USS Crockett?

--Bonjour! Avec la mauvaise Francais j'explique en Englais. Hello! I'm building the Dumas kit USS Crockett. This is the first time I've built a plank-on-frame hull so I've made many mistakes! I've got a photo blog on Flickr which explains most of what I've done and mostly what I've done to fix what I did wrong! The next  thing to do is to make the hull smooth so that I can cover it with fiberglas. Hope  to get this done in a month or two. Photo blog is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamboat_ed/sets/72157639178300946/
--With hull done the next problem will be propulsion. I've tried but failed to get in touch with someone on this forum who calls himself 'Vivaldi', to discuss his methods:
Bonjour! J’aimerai parlez avec l’homme qui s’apelle “Vivaldi” mais je n’ais pas l’email pour lui. La raison es parce-que j’ai fabrique une helix a pas variable comme son designe. Voici une link a photographes du mon travaille: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamboat_ed/sets/72157643364703844/
Je veux parlez avec tout le mond qui fair les modelles du bateaux naval.  

Hello steamboat
Few years ago (long time ago.....) I tried to make a controlled pitch propeller for a French corvette "Georges Leygues" on 1/100 scale. If my brain works well, the diameter of a propeller vas about 5cm and the boss 1cm. Difficult to install the mecanism in a such small place (except may be for a watchmaker.....) so, I gave up !!! The model have a normal propeller. I hope you will be more persevering than me for achieving your goal ....

Hello   

When I was young I made a Ashville class plastic kit : http://www.epmodels.co.uk/shipkits/reviews/revell_defiance.html



Later I've seen one on real life, a former US Navy transfered to the Greek navy. I was so happy to see this typical hull and superstructure but it was a pity as she was only diesel powered - still only the two small stacks with the big one removed as no more gas turbine. The 40mm was also removed.

So the + 40knots was just like a souvenir for her.

A+ Xtian   

Amijean a écrit:Hello steamboat
Few years ago (long time ago.....) I tried to make a controlled pitch propeller for a French corvette "Georges Leygues" on 1/100 scale. If my brain works well, the diameter of a propeller vas about 5cm and the boss 1cm. Difficult to install the mecanism in a such small place (except may be for a watchmaker.....) so, I gave up !!! The model have a normal propeller. I hope you will be more persevering than me for achieving your goal ....  

--Wow a 1cm hub (boss) is *very* small! We printed one that was about 16mm dia for our first try but I discovered (too late!) that parts printed in plastic shrink a bit! None of the pieces I made fit and I was too pressed for time to remake all the bits. I'm hoping to get in another hub in a few days and this one will be slightly larger: about 20mm dia. Now that I know there is shrinkage (about 1 to 2%) I'll make the inner bits a little below the dimensions called for in the drawings and it should all go together.

xtian29 a écrit:Hello   

When I was young I made a Ashville class plastic kit :  http://www.epmodels.co.uk/shipkits/reviews/revell_defiance.html



--AHA! Had no idea there was a plastic version. I have a pal who belongs to a plastic model collectors club; will have to see if I can find one..

Later I've seen one on real life, a former US Navy transfered to the Greek navy. I was so happy to see this typical hull and superstructure but it was a pity as she was only diesel powered  - still only the two small stacks with the big one removed as no more gas turbine.  The 40mm was also removed.

So the + 40knots was just like a souvenir for her.

A+ Xtian     

--What a pity! I'm told it was the only vessel that could keep pace with a nuclear carrier going full speed into the wind! I'd dearly love to see a model that was faithful to the original concept with a gas turbine-driven electric drivetrain but I guess I'll have to settle for steam turbine.. 

January 3, 2015
Hello and Happy New Year! Now that it's winter I'm working on the model again. I've taken a few photos and they can all be found on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steamboat_ed/sets/72157639178300946/
Here's a brief description of my progress:
-Variable pitch prop: I stopped work on this when I finally found a company that is again making them for model boats. They're not cheap but they are very well made. The blades are just sheet metal though and I am considering replacing them with lost wax cast bronze or maybe printed plastic ones. Source for variable pitch props: http://www.ebay.com/usr/galglg?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
-Propulsion: I'm still assembling a flash steam system but I've decided it's unsafe to put it into a wooden hull. I've decided to use a pair of Graupner electric motors, one for each of the two variable pitch propellers. the flash boiler and steam turbine will be used in a fiberglas model I have yet to build: a UK Type 21 frigate that measures about 1.8 meters long.
-Hull: Planking finished and mostly sanded smooth. The bow looked terrible so I sawed it off, glued on a large piece of balsa and carved that to the correct shape. I'm still not happy with some of the contours and I hope to use some Bondo to build up edges that should be sharper. Once that's done I will cover the hull with some 1-oz fiberglas cloth to make it more seaworthy.
-Deck structures: I have finished the stern 40mm Bofors mount and now all it needs is paint. The forward 3in. rapid firing gun needs some Bondo and sanding but then it will be ready for paint. The cabin needs more work but it's past half way.
-There are many, many little die cast fittings that still need to be cleaned up and painted: the metal is quite hard so I'm using power tools whenever I can.
-Much detail needs to be made from scratch. As I have trembling hands there is only so much of this I can do without going crazy! I'm not sure how nice it will look close up but with luck the ship will look good on a pond!
-I'm hoping to get far enoug along on the project that I will be able to show it off at the upcoming Maker Faire which will be in April or May.