Scale dry dock timbers

bondoman wrote:

I'd suggest modeling them out of styrene. At that scale, wood will not look right.

I expect your referring to the grain in the wood used for the timbers that would cause the out of scale look. I had not thought of using styrene as you suggest. If the timbers are approx. 2 ft. sq. then that would mean that the scale timbers would be approx. 5 thousands of an inch over a 1/16 and I would use 1/16 square stock to represent the 2 ft. sq. timbers. So, if I chose wood that I could stain then basswood's almost lack of grain may look OK.... I'll give this more thought. Thanks again for your input.

Two foot sq. timbers at 1/16 of an inch seems on the small side when I start thinking about what that would look like under the PC's 1:350 scale hull. I need to make a test setup and actually see how it looks.   

DD-557,

When I worked at a shipyard, I never saw a ship blocked as shown in the article, although what is shown in the article is apparently very popular for display purposes.  Generally, a hull is supported by a row of keel blocks (which run right under the keel down the centerline of the hull, for its entire length) and two symetrical , but shorter, rows of bilge blocks which support the vessel along the sides at a location referred to as the "turn of the bilge".  Every ship has a blocking plan, and while I'm sure one exists for the craft you are building, I presume it is not easy to get hold of.  I have many references at home and may be able to find something to scan and email to you.  At the shipyard I worked, we had three floating drydocks which had keel blocks consisting of 4' x 4' x 4' concrete blocks, spaced 4' apart, located down the center of the drydocks.  Each concrete block had two tiers of 1' x 1' x 4' long wooden blocks on top, secured to the concrete blocks (so they won't float away when the dock is flooded).  On top of the wooden blocks were 4" thick crush blocks, which actually make contact with the keel and indeed often crushed or deformed, and were replaced with each docking.  The bilge blocks consisted of a concrete base block (approx. 4'L x 2'W x 4'H), also with 1' x 1' blocks on top, but cut to conform to the hull shape according to offsets shown on the blocking plan.  I would think that basswood blocks and strips would be an appropriate choice for the concrete and timber portions.  Except for the crush blocks, the concrete and wooden timber base blocks were covered thick with red antifouling paint, the result of getting in the way of cleaning and painting the underwater hull, so unless you want a clean look, you could splotch them up a bit.  If you need a general reference drawing, let me know.

kp80,

Thanks very much for the great information. I think the entire group will benefit from your knowledge. You've provided me with some really good options.

I'm new at this and I think I'm enjoying the education and research as much as looking forward to the building part of the project.

Thanks again.

PS I'm sending you an e-mail.