Shell Welder - 1955 - Tanker Coaster - 3D Print - 1/100

[Iceman 29]

Everyone knows this mythical model from FROG F137 (and other exotic brands) of this small English coaster in the equally exotic 1/130 scale.





It saw the light of day in 1961, when I was barely born, so the model dates back a long way (and so do I ), as do the injection moulds, now the property of a Russian brand, which can no longer export this model, which has been virtually impossible to find since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Personally, I put it together quickly some time ago, but I wasn't satisfied with this kit, which can be described as horrible to assemble, as there are so many defects, especially in the latest versions where the half-hulls are often warped and deformed.

FROG has never had a good reputation for the accuracy of its models, as can be easily seen with this model aircraft, but it is no exception:

F174 - Gloster E.28/39 (1/63?)


The same applies to the Shell Welder, which is not very accurate when compared to the rare photos of the real ship. The original sheer is not present, an important feature of many old coasters, and the side profile is not respected either.

So I want to make this 1/100 scale coaster completely in 3D, then print it.

This 3D design project is a challenge for me, insofar as there are no longer any plans from the 'Willington Quay' shipyard, UK, which built her, to my knowledge and after extensive research with my friend Roland Grard, a good specialist in ship plans.

So I'm going to use the hull of the 1/130 model, her deck plan and so on. We'll do our best to make it more credible in terms of the tank piping, etc., because it's been simplified. Because it's been simplified. 3D allows us to get as close as possible to reality.

I sailed (as did Roland) on this type of oil coaster for many years, and I know them quite well:

This one for example, once it's loaded, it's a bit like all submarines, in bad weather on the open sea, it's very impressive, it's dangerous to go forward:

M/T Pierre Laffitte (1) originally 1950 tonnes: built at Chantiers de la Garonne & ACSO, Bordeaux in 1979. Mainly sailed in Marseille, but also in the French West Indies.

http://bordeauxaquitainemarine2.fr/n-ch-acso.htm

Originally a much smaller vessel when sailing to Marseille, she was quickly "jumbo-ised" at Le Havre, Normandy, France by adding a good section of tanks and 400 m3 butane gas balloons from SNCF ( Railway ) wagons, to accommodate the long-term contract signed with the SARA Refinery in Martinique.

In the process of being extended (Roland Grard Collection):

Cutting:


The section is inserted:


All you have to do is weld it together.


Once extended:


________________________________



Name: "SHELL WELDER
Type : Tanker
Keel laying : 12/11/1954
Completed : 17/03/1955
Builder : Clelands (Successors) Ltd
Shipyard : Willington Quay, New Castles
Shipyard number : 193

Dimensions : 569 grt, 202 nrt, 170.9 x 29.7 x 10.5 ft ( Length: 52 m, beam 9 m, Draught 3,20 m )

Engines : Main engine, 2SCSA, 6cyl (Piston diameter and stroke; 265 x 345mm), 570 HP
Engines by : Crossley Bros Ltd, Manchester

Propulsion: 1 x propeller
Construction: Steel
Registration number: 186210

History :

28/03/1955 Shell-Mex & BP Ltd, London

1973 Purchased by Pounds Shipowners and Shipbreakers Ltd, Portsmouth

1974 Purchased by Northwood (Fareham) Ltd, London; renamed STEEL WELDER
Comments: 1974: Converted to a dredger.

1991: Dismantled at Otterham Quay, UK



First sketch of the bow. Don't expect any frequent updates at the moment, I have other 3D models to finish.

[Iceman 29]

Refining the shape of the front part of the hull down to the frame, which are identical in the middle.

I've redesigned the hawsehole, which has a very specific trapezoidal shape. We'll be able to fit an anchor in there, which isn't the case on the FROG.

It's a good, quick start. These are fairly simple hull shapes.



This photo I found recently is very useful, it's the only one where you can see the hawse pipe perfectly.

[BB62vet]

Pascal,

Another interesting project - and one that I'll follow as your work is simply exceptional!

Good start on the hull work!

Hank

[Fliger747]

These small working ships offer many interesting opportunities to realize great detail in a decent sized scale!

