I've been unable to work on RC ship model builds since late 2018 due to divorce, having to go back to work nearly full time, and to fund major house repairs/renovations. Finally I'm in back on my feet, able to retire and get back into the hobby. In 2018 I'd completely rebuilt my favorite RC combat ship, SNS Canarias, but was persuaded to sell it to Larry and Ben Dingle for the second time. (See Canarias rebuild thread.) That summer I made a new mold for the Frobisher/Hawkins heavy cruiser and made two hulls; sold one but haven't made the fiberglass deck for mine yet. HMS Indefatigable and Russian CL Profintern had their fiberglass decks installed, plus dual rudders, and Profintern got her prop shafts. IJN Ibuki (a carrier ~70% complete at wars end) was being built for Treaty combat, had dual rudders and props installed, flight deck and sheeting were nearly finished. It was built from a Ralph Coles' Mogami hull with modified bulges (see build thread). HMS Suffolk, sold incomplete by me 20 years ago, had been bought back, gutted and prepped for reconstruction. The plug for the Dutch Java Class CLs was about to start with deepened hull plan completed, and the cross-sections ready to be glued to basswood. I'm leaving work in December but will be back to building new ships before then. I have a 8' x 22' kitchen extension that's going to be demolished and replaced in the spring; it'll be a perfect work shop until then. It's been sealed off from the rest of the house but is still wired and heated so I can fiberglass without the fumes spreading. The first project will be to rebuild HMS Cumberland, which needs a new styrene superstructure. Cumberland and Suffolk were almost identical for much of WWII but I'm building Cumberland as in 1944-45 without the boxy seaplane hangar aft - much nicer looking. A friend has a printer and will make a few components for me, such as more detailed turrets. For future molds, attempts to permanently repair the Hawkins mold gelcoat defects were unsuccessful - I only got one hull after each repair. The hull plug only needs minor repairs so a new mold will be made. The Java mold will be next, followed by the 2.5 unit Spanish CL Libertad which can be used in IRCWCC as a neutral ship (I got the PM plans last month). Looking forward to making several new cruiser molds for the hobby! Those will include the non-bulged County Class hulls (London and Dorsetshire Classes) for which I have extremely good plans.
I'm getting the Profile Morskie 1/400 plans for Spanish Almirante Cervera Class light cruisers and heavy cruiser HMS London enlarged to 1/144 scale this afternoon. (London's hull is essentially identical to the later Dorsetshire Class hull.) Still looking for the 20+ cross-sections I revised for a 1/4" deeper Java Class hull. They were in an envelope that went missing during house renovations. If I don't find them this weekend I'll get the 1/144 PM plans copied again. Given the interest in Neutral ships I think I'll do the framework for the Spanish cruiser's plug first.
What do people recommend re deepening the hulls on my new CL projects? I deepened the hull for Russian CL Profintern/Krasni Krim by 3/8". That was enough to allow the full extra displacement allowed for Class 2 and under models, but significantly changed the hull lines aft. (Unfortunately that hull is no longer available; the mold was owned by Strike Models.) When I modified the depth for the Java project the shape of the very shallow stern was changed so much at +3/8" draft I was reluctant to make that big an alteration. Given that I haven't been able to find those modified cross-sections I think I'll make the hull only 1/4" deeper than scale. It's a small cruiser so some increase in depth is necessary. I'm starting on the Almirante Cervera Class Spanish CL's cross sections tonight. It's a fairly large light cruiser at 579' loa and 54' beam. I think it can easily be built within maximum allowed weight with just 1/4" extra depth. The superstructure is quite limited.
