USS Essex (ACW)

fishBait

Member
Next up on the project list is the Civil War USS Essex. Again, updates will only be for major milestone until the test build starts. At that time, I will start a new thread and give a blow by blow account.

As you can see, the USS Essex photos show the basic structure is complete. Now for he details and final part generation.

Stay tuned --

fishBait
 

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fishBait

Member
Progress report. Started generating the parts pages. Have the hull formers and keels output as final parts. Have the upper casement formers output as final parts. Working on the final print of the upper casement stringers. Just started unfolding the hull covering, adding detail to and unfolding of casement armor next.

On the ligher side, is anyone else struck by the simularity of the USS Essex framing to a Star Trek Shuttle in the first photo of this post (photo #4). When I made the graphic, I chuckled.

fishBait
 

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silveroxide

Senior Member
On the ligher side, is anyone else struck by the simularity of the USS Essex framing to a Star Trek Shuttle in the first photo of this post (photo #4). When I made the graphic, I chuckled.

fishBait


Actually, the first photo befuddle me, It looked like it was a twin hull and I was not aware of any War Between the States catamarans or twin hulls. I figure it out with the following photos and that photo was of the stern. Good wrk, waiting to see the build process.:wave:
 

fishBait

Member
Actually, the first photo befuddle me, It looked like it was a twin hull and I was not aware of any War Between the States catamarans or twin hulls. I figure it out with the following photos and that photo was of the stern. Good wrk, waiting to see the build process.:wave:

Actually, this configuration was used quite a bit on the river patrol vessesls. All seven "Pook" turtles (US cairo, USS Carondelet, etc), USS Benton, and others in addition to the USS Essex are designed this way. They used the format from "Snag Boats" ecause of its stability, weight carrying ability, and shallow draft; all desireable in a river patrol vessel.

Goto http://modelsnmoore.com for free downloads of the USS Cairo and USS Carondelet kits.

Thanks for the comment,

fishBait
 

fishBait

Member
As we continue the ongoing USS ESSEX saga, let us return to yesteryear and review where we were. The hull keels and bulkheads were finished, output and scaled to correct size. The casement stringers were finished, output and scaled to correct size.

Picking that up, the hull was unfolded (Figures 9 & 10) output (Figures 11 & 12). Notice the cuviture of the main deck which forms the top of the hull. This cuviture forces a different construction and design process on us. Stay tuned for the test build to see the difference. The red lower hull object in Figure 12 is to help see where certain curves are and have nothing to do with later painting and texturing.

The casement follows!

'till next time!

fishBait
 

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fishBait

Member
Prior to unfolding, the upper casement appears as in Figures 13 and 14. Again, note the curve where it joins the hull, the curves where the sides join the upper deck, and the round curve of the aft casement. A lot of round elements here to be considered. Unfolding the casement walls, we arrive at Figure 15. Here we have the finished, scaled casement ready for painting and texturing with some details (gundoors) already added.

The skeleton of the upper deck has been included and is ready to be detailed.


Next comes the top side structures, details, painting and texturing.

More later!

fishBait
 

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fishBait

Member
Yo everybody - For those that thought I forgot you, there is an answer as below. For those that did not think that, you are right. In the last post, I showed a graphic of the unfolded casement. After due consideration, I had to answer a critical question. When downloaded, will this result in an accurate model of the USS Essex. Sorry to say, I had to answer "NO!" I had made some assumptions to arrive at an easy unfold that were not valid.

So, back to the drawing board. Tonight, I unveil the corrected casement unfold. Most of you will not see a big difference in this one and the previous, but when built, the difference will stand out. So, back on the track and hopefully, there won't be any other hangups>

fishBait
 

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fishBait

Member
First a MAJOR (at least to me!) announcement. To date, the kits have been published at 200 dpi; now they will be published at 250 dpi. Since the kits are 1:250, this will result in a one-to-one between the kit scale and the print scale. Even though most probably will not be able to tell the difference, it really will produce a better scaled product and make the design process much more easy and accurate. Another indication that fishBait desires to produce the highest possible quality kits.

