Well, I was going to say that she's finished for now--until I looked at the photos below. Still a little touch-up work to go, and a few missing details, especially on the mast. Each side also had a litter (doesn't look like a bosun's chair) which I'll build later. And, of course, I need some crew. I took some liberties. The ship was built from a single, straight-on shot of the USCG Mclane from 1962. Because it was straight on, I could not see that she had only one rear post. I had a 1946 shot of the USCG Cuyahoga (same Active Class) showing two posts, so that's what I built. Of course, I super glued them in, and had a lot of detail in place before finding another shot of the Cuyahoga and others of the class showing only one post. The cutters did not have three pipe railings, but stanchions with two wires. I've fooled with planting and stringing stanchions before--not this time! I'm waiting to print decals until I have more time. Aside from railings, ladders, anchors and the life boats, it's all scratch-built. There were 33 cutters in the class, built in 1927; two were lost at sea on a rescue mission, and most of the others served into the 60s and 70s. By the 60s, they were very "clean" boats--very little clutter on deck or in the rigging. ZOOM for full size ZOOM for full size ZOOM for full size
I do believe that I'm both... although, my ship is so big that I could put a small timesaver layout on its deck
Tim, OK, what are you building and in what scale? That's not N scale, but it sure looks like a cutter. Bill, Thanks! Any comments? I'm sure learning a lot about nautical things building these ships.
It's a 1/70th scale Spruance Class Destroyer. Click on the pic to get to my page about it. Since I don't have a RR room yet, that's been my current project Tim
That's huge! Why 1/70 scale instead of, say, 1/72? Is there a metric conversion here that I don't detect?
WELL DONE Pete! I love that cutter. I like how you did the rigging on it. I'm always afraid to rig mine, because it's a given fact I"ll end up tearing it out somehow. Murphys law has not been revoked in my train room.
Bill, I took a different "tack" in rigging this one. I used .025 wire (or smaller) instead of thread. I also drilled holes in the decks to anchor the wires, and tried to bend the wires so they would rest on the points at the other ends. In some cases, I was successful in using a tight "V", bent in the wire with pliers, for symmetrical stays; in most cases I was not successful, as I needed to "hit the midpoint exactly on the nose" which I didn't do. You live and learn.
Pete: You probably have the most well protected harbor in all of N-Scale! Excellent work and thank you so much for sharing the photos. Bill
Thanks Boxies. Actually Bill Bittner, with a Sumner class destroyer, a modern frigrate, and an amphibious assualt carrier, has a lot more firepower! I really enjoy these smaller ships, compared to my freighters. They are much easier to work on because they are smaller. I still have a Navy fleet tanker in my plans, mostly because I have a beautiful plank of mahogany just the right size. That will be about the length--but not the height--of Bill's carrier. But first I think I'll do another destroyer, probably a Fletcher-class since I have the plans and turret and longboat molds. But the USGC Storis has also caught my eye--a one of a kind 230' ship with an interesting hull. I've got a great overhead photo of her that really details everything on deck. And I need some smaller boats too.
Hi Pete: I'm going to get a picture of all three of them together this weekend to see what the size difference is in them. I never really realizd the size of that carrier untill I put a 50' boxcar on deck. I've seen some plans for the Storis on Ebay not too long ago. I agree she is a classic cutter, and is also now the oldest active cutter in the Coast Guard, entitling her to have gold hull numbers.
Hi Bill: I think you'll really see the difference in size when you put your Sumner-class destroyer next to the carrier! Since I build solid-wood hulls, the weight difference between a 10,000 ton tanker (maybe 15 pounds) and a destroyer (less than a pound) is startling. This latest cutter weighs perhaps a few ounces. Your efforts at fidelity have inspired me, as perhaps I've inspired you to tackle some ships. It's absolutely fascinating to me that we use completely different methods to achieve what we build. You build hulls from styrene; I carve them out of wood. You use a lot of styrene; I use wire and etched brass. In the end, the overall effect is the same. I think this speaks to the diversity of modeling--again, a fascinating subject.
Pete: I concur on what you said. There is always more than one way to build something, it's what you feel comfortable with using. I'll post a picture of all three together tonight.
