Civilian Victory ship from Revell Montrose

Some progress is being made. i had a horrible thought last night. What if I get this done and then read that Trumpeter is issuing a nice 1/350 Victory ship kit?

That's really great! I've started my T2 tanker, by marking the hull to cut it at a heavily laden waterline. Otherwise I'm going to stick to the kit except for a new front to the main superstructure making the upper decks look cambered, even though they won't be; and GMM stuff in place of the molded railings. I briefly considered cutting the piping off of the main deck and replacing it, but life's way too short.

I bought the Montrose at the same time and was really disappointed by the landing craft and related davits. I'd like to follow your project and do this too, and there's the Red Oak Victory ship near where I live. Could you steer me to the plans, or could I buy a set from you? I could certainly go over to Richmond and take photos of the ship if it's helpful.

Looking forward to watching your build, Bill

Hi Bill,

I got the plans from the Smithsonian collection of U.S. Maritime Commission ship's plans. I don't know how I could copy them, they are on a big sheet of paper, about 1/196 scale I think. If you PM me with an address I could send you a copy of their order form and what plan to order. The plan I'm using was $15, plus $5 shipping and handling.

I just posted some old detail pictures of Victory ships over at the Debris Field site.

http://russellwild.co.uk/forumdf/index.php?topic=262.msg1269#new

I think i have enough pics to reference. If you are going to take this on it would be real helpful to you to look at a 1:1 Victory ship though, since Red Oak Victory is closeby. 

This is my first big scratch building project. It goes slowly, but it's fun.

Fred

Very nice work, onyxman! My Dad served on several Victory ships during the war; I got back into the hobby so I could build a model of one of his ships, but I needed a complete kit. And my finished product is nowhere near how yours is going to turn out (it's also a lot smaller at 1/700).

I have some good detail pictures of the American Victory, berthed in Tampa, and can send specific shots if you get stuck on something. The only thing I see missing so far as the distinct downward sloping ledge under each anchor chain hawse hole. That was diagnostic of Victory-class cargo ships.

mfsob wrote:

The only thing I see missing so far as the distinct downward sloping ledge under each anchor chain hawse hole. That was diagnostic of Victory-class cargo ships.

Right mfsob,

I just started to think about the area around the anchor. The part from the kit combines the anchor with that slanty thingy. I'm not sure if I want to separate the two. I already puttied the kit's hawspipe closed and sanded it over because I think it is slightly mis-located.

By the way, that slanted thing is to flip the anchor's flukes as it comes up out of the water. The flukes can flip either way, and you don't want them pointed in toward the hull as it comes home. At least that's the only reason I can think of for it.

One detail I wasn't able to get from the plans or any of the pics I have is the spacing of the web frames along the bulwarks on the main decks. I already guessed at it, so too late for me, but it would be something to look at if you get over to Red Oak Victory, Bill.

Fred

MSFOB,

I remember your 1/700 Victory well. Nice job.

Bondoman, Ill be interested to see how your T-2 comes out. I have one more of those in the stash which I want to do using all the modern bells and whistles, PE and all. Somebody should finally tackle that bridge superstruture and put some indication of camber in the decks. I also thought about cutting off the piping. I decided if one was to do that you might as well scratch build the whole thing from the main deck up. Rather not think about that!

Fred

Fred, Monty,

Good to see your posts on my favorite modeling subject -- merchant ships.  I've eyeballed the Montrose kit for a few years now, but have not bought one.  It's on my list near the top.  I posted a pic below of a VC2 bow showing the tipping bar.  The tipping bar was allegedly a feature of all Victory hulls.  It's purpose was to guide the anchor flukes into the correct position for housing as the anchor was being heaved in.  From what I understand, it's effectiveness was questionable.

I look forward to following your build.  I'm at work right now and the pictures are blocked, so I'm anxious to get home and see what you're up to.  All the best!

Hi Rich.

"tipping bar". That's a much more sailorly name than "that slanty thingy".

Fred

Fred,

Nice pics, and an interesting project.  The VC2 is such a great subject, one I think that is overlooked.  Some ran for a long time after the war, into the early 90's. The USN Military Sealift Command operated several converted VC2's.  The ex-Furman Victory became a cable transport ship, and then there was the Range Sentinel, a tracking ship that operated out of the Cape.  I loved the steam plant on the Victories, very simple, you can stand on the operators platform and practically trace the whole main steam system from that spot.  By the way, the bulwark stiffeners generally follow the same spacing as the main hull frame spacing, so it looks like you have those spaced about right.  Please keep posting you progress!

Fred- I got the order forms- thanks so much. I think I'll order the basics and see what else if anything I need.

I've a question. The listed scale for the plan is 1/16". Are these plans really HUGE? Like 20' long?

Edit: I get it -1/16" = 1'-0" or 1:192 scale. Much better; I had visions of going to the kid's gym after work.

At least. You have to measure from the plans and multiply it by .51 or so to get to the kit's scale. Do yourself a favor and use metric, and always check my math.

edit: oops, my bad. I read your 20' as 20". Yep, 1/192 is right.

Continued slow progress. My camera doesn't do close-ups very well, but here are some sub-assemblies of the masts and kingposts.

Those deck houses are a 10 sided shape! The ventilator cowls are from my spares box.

