LST is quite small. Not a lot of reserve buoyancy. I wouldn't personally build anything smaller than a Liberty ship.
Stephen has one, I was messing with it this Sunday at Maker Faire. Tiny boat, but the big problem is shallow draft. Not much interior height to fit things at all.
Thanks for the replays. The draft is very shallow and not much room and after some thought I think I will go with a Liberty Ship. I down loaded the plan. By the way, USS Baltimore is coming along.
I make fiberglass hulls for HMAS/HMS Albatross, initially an Australian seaplane carrier, then converted in Royal Navy service to a fleet repair ship (repaired dozens of landing craft and other small vessels damaged by the gale during the D-Day invasion). With a length of 443' and beam of 58' Albatross was 2' longer and 2' wider than a Liberty ship, though of shallower draft and having prominent anti-torpedo bulges, which helped it survive being torpedoed at Normandy. It's a beautifully shaped hull and has an interesting superstructure. IRCWCC 'legal' for convoy use and is allowed bulge stringers. I have one hull in stock. I just restocked materials to make an Indefatigable hull for myself from Ralph Coles' mold and will have enough left over for more Albatross hulls.
Sounds interesting. What would the cost be and do you have a plan to go with it, or where can one obtain it?
I'll sell the hull for $90 US plus shipping. I think that's quite a bit cheaper than any fiberglass hull of similar size, and cheaper than most smaller hulls. I won't know a shipping cost until I can box the hull and take it to the post office. It will be small enough to ship by Canada Post air mail, likely for less than $30 US. Profile Morskie in Poland sells a book on the Albatross with photos and plans (though smaller than 1/144 scale). It has all the details you'll need to build the deck and superstructure and includes a colour WWII camo scheme. If you'd have difficulty converting the small plans to 1/144 PM sells a 1/144 paper or pdf plan for Albatross, which is more expensive than the photo and plan book. I hope to make a second Albatross hull this week, while laying up an Indefatigable hull and some small parts for other RC combat models I'm building.
USPS International money order in US$. I'll box the hull and get a shipping price for the total. I probably won't be able to do it until next week - I'm on call until Friday, then away on the weekend.
No I don't use Paypal. I was away all weekend closing the cottage for the winter but will get the hull boxed and weighed for a shipping price this week. Then I can give you the total. I need your city and ZIP code to get the shipping cost from the post office.
Bob, I live in Franklin, Wisconsin 53132. Send me an e-mail with your address and I send you mine. send to ab9ek@arrl.net Thanks , Tom
Hi Tom, I boxed the I-400 molds for shipment to Strike Models last night and will finish boxing the Albatross hull tonight - ran out of bubble wrap. I'll get a shipping cost from the post office Friday evening. If anyone else is interested in an HMAS/HMS Albatross hull I'm making another one this weekend.
