The De Zeven Provincien was one of 7 Dutch Ships in service from the first Ship of the Line in 1664, to a modern day Frigate. The AC that I am building in MWC format was built in 1910 and served till sunk by the Japanese in 1942. She was refloated and used by the Japanese till sunk once more by the British in 1943. I first ran across this ship back in 2001 while searching the internet. A model contest in the Netherlands was sponsoring the building of any one of the seven ships. So I sent off and received a set pf plans for the 1910 Zeven Provincien. The plans where very detailed but too small. In the enlarging process at kinkos, the lines became too thick and distorted. My only other recourse was to plot the lines out myself and redraw the sheet plans in 1/144 scale. This took a few weeks, but has paid off as I now have a very nice set of plans in 1/144 scale. I first built a plug back in 2002 but an Army Deployment put the project on hold. When I returned, I found that my sons had used the plug in the pool. So much for that plug! So the ship got placed on the back burner. Now that I am retired and fully back into the hobby, the Zeven Provincien is back on the build list. I want a small ship for our campaign as she can be relaoded and launched several times. I hope you enjoy the build. "De Zeven Provincien" (1910) Click For Larger View Click For Larger View Click For Larger View I have decided on a fiberglass hull, so 1st off I am building the plug and then casting the mold and hull. For those who have never done a fiberglass hull from scratch, this will be a good reference for you. Click For Larger View The hull lines are copied onto paper. If you notice the hull lines on your plans, one half is the bow to mid, the other half is stern to mid. So I copy one half, fold the paper, and trace the copied lines to the other half. Click For Larger View Click For Larger View Rinse and repeat for the other half. Click For Larger View Then I make how ever many copies I need off of the printer. Click For Larger View I then cut the patterns and glue them to the wood with a glue stick. Click For Larger View Then simply cut the patterns out. Be sure to number them! Click For Larger View There are hundreds of ways to do this, but I like to use a "Building Board" and build deck up, not keel up. I find it keeps the hull straight and level. If you are building a ship that has a curve in the hull, just put "legs" on the hull pieces to extend them up a inch or so. This way the hull keeps it form. I will add a example later tonight of the "Legs" * I should have raised this plug up a little from the board with "legs" as well. Then I could have just cut the hull off of the board... plus it would be easier to shape the sides... I draw out a center line, then mark all the lines where the sections will go, then glue the sections to the board. Click For Larger View I put spacers between the sections to keep them straight as the foam can push them... Click For Larger View At this point, everything is straight, level and correct. Click For Larger View I box off the sections with cardboard to contain the foam. Click For Larger View Click For Larger View Here is the first pouring.. I use two ro three pourings so I dont waiste foam. Click For Larger View I use foam-8 from smooth-on, it has a 1:8 expandable ratio Click For Larger View I also tape off the top after pouring so the foam rises to the tape, then will compact some making it more rigid. Click For Larger View Click For Larger View After foam cures, simply cut off excess. I use a rasp as well. Click For Larger View Now it is time for Bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding, bondo sanding. I repeat this till I am comfortable with my plug. Caution, this plug is the exact thing you will get, so make any changes now.... Click For Larger View One of my deck hands at work sanding the bondo! More to come!
That's really interesting -- please keep the posts coming. Do you sand the hull pieces to profile, or does the foam do all the work? Incidentally where did you get the plans?
Very nice. Haven't heard of this one before but it looks like a great small ship. I'll be watching this build! I too like to build from the deck up. I find it easier to keep a straight warp free hull when the entire hull length is supported on the building board. The "leg" method works very well. I used it for an Omaha build. www.rcnavalcombat.com/Forum/tabid/5...fault.aspx
I received the original plans, 1/350 I think.. from the model contest. I had to plot and redraw the plans from scratch. I have to 1st sheet done that has the hull lines, top view and side view. I have plans on doing the second sheet later that has all the housing and smaller details.
The foam does the work. I cut the frames out real close and after sanding several coats of bondo it will be very smooth...
Nice work on the Omaha. I wish I had done that to this build. I most likely will have to pull it off the board soon...
I sure like the way you used expanding foam to fill in between the ribs. It sure beats cutting and gluing sheet foam between each rib like I've done in the past.
Nice. Please keep updating this, I am very interested in how you do it. Quick question of clarification: It looks like you did not do ANY sanding of the ribs before you added the foam. Is that the case? I know it is basically the same question asked before, but I wanted to be clear for when I attempt this.
I cut the frames very close to the templates but I dont bother to sand them any more as they will get sanded several times when using the bondo to flair it out. The frames sometimes are off anyway so as I sand the bondo I spot those and get them during that phase. I basicly cover the entire hull with bondo and sand till I see wood frames, the rinse and repeat till her curves look good...
I had to stop here and make some changes. I should have used legs to keep the hull off of the building board. This would have allowed for easier sanding and shaping. So I have broke the hull plug off of the board and did some shaping of the center of the hull for the weather deck there since it drops one level lower than the bow and stern. Tomorrow I will be putting some legs on here and fixing the plug back to the board. Click here for larger photo Click here for larger photo Click here for larger photo You can see here where I cut the lower deck.... Click here for larger photo Click here for larger photo Click here for larger photo Click here for larger photo
Before putting her back on a board, I decided to go ahead and shape out the flairings for the secondary cannons. These flairs on hull are easy to do but take awhile if done right. A lot of carving and sanding... mcspuds.net/pics/prov/prov108.JPG mcspuds.net/pics/prov/prov108.JPG mcspuds.net/pics/prov/prov108.JPG mcspuds.net/pics/prov/prov108.JPG
Now that the Mutt is combat ready, it's time to do a rush job. The plug is finished so now I have just under a month to have this one built for the campaign battles. Plug was mounted on a board to make it easy to move around when wet. Click For Larger View You can see a mark in the middle where the plug actually broke in half. The paper on the ribs was never removed and if not careful it will separate.... had to glue it back real fast.... Click For Larger View Click For Larger View Click For Larger View Click For Larger View First side done for the mold... I am doing this one in two pieces... I should wait for some gel coat, but I dont have time to wait. It will all be painted anyway... You can see the dam made out of clay to section off the sides. When 1st side is dry to touch, I will remove the clay and rewax the rest.. this leaves a nice flange to work with when putting the two together with bolts. Click For Larger View Click For Larger View You can see the shinny new wax here for the 2nd side. Click For Larger View and on goes the glass Click For Larger View Now to wait for just a while to let it cure some, and then I will cut the scrap off, drill some holes in the new flange for bolts, and pop off the mold from the plug She is near ready for the first run of the hull.. it wont be pretty because I dont have any gel coating, but it will be fine....
Heh....guess Spudsy dropped below his minimum active projects threshold. If he's not working on at least 3 boats, he finds another one to do
I don't see how yall can build more then one ship at a time. The one I'm working on is racking my brain and one at a time is enough for me.....for now, maybe.