Looking at the Almirante Cervera lines I see the underwater hull shape will be changed a lot aft by deepening the hull 1/4" at waterline level. Instead, I'm thinking of adding the extra 1/4" depth at deck level. This will retain the hull lines further down and maintain the same 'legal' beam amidships because the sides there on both light cruisers are vertical. There will be more flare to the bows and the decks will be slightly wider overall (except amidships) so when installing a deck that will have to be taken into account if working from plans. Do you think adding the extra 1/4" depth at deck level is the best solution?? I'd appreciate some opinions before I modify the cross-sections and start cutting them out. I'm going to start with the London/Dorsetshire hull plug first because the hull has plenty of displacement and doesn't have to be deepened. I found the plans for the Kent/Canarias Class hull mold I made years ago and sold. Those hulls are no longer available; I might make another mold so there will be hulls for all County Class heavy cruiser variants.
Sounds like a good plan to me, I doubt anyone would notice. When I’ve deepened hulls I cut the sections at the waterline, spread them out, and faired the curves in. It leaves the shear correct and the hull shape above the WL scale. 1/4” is a small change so impact on hull will be small, I added about 5/8” to Tromp and the Butler class DE (calculated to get scale freeboard at max weight)
Have you considered digitally scanning the plans, putting them in your favorite graphic editor, and stretching the hull vertically by 1/4 inch? That way, the curves would remain proportional...
I don't have a scanner or graphic editor - I do it by hand. When I've deepened hulls before I did the same thing Kevin does. Dividing the cross sections at the waterline works quite well but affects the extremities of the hull making the stern shape quite different, the bow less so. I think I'll do that again rather than add 1/4" at deck level. In retrospect I didn't need to deepen the Profintern light cruiser hull 3/8", but Sri Ayuthia (Siamese pocket heavy cruiser) had to have the hull deepened that much. (I sold that mold to Strike too; haven't built a model yet from the hull I kept - it will be a challenge!)
Stretching by 1/4" would probably be fine - stretching more makes the curves funky, specifically at the top and bottom of the hull, makes the deck-step heights off. Any time you add depth the stem and stern angles will be distorted from scale, I'm not sure there is much way around that - I don't think the stem or stern on my DD and DE really looked out of whack even after adding 5/8"
Would it work better to add smaller amounts at the stem and stern and a little bit more in the midsection? Maybe distribute it over half of the waterline length in a nice graceful curve like a tangent ogive? Those are easy to layout with drafting tools so one could do that on graph paper and use a french curve to make the underwater sections look nice after stretching them. If I had a table of offsets, I'd do that with some python code but, it's the same easy math.
That could be done but is more complicated and the maximum allowed beam can't be exceeded. I have used a French curve and the hull shapes I've deepened in the past looked ok. As Kevin and I pointed out pointed out the hull shape is more affected at the extremities. Most of the difference is below the waterline if the hull is deepened at that level and isn't noticeable with the models on the water.
Hi, Bob. I wasn't proposing modifying the beam at all. Just gradually reducing the amount of depth added so that there is more depth added amidships and less at the ends. The the profile will look closer to scale when it's out of the water and the distortion of the bow and stern shapes would be less noticeable. If you have some example frames to work with, I could show you what I mean.
I wondered if that was what you meant but that would leave the bottom of the hull curved even more upward at bow and stern vs mostly flat until the up angle of the bow is reached. Unfortunately I can't scan and send the frames.
After a 2 month delay work has started on the non-bulged County Class heavy cruiser hull plug. 20 0f the 33 cross-sections are glued to 1/4 basswood and ready to cut out. The hull can be used for the London and Dorsetshire subclasses. After a long wait there is still no more 1/4" basswood available from Maritime Canadian hobby stores; the most reliable dealer has no idea when an order would arrive if I placed one - at least a two month wait! I need a dozen more 4" x 24" sheets to complete this plug and the plug for the Spanish Almirante Cervera Class light cruiser. The ebay prices for basswood from the USA have skyrocketed so it is too expensive to buy. I don't like to use plywood but have to; I found a source of good quality 1/4 birch ply from a local specialty wood business this afternoon and will buy some tomorrow. The plan is to build the wooden frames for the County Class, Almirante Cervera and Java, inject them all with expanding foam at one go and then do the plaster work. By the time the plugs are ready to mold (May?) the house extension will be complete and the 14' x 21' basement addition will have an extraction fan and be ready for indoor fiberglassing. County Class cross-sections and body plan plus the plan for the Almirante Cervera Class Spanish CLs (enlarged to 1/144 scale): Almirante Cervera hull sections. The other ships in the class were Libertad and Miguel de Cervantes. 2.5 combat units, might have enough displacement to build without deepening the hull lines. these ships were based on the Royal Navy E Class, just as the Spanish Canarias Class heavy cruisers were derived from the bulged Kent/County Class cruisers.
