Neil's 1-35 Liberty Ship Diorama

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks for the interest, everyone. I have a couple of things I need to get done before I can start building, but it won't be long

[Steve Ski]

Excellent, Neil, 3D printing what you need, love it. Everything looks great from here!

[Neil Merryweather]

I am happy to announce that I have finally cut foamboard on this project.
I’ve started at the bottom, naturally, with the hull and main deck, which I am going to clad in some way, as yet undecided.
For the hull side there is a slight curve in the vertical plane so I need to create some identical ribs to attach my skin to (whatever it turns out to be). Having transferred the profile I pinned them all together with the ends and sanded them on the only bit of workshop kit I possess, which is a disc- and belt-sander.


Then I could go ahead and build the basic box.

That, my friends, is a jumbo tube of UHU, not the normal size.
It’s so bloody big I had to build it on the kitchen worktop, and it’s only the first level!
And then I had to get it back through the loft hatch….
Oh dear what HAVE I done?

that's all for now folks
cheers
Nei

[minitnkr]

I'm imagining the net will be a challenge. Your 3d bits are amazing as usual.

[Jim R]

Good to see this started. It certainly will be big. Thin styrene sheet would be my first choice for cladding but it might not be suitable for what you want.

[Neil Merryweather]

I'm imagining the net will be a challenge. Your 3d bits are amazing as usual.

Thanks for the compliment, there's going to be a lot more of it, actually, but we're coming to that.
As for the net, you're not wrong, Rick. I do have a solution which is the result of a lot of hours searching and abortive internet purchases,but I think I will save that story for nearer the time it gets used

[scottie3158]

Neil,
Chair pulled up mate will follow the magic.

[Neil Merryweather]

Good to see this started. It certainly will be big. Thin styrene sheet would be my first choice for cladding but it might not be suitable for what you want.

I'm thinking thin metal, myself Jim, possibly the copper I used on the Higgins boat. I want something I can dent convincingly like this


and then there's all those rivets....

[Ian M]

and dents! what have they done to the poor thing target practice!?

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil,
Chair pulled up mate will follow the magic.

Glad to have you aboard sir!

[Airborne01]

Much as I didn't like my Old Man I have to give him respect for being a Royal Marine Assault Cox'n on D Day - this will certainly resonate with the photo's and stories from him and his oppo's. Look forward to the end result mate
Steve

[Neil Merryweather]

Much as I didn't like my Old Man I have to give him respect for being a Royal Marine Assault Cox'n on D Day - this will certainly resonate with the photo's and stories from him and his oppo's. Look forward to the end result mate
Steve

Wow Steve, respect absolutely!
Do you know which beach? I initially assumed Sword or Juno, but I know the landing craft crews on all the beaches were not necessarily the same nationality as the main assault troops .
Cheers
N

[flyjoe180]

Have visited this ship myself Neil. Watching you build progress with interest.

[Airborne01]

If I recall correctly Neil it was Sword - not 100% certain, and him and his siblings are long gone. so I can't confirm
Steve

[Neil Merryweather]

First off, I'm not sure if I'm in the right place- Is a new thread a topic?
If not , could a mod please re-direct me?

Anyway
I’m very grateful to this forum for providing me with the impetus (via Group Builds) to build this project I’ve had on the stocks for at least ten years. The first phase is complete, thanks to @Geoffers’ D-Day GB, with the LCVP (link).
I mentioned in my GB thread that the LCVP is intended to be part of a diorama but I didn’t go into any detail- well now is the time. And I’m glad it’s a six month GB because I will surely need all of it..
The diorama is set at sea, off one of the American beaches on the morning of D-Day as the GI’s climb from their ship down the scramble net into the LCVP, while the ship’s crew lean over the rails watching them. As reference for the ship I started with a set of photos I took in San Francisco of the preserved Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien .





Let me say right here that I'm pretty sure it didn't necessarily happen exactly this way, but a Liberty Ship was all I had at the start and now I’m too far in to change it , so artistic licence is going to be employed frequently during this project.
Having decided to use a Liberty Ship as my base I started trawling the internet for plans and photos to fill in the gaps in my own stuff. I printed parts of plans at 1-35 scale and I found a basic 3D printable model which I used to rough out the scope and size of the diorama in 3D CAD. I even bought a 1-350 model of one to check the finer dimensions- at 1-350 all I had to do was multiply by 10, and even I can manage that!
Then I gradually started to add bits and pieces to flesh it out,and as a way of improving my CAD skills, and before I knew it I had pretty much designed the whole model in 3D CAD. I should point out that this wasn’t quick- it took me about eight or ten months in lunch hours at work.
Anyway this is what I hope it will look like

where have the pictures gone?

[Steven000]

Hi Neil, like I said in post #5, I never saw any pictures in your first post?

[Neil Merryweather]

My apologies to everyone , I didn't realise the pictures had disappeared in the interim

here's the whole post (with luck)

I’m very grateful to this forum for providing me with the impetus (via Group Builds) to build this project I’ve had on the stocks for at least ten years. The first phase is complete, thanks to @Geoffers’ D-Day GB, with the LCVP (Link attached , I hope).
I mentioned in my GB thread that the LCVP is intended to be part of a diorama but I didn’t go into any detail- well now is the time. And I’m glad it’s a six month GB because I will surely need all of it..
The diorama is set at sea, off one of the American beaches on the morning of D-Day as the GI’s climb from their ship down the scramble net into the LCVP, while the ship’s crew lean over the rails watching them. As reference for the ship I started with a set of photos I took in San Francisco of the preserved Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien .






Let me say right here that I'm pretty sure it didn't necessarily happen exactly this way, but a Liberty Ship was all I had at the start and now I’m too far in to change it , so artistic licence is going to be employed frequently during this project.
Having decided to use a Liberty Ship as my base I started trawling the internet for plans and photos to fill in the gaps in my own stuff. I printed parts of plans at 1-35 scale and I found a basic 3D printable model which I used to rough out the scope and size of the diorama in 3D CAD. I even bought a 1-350 model of one to check the finer dimensions- at 1-350 all I had to do was multiply by 10, and even I can manage that!
Then I gradually started to add bits and pieces to flesh it out,and as a way of improving my CAD skills, and before I knew it I had pretty much designed the whole model in 3D CAD. I should point out that this wasn’t quick- it took me about eight or ten months in lunch hours at work.
Anyway this is what I hope it will look like







hopefully they will stay put this time!
cheers
Neil