An American Spy Ship?

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Excellent scratching at a real eye straining scale.
Jim

[rtfoe]

Hi Guys, thanks for the comments.

Neil, it's 1/700 scale waterline series. The figures are another story. :smiling6:
Wouter, heart stopped a few times when the parts pinged to the floor. :smiling2:
Christopher, good to have you watch this on the opposite side of the scale that you're used to.
Jim, lots of intermissions to soothe the sore eyes.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Here's another batch of progress builds on the deck...

These show the support beams that run across the deck from the weather breakers. Crew have to climb stairs over them to get to the bow, PE will take care of that. Also a platform with a cut V which is where the front mast of porcupine like antenna will be mounted. I have mapped out where the rest of the drum antennas will be located with a pencil.



The beam arrangements at the back end with hatch doors added. The deck-house right side had a box like structure to the side but on the left was only platform. There will be stairs leading up these two areas.



If you look closely, I have left one of the door hatches open. Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve Jones]

Had a lovely read through Richard and learnt a lot! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Lovely work all round.

[rtfoe]

Thanks Steve for dropping in and commenting. I'm learning too as I go along. Below are more details and work on the bridge...

The actual decks had a droop on either side of the ship which is not replicated on the kit so using visual tricking I sanded the platforms and guard rails to mimic this droop. The roof sides were also bent slightly for this droop. I also added walls, windows and doorways to the bridge-house which was attached to the roof and painted the interior before securing it down as I won't be able to get at it once it's glued down.



I positioned supports for the side roofing with stretched sprue securing them down with cyano. This made them rigid enough to be sanded down with a drill bit to the right height and for a snug fit. Canvas covers for the rails were made with plastic strip and glued all along the bridge deck. A square structure was added next to the blockhouse behind the funnel.



Part of the second deck just after the main deck was sealed and a hatch door added. Just above that on the next deck railings were added. PE stairs will be inserted over the existing kit stairs. I also used the kits signal flag containers and fitted them. Viewed from the front the blockhouse behind the funnel appears off center which I assumed from the photo images. The sealed front of the second deck will have conduits from it leading down onto the main deck.



The crane supports might be slightly over scaled and not supposed to be half mooned but I don't have pictures supporting this. Detailing it will be guesswork especially where the crane arms meet and where the cables run.

More to come later.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

really nice work Richard its good to have another floaty guy on here
chris

[rtfoe]

Thanks Chris, with Wouter, Ralph, you and I, hope more of the floaty stuff keep coming in. :smiling2:

Meanwhile here's more progress shots...

Firstly I glued the platforms for the aerial drums.



The aerial drums were made from plastic tube. They were the only ones I had that were the approximate size. The tops were covered with thin plastic strip to provide a thin lip as per the reference picturs. They all had to be about the same level height when mounted so using the first one mounted closer to the deckhouse as a reference point I slowly sliced off extra bits from each drum until I was satified.



While the glue cured I adjusted each drum until they were standing vertically to compensate for the upward tilt of the deck towards the bow. Two plastic blocks were shaped into quarter rounded edges for stairways to compartments on either side of the hold.



Resting my eyes on Sunday and will continue tomorrow.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

HI Again Richard wonderfull work an yes i get eye strain doin my small radars so i know how you feel on that an yes have a rest today as it makes all the difference an i know its 1/700 but how big is she in inches ?
chris

[rtfoe]

She's roughly 7 inches in length, Chris. It's a wonder how much detail can be packed into this scale. I used to think Airfix's 1/600 was already small.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

WOW Richard no wonder your eyes need a rest think id take a wk after doin that size
chris

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Amazing the detail you're adding to such a small ship.

It's a wonder how much detail can be packed into this scale.

Only true with your skill and patience :smiling:
Jim

[Wouter]

I had to convert the inches to centimetres and wow, that's not too large indeed. Nice bit of extra detailing again, I can imagine the eyes want a bit of rest now :smiling:

Cheers

[Guest]

Fantastic stuff Richard, proper scratchery!

[Fernando N]

Most interesting project Richard, thanks for the history behind her was a great read

If anyone can getting her built for Greg it’s you, the mods and add-ons look great :thumb2:

[rtfoe]

Thanks Guys,

Chris, a well earned rest of a day was good enough for me less I get lazy and loose mojo over the build. :smiling2:
Jim, yes and a lot of patience and a steady hand are tools I'm thankful I still have.
Wouter, the scary thing about detailing is the amount of reference that keep showing it that needs done. Sometimes I wished those details weren't there in the first place. :tears-of-joy:
Andy, ....and bluffery added into the mix. :tears-of-joy: Gyzmology as what Shep used to say.
Fernando, glad you liked the read. To have met Greg who actually served on it is amazing for me. Before this I didn't even know about such a clandestine operating ship of the Liberty class.

Cheers,
Richard