete reinforcement in the bows. I learned her origin 15 years ago only

[wefalck]

Interesting ... and the reason that these wines had a bad reputation for many years - good for export to Britain

[setori]

Now they make good quality wine instead of quantity

[Pieter]

JSC makes an 1/400 model of another tanker conversion, Delapan (ex M19). Getting that model may help in makiing this one. https://jsc.pl/en/jsc-models/297-britis ... c-407.html

[setori]

JSC makes an 1/400 mode of another tanker conversion, Delapen (ex M19). Getting that model may help in makiing this one. https://jsc.pl/en/jsc-models/297-britis ... c-407.html

Thank you, I did not know that

[setori]

The hull is made in wood covered with 0,2mm styrene

[Neptune]

That's an interesting history!

Very sharp hull so far.
Did you experience any of the reported horror effects created by mixing wood and styrene and their different expansion coefficients?
I've seen a lot of speculation on that, but very few actual reports of real issues.

[setori]

I've been using this method for some years (including superstructure) and I have not encountered these problems. ( yet !!!!)

[Iceman 29]

Superbe!

[DrPR]

At 1:200 you are not likely to see any problems because of the different coefficients of expansion of wood and styrene.

I have seen a few reports of problems from larger scale models of large ships. For example, an 1:72 scale aircraft carrier about 14 feet (4.3 meters) long with a wooden frame and plastic decks had problems when the model was out in hot summer sun. Plastic that long will expand about 1/4 inch (4-5 mm) for a temperature rise of 20 C - much more than wood, and especially parts of the hull that are cooled by water. In direct sunlight the deck could have gotten 40-50 C hotter than the interior wooden framework.

The flight deck bowed up in the middle and some plastic side panels came loose.

But a small model that is indoors out of direct sunlight won't have problems.

[setori]

The superdtructures are made with balsa covered with styren and photo etch etched by Hauler