Cheers; Tom

[Iceman 29]

Yep!

Thanks, Hank, Tom, and followers.

You have to take your time when drawing the shapes, even if it means going back and erasing what took you a few hours to draw. You can't let anything slip through the cracks.

I'm working on the rear section.

I've stopped taking measurements on the model; everything is wrong, even the length, the scale isn't 1/130 (on average maybe...).

The ship is supposed to be 52 metres long, which at 1/130 would be 40 cm, but the model is 44 cm, which is a scale of 1/118 in length.

Ditto for this: if we transfer the draught of 3.20 metres, it should give 24.6 mm, we find by measuring: 22 mm or 1/145 in height!

The FROG model is therefore largely flattened, and the length/height ratio is not good at all.

Using various photos and taking into account the perspective of the shots, we were able to find the proportions of the whole ship. It's not perfect, of course, but we're getting close.









An interesting photo I just discovered.

The Steel Welder (sand dredger in a second life) is probably being decommissioned for scrap, beached at low tide on a bed of mud, you can see one of her whaleboats on pallets in the background on the quay, perhaps to avoid any looting:

[Pieter]

Nice project and interesting to see that she became a sand dredger later in life. Many small engines aft colliers of the 1920s became sand dredgers at the end of their working lives so here oil followed coal...again as coastal tankers like Shell Welder often replaced small colliers in the 40 s and 50s.

[Iceman 29]

Tks Pieter !

Some progress on the hull sketch. It's looking good.

[JIM BAUMANN]

This is very good--plenty of Nostalgia!

I built mine ( Frog! ) in 1998

very poor 35 mm neg scan

I am watching

cheers
JB

[Iceman 29]

I saw your diorama this morning, Jim, when I was researching this ship, but I didn't know when it was made. But it is very well done.

There may still be a PE set available for this Peter Hall model.

https://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/n ... /index.htm


http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html






Otherwise in Russia, I don't know the quality of this PE kit and the wooden deck.

https://miracle-world.ru/catalog/fototr ... 130/31393/

https://miracle-world.ru/catalog/derevy ... 130/31376/

But I don't think it can be delivered in Europe any more.

I might have a plan one day and photos of the bridge from the Tyne Museum in Newcastle (UK), where it was built. I got an English model-builder friend to help me, as he lives nearby. It was when I came across this article that I did some research:

[Iceman 29]

I've put this project on hold for the moment as it seems that the original plans for the Shell Welder exist in the archives, along with many photos of the construction.

Thanks to Keith from the Britmodeller forum who got involved and took the time to contact the Tyne Archives in Newcastle where he lives.

All that remains is to finalise the purchase of the 5 plans and photos available in order to relaunch the 3D design and 1/100 reconstruction of this coaster with as much detail and accuracy as possible and with as few compromises as possible.

The right link for research: https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmview/



Part of the list of plans available from William Cleland & Co. Ltd, shipbuilders, Willington ( ACC1615 ) who built the Shell Welder (N�193):

https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmv ... 116%2f1-22

https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmv ... cc1615%2f2

[Iceman 29]

With the rainy weather, I can't continue with the DIY work I've been doing for several weeks, so I've gone back to the drawing board for the time being.

A few days ago, I finally received the 2 plans I'd ordered from our English friends at the archives, after a bit of red tape.

Many thanks to Keith for his help in England.

I didn't buy the photos, the price is prohibitive, and I've already left an arm and a leg for the 2 plans, which are certainly very beautiful and very well scanned in HD.

New project started this evening, always a pleasure to work with the original plans. I'll try to be worthy of it. :')


So I'm starting the 3D drawing again at 0, although I wasn't too far from the original shape thanks to the photos on my initial project without plans, as can be seen here with the original plan superimposed.

Parallax errors due to photos and ship a little too high.

The errors are clearly visible.


-----------------

With the weather being capricious yesterday and today, I'm taking the opportunity to make progress on the Shell Welder.

I'm going to work on the stern now.

A few errors between the 2 plans, but I know how to deal with that now.