Final painting has been applied to the casement and top deck. All detail including ladders, side vents, gun door locations, and shutter locations have been added. The casement has been added to the final parts pages. Final painting has been applied to the hull. The sub hull keel and former mounting has also been completed. The hull assembly has been added to the final parts pages. Main deck has been completed with the final painting and detail added. It also has been added to the final parts pages.

Stay tuned,

fishBait
 

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fishBait

Member
Just a note to bring you up to date on the USS Essex and my website ModelsnMoore.com. You have probably noticed my extended absence from the forum as well as stagnation on my website. This has been caused by a long period of health issues. These issues have precluded me from participating in most of the things I love to do. At last, I think I can see the end of the tunnel. It seems that we have finally isolated the root causes of my problems and they can be corrected through surgery. If all goes right, I should be in surgery in the next week or so. Given time for recovery and I should be back on the beam and able to finish the USS Essex.

Thanks for your patience!

fishBait
 

fishBait

Member
Hello,

I'm back! Surgery went well and recovery is on track. I am still under strict restrictions, but looks like I can start doing a few things.

I will start a new thread tomorrow on the test build of the USS Essex here in ships and watercraft.

till morrow'

fishBait
 

Rogerio Silva

Active Member
fishBait

Good to know you're doing fine. I'd like to know one thing, though: the round part of the superstructure is the bow? Or the stern? Whichever that is, I think it would simplify unfolding and consequently building it if you separated it (the round part olnly) and made it one or two pieces.
Don't you think? At least it would reduce the number of middle cuts you have to do to make the part round, IMHO.
All the best and a prompt full recover!

Rogério
 

fishBait

Member
Rogerio,

Good to here from you down in Brazil, home of one of my favorite modeling websites, Papermau.

Thanks for your comments. The curved part of the ship is the stern and what makes the USS Essex such a challenge. This ship does not like straight lines or sharp angles. Your observations are quite astute, but a mitigating factor is the second curve where the sidewall joins the top casement deck.

My first design of the stern was immediately deem bad and discarded. I explored three other possibilities and actually built all three. The one I settled on seems to be very robust and easy to achieve. Keep track of the test build starting tonight on a new thread here in ships and watercraft.

fishBait
 

Bumbury

New Member
fish bait i love your site and your work.. thanks for all the effort you put into the quality kits you post... i would have nerver dreamed id find you here or on any forums.. this is just another reason i going to like this place... :thumb:

i do have one question for ya iv downloaded the essex and im wondering about printing the kit at home.. is their any particular settings i need or do i need to take it to kinkos or somthing like that...
 

fishBait

Member
fish bait i love your site and your work.. thanks for all the effort you put into the quality kits you post... i would have nerver dreamed id find you here or on any forums.. this is just another reason i going to like this place... :thumb:

i do have one question for ya iv downloaded the essex and im wondering about printing the kit at home.. is their any particular settings i need or do i need to take it to kinkos or somthing like that...

Brumby,

Thanks for the kind words and I appreciate you visiting my site. As to printing, you should not have any problems printing at home. Just make sure you use a good quality letter size 110 pound card stock. I get mine at Wal-Mart. Shoot me a photo when you get through building the Essex.

fishBait
 

Bumbury

New Member
thanks for the advise.. i will post a picture when i do put the kit together.. i found your build thread so that will be a great help. im currently building the La Housard french coastal brigitien (wooden POB Kit)1849 so it will be a bit before i get to the essex... im just right now lining up the projects.. and it will be my next build and my 1st paper ship so im doing the research now before jumping in with both feet...
 

fishBait

Member
Bumbury,

Just be aware that you picked a difficult subject for your first paper model build. Have at it and enjoy it.

fishBait
 
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