Thanks for the update. It looked to me scanning the kit and your pics, that you need to scratch a new forward mast, correct? And add booms just forward of the main superstructure.

I ordered the T2 plans- thanks Onyxman for the order forms.

Hi Bill, 

The forward mast is the one on the right in the picture. ( sometimes I have to click on the picture to see the whole thing) It sits on a deck house which is already glued on the model. This deck house actually sits half on the main deck and half on the fo'c'sle deck. Nothing is simple on this sucker!

The 4 kingposts in the picture have that squarish ventilator on top. They locate on the 4 corners of the central superstructure.

As for booms, if I make them out of styrene, they'll be too flexible. OK if I put them in the stowed position ( down horizontal in cradles). But I want to try having them "topped" in a 45 degree angle. I'm afraid the rigging for that will put too much pressure on styrene. So I'll have to make them out of brass rod.

Soon I'll start painting. The livery I've decided on is complicated. Decks will be grey or red, vertical bulkheads white, hull grey and white and red antifouling, most railings, masts and booms, white.

I miss the days when I painted a Liberty ship after all the construction was done. Just sprayed the whole thing gray!

Fred

Something like this. States Marine Lines:

Topped is the best. This subject is the next for me, after the tanker, but so far as a USN.

I grew up in San Francisco, and while I never set sail on a freighter, they are near and dear to me. There's a particular dark yellow/ light brown color that the cargo handling equip. was painted in, plus a black hull and white deckhouse that can't be beat. That "Lines" copy on the hull is nice.

Hey, picky is the name of the game in this sport right?

Actually, the vents are cylindrical. They look "squarish" only from a distance. They have a pretty complex shape of baffles and what-not. I did mine with a piece of styrene rod slighly larger than the diameter of the king post. Then I glued some very small vertical strips around the vent.

I had thought I'd cut off the top of the kingpost from the kit parts, but when I tried it, my scratch looked closer to reality than the kit's.

By the way, I put on the "tipping bars" (thanks KP80 !)

The kit's parts have the anchors and bars as one piece. I didn't want to put the anchors on the hull just yet as it would interfer with masking the paint job. So I placed the anchors in the right place and marked where the tipping bars sit. Then I separated them from the anchors and glued them on.

It's been way more work than I expected. Much of what you see here is still only dry fitted. There are all those complicated shaped superstructure decks, each in actually two sections with a passageway between, then they have to all tie together with that ladder-like piece from the bridge wing to the main deck.

So, I have some paint on her now. I was leery about the very dark color of the decks. Over at the debris field site Mr Morris said he knew a long retired States Marine sailor who remembered the decks being "black". I had my doubts about that. Then I found one rare color photo of the Sooner State. The main decks looked to be such a dark gray that I could see how someone remembered them as black.

Here is the picture.

http://www.us-maritime-commission.de/pictures.php?code=A1198d

Fred

Fred,

This is looking real nice!  Just wondering, are you going to paint or decal States Marine on the side of the hull?

Bondoman you talking about the T2 Tanker San Juan Capistrano? I have 2 of them.

It can't hurt to ask! But I think with that one color picture it's a pretty good indication. The Sooner State was a C-2, but the companies usually standardized the major paint areas.

Speaking of Mormacmoon,  here she is, a C-3

http://www.us-maritime-commission.de/pictures.php?code=A0063c

KP, I have a Microscale decal sheet with lettering for model railroads. I plan to use that, putting on one letter at a time. I'll make my own for the names and stack insignia.

It occurs to me that I've been working on this for two months, and if it was a kit I'd be at the point where i just opened the box and dumped the parts out. But if I can keep momentum up it should start coming together quickly now.

I still have to build the lifeboat davits. The lifeboats from a NS Savannah kit are just the right size. I'm using the heavy lift booms from a Trumpeter Liberty kit. I won't need them because I intend to build that kit as an aircraft transport version that didn't have the heavy lifts.

PE is from Tom's 1/400 railing, his 1/350 Liberty set, W/T doors, and some other odds and ends.

Then there is the base. Wouldn't it be cool to place this in a case with a Hawaiian Pilot C-3 kit, maybe on both sides of a pier?

Mikeym_us wrote:

Bondoman you talking about the T2 Tanker San Juan Capistrano? I have 2 of them.

onyxman wrote:

It can't hurt to ask! But I think with that one color picture it's a pretty good indication. The Sooner State was a C-2, but the companies usually standardized the major paint areas. Speaking of Mormacmoon,  here she is, a C-3 http://www.us-maritime-commission.de/pictures.php?code=A0063c KP, I have a Microscale decal sheet with lettering for model railroads. I plan to use that, putting on one letter at a time. I'll make my own for the names and stack insignia. It occurs to me that I've been working on this for two months, and if it was a kit I'd be at the point where i just opened the box and dumped the parts out. But if I can keep momentum up it should start coming together quickly now. I still have to build the lifeboat davits. The lifeboats from a NS Savannah kit are just the right size. I'm using the heavy lift booms from a Trumpeter Liberty kit. I won't need them because I intend to build that kit as an aircraft transport version that didn't have the heavy lifts. PE is from Tom's 1/400 railing, his 1/350 Liberty set, W/T doors, and some other odds and ends. Then there is the base. Wouldn't it be cool to place this in a case with a Hawaiian Pilot C-3 kit, maybe on both sides of a pier?