On the other hand, there's a big mistake on the front view of the torques plan: you can see that the aft torques at the main beam are much narrower than the forward torques ( 2 mm at 1/100, that's huge). I had to use Fusion to rectify the plan by deactivating the plan's proportionality and making it wider, and it worked. I can't explain this typo.

From the center of the left and right planking, the distance is not the same.


Now it's time to draw the hawsers for the bow.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Most excellent ==> tres bon !
BTW--is your1915 Bretagne now fineshed?

Intrigued!...

(I am still working on my 1860 version....)

cheers

Jim Baumann

[Iceman 29]

Hello Jim

Bretagne not yet finished. I plan to continue and finish it in September..

Some progress to day:

Finished the stern, and placed the propeller to draw the shaft line.

Drawing of the rudder, a little unusual in terms of its rotation axis system.

Hawsers tomorrow if I have time...

[Iceman 29]

I was fooled by the top of the forecastle bulwark, too flared, although I followed the couples' plan, but the photos and the plan of the top of the forecastle, it's not that, well you have to put it into perspective, too complicated to revise the shape, I'll leave it like that.

It's complicated to work with plans that aren't those used for plotting and construction. You're always working to an approximation with �diagrams�.

You don't know the timing of the plans, there are changes made with versions, what remains in the archive isn't necessarily the final version and above all there are time discrepancies in the different plans, not to mention the changes made without plans on the plotting table in the cutting workshop...

From experience, for a ship I took to Italy in the 1990s at La Sp�zia, the guys who were cutting and tracing the sheet metal explained to me that the guys in the drawing office, 10 metres above, never came down to see the rubbish they'd drawn, and for good reason... �We rectify mistakes when tracing, no one knows what's going on...We know what we're doing...�.





























The first couple in question is an identical reproduction of the plan.

[Iceman 29]

A good method for checking for dents in the hull, quick, luckily this hull isn't too bad, others I've drawn were less clean.

The method in question, just �sink� the ship.

























I've started drawing the electric windlass, I didn't have this model in 3D stock, so I'm getting on with it. I found sufficient plans with our Chinese �friends�. I've used the Model 3 electric as an example.

https://www.tytanmarine.com/products/wi ... d-windlass



I took the side view of the hydraulic model 1 to help me with the gearbox.











Windlass advance:

[Iceman 29]

In the meantime my friend Keith left me a message about the windlass:

�Pascal beautiful work so far this windlass winch seems typical of those made by Clarke Chapman of Gateshead sadly now defunct.

They supplied many to the various shipyards on the Tyne, they also made cranes and davits and many items for the mining industry in the area.

I was an apprentice there in the early 80s, just out of school, those were the days.

This photo may be a little too old for the era of the hull welder, but I don't think the basic designs have changed much if I remember rightly, perhaps the motor housing would look more like the drawing.

Stay Safe.

Keith.�

1929:


After this message, I did some research:

I found some plans of the steam model.

The model in your photo dates from 1929.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Clarke,_Chapman_and_Co



The factory in 1907:






In 1950, this model could be imagined with the central gear protected by a fairing.


CLARKE, CHAPMAN & CO, LIMITED

GATESHEAD-ON-TYNE

WINDLASS BOOK:


More information here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/67970487@ ... 351292029/





My friend, Roland Grard sent me this link a few weeks ago, it's the tanker-coaster �Betiri�, construction N�187 (Shell Welder N�193) very similar, smaller and less modern in her lines than the Shell Welder, from the same yard of course. the DNA is there!

You can see her windlass, which confirms the design of your 1929 photo.

I'll have a look a bit more on this website, as there are probably photos of windlasses from other ships built by the same manufacturer at the time.

https://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/B-Ship ... i1954.html

https://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/S-Ship ... r1955.html

Betiri - 1954











Others have a sump!





As I had no plans for these 1950 machines, I had to decide to continue with my initial design and make two versions, which would be used on other models later on, more or less recent, but after the war.

I came up with two versions of the original windlass, one with direct current electric motors, worm gear, longitudinal position, the older (which I knew from the first ship I sailed on) and another with alternating current, 1970s, with a three-phase synchronous motor (possibility of varying the speed on a large scale) or three-phase asynchronous motor (single speed with star/delta coupling for soft starting) typical lateral position.

