The USS New York (ACR 2)

[taylormade]

Hello everyone. I'm a newbie to the site and thought I'd post the saga of a scratch building project I'm starting - a large scale model of the cruiser New York (1893). If I’m going over topics and methods that have been discussed before, I apologize; some of my brilliant solutions are probably old hat to many of you.

My main interest has always been turn of the century warships, especially American, British and French, and the New York seemed like a good first project as the sides of the hull are pretty straight and she doesn’t exhibit the pronounced tumblehome of some of the French ships of the period.

A word of caution to all purists out there: my models are about 90 percent paper. Because they are so large, I use some wood for framework and brass for gun barrels. I build them to look like they were constructed around the turn of the century, with slightly exaggerated features and graphics.

The model below was my first attempt. It represents no particular ship as I was going for a generic warship of the period just to see if I could actually build something worth looking at. I designed and printed all the ships parts on heavy Bristol board and glued everything together with contact cement and white glue.

I grabbed some design elements from photos and plans I had and called her Illinois, after my home state. She is 38 inches long.









I learned a lot making this model and now I plan to use the experience to make a similar, more detailed model of an actual ship - the New York. I have the deck and hull sides almost finished and I'll begin with pictures and descriptions of her construction in the next installment.
RT

[birder]

That looks cool, like a sculpture/artwork

[B-Manic]

Very nice. Really captures the feel of the period. Reminds me of some of the antique models at kartonmodell-forum.org.

Thanks for sharing.
~Douglas

BTW - love the waves so much I may have to steal the idea.

[John Bowden]

Now that is just too cool! What are the waves made from??......... they look like the things (wooden braces) you use to put up corrigated fiberglass panels on a roof.

This model reminds me of the "tin" boats that were a little before my time......... um.... "tin" robots and jet airplanes were my time.......... in case anyone was wondering....

john

[redhorse]

Yep, that is really cool. And what everyone else said here too! It does look like a tin toy, and I love those things!

Thanks for sharing you're photos.

[B-Manic]

I knew it reminded me of something, this Currier & Ives print. Most Excellent. I like the tin toy idea. I think you may have discovered a popular modelling niche.

[taylormade]

The waves are wood that I cut with a bandsaw, then painted with an airbrush. Here is a closer look.



I love the look of the old illustrations, and that is what I was going for with this model.

[boosed]

It's truly a beautiful model that captures the period and the essence of the Great White Fleet ships. I look forward to seeing your version of the New York.

Don

[John Bowden]

No cigar............. but I was close Again you really did a nice job on building and displaying your model. Kudos!

john

[taylormade]

I just wanted everyone to know I haven't deserted the thread. I'm just finishing up revisions to the deck art and the hull sides and will be posting some photos in the next few days.
RT