Modern warships hulls

T

Tckirner

Joined
Aug 8, 2017
Messages
12
Points
48

wondering how people make the hull on a modern metal ship. I just completed a USCG cutter and applied vertical sheets to frames. The hull was not ideal. (It was also my first scratch build.)

I tried polystyrene but that did not work. The sheets of basswood worked butter. But the bow did not work with the basswood. So I carved the bow section out of balsa wood. ( You can tell I am a real rookie.) I attached a picture of the finished ship. You can see some of the hull problems.

thanks

490E6574-EC63-413F-9266-C868ADC5A43D.jpeg
 
Actually, you did a great job from what I see in the photo. Your discovery of the issues “plating” a hull as opposed to planking are valid for the modeler. Sometimes varying the size of the plate helps…many smaller plates as opposed to fewer larger plates. Another issue is making sure you have enough base shaping materials for the plates to follow and adhere to…this might include adding filler blocks between false bulkheads. Depending on the desired hull detailing some have used solid hull construction for the hull…giving the plating maximum surface to bend onto and adhere. Since most modern warship steel hulls are painted, paper card stock (the stuff paper models use) is a useful material for plating. Card stock is easily shaped, bent, and glued to form steel plating. But you did great! If you said nothing I, for one, would not have noticed any issues!
Edit: If you ever see the hull of a real steel warship it is not smooth…full of bumps, dips, waves, divots, whatever. So any perceived flaws in your model is most likely more true to form than not! :)
 
Last edited:
I like your model. I have never seen a blue gun before. Where did that idea come from?
 
Thanks for the insights on plating.
the gun in the pictures I used was covered in a tarp. So I decided making a tarp would be easier than the gun itself. I found good videos on tarp making on youtub.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top