1/32 Shipbuilding....Almost (1 Viewer)

[jules118]

Great thread, with some great ideas and sources of inspiration. Really like the steampunk tank idea.

A question though, do any of you guys have any experience or knowledge of the desktop 3D printers that are available these days? Seems like a good way to design and build bits & pieces for models and dios.

cheers

jules

 

[theBaron]

... A question though, do any of you guys have any experience or knowledge of the desktop 3D printers that are available these days? Seems like a good way to design and build bits & pieces for models and dios.

I always have two followup questions on the subject of the 3D printers:

Has the price of the hardware and software come down yet to the point where most modelers can afford them?

How clean are the resulting parts, that is, do they require a lot of cleanup, removing cut lines or layer markings, for example, before they can be used?

There's a 3D extrusion machine called Modelbot (search "modelbot" on YouTube), that uses CAD files to run an extruder that can create objects in 3 dimensions, but the result piece needs a lot of cleanup, and you have to buttemble the machine and wire it up yourself.

I like to do some woodworked, and there are 3D carvers out there, but the cheapest one I've seen is still $1800, so I'm not ready to chuck my carving knives and chisels yet. I feel the same way about the 3D printers. I don't know that it's easier than using our current scratchbuilding methods.

Plus, it's more satisfying and more fun to scratch it

Prost!
Brad

 

[jules118]

I always have two followup questions on the subject of the 3D printers:

Has the price of the hardware and software come down yet to the point where most modelers can afford them?

How clean are the resulting parts, that is, do they require a lot of cleanup, removing cut lines or layer markings, for example, before they can be used?

There's a 3D extrusion machine called Modelbot (search "modelbot" on YouTube), that uses CAD files to run an extruder that can create objects in 3 dimensions, but the result piece needs a lot of cleanup, and you have to buttemble the machine and wire it up yourself.

I like to do some woodworked, and there are 3D carvers out there, but the cheapest one I've seen is still $1800, so I'm not ready to chuck my carving knives and chisels yet. I feel the same way about the 3D printers. I don't know that it's easier than using our current scratchbuilding methods.

Plus, it's more satisfying and more fun to scratch it

Prost!
Brad

Brad,
I've heard of a 3D printer brand named RepRap thrown around. Apparently they can be bought for as low as $600, but don't know much more than that. I couldn't figure out if you have to build it yourself or whether it comes out of the box ready to use. We've got a 'higher end' model at the college where I work and the pieces it has turned out are pretty good. I have not tried drafting any plans or using it myself as yet, but looking at the models that the industrial design people have churned out using it, I can see the potential for this hobby.

jules

 

[steveemmo]

someone asked about CSS. Texas, what size should she be ?

 

[theBaron]

Brad,

...I can see the potential for this hobby.

jules

I agree about the potential, but I'm not sure the technology has gotten cheap enough yet for the average modeler to afford it.

Prost!
Brad

 

[maddadicus]

someone asked about CSS. Texas, what size should she be ?

Since you are a master carpenter, you can build to whatever size you wish and still have the ship look the part. A guess would be 3 feet long, but that tends to make it too much boat for the average collector to display. I usually dummy down my dimensions to about 18 inches to 24 inches, as well as size down my lengths on all above deck cabins and such. I keep my heights to allow TS to fit. My USS Osage is about 26 inches long and 5 and 1/2 inches wide. With all superstructures sized down to represent the proper layout of the deck features, looks great with 54mm figures..Michael

 

[theBaron]

...I usually dummy down my dimensions to about 18 inches to 24 inches, as well as size down my lengths on all above deck cabins and such...

That's a great point, Michael, I think that's very much in keeping with style of a toy. Think of the old tin toy battleships--they weren't to scale, but just represented the real thing. They were meant to be played with. I like how your boats capture that style.

Prost!
Brad

 

[steveemmo]

i think i may have to pick another southern boat if i am to condense the structure down to the toy scale (which is something i am persistantly told to do by pat adams) but the only reason i want to build Texas is the long fore & aft decks....lots of lovely wood grains to polish up there, and it is the ships main feature and one that sets the Texas apart from the earlier confederate vessels, i dont think anything less than the 3 ft. mentioned earlier in this thread will do her justice, i wanted to know what my maximum size to make her should be, as apparently someone may be going to try and get her back to the States on the return from a london trip......hopefully not as hand luggage

 

[kilted vampire]

i think i may have to pick another southern boat if i am to condense the structure down to the toy scale (which is something i am persistantly told to do by pat adams) but the only reason i want to build Texas is the long fore & aft decks....lots of lovely wood grains to polish up there, and it is the ships main feature and one that sets the Texas apart from the earlier confederate vessels, i dont think anything less than the 3 ft. mentioned earlier in this thread will do her justice, i wanted to know what my maximum size to make her should be, as apparently someone may be going to try and get her back to the States on the return from a london trip......hopefully not as hand luggage

I think the main point is to focus on the identifying features of the prototype, and then use selective compression for your model. Most book cases are usually 3' to 4' in length. Plane trip does sound like an interesting component to the story. I think 3' feet is right. Hopefully we will get to see this. Might check with the air lines to see maximum length allowed.

 

[steveemmo]

The strangest ship of the war

USS. Choctaw, propeller and side paddle driven river boat, ungainly, ugly (in a beautiful way) lured in to shallow water run a ground and captured by wading soldiers and then recaptured by union forces using a hastily constructed dummy ship with beer barrels for chimneys, enough to scare away the capturing confederate forces struggling to make her ready to fight

 

[steveemmo]

Choctaw completed with flags

 

[steveemmo]

CSS. Texas started this one on a different thread, i know she dont look like much right now ... but i have high hopes

 

[steveemmo]

Re: The strangest ship of the war

USS. Choctaw, propeller and side paddle driven river boat, ungainly, ugly (in a beautiful way) lured in to shallow water run a ground and captured by wading soldiers and then recaptured by union forces using a hastily constructed dummy ship with beer barrels for chimneys, enough to scare away the capturing confederate forces struggling to make her ready to fight

those paddle housings dont look right do they ? but apparently thats how they had them built this way because they looked big and intimidating, making the ship look more impressive and powerful than it perhaps was.

 

[maddadicus]

Re: The strangest ship of the war

those paddle housings dont look right do they ? but apparently thats how they had them built this way because they looked big and intimidating, making the ship look more impressive and powerful than it perhaps was.

You got the essence of the Choctaw right. Attached a CAD drawing, actual photo, my 15mm scale gaming model built from scratch..Michael

 

[steveemmo]

strange thing to build was the choctaw, i had an idea of her in my head and set off building her up, and it was only later when i saw better and more detailed pictures of her that i noticed i had buggered up the front end completely ..so i just wrapped the project up as best i could, but like you say the essence of the vessel was there, so "more research" was the lesson learned on this one ! hoping to get this new one "as near to" as i can