Hello all: Though I've built a mostly unsuccessful model warship in the past, I've been away from the hobby for quite a number of years. This thread should chronicle my attempts to build a new warship, the SMS Bayern (Baden class, according to the MWC shiplist). I don't think I'll have many good ideas or clever solutions to share with the more veteran members of this website, so don't expect anything groundbreaking. However, I would like to share the experience for fun, motivation and, perhaps most important, to help ensure I don't foul anything up too bad. Thank you for your time. Jp
2014-05-11: Float Test / Waterline I purchased the fiberglass 'Baden' hull from Strike Models. I figured it may be a good idea to have a picture of it in the original form (i.e. before I get to mutilating it with a Dremel). Here's a nice shot of it on the mantle: I was suprised / shocked / concerned as to how much stuff actually had to go into the hull before it reached the scale weight of 24.15 lbs. Though, I must admit that I don't have any fancy digital scale, only an analog bathroom scale. As shown, it's somewhere between 24 - 25 lbs. As an aside, I really should clean this bathtub more often. The waterline as determine in the bathtub test: That's all for now. Thanks for reading! Jp
Nice to see another from Illinois on here, I also have been away for awhile and will be starting a new ship soon
Somthing looks off in your photo. The waterlines seams too high in the center. The stern looks OK. But the middle just seems off. Like it goes up in the middle.
MasterClay: Awesome! Bob: Thanks! That's part of the reason I'm documenting the build. I'd rather be made aware of concerns early in the build process than have to try to correct it later. It could just be an optical illusion in the photo. If anything, after doing the test, I thought the stern waterline looked a bit strange. Perhaps my best course of action would be to redo the waterline test and determine if similar results occur. This is good stuff guys and gals! Please keep it coming. Thanks, Jp
Were on your plans is the waterline shown? the actual waterline and plan/scale waterline should be at a minimum very close.
Thanks! That's a good idea. However, I always thought the 'scale' waterlines were way too low for model warship purposes. Something to the effect that those are at the correct levels for dry / peactime / light weight and we use the wet / wartime / fully equiped weight (whatever the naval terms may be). Though, I guess if the scale waterline on the plans comes close to what I have, I may be reasonable sure my waterline is accurate.
That waterline looks incorrect. As you said you had no scale or digital scale. Best to mark off the bow and stern and midships then fill the hull up with water to get it to the bottom edge of the waterline. That will show you in the lightest condition.
As far as I know a ships waterline is the same in war or peace. try what Stokamoto suggested. You could also measure from the bottom to the waterline on the plans and then use that to mark your hull.
...That's not exactly true. Often ships are never fully loaded out with ammo, etc unless on a wartime footing. Plus, of course, no ship (with any longevity) stays at "as built" displacement long, since they always find stuff that needs to be added (extra AA, radars, even extra armor or fuel tankage). For the model, the plan waterline should get you within a quarter-inch or so. Measure on plan up from the center of the bottom to the waterline. Set your hull on a flat, level table. Setup some kind of device to hold your pencil that distance above the tabletop, and drag around the boat. That will give you a target waterline that is level and even. Marking float waterline in tub is DANGEROUS. If you don't have the ship trimmed out fore & aft as well as side-to-side, your waterline will be all over the place.
I agree with Bob. the bow and stern markings look right, but the line seems to move higher as you move amidships. It looks like you may have been listing to port when you marked it.
I never try to mark the waterline in the tub, just use the float test to determine where the extreme bow and stern float. Then put the hull on a table and shim it so the bow and stern marks measure the same height and the sides of the hull are level, and then mark the waterline with a sharpie taped to a block of wood. It avoids the tilted boat syndrome, which is really hard to avoid when you mark the whole waterline during a float test. It is also how I put on my waterline tape straight. Ron Hunt
It looks like she was leaning to port a bit and that is why the waterline climbs up in the middle. Your bow might be marked a touch high but its hard to tell based on that picture. The stern looks right. I have one at home if you would like me to take measurements when I get back tomorrow I would be happy to. While many WW2 ships did sail at well above their design weights the WW1 German ships did not. Scale is going to be about right for a Bayern as she is a low ship, but too low in the water and she tends to take water in over her deck (this is a bad thing). Besides too low ruins her turning. Interestingly your ram bow looks different than mine. I wonder what happened over the years to change that.
Hello all: Thank you all for your help. Sorry I haven't been able to respond sooner and am posting just one 'bulk' reply instead of individual thanks. Based upon the suggestions, I think I will just mark the waterline, for the purposes of cutting the hull, based upon the scale waterline in the plans. Looking at the plans I currently have, I think the waterline should be roughly 2.8" from the bottom of the ship at the center-most point. If anyone who has plans and/or a Baden/Bayern model could verify, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all again! Stay tuned... Jp
I had not seen this, but as a regular Baden battler, I would say the waterline is off for sure (already stated above). With that said I have found that the best float line for my ship is 7/8 from the top edge of the hull (under the casements) to the top of the water line and continues to the stern. In the bow I just add the distance from the bottom of the casement deck to the top of the forecastle deck to the 7/8 .. so it 1.25 inches I think. (I will update it with an edit later) A waterline higher than that will not leave you much in the way of reserve buoyancy (is that the right term?) and/or it wont take as much damage to sink as you only have a 1/4 inch of hull above the water... you will sink with very little water in the hull. Too low of a waterline and you get the rudder and prop out of the water and have cavitation issues and turning issues. Sidenote - I strongly recommend the Grey Wolf casements. They are a great starting point to the build and while they need a good bit of adaptation for MWC rules (per Tm Beckett - casement rule maker) they really made it much easier to get started. I hope that helps coming from a fellow Baden captain. Johnny
Awesome, thanks! I'll go for 7/8" below the lower casement deck and continue it forward to the bow. I'll look into the Grey Wolf casements. Is that the same as 'Termite Armor' from BC? Thanks, Jp
Hello: Is it this? http://www.greywolfsquadron.com/armor.html If not, please post a link at your convenience. Thanks! Jp
