USS Tarawa LHA1 1/200

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barry

Active Member
Jan 28, 2004
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Hull frames complete

At the risk of being boring finally the frames are all glued together and it is still flat on top etc. The side decks will get another layer of card underneath to correct the colour and straighten out the wavy bits after the hull plating is finished.





maybe now it will get more interesting.
 
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Bowdenja

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Sep 26, 2005
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Well........ if you call checking in all the time looking for addition posts and sitting on the edge of my chair boring.............you have hit the nail right on the head!

She looks great Barry, I'm really beginning to appreciate your work now that I have started on my tiny boats............... I have a hard time keeping them straight..............and so far they are only 6 times smaller than yours!:eek:

john
 
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barry

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Jan 28, 2004
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Keel plates

Well I have made a start on the keel plates using the same method as the Gearing this time using 160 gsm paper, a bit heavier. I painted the leading edge backs with red water colour after sanding the leading edges. I used pva glue to help moulding the plates to the previous plate. Not the ideal way but it's a long hull and most people will see it from the side anyway. I shall sand the waterline edge of the hull plates to merge in a little better when I get that far. Frankly it is a damn sight easier to do than trying to line up endless plates if I have to make a correction there are plenty of straight plates towards the stern. as it gets wider I will add L beams in as necessary and also extra formers.





 
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Marko

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Jun 1, 2007
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astonishing mate.

this one is (will be) in my opinion the diamond of all the models built ever.
 
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Jim Krauzlis

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Sep 26, 2005
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Wotcher, bazzer!

I think that using overlapping plates is a great idea, given the way you have feathered the edges so the seams are nearly un-noticed. As we saw with the Gearing, this seems to avoid the potential bumps along the formers and gives a very nice, almost entirely smooth finish. The weight/thickness of the card being used has a lot to do with the seams but the sanding seems to work nicely in reducing the edges. By the way, what do you use for sanding? I have used a very fine sandpaper/grit on some paper models and it's a delicate operation to avoid raising the grain on the paper too much from the sanding. I'd say whatever you used or how you did it worked wonderfully.

I am anxiously awaiting more progress photos as you continue.

Cheers!
Jim
 
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barry

Active Member
Jan 28, 2004
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More keel plates

jr and rick thank you for looking and the flowers

Marko wish it will be that good but...........

Jim

I used wet and dry No 800 fine grit dry you have to practice to hold the plate still and only work from the middle to the edges otherwise it is disastrous the card just crumples up.

The real idea is to allow cardcutters with moderate capabilities to produce a reasonable underwater hull with a pretty large tolerance of error.

So far there is only one area where the ribs show and I think that will be covered by the hull side and waterline. It does look better in daylight and real life without the pesky flash.

Anyway here's the next bit after this I will have to add the L beams not for gluing just relieving the pressure when the plates are pulled down.





 
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barry

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Jan 28, 2004
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Under water plating finished

Hi All

Finally a complete underwater hull is finished and I am happy to say anybody could build it and achieve a decent result.:mrgreen:

I did not use the L beams instead I put in a couple more formers on the wider spaced framing and that was enough

For once I am happy with it. May not be the best but it will do for me. I shall not paint the plating I do not think it would improve it and it is a card model after all.

If the weather is better tomorrow I would like a daylight picture.



 
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Gregory Shoda

Member
Apr 17, 2004
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Sir Barry:

I don't know if the Queen appreciates Air Bob confering the Order of the Garter on you! However, lesser modelers such as I will agree to call you "sir!"

I wish I had your computer skills. Your hull came out very well. Any thought to reinforcing it from the inside?
 
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barry

Active Member
Jan 28, 2004
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Tarawa

Thanks for all the kind words fellas I don't think I will get a mention in the honors list for "Services to Card Modeling" somehow so I will accept the very real Golden Bear award with more pleasure. Anyway I would look silly in that Garter get up.

I thought long and hard about strengthening the hull but I decided filling it with foam would leave me with one hell of a sanding problem which I am not good at. I do not like hacking through 2 mm cardboard so my choice is for twice as many thin formers because it is less effort and 2mm card requires a good sanding technique to blend it to the curves. My other theory is that the less distance between formers the less sag you get as for strength I reckon you could probably stand on it. NO I am not going to prove it. I just bang girders in until it feels solid. The flight deck will have a mass of cross pieces under it same theory no finesse but solid.

One thing about overlapping you know the last piece has to fit and worked just as well as on Gearing.

Got to go and unfold the bow now and decide just how many of the hull plates I can glue before putting the whole lot on as a wrap piece.

regards
 
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barry

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Jan 28, 2004
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Tarawa bow

Looks like another hurdle passed this bit you have believe it will fit. A case of knowing the sides are straight and fixing those with paper back tabs then gently persuading the skins they can fit there. It even looks like it fits as well. It's one of those bits that has to be sprung into position. There is another top band to hold the shape to the hull top as the whole thing slopes down to meet the first hull plates. Might do another one with coloured tabs.



 
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barry

Active Member
Jan 28, 2004
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Prefabrication

Big parts

American ship got to be prefabricated I just think that the bow changes of shape need to be done with as much free space as possible so I am going to try to build like this as far as the straight line break in the hull. This is the 3rd build of the bow got far too much glue on the first 2.

At the moment the weathering is the same both sides does it need to be different on each side ?






 
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