Where to paint the bootstrap on a USS Navy ship

Yeah Straycat1911;

        Now, Revell used to mold their ships with flat bottoms with a very noticeable ridge in the hull for the Top of the Boot-Stripe. This was very noticeable and to make the ships Look better, I would sand down ridge down till it was almost gone. Put a strip of.010 strip inside that area to stiffen the hull back up, and then build it. Didn't have to do that with their full hull models.

Hmmm;

 You sound like you have hung from those Bosun's chairs some. I did too. I had to paint our Hull Numbers forward. The Deck Apes were afraid to do it. Oh, and on the boot-stripe ours was six foot top to bottom Midships.

It's easy to get out into the deep end of the pool chasing the rivet counting aspect this can have.

Which can lead astray as we are al depondent on the accuracy of the hull as moulded in measuring these things.

There are a number of "waterlines" on ships.  The one on plans is virtualy always the "design waterline" which can be a 'fiction' in that it's placed to evenly split the body of the ship, the better to fair the drawings in three dimensions.  But, usually, some estimation of where the buoyant waterline is represented.

USN is focused on three waterlines in the ship's documentation.  One is the fully laden waterline, with all wartime stores, personnel, expendables and the like aboard.  The other is the unladen waterline--which is needful to know clearances for drydocking.  The other one waterline of significance is the "cruising" waterline, which is the depth the vessel rides in "normal" loading.  In addition, there will be recommneded drafts based on stability testing for operations in areas with storms or icing or the like.

Boot topping also varies.  In peacetime, it's not ucommon to have boot topping be only 4 foot wide.  The lack of depth is less of an issue as ships at peace are kept "topped off" in fuel and expendables, and sledom unload any quantity of ordinance.  So their draft seldom varies.

Wartime practice is different.  Boot topping can expand to 8 or 10, or 12 feet.  Shipe are expected to go out and expend all their expendables and return to a port near empty.

Boot topping typically is laid on as a 1/3 - 2/3 propsition based on an unloaded condition. 

Further, USN practice wsa to "even" the boot topping to the nearest 6" tall draft mark.  Which is a convenince for the sailor painting the thing while perched on a plank hung off padeye on the hull above (and not needing to have both black and white paint for draft marks is faster to Liberty after Paint Call).

The ship hulls are marked with a weld bead  for most of these marking, so that a chalk line or soapstone be used to mark them out.

So, sadly, this is not as easy ans just plopping a strip of 3mm tape down the hull and calling it even.

I'm not as thorough as Goldie. I make a tick mark every inch or so, then go from mark to mark as I tape the top and bottom edges.

There are nifty little devices to hold the pencil available.

https://www.amazon.com/Model-Expo-Waterline-Marker-Hobby/dp/B01F3Z0UYC

I put my pencil in my machinists vice as it's heavy and doesn't move around.

 https://econosuperstore.com/itm/new-4-flat-metal-cast-iron-machinist-vise-tool-holder-for-drill-press/

Bill

Easy way to get it even.  Set up the hull level in all ways.  Once you determine the width of the boot, block a sharp pencil at the height, and go completely around the hull.  Then move to the other boot line and repeat.  Those are your masking lines, and will keep a constant boot width, even though it won't look like it.

Shipwreck, the height of the stripe is as described; a vertical dimension, not the dimension on the surface. When the side of the ship is straight up and down; those are the same. In any areas where the side of the ship slopes one way or the other; the stripe dimension on the side of the ship's hull gets bigger.

On this kit in particular, the sides are pretty much up/ down in the middle,  a little sloped in the forward parts, and up down at the stem at the waterline. In the stern however, there's a lot of undercut, or "counter".

I'll post a pic when I get home.

In concurrance with Bill's statements,  and after looking at a bunch of artwork, It appears that if you measure the distance on the model from the main deck / hangar bay down to the keel and then divide by two, you should be darn close to the design waterline. Then mark a 'scale' six foot high stripe straddling that design waterline and you should be good to go.

rocketman2000

Does the instruction sheet show a three view painting guide?  You could scale the distance from bottom to the waterline from that.

 

 

My method is threefold, plus addenda. and let's not get into a snippy fit, so ddp I'll start with your information.

1. As ddp says, and he has the drawings- work from any available data. various places online throw out draft numbers from 25 feet or 26 feet to 28 feet, and that number from the drawings. So the range is less that 10%. Or about 1/16" in this scale. That's a "sitting in the water" depth, i.e. the middle of the topping. If thats what the red plastic part measures, or is close to, that's great beccause it will generally give you a level line to work from, and the black paint will help conceal the seam. 

2. It's not easy to know without some effort or available information whether the model is accurate to begin with. Many aspects of this model's hull are demonstrably not. The main dimension for this exercise being the height from bottom of hull to hangar deck level. If the model is too squat, then a little less than a scale 25 feet is right. If too tall, a little more.

But again it all falls within a small actual variation.So you might want to also sort of eyeball where you think the waterline on the kit should be relative to photos of her in the water.

3. Check where that falls on the model relative to identifiable details. For instance, does it impinge on the tops of the rudders? Adjust as needed.

The boot topping will be taller than you might think. By height, that's the true vertical top-to-bottom dimension perpendicular to the horizon. My own WAG for this ship would be about 6 scale feet, but others will know.

Bill

Does the instruction sheet show a three view painting guide?  You could scale the distance from bottom to the waterline from that.

Shipwreck, it appears the waterline is 24' 5.5" from bottom of hull. even tho for Yorktown, this should give you the info you need.

CV-5 – USS Yorktown – Booklet of General Plans, 1940, Yorktown Class https://www.hnsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/cv5.pdf

HooYah Deep Sea

First off, it's "boot topping", and it should straddle (horizontally) the waterline. So, if the ship is floating at the correct waterline, you should still see the boot. If the kit does not have the waterline marked, you should be able to guess-timate the position from the instructions / paint guide.

Now, don't forget, the boot topping may vary as far as width, depending on the paint scheme. 

 

Lol; didn't even notice the "bootstrap".  Guess that's better than "bootlegging". 

First off, it's "boot topping", and it should straddle (horizontally) the waterline. So, if the ship is floating at the correct waterline, you should still see the boot. If the kit does not have the waterline marked, you should be able to guess-timate the position from the instructions / paint guide.

Now, don't forget, the boot topping may vary as far as width, depending on the paint scheme. 

Dunno about ALL kits but many of the ones I've seen, it's two parallel raised lines on the hull.