I'm picking up enough 1/4" Baltic birch plywood tomorrow morning to make frameworks for multiple hull plugs. A 5' x 5' sheet, pre-cut into narrow strips, was cheaper than ordering three 1/4" x 4" x 24" sheets of basswood on ebay! I deepened the hull lines for the CL Libertad 1/4" this afternoon. Compared to deepening the Java plan there was minimal effect on the bow cross-sections, and less than expected aft. The last 9 frames aft were affected successively more but it won't be noticeable on the water. The slight change in profile is at the waterline. The first 3 plugs will be London/Dorsetshire, Java, and Libertad. If there is interest I have plans for IJN Nisshin, Imperator Pavel, Ajax (CL), Belfast, and the Italian Regina Elena.
The cross-sections and hull profiles for the Almirante Cervera Spanish CLs and London/Dorsetshire Classes of CA are glued to 1/4" basswood or birch plywood and ready to cut out. Mike B. has kindly mailed a dozen sheets of 1/4" basswood (4" x 24") which will be used to make the frame for the Java Class plug. I've been playing around with the lines intermittently to figure out the best way to deepen the hull and finished the mods tonight. I was able to deepen 15 cross-sections at the waterline from the bow back without changing the hull shape much. Aft was a different story because the curves were quite extreme and the hull shape would have been very different if deepened at the waterline. The only way to maintain smooth and reasoably scale lines to the stern was to add 1/4" at the top of the last 5 cross-sections. I'm finally happy with the deepened hull lines for Java and will have them copied tomorrow. The plug for the Frobisher Class heavy cruisers will be repaired - a few big gouges in the plaster to fill and seal with BIN 123 primer. I've given up on the mold which had severe gelcoat faults on one side when laid up (see build thread). I got only 2 hulls out of it - each time more faulty gelcoat beaks off and voids have to be filled so a new mold will be made.
Many thanks to Mike "Buttsakauf" for sending me 12 sheets of 1/4" basswood. I had the cross-sections for the deepened Java Class hull photo-copied this week so will be gluing them to the basswood in a few days. I might recopy the hull profiles for the Almirante Cervera and London/Dorsetshire and glue them onto basswood. They're on 1/4" plywood atm - look at it the wrong way and it curves!
Thanks to Mike B. work has started on the Java plug's framework. I can't get the slight curve out of the hull profiles for Almirante Cervera and London/Dorsetshire, which were glued to 1/4" birch plywood, so will be recopying them and gluing them to more of the basswood Mike donated. I prefer to use it for the 'keel' because it's usually straight. Here are some images of the Java hull profile and the mods made to it and the cross-sections to deepen the hull 1/4": To avoid major changes to the lines aft the quarterdeck was increased in height at deck level. For the rest of the Java hull the increase was at the waterline. The copy was 4mm short so the profile was cut at the middle and 4mm added there. London/Dorsetshire cross-sections on balsa above, to be switched to more of Mike's basswood. Except for the aft 5 cross-sections a 1/4" increase in depth was added at the waterline. Not much of a change in the lines. I won't be including the armour belt on the hull plug but a stringer will be allowed. The quarterdeck cross-sections and the last for the forecastle deck had 1/4" added at deck level so the stern lines are close to scale. I might redo the aft cross-sections for the Almirante Cervera like this.
