Duke's Latest Progress from the Shipyard

Wow! I've been gone a week and had 51 views and no replies! I guess I need to seriously improve before anyone decides to say anything. Hey, I don't mind if you are critical; just remember that I build these OOB when you decide to criticize. After all, I'll never be as good as Jeff Herne, jtilley, subfixer and others here if I am not given advice on how to improve. Maybe I'm just too lightweight for this Forum....

Hi Duke!

I followed you over here from the Ideal X thread. Pretty nice box ship there, I wasn't aware there was a containership out of box like that. It will look great when all the containers are done. Hmm, I'll have to take another look at that hull. Maybe it can be modified into a newer ship than the one I've been working on.

Fred

Hey Duke, what kit is the Tampa???  Does is come with all the containers?
 I'm so used to seeing your builds in the wingy fourm and your series of Russian ships that are very well done.

Also, is the Kidd the 1/700 kit?  I built the  Hayler OOB and it took me forever with all the little parts that assemble the mast.  Yours looks really nice.

I cannot fathom how you build so many clean models in so little time.
Scott

onyxman wrote:

Hi Duke! I followed you over here from the Ideal X thread. Pretty nice box ship there, I wasn't aware there was a containership out of box like that. It will look great when all the containers are done. Hmm, I'll have to take another look at that hull. Maybe it can be modified into a newer ship than the one I've been working on. Fred

Thanks Fred! I appreciate it. It'll be interesting to see the modifications you make to this kit.

I was quite taken by surprise myself when I came across this in one of my fellow IPMS member's pile of kits for sale. I just had to have it.

scottrc wrote:

Hey Duke, what kit is the Tampa???  Does is come with all the containers?  I'm so used to seeing your builds in the wingy fourm and your series of Russian ships that are very well done.

Thanks Scott! I'm glad you came over to see these. Thanks for the compliment. The MV Tampa is a 1/400 scale Imex kit. Basically, it is the MS Toyama, and yes; two additional sprues were added to this kit that make up the stacks of containers on deck.

scottrc wrote:

Also, is the Kidd the 1/700 kit?  I built the  Hayler OOB and it took me forever with all the little parts that assemble the mast.  Yours looks really nice. I cannot fathom how you build so many clean models in so little time. Scott

Thanks for the compliment on the USS Kidd. Yes, it is the 1/700 scale kit that is titled "USS Chandler". I know what you mean about the masts. They did take some time to build. This kit also includes a small P/E fret to assemble the main radar. That will be the first time I ever assemble a P/E radar! It also comes with decal options for all four Kidd-class ships. I do plan on getting three more to make all four ships.

Thanks again for stopping in to see these. When my camera arrives, I'll post more pics.

Duke wasn't the USS Kidd a Spruance class boat not a Kidd Class

I thought that MS Tampa looked like an IMEX kit ... they just have a certain ... look, I guess. I just wish they were in a smaller scale due to my space consideration, but I look forward to seeing how all your containers turn out.

Mikeym_us, the kidd class that included the uss kidd was a 4 ship off shoot of the spruance class for the iranian navy til the overthrow of the shah of iran in 79. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ddg-993.htm

Yeah, they do. They are also relatively easy to build too. I'll be working on the containers this weekend, but unless my camera arrives this weekend, I'll be unable to take any pics till it arrives.

I'll keep you posted.

Duke,

Was curious how you plan to finish the containers.  Are you going to paint them in a variety of colors and emblems, or just one color/emblem?  A lot of static display models you see in museums and in the lobbies of the shipping line depict one color and emblem, and they look very...corporate.  Glad to see they gave you a mix of 20 footers and 40 footers.  Are you considering any tie-down details?

kp80 wrote:

Duke, Was curious how you plan to finish the containers.  Are you going to paint them in a variety of colors and emblems, or just one color/emblem?  A lot of static display models you see in museums and in the lobbies of the shipping line depict one color and emblem, and they look very...corporate.  Glad to see they gave you a mix of 20 footers and 40 footers.  Are you considering any tie-down details?

Some excellent questions. To start, I'll paint them a variety of colors. Emblems would be to small to see on these containers as they are barely half an inch long for the 40 footers.  I know that coprorate models all have one color comtainer, but down in San Pedro all the container ships I've seen have all had a variety of colors. I will have several stacks that are all one color.

As for tie-downs, I don't think my skills are adequate enough to depict tiedowns in 1/400 scale. I'm not even sure how they would look either, even if I could do them that small.

Thanks again for looking in. I'll try to get pics up as soon as possible once my camera arrives from Colorado.

Duke,

Just doing different colors will dress up the stack a lot. Grey, reddish, white and aluminum are the most common colors, but just about every color is out there. The logos would be hard. I have looked at some Microscale decal sheets for model RRs and you can get a few logos off them, but most would be too big for your 1/400 scale.

I don't know what kind of tie down arrangement this particular ship would have. The most common is steel rods that go in an 'X' from the lower corners of the second and third tier, down to the deck. Most between the hatches would be hard to see anyway, but the forward end of  # 1 hatch would stand out, as well as the aft end of the last hatch.  Very small stretched sprue maybe? Makes my eyes water just thinking about it.

