The Ship Model Forum

Hank:

Looking forward to the superstructure elements to get mounted, will show a lot of progress as the sub assemblies start appearing! I expect that you know a lot more about the ship than when you served on her!

Cheers: Tom

Fliger747 wrote:Hank:
Looking forward to the superstructure elements to get mounted, will show a lot of progress as the sub assemblies start appearing! I expect that you know a lot more about the ship than when you served on her!
Cheers: Tom

Might be a while yet, Tom - foc'sle still has work to be done and while all the parts are ready (I think... ), it may take some time to actually get them installed. We shall see!!

Yes, I've learned quite a bit more about STODDARD, as well as FLETCHERs in general in the last 5 years - much more than I even thought about as a member of her crew.

Hank

While Tom F. was working on his boat davits for WHITEHURST, I decided to do the same for STODDARD - I have 3 sets of davits (kit, Shapeways vendor (2)), but decided to try designing my own as these are all somewhat different than the davits on the 1960s era FLETCHER class DDs. So, here is a design shot of my fwd. & after davits - I still have a few details to add and then to scale to 1/144 (these are designed at 1/96 scale) and do a test print. One issue I have with the older Shapeways products is the use of very brittle resin which makes their parts very fragile.

Hank

With the davits completed (essentially what I posted earlier), I decided to tackle the boat winch, even though I have the kit version and a Shapeways vendor version - neither of which really seemed detailed enough. So, using the FLETCHER Plan Book, the BIW Assy drwg for the winch, and a couple vague photos of the winch in the 1960's, I came up with what might be a slightly more detailed version - I am going to print this in 1/96 scale and also 1/144 scale with the davits and see how they come out. I've just received my new supply of resin and am still trying to obtain the correct printer settings for these resins, so actual printing may be delayed a few days.

Hank

Hank:

Good luck with the new resin, looking forward to see how it works out for you. I remember making a pair of those from the drawings you provided some time ago, in 1:192 as Alaska had them port and starboard abeam the bridge.

Cheers: Tom

Tom,

I think the 3D drawings look a bit more realistic than those I did 2D back when...!!!

Today I printed various parts with Elegoo ABS-Like Gray resin - here's a comparison of the kit boat winch vs my design (behind) - Compared to photos of the actual winch, I think my design is closer ( I used BIW drawings and the TFD Plan Book for references). I also printed this part in 1/96 and those came out really nice - don't have a real need for them

I'm not overly impressed with the Elegoo resin - some of the other parts I printed were either failures or had defects and the detail is not what I'm looking for. Maybe my settings still aren't correct, as this is a crap shoot to get the proper settings for a specific printer using a specific resin.

Anyhow, I'm continuing with small progress on the foc'sle when I can. Pix soon!!!

Hank

Hank:

For my DE the davits both have the large tapered base which provides a strong attachment for the davits to the deck. For the Fletcher's that aft davit looks as if it may need to be guyed unless the fixed base is supported by the bulwark? On the DE the bases were somewhat incorporated into the bulwark which adds a lot to their stability. Making them as two pieces such that the upper can rotate seems to be quite satisfactory. I am sure that in the end you will come up with a clever solution!

Regards: Tom

Fliger747 wrote:Hank:
For the Fletcher's that aft davit looks as if it may need to be guyed unless the fixed base is supported by the bulwark? Making them as two pieces such that the upper can rotate seems to be quite satisfactory. I am sure that in the end you will come up with a clever solution!
Regards: Tom

NOW you tell me!!!! Actually, I hadn't thought of that (making the after davit rotatable), so that might be tonight's design project....

The base is actually not perfectly round - if you're standing behind the after davit, the base is flat against the bulwark, so "yes" your comment has validity in that the bulwark may have provided support to the davit. There were not fore/aft guy wires attached.

About the only photo I have to illustrate your point is this (USS KIDD) - And perhaps I should have looked at this BEFORE I printed my davits. Oh well, at least I know that the curing box works well, so all is not lost!!

Hank

Well, that modification to the aft davit didn't take too long - I'll add it to the print file for tomorrow. Here is the version 2 - (The bar connecting the davits is for printing support only, it will be removed)

I may follow thru with the same modification to the fwd davit later tonight.

