N Scale Shipbuilding Plans

[pnolan48]

Here's a view of how I am building the superstructures of the Reliance-class cutters. On the left is the bridge of the pre-1985 cutter; on the right the expanded bridge and stack of the post 1985 cutters. The stack took away about 12 feet of the helicopter landing deck but freed up a lot of interior space. The transom exhausts were a nightmare to maintain.

[keystonecrossings]

Pete, don't know if you are interested, but I've been selling off about 300 lots of railroad drawings on eBay (seller keystonecrossings). There are a half dozen or so that are PRR tug boats, barges, and other marine craft.

[pnolan48]

In the course of building ships, I've needed all sorts of life boats and rescue boats. Most of the available boats are in 1:192 sack are too small, although the Bluejacket  1-13/16" motor lifeboat will serve as a 23' boat in N Scale. I've bought a boatload of them for my USCG cutters in the era prior to Rigid Inflatables. But I've also built my own masters for RIHBs, which will be available unpainted. On the right is the 21-footer that is the mainstay of smaller Coast Guard and Navy ships, or harbor patrols, as it is easily trailerable behind an SUV or pickup. It is not unusual for a warship or cutter to carry two of these. In the middle is the standard hull 27-footer used as a longer range mission boat. Most modern ships carry only one of these, as it requires a fairly large boat crane, and quite a bit of deck space. It is also trailerable, but just barely due to its width. On the left is the wide-hull 27-footer. I'm not sure this has been deployed yet except with special forces.



These are powered by one to three outboard motors or inboard jets. I have two outboards ready, basically medium and large.

[pnolan48]

Outboard Motors

On the left are two large outboard motors; on the right are two smaller but still sizable (in scale) motors. These will be available in two packs, unpainted. They are modeled on Evinrudes with 150 HP and up, depending on tune.

[pnolan48]

Twin 5-Inch Turret

These twin 5-inch 38 caliber turrets were the mainstay of WWII ships, fitted on everything from battleships to destroyers, freighters to landing ships. These are accurately scaled from construction drawings, and measurements I've taken. I've used a minimal approach to the hatches, rangefinders, ladders and reinforcements, as there were hundred of modifications between ships and eras, and I think modelers would prefer to add details according to specific ships and eras. These will be available in 3-packs, although I'll discount for those building battleships.



These are available now, as the molds are filled with any excess casting material from the hulls. I keep promising to have my website up soon but that too has proved a little more difficult than expected.

[pnolan48]

The US built 450 of the 173' steel hull Bluffton class subchaser in about 30 months. Some were built along rural river banks on simple keel blocks, with tall stepladders. Some served in the Korean war, while others where given to allied countries as patrol ships, and served well in the 1970s.

The model includes custom photo etched brass railings with catch fencing and the stanchions spaced correctly. There are 209 individual custom made parts, as well as anchors, guns, and rescue gear purchased from Bluejacket Shipcrafters. The hull is cast resin, with rarely modeled shunwaters made from brass. Anticipated price is $650. I'm a little disappointed at that price, but the models take longer to produce than I first estimated.

These are as accurate as I can make them, based on official plans and hundreds of photos. There are eight hulls in the first run, and they can be numbered and named for any ship of the class. John Wayne bought a real one and turned it into his yacht!





I am willing to build any ship in any scale on commission.

[pnolan48]

Is anyone interested in big freighters in the era prior to container ships in the 1970s? I've devised a method to build 410', 460', and 500' freighters (C1, C2 and C3), using common bows and sterns, which is prototypical. These would have a beam of 60'. These would be large ships for most layouts. The center "box" section would just come in three (or more) lengths.

Or would you prefer container ships of the same size? The difference between break-bulk freighter and container ships is mostly in the arrangement of the superstructures, so the hulls would be about the same. Container ships will be much less expensive, as there is not so much detail on the decks, but populating even a small ship with purchased containers might get expensive, even if only the outer layers were detailed.

These would be late freighters and early container ships--I think the huge modern container ships will have to be built on a commission basis.

Building the masters and molds will be my winter Alabama project.

[pnolan48]

Monthly update:

I cast the first bow of the large freighter today. It is 140 scale feet long by 60 scale feet wide by 22 scale feet deep (plus the forecastle @ 6 scale feet higher). It took 60 oz of mold materials for the two part mold, and 26 oz of casting materials for the piece.

I'll cast the freighter stern tomorrow morning. It is 110 feet long, with the same width and depth, plus poop deck. I may be able to cast the container ship stern tomorrow. It is shorter at 90 feet, without a poop deck.

But then I will be taking a break until October 16 for family visits.

The midship section will be available in 250-, 200-, and 150 foot lengths, yielding ships of 500', 450', and 400' length. There are two superstructures. The freighter has a midship house that will accommodate 20 passengers, so it is rather large. The container ship has a rear house, compressed and tall.

Pictures soon.

[pnolan48]

Some quick progress shots of the large freighters. I've popped the first bows and sterns out of resin, and they look good and fit well.

First is a fast 503' break bulk freighter built in the late 1940s, and in service even today.You can see the 140' cast bow and 103' stern (blue) and the styrene box mid-section of 250' length (grey). The large midship superstructure accommodates 20 passengers. I've casted all six hatches, the 24 cargo winches, and other deck details, but didn't have time to place them, as I am racing off to Alabama for a few weeks. I've drawn the photoetch railings but haven't sent them out yet. The superstructure is easy to build, once I (or you) have gotten the square windows cut out.



Next is a fast 435' container ship from the late 1960s to today. It uses the same bow (which is pretty typical in ship construction), a level stern and, for illustration purposes, a 200' center section. It could use a 150'. 250', 300' or even 350' center section and be well within modern shipbuilding practices--for mid-sized container ships. The rear, high superstructure is modeled after a similarly sized ship of the 1970s, still in service. I've drawn and cut the full deck-width folding hatches, but haven't molded them yet. I've also got the photoetch brass railings ready.



Finally, here's the two of them together, showing just two possibilities. The early container ships were converted break bulk freighters, so a container ships with a midship island is perfectly reasonable. So is a container ship with a poop deck and a tall, shallow superstructure near the break between poop and main decks.

[pnolan48]

My workbench is so full I had to move the completed items all over the house. I've shown nearly everything here before, except for the 173' minesweeper (second from top on the left) and the dock for the Santa Fe barges (bottom right, in white). The minesweeper and the 210' cutter below it are nearing completion; all the deck details have been mastered. Custom photoetch (especially railings) are either in-house or n production.



Most of the small parts and many subassemblies will be available separately.

[pnolan48]

Here's a closer view of the superstructure of the large break bulk freighter. It accommodated 20 passengers in a quite stylish fashion. This superstructure is being made from sheet styrene, and will be available separately as a built-up or, for the daring, as a kit. I've developed a new method for the protruding rings of the portholes that I feel is much better looking and more accurate than micro-eyelets. Custom photoetched railings are in production--this ship requires a lot of railing! The hatches and 20+ winches are in production, and accurate in scale for most ships.

[pnolan48]

Here's a closer view of the container ship bridge. This is the prototype, so some refinements need to be made. I shouldn't be surprised, but always am, that carefully calculated dimensions don't always line up like they should. Illustrator sometimes changes dimensions by a few microns, and the cutter has some creep and slop, so I guess this is inevitable and, if I fix it, it just might go in the other direction.



Like the freighter bridge, it is built from sheet styrene and will be available as a built-up or, for the slightly daring, as a kit--which is basically a sheet of scored styrene, and a small sheet of clear acetate. This was a fun small project to design and build. The custom photoetch railings are in production. The container ship will have full-wdith hatches.