Here is the beginning of my build of the USS Baltimore CA-68 Heavy Cruiser. I am beginning with a Jenkse Hull kit and have also ordered plans from Loyalhanna Dockyard and am awaiting delivery of them. I decided to order the plans so I would have some more info to help with the construction. I have printed a copy of the hull assembly instructions as well as had the superstructure plans printed to full size @ 32”x24”. Two full size copies cost about $15 at staples. One set is hanging on the wall of my garage/shop and the other is to use to make the superstructure out of black ABS plastic sheet. My goal is to be able to have the boat completed by June for the IRC Nats. If you see anything that I am doing wrong or could improve upon please feel free to let me know.
The hull kit came in 4 sheets that are all laser cut with just a very small portion holding them in the sheet. It took about 3 hours to carefully punch them out of the sheet and to sand the edges.
Here is a close up of some of the pieces. The ribs have are all labeled so that you will place them in the correct order.
This is a close up of one of the pieces that have been punched out with the retaining tab still attached. I used a razor blade to trim the retaining tab and then pushed it out. I used a medium 180 grit sand paper to get the edges flat.
Next I determined the pieces of the sub deck. The sections snap together with a dovetail joint. Once these are snapped together they are fairly secure and difficult to separate. I was afraid to pull one section apart that I messed up on but after some “gentle effort” I was able to correct the error. I think an improvement for the kit to help beginners would be to have some sort of identifier like a number; letter or some other symbol like on the ribs would greatly ease that part of the construction.
Today I was able to place all of the ribs on in order. Some of them had notches for the keel that had to be sanded a little so that the keel would fit snug to the rib.
New Year’s update! I have been on baby duty the past few days so not a lot of progress has been made. I did receive my plans from Loyalhanna and laid them out on my assembly table to compare and they are right on the money. I also removed all of the rubber bands and glued a few ribs that I missed before. I am trying to find the dimensions for the pump channel so that I can add the pump keels in and then remove the keel and center portions of the ribs. Any Ideas?
I also ordered a 4’x4’ sheet of ABS plastic to build the superstructure out of. It is 0.063” thick just a little over 0.0625” or 1/16”. I have never used the material before, so I will cut a small strip and make a box just to see what cutting and assembly is like.
Do you have plans for the bottom of the ship to know where to put the props? How far apart? Hot topic for me. I have plans and a kit. I just don't know where to cut for the props to go.
Just looked at my plans and it shows 4 props that are 1" apart and 1" off of the center of the keel. I know mine is going to have 2 motors and I believe that you have to have all 4 props to be within the rules?
Need all 4 props, but not all 4 props need to be powered. Typically, the outer pair are unpowered and called 'drag props', since they add drag. This is advantageous because it means that the pair of driven props (right in front of the rudder) can be run at a higher speed, creating more thrust over the rudder without increasing the ship's speed through the water. Makes you turn better
question: Can the "drag" props be run (slowly) in reverse thus requiring even more thrust from the "driven" props and giving even more rudder performance?
