Technical Question (looking at you Nimitzfan)

[vbsargent]

Does anybody know of any readily available resources for a shell plate expansion of a Wilkes class destroyer? I am trying to upscale Wilkes class form 1/200 to 1/72 scale and as a) I have never made a ship, and b) there is quite a scale difference. I am not comfortable with the traditional banding most paper model ships use, and am trying to hide the seams between the riveted plates.

My knowledge of ships is pretty limited (as are my funds ) so free would of course be the optimal solution!

Thanks guys and gals!

vbsargent

[aansorge]

Is freeship still around? As I recall, that program was pretty good at letting the operator decide where to separate plates, and let you know where to expect problems due to deforming.

Anyone still use freeship?

[looker]

Hope you're not looking to rely solely on a "shell plate expansion" since that's a technical name for a graphic representation that does not give the developed shapes of the plates correctly.

Freeship is still available from FREE!ship but development has moved on solely to Delftship, the commercial version. Steep learning curve.

Hullform is now available for free having exhausted it's development potential. BLUE PETER An older style of demanding user interface.

Either of these might give you the form of multi-chine design your looking for if you can provide the necessary knowledge and skill to get them to work. I personnally haven't persevered with them.

[vbsargent]

Actually I'm upscaling GPM 343 USS Ward DD139, laid down May 1918. One of its fellow Wilkes class battleships (HMS Montgomery at the time) had a run in with U96 of Das Boot fame. In real life Lothar G. Bucheim (the author of Das Boot) was a photographer on U-96 at the time of the run in and documented the attack with many a shakey photograph!

Anyway, what I plan to do is build UHU's Das Boot U-96 and an upscaled Wilkes class in 1/72 nd scale. But to improve the GPM model (or disguise the hull seams) I need an expansion of shell plating. Similar to the one below, but for a Wilkes class destroyer.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 4533x2539 and weights 1844KB.

[vbsargent]

The finished upscale will be just over 52"- Yep, you heard right- 4 feet 4 inches long (132.96cm) I am making extensive use of Photoshop and Illustrator. In the past I've created custom print sizes of various oddball lengths (8.5x18", 8.5x37", etc), so length is not a problem, My problem is hiding the joint seams on the lower hull, especially below the waterline.

By experimentation I found that after scanning I can enlarge the parts in Photoshop, import into Illustrator and create a translucent overlay of the plate lines with no fills, save as a jpg, then open in Photoshop for compositing, recoloring, and weathering if I so choose. By doing it this way I can have parts reshaped like this:


This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 791x651 and weights 23KB.


Please not that the above image is just a crude representation that would not build into anything worthwhile.

My experimentation has shown this to be a very feasable solution, but in working on it I ran into the problem of whether or not the plates nearest the keel were all uniform from the bow to stern(in all likelihood they weren't), or if they changed shape the further fore and aft they went. I have since answered this, but I don't want to just pull a pattern out of my @$$, so I need to know the hull plating expansion that was actually used.

Having heard from Nimitzfan, I am consitently running into brick walls. So it looks like I will have to use my "best guestimate" and wing it based on some photos showing hull plating.




vbsargent

[NimitzFan]

The well-known marine artist Tom Freeman painted a series of paintings about the Pearl Harbor attack. The attached one is the USS Ward firing and sinking the midget recently found off Pearl Harbor. Clinically this is the first shot of the Pacific War, since it happened more than an hour before the attack itself began. Tom's research has always stood up well to examination, and this painting strongly resembles that of several other four stackers working at Pearl Harbor in this period - basically Deck Blue all over except for the funnel tops.

BTW - A most interesting book on the topic of Pearl Harbor is Alan D. Zimm's "The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions," available from Amazon in both Kindle and Hardcover formats. Zimm is a modern defense analyst, and he applies modern approaches to the Japanese attack, and in the process he exposes how close it came to being a total disaster - for the Japanese. I don't know Mr. Zimm, but I found the book fascinating.

[hornswoggler]

Hi vbsargent

According to my information DD139 USS Ward belonged to the Wickes Class. One of her sisters was DD131 USS Buchanan which after it had been lend-leased to the British became I42 HMS Campbeltown. The latter acquired fame for its sacrificial role in the St. Nazaire Raid. This promted Al Ross to write the book "The Destroyer Campeltown" for the "Anatomy of the Ship" series. The book contains some photographs and lots and lots and lots of excellent drawings. Although I cannot swear to it, I would be surprised if it did not also contain a drawing that shows the plating. Try to get your hands on this book, maybe from your local library by interlibrary loan! You won't regret it. Each of the Anatomy books is a treasure trove for modellers.
Best

Hornswoggler