As I'll be trying out the Any Cubic Resin, this should print with very good detail - at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Hank

Hank:

Good luck in the resin follies, seems to be the most valuable ingredient! Interesting that in your photo that the aft davit base looks like the DE version, somewhat integrated into the bulwark. As the davits have to work back and forth in rotation to get the boat out (they are about 23' apart) I wonder if the bracing pad is just a museum ship installation.

These things always seem to be a learning situation and by the time you have worked it out we will all know a little more!

Regards: Tom

Tom,

As I mentioned in my email to you with picture, the pad was there all along - I'm thinking that it is able to be swung out of the way during certain evolutions with the boat.

Regarding the resin situation - see the 3D Printing forum for my latest (unfavorable) results!

Hank

Hank:

Pleased that you have some good photos of Stoddard, somehow often the most valuable modeling photos occurred when someone was just taking a photo of their buddies.

As to the resin follies, you get pretty hot in the Summer in NC. Most chemical reactions are temperature dependent on speed. I remember developing film in Phoenix and the tap water was about 80-85 in the Summer and I needed about 70-72. Took. a lot of ice cubes to get everything just right!.

I can see where the pads would have been useful for snugging the boat against sway. Continuing nice work! Tom

Tom,

Yes, photos, plans, and RESEARCH all work together to create a nice, accurate model. I don't know how many times I've referred to the same photos over and over again for various details, etc.

I did check the temp range for optimal printing environments, and even in our high temp climate, the printer should work properly - cold temps take adjustments to the settings.

Last night I couldn't locate both of the chain pipe covers so I came in and designed them using the TFD FLETCHER Plan Book drawing. Here's the result - This is 1/144 scale and barely 1/4" in length, so quite a small piece. I hope to get a 1st print this evening with some other parts that need reprinting. The opposite item can simply be "mirrored" in Chitubox without a new design.

One thing nice about knowing CAD, 3D design, and printing - you don't have to order replacement parts when something disappears!!!

Hank

So, while the printer runs, I went and designed the Anchor Capstan as the kit version was rather lame. Again, using the TFD Plan Book for reference, here is the new part -
Although the kit part is in place, once this is printed, it wouldn't be too much to paint and replace. This part is 1/8" dia., so another very small, detailed part.

Hank

Hank:

The best angle to show the capstan would be lower to show the indentations to handle the chain. For the ones I did fo the Whitehurst were the most challenging part of the design.

You have done a great job on all of these small details, of which there are hundreds on any ship!

Cheers: Tom

Thanks Tom! I believe you're probably correct re. the best way to show the details of the capstan. I'm probably going to leave the kit item in place as the destruction factor in removing it is rather high in regard to nearby parts. While my capstan clearly is a higher detail part, I think for the above stated reason, it won't be replacing what's already there.

I've been tweaking a few of the foc'sle parts a bit in their design and reprinting them - I've gotten quite good results with the chain pipe covers, std. chain stoppers, and the double shackles for connecting the anchors - all of which are printing today. Here are photos of the chain stopper and double shackles - The original design of the chain stopper came from Tom and I did a bit of further tweaking and modifying to get to this point. The chain stopper is not designed to "float free" as the links are extended to touch each other. As these items are EXTREMELY tiny, getting them into place and so forth will be a trial of patience on my part!!!!

All items are printed using the Phrozen ABS-Like Rapid Black resin.

Hank

Hank:

Good looking train of iron and steel! I presume you used the proper thread pitch for screwing the shackles together? Did you paint the deck before attaching the windlass etc? If so many times the paint will easily pop off and good reason to not use a locating pin?

Keep up the good work! Tom

Fliger747 wrote:Hank:
Good looking train of iron and steel! I presume you used the proper thread pitch for screwing the shackles together? Did you paint the deck before attaching the windlass etc? If so many times the paint will easily pop off and good reason to not use a locating pin?
Keep up the good work! Tom

Thanks, Tom!! Prints came out again - 22 out of 25 parts; I always print extras, so enough to have spares. As for the windess, the base is part of the deck, so I would have to chisel off the base plate which could be a small disaster. Better left alone at this point!!

The anchor chains did print and are drying. I hope to remove from supports this evening and will know if they are actually "working" chains as our earlier versions were a year or so ago. This is the same file, just using my newer printer and fresh sliced print file.

Hank

Hank. For the smaller chains, I would exercise them otherwise they tend to stick together

Cheers. Tom