1/192 Scale FFG Concept

[MPERRY]

Hello all. I have been enjoying ModelWarships.com for several years, especially the online scratchbuild projects. My 28 years in the Navy included duty on the submarines GATO, NEVADA, and Pre-Commissioning Unit MAINE. I have been scratch building ship models since high school in the early 1970s, starting with sheet balsa and shifting to basswood about 20 years ago. Most of my projects have been my own designs, given the difficulty of getting useful information in the pre-internet Cold War days. One of my earliest models was an SSBN where the only information I had was the basic length/beam, and a photo of the boat running on the surface in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings magazine. Over the years, I have build small combatants, U.S. and Russian submarines, a British X-Craft, a paddle steamer circa 1860, an ocean-going tug circa 1940, and half models of a galleon and a Grand Banks schooner. With encouragement from co-worker MClare, it's time to share my new project and hopefully get some suggestions to challenge my skills.
This model is my idea of what the U.S. Navy's replacement FFG class should look like. Defense news sites and naval blogs reported in mid-February 2018 that the Navy contracted with five shipbuilders for conceptual designs. So this project is a sixth, unsolicited design. Since it's just a concept for fun, esthetics are important; a warship needs to look good. I have focused on plausible sea combatant capabilities in a frigate sized hull with low technical risk. Integrated electric propulsion an a scalable AESA radar are reasonably mature technologies, though I think not yet proven in service. The model represents an overall length of 485 feet, or 148 meters. That puts the design mid-way between the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY FFG and ARLEIGH BURKE DDG classes. At 1/192 scale, the model will be a bit over 30 inches long, which is handy to build and won't require a new bookcase to display.
I have drawn dozens of iterations for what the model should look like and build an earlier version that I called USS EUGENE FLUCKEY FFG-62. Sixty two is the next unused FFG hull number and Eugene Fluckey was the commanding officer of the submarine BARB in World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor but no warship has ever been named for him. SECNAV - take for action. With just some subtle arrangement changes, I'm calling this new model USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS FFG-63. The two images that follow show the profile and overhead views and the faired hull lines.

[Timmy C]

Reminds me of the Russian Stereguschy and French Acquitaine classes. Looking forward to how it pans out!

[mclare]

Great job Mike!!!

Yeah guys, he came up to me not long after I started here and asked me if I was the same MCLARE that was on ModelWarships.com and I said I was and he told me that he had read both of my builds with interest. Then he showed me his ships I was really blown away! His level of craftsmanship is off the hook guys. I am sure if you guys prod and beg him enough, he'll post pictures of his other work.

[MPERRY]

To expand on my concept for the model a bit, the frigate is intended to focus on combat at sea, with no trade-offs or margins reserved for strike ashore or ballistic missile defense. Perhaps a limited number of VLS cells reserved for land attack missiles to counter the proverbial coastal defense radar and missile sites. Otherwise, all other VLS cells would be for anti-ship, anti-air and anti-sub weapons.
I'm making the model from 1/16 inch sheet basswood and Elmer's glue. I've found that combination provides time to change my mind, reasonably quick drying, and very adequate strength. The thickness of the wood represents a foot by scale so I have to subtract out the plating thickness when drawing the cross-sections for bulkheads. This image shows how I traced some frames from the hull lines, then drew the smaller bulkhead template.
I transfer the bulkhead's outline by pricking through the tracing paper into the wood. Then a sharp mechanical pencil used the pricks in the wood to outline the bulkhead for cutting. Magnifying lenses have become a must.
Construction starts with the lower hull, up to about mid-way between the waterline and helo deck. I have it clipped to a rigid board to avoid warping during framing and plating. Once it has been plated well past the turn of the bilge, the hull will be rigid and safely removed from the board.

[MPERRY]

Photo 006 shows I've started to plate the hull from the centerline. The 1/16 inch basswood can be bent by momentarily wetting then blotting excess water, and then taping the piece over a convenient object, until dry and it will hold its shape. Drying might take an hour before the piece can get final trimming and be glued.
I fit hull plates to extend about 1/8 inch beyond the next bulkhead. Then I use little pieces of scrap wood extending beyond the edge of hull plates already in place, to align new plates to the shape of the previous one. Photo 007 shows this. That works better for me than trying to support the ends of two adjacent plates on the edge of a bulkhead.
Photos 002 and 003 show the skeg included in the original keel piece. Photo 008 now shows that I've added a 1/16 inch piece on either side of the original skeg to give it the desired thickness.

[MPERRY]

This shows another week's plating on the hull. I plan on continuing this until the plating is a quarter inch from the base board. That will be past the top of the boot topping. I will fill, sand and prime the hull to that point, and mark the lines for the red and black paint easily before removing the hull from the board.

[ModelMonkey]

Looks great!!

[Aop Aur]

Great concept! You are a real engineer! Scratch-building ships is already hard enough, let alone designing the aerodynamic shape of it! You do incredible work on both! And the plan looks very beautifully drawn! Keep the photos coming!

Aop

[MPERRY]

Another two weeks of plating the hull. One advantage of periodically photographing the project is it makes me clean off the construction scraps from my work bench.

[MPERRY]

I added a separate topic to the Completed Builds [Not documented] section of the forum. It shows a model X-Craft midget submarine that I made back in 2007. Comparing that model to the FFG here shows I have not changed my basic construction method.

[mclare]

Link?

[MPERRY]

Timmy C: Thanks for adding the link on the 10th. I'm still learning forum etiquette, sometimes with a head-smack.
I have finished plating the lower hull. The bow was tricky. I double beveled the vertical centerline frame and beveled the hull plates so everything came together to a sharp point. A lot of preparation and bending allowed the final glueing of each piece to be fairly painless. I will close up the stern once the sides of the entire hull are done.

[MPERRY]

The lower hull has been sealed with wood filler and sanded. I've marked the boot topping and locations for the bilge keels, rudders, and shafts. My waterline came out a bit jittery but that that will clean up when I tape the lines for painting. The first photo includes the tool I made for marking the waterline. The second and third photos are waterline marking tools I made for models in the past. Finally, the currenty model is turned over and ready for the rest of the hull and superstructure.

[Story]

The first photo includes the tool I made for marking the waterline. The second and third photos are waterline marking tools I made for models in the past. .

Thanks, I'm stealing some of those ideas.

[MPERRY]

Story - you're welcome! Of the three waterline marking tools, I think the best was the simple one shown in the picture with FFG-62 bow-on, from 2010.
Two new pictures as I start working the upper hill and superstructure. In this section, the bulkheads will encompass both hull and superstructure.

[MPERRY]

Starting to add bulkheads to the upper hull.

[MPERRY]

I'm about done framing the upper hull. Just a few more at the bow. The next steps will be to deck over the helo deck and hanger roof, then start plating the upper hull below the side knuckle. I've just realized I need more wood to proceed.

[JIM BAUMANN]

This is very fine precise work!

I shall be watching

JB

[MPERRY]

Thanks Jim. We're taking the RV to Virginia Beach for a long weekend, so progress will pause a bit. We'll see Warbirds over the Beach 2018, at the Military Aviation Museum. Should be fun.

[MPERRY]

Alas the airshow was a disappointment. Many wonderful planes but the drenching rain covering the U.S. east coast limited Saturday's flying from the grass strip to the trainers. Just a couple of images of the Samuel B. Roberts, with progress just before the weekend.