By the way, does anybody know of after-market model containers? Seems like with most merchant ships carrying them now somebody could put out containers and logo decals in common scales.

Fred

edit: that's the lower corners of each container on the 2nd and 3rd tier.

Thanks Fred. I agree, that different colors will make it more interesting. I've already started three container stacks and they are looking good already. I still have to touch them up too.

I  haven't seen any logos that would work for a 1/400 scale container, so I'm just going to do the paint and that's all. I did get a Model Railroader magazine and scored: One a one page ad, they actually have the color swatches for all the most common containers. I was able to match five colors, and had to mix four others to get two of the other colors.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think maybe the tiedowns may be a bit beyond my skills. I doubt I could get the sprue thin enough, and even then, I don't think I'd be able to get them in place. Since I've never seen containers tied down before, I think I may not have enough knowledge and skill to do the job right. It looks like I'll be paintng the containers (which, BTW are hollow inside; they gave five parts to each container stack. Four side pieces, and a top piece) and then cementing them down to the deck.

Thanks again for your interest. So far, my Slava class cruiser is finished, it just needs clearcoat, decals and semigloss coat. Same with my USS Kidd, I also need to build the photo-etch radar for that one too. Now if my camera would get here, I could take pics and post them!

well you could just use the copper wires from a old lamp cord those should be the right scale thickness to represent  the steel cable that was used for the tie downs. BTW guys RORO's are different from container ships because they can carry vehicles as well as cargo containers hence the term Roll On Roll Off the Military uses RORO's all the time during deployments to carry all their heavy equipment like tanks and construction equipment. Container ships have holds that only carry containers and when those holds are filled then they start stacking containers on top of the hatches.

Duke,

You could consider making some custom decals with the Testor's decal maker.  I just used it and it works pretty well.  You can probably get the logos off the internet, and print multiples of each.  Look for both US and foreign carriers: Sealand (now Horizon Lines), APL, Maersk, COSCO, NOL, Yang Ming, Hanjin, CP, Cast, Hyundai, etc.  There are also containers that are leased from non-carriers, such as Transamerica, GENSTAR, SEACO.  As far as tie-downs, as suggested, you could use wire on the forward end of hatch one stacks, and after end of aft-most hatch.  I think the whole rig will look pretty cool.

Oh, and each tie down is tightened with a turnbuckle at the bottom. Yeah, probably not worth doing in 1/400. KP80, I never heard of Testor's decal maker. Now you've given me something else to do!

Mikey, are they really that thick? If that is the case, I wouldn't mind giving it a shot if I could find pics of how they look. I tried a search of container ships to see if any showed pics of the containers tied down, but couldn't find anthing useful.

Oh, and I do have a RORO too. Imex makes it; it's called the Rouen. They even made it so the back  hatch which lowers for vehicles can be raised and lowered! That will be a challenge in itself, since I'll need to make an  interior somehow. I'll have to look into that.

Kp80, that is a pretty good idea. I have the Testors decal maker kit too. I'm not sure how visible the logos would be in 1/400 scale, but I may try and size them just to see.  I am a little ambivalent about trying to put all those decals on all the small containers on this ship. Take a look at the top pic again. The tallest stacks have seven to ten container sides per each side of the stack, not counting those gaps in some of the stacks. Then I have 14 stacks to decal. Then's alotta decals! I'd be spending more time decaling than I did building this one! LOL! I'd have to think hard on that.

I would consider the tie downs if I am able to find some pics showing how they look. I'll keep searching to find some and see if it is something I can do.

Fred, you're right about the turnbuckles. That I will definitely pass on. Oh and the Testor's Decal maker is found in a small, blue square box that is about as high as a cough medicine box but slightly wider. I've seen several at Wal-Mart in their toy department in the locked cabonet where they keep their paints and glues. It contains a CD of their image software, several sheets of decal paper, and a spray can of decal film. At about 7-8.00 dollars a box, it ain't bad a deal. One thing though, the software that comes with it is not very good. If you have a photo imaging software that can convert the images to the fomat recognised by the Testor's software, then use that to size and possibly change the colors if needed before changing the format. Then import the changed image into the Testor's software for printing. I learned that on these Forums several years back.

yeah copper wire from lamp cords are pretty small compared to the strands in a roll of electrical wire used for homes. the lamp cord wires are about the size of sewing thread in diameter but you will have to paint it steel color or at least rust color.

Duke,

I'll see if I can dig up some photos of the tie-downs and send.  I think I can also find some photos of the ro-ro interior you're thinking about.  They're cavernous, a big parking garage with ramps leading from deck to deck.

 

This is the fore or aft end of the containers. Each stack could be lashed like this, but not necessarily. It depends on the weight of the cargo. Empties may not be lashed at all. Besides the lashing rods, each corner of a container is locked to the adjacent one or the deck by a "twist-lock" or "cone". Sometimes only the outboard stack is lashed.