[Iceman 29]

Today's progress, the forecastle is starting to be furnished, but a few accessories are still missing.

[Iceman 29]

Topic: the planned size of the anchor, given the size of the hawsehole. On Frog's 1/130 model, they've omitted the anchors, and the recess is far too small.

If I look at the table for this anchor model 'PMI-10 Type B Hall Anchor', I measured just over one metre in overall width (L), or around 660 kg for this ship of GT 500 tonnes and 52 metres in length. That's not bad for a ship of this size and tonnage. After that, the weight of the chain and its length have a big influence on how well it holds at anchor, and of course the sea bed content too.

https://www.pacificmarine.net/marine-de ... anchor.htm







Compared to this one, which I know well, and which looks ridiculous in its hawsehole, but which must be 1.5 metres wide, so around 1.6 tonnes for a 111-metre vessel with a GT of 4,156 tonnes. I use it as a yardstick ( 1,75 m ).



The same one, but in a spare set.



Then there's always bigger, for 224 metres and a GT weighing 46613 tonnes, LPG Gas Carrier:



Documentation is an important element in the success of a project.

You can see here that on the Shell Welder plan the spare anchor is what looks like a stock anchor, which was quite common at the time, as it was on the Blythe Star (Tandik) of the same era.

But when you look at the photos, you can see that this type was not chosen; a copy of the anchors in place was chosen.





M/V Blythe Star:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=380946








This is how it looks with the new windlass type. I prefer it.

[Iceman 29]

I have almost finished the forecastle, there are still a few details to do such as the front bulkhead, watertight doors, etc...

[Iceman 29]

No major visible progress.

But rectification of lots of little details and errors in the design, which has to be done from time to time, otherwise it accumulates and it's difficult to go back with Fusion 360 to a certain point in the project, which is very heavy in terms of computing resources.

Another point that hasn't really been resolved is access to the front pump room, because there is one, albeit a small one, but there's only one pump, probably electric. It would allow us to pump the 2 front tanks of unit 1.

Access is through a door, according to the original plan on the port side of this single entrance. Strangely on the plan, the height of this entrance cannot contain a conventional watertight door allowing entry into the escape route, and then probably a vertical ladder down. A skylight with 3 portholes surmounts this companionway.

If we look at the photos of the ship, we can see that at the beginning the ship had this companionway in accordance with the plan in terms of height, then other photos would show that the roof of the companionway was modified during a technical stop and raised perhaps to accommodate a watertight door of standard height. Getting down that way couldn't have been easy with a low door.

The top view plan shows the access shaft with its clear track. You can also see the access door marked GTD (Gross Tonnage Door) on the port side, at the top of the plan.




The unmodified descent:


Raising the companionway:


Another interpretation than mine, notably on the Frog model, shows a storage box installed on this skylight, and of course replicated on other large scale sailing models for lack of original plans and clear photos.
Personally, I don't think it's a storage box, but rather a raising of the ceiling of the skylight due to a door that was far too low. On the other hand, the trunk would block the skylight, which is used to light the inside of the companionway, but also to take out the pump, motor, valves and pipes from the bottom of the front pump room for any repairs. These are just hypotheses on my side, but on one of the photos, it doesn't seem to be a box, but the continuation of the companionway. You can also clearly see the fire box at the back of the companionway.

This very nice 1/16 scale model shows the companionway/stowage locker configuration on the forecastle (Interesting windlass, from the English manufacturer seen above).
Note that the hinges on the front of the locker make it difficult to open the metal locker lid, which would be very heavy in steel.

More photos here: https://www.bammrc.com

Too bad, no hollow sheer on this model, probably extrapolated from the 1/130 Frog model with its flaws.













The different hypothetical configurations before and after modifications:





Another detail I've just discovered is the riveting on the hull, probably a mix of riveting and welding. The black colour makes it difficult to see the rivets on the hull, but they may be 'flush' to avoid drag.

On the other hand, the bulwark of the forecastle is fitted with standard rivets. This shows that the top of the forecastle bulwark is not reinforced with ribs, as I have no photo of this side, nor does the plan mention it.







Riveting in prospect...