Johhhy, You would be surprised that this is not a monster ship. She is small compared to the Titanics and Bremen. Wihelm is a good looking boat, best of luck finding plans.
Going to block out the top deck between ribs so I can define the weather deck for this convoy ship. Above that line will be solid. Bottom of the hull has been sanded, but I have a concern that the top deck is going to have some issues based on a couple of the ribs being out of alignment. So the decision is to cut her off the board and attach the top deck to make sure there is no twist. Clark, the axis captains can think she is big, but at 60" not the Bremen or titanic size. Plus I have an ace for this ship, we will see how well she does at NATS if this technology transfers over to the Duke.
Put in the stringer that defines the hard area, this will get solid sheeting. Deck is just laid on at this point, everything was glued/clamped together last night. Overall shot showing the elegant lines of this ship. Top parts will be out of termite armor as I think she will get a lot of "axis" love. Still need to do fairing of the hull and the stern and bow blocks need to be sanded and fiber glassed.
Water channel was cut out and the bottom was glassed with mat and epoxy. Next will be to put in fiberglass board and add foam between the ribs. Stern area is really ugly at this point, still need to sand out the inside and install the rudder post and stuffing tubes. Will also put the fiberglass deck on each level and the hard areas on the side will have the board as well.
More stern area, the blocks need to be cut and sanded (can you say belt sander). The top rail area will be finalized after I get the inside carved/sanded out. Back of the boat actually tapers in at the top, makes for an elegant stern area.
Bow area has a lot of sanding to do as well. Will remove the rib (its there for sanding the shape of the bow). You can see the notches I had to make in the top deck to get it to bend up for the bow.
Did not like the stern, was off 3/16th so out came the bandsaw. What I have learned so far in this build is the necessity to make locating marks/cuts to keep the hull straight. Anyways, stern has been modified and all is correct at this point.
New deck using fiberglass board. Had to sand the correct shape to the deck, ship now has a sleek look to her. All decks are on and vertical walls are in place. As this is a convoy ship,detail will not be present in certain areas like the promenade deck.
Next steps are to skin the hard areas (sides of the ship) and internally fiberglass the rest of the water channeling. I will do this with a combination of fiberglass and foam.
Fiberglass to the bottom of the hull. Used the "mike method" with an old credit card to remove the excess epoxy. Stern area rebuilt, still have to add back the keel.
Hard area is on and the water channeling is done in most areas except for the motor mount location. Used the fiberglass board and foam, now filling the gaps with epoxy and micro balloons. Overhead shot showing the deck access, will be adding magnets to keep the decks attached. Primed and puttied. That is a lot of area to shoot at, will have to order 6" balsa to cover it. The plan is to use tape to define the windows for the upper decks, I was torn on making the recessed decks but they just would not hold up to BB fire. So I will now be able to put her in harms way and not worry about detail damage.
I just bought a book on the ships, should help with topside detail: 'The Last Liners of the White Star Line: M.V. "Britannic" and M.V. "Georgic"' by Richard P. de Kerbrech
Started the topside detail, this is fiberglass board for durability. Only one more platform to be added to the top, this is a squat looking ship and the funnels go along with that look. The front has a curve to the topmost superstructure, for ease of construction I have made a box superstructure and will add the curve portion using balsa skinned with 1/32 fiberglass board. The area open below is to be filled with expanding foam. Going to build the lifeboats and davits, these will be cast out of termite armor.
Anyone know a place I can get the contest grade in 6 inch sheets? National Balsa only goes to 4 inches.
The funnel is constructed of plastic card forming the profile and top and bottom. In this I will add balsa wood, sand to shape and green putty (plastic modeler stuff) to get a smooth finish. Then a coat of primer and it will be ready to cast. The details for the bow are bollards, rollers, minor cranes, chain and vents. The detail in the front is a covered door, the back of the stairs angles down to the deck below. This was a real working ship, not a lot for the passengers topside during the Atlantic cruise so most of the deck space is working area with multiple hatches and cranes. Deck hatches are drilled and marked, this helps to locate all other deck items. Working from what few photos I could find on the net, the plans were not very detailed.