By the way, those longer lashing rods are heavy! And each twist-lock, 4 to a container, weighs about 60 pounds. There is still a heck of a lot of manual labor involved with loading and unloading a ship.

kp80 wrote:

Duke, I'll see if I can dig up some photos of the tie-downs and send.  I think I can also find some photos of the ro-ro interior you're thinking about.  They're cavernous, a big parking garage with ramps leading from deck to deck.

onyxman wrote:

This is the fore or aft end of the containers. Each stack could be lashed like this, but not necessarily. It depends on the weight of the cargo. Empties may not be lashed at all. Besides the lashing rods, each corner of a container is locked to the adjacent one or the deck by a "twist-lock" or "cone". Sometimes only the outboard stack is lashed. By the way, those longer lashing rods are heavy! And each twist-lock, 4 to a container, weighs about 60 pounds. There is still a heck of a lot of manual labor involved with loading and unloading a ship.

Wow, thanks guys! I really appreciate all this! I have so far gotten about a third of the containers painted with most touched up. I wish I had my camera to shoot pics for you!

Fred,  that diagram is excellent! I'll have to reallly think about doin that. To give you an idea of why I'm hesitent, I'll let you know that the bottom tier tiedowns on this model will be less than a quarter-inch long! Maybe 2mm or 3mm, if I'm lucky. Not sure I want to  tackle that, but we'll see.

Thanks again for the info. Kp, I'll be watching for those reference pics.

Thanks again guys! You've really been a tremendous help!

Duke,

Try this link for some shots of the cargo hold of a ro-ro, and ‘tween deck ramps.  Also some good pics of stern and side ramps.

http://www.eukor.com/homepage/manage/visitaship_hold.jsp

Here is link I use to get reference photos of modern cargo ships:

http://www.cargoshipphotos.com/

When you get to the title page, click on thumb version (you get thumbnails of the pics), then select the letter “M” from the alphabet bar.  Look at the first ship under the M’s, the MV Mackinac Bridge.  You’ll the lashings from the aft end, but they’re only one-high.  Note also the mix of standard height (8’) and high-cubes (9’-6”) boxes.  Further down you’ll also see the MSC Tina, and some two-high lashings are visible, but you need to look closely. 

 

Wish I could make progress with my models as you do!  Your progress is inspiring!

*chuckles* You guys and wondering if 1/400 is too small ... that is HUGE compared to 1/700 when it comes to things like rigging.

Speaking of rigging, I've used stretched sprue to do some modest rigging on 1/700 ships, and 1/72 biplanes. What I like about it is it is fairly rigid, so you can cut it to the length you need and install it with a tiny dot of super glue. I color mine with a black Sharpie marker before installing, it's easier than painting it. You can stretch it out thin enough to look "right" in just about any scale. 

Thank you for those links. They will be very helpfull. I'll study what I can and see what I can do.

mfsob wrote:

*chuckles* You guys and wondering if 1/400 is too small ... that is HUGE compared to 1/700 when it comes to things like rigging. Speaking of rigging, I've used stretched sprue to do some modest rigging on 1/700 ships, and 1/72 biplanes. What I like about it is it is fairly rigid, so you can cut it to the length you need and install it with a tiny dot of super glue. I color mine with a black Sharpie marker before installing, it's easier than painting it. You can stretch it out thin enough to look "right" in just about any scale.

Yeah, that kinda sounds like it. However I'm not so concerned about the size so much as the volume of bracing I'd have to do to make this look right. I too have tried the stretched sprue to rig a couple of ships, and I've been practicing and stretching extra for my SOC-3 Seagull that I built awhile ago. I want to be able to look at good photos of what the tiedowns look like to go with the diagram that Fred provided, and the links given by KP willl help alot. Then I will decide what to do.


Thanks again to everyone for the assistance and the encouragement. Now I got a few more stacks of containers to paint.....

Duke,

Aren't we nice to come up with all this work for you to do?

Seems like it would be easy for me to get a good picture of lashing rods, as I used to spend most of my time down on the docks or on the ships, but since I don't get down there so much anymore, this is the best I can do from my picture files. It of course is an example of how NOT to have your cargo arrive, but if you look closely, you can see a rod going from the bottom of the grey container, just left of the guy standing on the catwalk.

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BTW Duke if you have another container ship in your stash I suggest building it as a Royal Navy aircraft carrier disguised as a container ship ( now before you guys say that the Royal Navy didn't build any of those ships the Royal Navy did build 2 of these ships as prototypes) these ships could carry a number Harrier aircraft during convoy actions.

Mikeym,

I'm not sure if the Atlantic Conveyer was one of those ships you refer to. It was the container ship that was used to carry Harriers during the Falklands War. If I'm not mistaken it was sunk by an Exocet anti-ship missile. A quick Google search didn't come up with any pictures of that ship, but I know I have one somewhere in my files around here. If I recall they left rows of containers around the outboard sides to protect the planes. It also seems to me it was partly a Ro-Ro ship, but I could be wrong about that.

Fred

Edit: AhHa! I was spelling it wrong! It's Atlantic Conveyor.  If you google that in their "images" there are a lot of good pics. That would make an interesting model.