1/97 American Scout C2 cargo ship - wood

[domer94]

so what does one do while they are waiting for parts on one project and its 22 degrees out .. quiet sunday , family just hanging about... yes dig out an ancient kit that once kicked my ass when i was young. its hard to believe a 52" ship will come out of this matchstick box. it is almost all BALSA , which is like building out of saltine crackers. the kit is in pretty good shape though... numbers on parts , the wood doesnt crumble completely in your hand yet. it will take lots of glue , reinforcement gussets and kid gloves when cutting the pieces out. it is precut , but i use that term loosely. anyhow , i layed the tank top structure which has to be assembled on a flat surface(found a piece of foam insulation) with parchment paper under so the glue doesnt adhere. not straying from plastic, i have the 1/200 sovremenny going on as well. i prepped the hull seam , installed bilge keels. will start a thread on that at some point.

 

[BarleyBop]

Nice! You sure can pick 'em!

 

[domer94]

and slowly... out of the box of balsa wood , a ship starts to take shape!
ill tell ya, working with this balsa is a real challenge

 

[BarleyBop]

Ooh, is that a scarf joint?

 

[domer94]

tis a scarf joint... but im not taking credit. its the kit piece

 

[Rockin' Rob]

What glue are you using for your balsa wood?

 

[domer94]

What glue are you using for your balsa wood?

for the most part , "Gorilla wood glue" sets up quick , but allows some working time. i will use CA for the fiddly bondings. if i have to follow up and fill gaps and reinforce , ill use normal white glue. this wood is so porous it takes a good dollop all around

 

[domer94]

finished up the frames, stern section and structural stringers. now everything gets to dry well before i flip it over to do the bilge sections. i added small blocks as gussets where i could. the actual canoe stern piece is a solid block i have to carve and sand out. my wife was watching this thing grow and now im sure shes wondering where i plan on putting it (not trying to sound filthy here )

 

[domer94]

made some headway tonight. installed the bilge sections.. solid pieces of balsa. fitted one of the hull side panels. the bow and stern will be planked with some somewhat wide balsa strips. looks a bit rough now, but there will be sanding and filling... lots of sanding , but the balsa reacts quickly at least.

 

[BarleyBop]

somewhat wide

...no kidding! But speedier process, I imagine...

 

[domer94]

...no kidding! But speedier process, I imagine...

yes , those side pieces cover a lot , but the bow / stern are supplied with about 3/4" wide strips to work the curves with. going to try to work on it today and see how balsa planks work out

 

[domer94]

got a lot done today... finished covering the hull. applied the deck sections and they will be drying until tomorrow using specialized weights. the bottom of the prow will be shaped into a small sized bulb as seen on the c5 hulls. i did fair out much of the hull and im happy with the result. should come out nice after the whole process is complete. i have to add some material to make the forward bulwarks more in scale.

 

[urumomo]

Party Boat Deluxe

 

[BarleyBop]

Very cool seeing the hull take shape!
And the process is almost more like sculpture, balancing the removal of material with the addition.

 

[domer94]

barleybop... yes sculpture. good word. today i felt like a sculptor. i took what looked like a mess of wood and formed it into the bow bulb.. i wanted to go with a type of bow seen on the iowa class BB's since this is before the era of true bulbous bows. this is where the artistic license comes in... especially after seeing a an actual c5 vessel in drydock. so a lot of sanding today , then started with the stern block. sculpted some transition points. as far as the focsle, i had to build up the forward bulwarks with the openings for the roller chocks , also needed to scratch up some areas outlining the deck sections to make them flush with the outside of the hull. also added a stem section to the prow so it could be sanded fair and create the sharp entry.

 

[domer94]

here are some pics of the work on the stern section. was interesting to carve the canoe stern out of a block of wood... i just received a mini disc sander which helped a lot. so far happy with the way things are coming. will be applying some filler tonight

 

[BarleyBop]

Very nice! Feeling the contours of the hull, you must imagine the water flow, the hydrodynamics, the wake and the eddies.

 

[domer94]

for the size of this thing , it probably could be a test tank model... !

 

[BOATMAN]

HI VERY nice job done on your hull will you paint it with sandin seal ? as i also build big wooden hulls like my hms tiger in 1 /72 scale an that was 8 ft long so i know what your building arts are yes very well done on your hull
chrisb

 

[domer94]

HI VERY nice job done on your hull will you paint it with sandin seal ? as i also build big wooden hulls like my hms tiger in 1 /72 scale an that was 8 ft long so i know what your building arts are yes very well done on your hull
chrisb

yes, i have applied filler and im in the process of detail sanding. i do have sealer and wood grain filler that i will be applying / sanding before paint. thanks for the kind words. been working on the details of the other model so when i get time i will cycle back to this hull. more updates to come