These ships are still a few months away, but I thought I'd show the first production model now. The hull is in three sections, and you can see the breaks in this photo. The bow and the stern are cast from resin; the mid section is built-up from styrene, with a thin casting on top for the full-width clamshell hatches which open to both sides to allow the below deck containers to be loaded and unloaded. The mid-section can be shortened or lengthened in 50-foot increments (one 48-foot hatch, actually), resulting in a total ship length of between 350' and 650'. Each hatch is half the width of the midsection, with four stiffening panels. It will be possible to build the midsections with open hatches. The superstructure is built up from styrene parts. Of course there are detail parts to be added. Here's a closer rear view. As this ship is easier to build than my smaller ships, I may be able to offer it as a kit. And the price will be lower than some of my more detailed smaller ships, as there is not as much detail on a container ship. That's not really true as the above deck racks get pretty detailed--but that's another issue. If there is enough interest, I will build a Z-scale version. The Z scale bow and stern molds would also make for a much smaller coastal type vessel in N scale.
John, Let me find the drawings and get back to you about lengths. I'm working between two houses here in Ohio, and I'm home at one for the night. But this should be accurate enough. The beam would be 43.63 feet. IIRC, the N scale bow is 150' long, which would be 109' in the Z-scale version. The flat stern would be 73' long in the Z scale version, and the poop deck stern about 100'. So, bow and flat stern components together would be about 182 feet. I'd suggest the shortest mid section should be about 100 feet long, resulting in a ship about 282 feet long, with a maximum beam of 43 feet. This would be a modern coastal freighter of about 3000 tons, which is very common. The poop deck version would be about 309 feet long, and would be an older coastal freighter of about 3500 tons. All of the materials to make the masters and molds are on my computer. Making a new master and molds in Z scale (or for a smaller ship in N scale, as I suspect you are interested in) is not too difficult mathematically, as I just have to scale things down by 0.72727 and make a day's worth of adjustments for thicknesses. But it is a nightmare for manufacturing--I.e., if I scale a section down by 0.72727, the 0.508mm thickness of material also scales down to 0.3695mm--that won't work at all and has to be adjusted! I'm willing to do that size coastal ship if there is sufficient interest. I might point out that the Savon-Art ship, if available, is about that size and, for the price, is not a bad hull, although the above deck details are not to my standards. I might have a modification kit for that Savon-Art ship later in 2013, making it into a true break bulk freighter with 1950s-style hatches and posts-and-booms, as well as a wrapper that turns the superstructure into something more believable. I've already done it, but don't know if that kit will be profitable.
I looked at some of the Savonart ships and other than their big tow/push boat most are quite crude castings and pale beside yours and even my few humble attempts. Most of my vessels that I'm interested in are the smaller vessels of less than 100 feet. The two exceptions are the research vessel and the small intercoastal freighter at 240 feet and 175 respectively. I'm also modeling in that era when steam was still active and the lower Columbia River had a lot of canneries both fish and produce thus all my vessel needs are the older style vessels similar to the sardine carrier at about 90 feet or even smaller.
Well, yes, they are big, and it's taken a bit of engineering to be able to cast them without burning down the house! Now the question is, does anyone want to buy them?
I've got a few small ships in the making, like a 175' trawler, a 180' freighter, and a 110' patrol craft, along with some Alaskan fishing boats. But I need to establish a market for what I have before announcing even more ships.
I figure the sales cycle here might be three years. The first year generates interest; the second year leads to folks actually designing a harbor; the third year might have some actual orders (although I have sold ships!) Hey, I'm just pushing this because I really, really enjoy designing and building the ships (and could use the income). First time in my life I've had the chance to pursue something that I love, and I hope the products show it.
hi my name is mark and im very intrested in your container ship that you are working on id like to ask if you are you going to start selling this item when you finnish the prototype and if yes do you know how much you will sell them for and last thing do you have an eta when you will be selling them for id like to put my name down for one if the prise is right thank you for your time mark australia nsw.
Mark, The N scale version will be available around April, 2013. The following is not a commitment, but my thinking at the moment. Pricing will start at $250 for a completely unassembled kit--the modeler builds the center section and superstructure, joins things together, and puts on the supplied details. Shipping for that will be at cost. Prices for a completely assembled, painted and detailed ship will be around $650, plus some significant shipping charges. The molds for the bow and stern are very large and expensive, and require a lot of casting material.
That is absolutely awesome. I am privleged to see these run through the St. Lawrence River to and from the Great Lakes.
While I think this is an awesome ship you are designing, I would have no use for it. I am trying to figure out a place for a river tow on my system. I hope you have success as this seems like a natural for all the inter-modal layouts.
