110' WWI Sub chaser.

[785boats]

I usually scratch build most of my scale boats, but I enjoyed building the Dauntless kit so much, that I bought the Dumas 110' Sub Chaser kit.
The idea was to build it after I finished the American Enterprise kit that I'm half way through.

But I couldn't help myself & started it ahead of time, a couple of months ago.
It's nearing completion, so I thought I'd post a few pics in a sort of retrospective build thread. I should have started it earlier, I know.

So here's the kit.

http://www.dumasproducts.com/product...oducts_id=1066

It's a very bare & basic kit compared to what the real boats had packed onto the decks. So I'm adding more detail with photos taken from the internet & this fantastic site linked below.
There are some brilliant photos of the real boats "Close Aboard" & of other peoples models too.

https://www.subchaser.org/home


Where to start.

Well, the kit comes with a great set of instructions & assembly diagrams & a full size top & side drawing & a full size keel drawing.
Step 1 is to assemble the two halves of each former, & then assemble the keel.

Next draw some lines on the building board & assemble the formers onto the keel.
A small dab of CA glue holds the formers to the board. The tabs are cut away later.
Then the wood strips are added at the deck line.

A little sanding to fair the timber to the formers & then the planking was added.
A bit of tapering, & beveling is required to fit some of the planks.
Also a bit of splicing of the planks, because the basswood planks provided are not quite long enough to reach from stem to stern.

Joining the formers together.
m_02.jpg

Laying the keel.
m_2.jpg

Assembling the frames & keel on the building board.
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Planking underway.
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Notice the spliced planks. They were really only an inch or so short but I staggered the joints for structural integrity so they weren't all in the same line.
m_008.jpg

[785boats]

Then it was on to the deck.
The kit comes with 1/4" basswood planks. But at the 1:35 scale that this kit is, they are much too wide when compared to photos of the original boats. So I split them in half, down to 1/8" wide. Still a tad wide I think, but much more realistic.
The king plank down the center remained 1/4" wide though, as per the original boats.
I laid a couple of margin planks along the outside edge of the deck & then laid all the planks parallel to the king plank, as per the original boats.

Before the finished deck was glued onto the hull, I added the rudder post tube, the stuffing tube, the servo mounts & servo, and the motor mounts.

Then the hull was sanded & filled & sanded again.

The bulwarks & rub rails were added & construction of the cabin & bridge was started.

King plank & margin planks added to the deck.
m_0.jpg

Planking all finished & sanded.
m_002.jpg

Rudder tube, servo stuffing tube, & the motor mounts added before the deck is glued on.
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Deck attached. Bulwarks & rub rails added. Superstructure under construction.
m_012.jpg

Front view of the bulwarks & deck in place, with the hull & filler all sanded to shape.
m_011.jpg

[785boats]

Next I tackled the handrails.
Full size drawings are supplied, & the brass rod is simply taped to the drawings & all soldered together.

Brass rod taped to the drawings and soldered together.
m_013.jpg

Railings removed from the plans & bent into the appropriate shapes.
m_015.jpg


Then it was time to start on the fiddly bits. I decided to paint them as I made them & store them in a box.

Here's the cabin & wheelhouse finished & painted, along with various hatches, air vents, the 3" Pool gun, & the winch.
m_020.jpg

Next I tackled the main mast, jack stay & davits etc.
m_021.jpg

Then it was the Y gun depth charge launcher which was supplied with the kit. I added extra depth charges & the depth charge rack for the rear of the boat, which I glued to the rudder hatch.
m_019.jpg

[785boats]

Made the stanchions from tubing & wire eyelets as per the drawings. drilled them into a scrap piece of ply for painting.
m_016.jpg


Here's a few more bits added to the pile of items, including stanchions, equipment lockers, 44 gallon fuel drums, searchlight, weather break, & navigation light frames.
P1010007.jpg

[Fluid]

I?m certain it will be gorgeous!

[fweasel]

Another great build started. I just don't have the patience for a project like that, but it sure fun to watch the progress.

[785boats]

Thanks guys.
I just love WWI & pre WWI navy boats. It's the history that is learned during the research for the builds that I really like. The wide wide world of web is an amazing thing.

Here's a few more pics to catch up to her current status.

The hull was painted a couple of weeks ago.
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The original boats had 3 motors & drives. I bought 3 little 385 size motors to install, but when they arrived it all became too hard to fit them & the drive shafts into the narrow hull. So I ended up just fitting a single 540 motor as per the plans.

The 540 motor from an old battery drill fitted.

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The commencement of fitting the deck gear.

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Talking about patience. At the moment I'm making a dozen or so tiny little wooden chocks to tie the spare depth charges down to on the deck.
A bit tedious. But fun.

Here's an old movie involving the sub chasers, made in 1939. Thunder Afloat.
Entertaining, with some great images of life on these boats.

Some real action of firing the Y gun depth charge launchers starting at around 1:24

https://archive.org/details/thunderafloat1939

[785boats]

Sorry for not posting lately, but night shift really knocks me around.

I've managed to do a lot of the fiddly bits, so she's nearly ready for sea trials. But because of the virus issue, we are not allowed out for recreational purposes.
But that's nothing compared to what hundreds of thousands of people have to endure.

So here are the chocks for the depth charges mentioned in the previous post.

P1010019.jpg

In this photo...
The life preservers were made from 10mm washers with some strips of masking tape and thread added.
The Lewis guns & ammo cases were resin 1/35 scale kits. Assembled & painted.
The double hand pump was made from bits of tube & wood.
The Carley float was made from a bit of a coaxial antennae lead & some thin strips of wood. Still need to add some ropes around it yet.
I also added some strips of masking tape around the mast to represent the steel straps, and added the foot pegs.

P1010020.jpg

So here's a couple of shots with everything in its rightful place. Including the handrails & the rigging and aerials.

P1010028.jpg

[785boats]

I thought I might add some close ups showing some of the extra bits & pieces that aren't included in the kit. And there's still more to add on yet.

Let's start at the stern.
There's the depth charge rack & extra depth charges.
The two covers over the steering cables on the deck either side of the tiller hatch.
You can just make out the two Samson posts behind the rear handrail stanchion & the flagstaff.
Two life preservers tied to the handrails.
The Carley float at the front of the cabin.
Extra depth charges for the Y gun tied down to the deck.

P1010022.jpg

A couple of Samson posts either side of the hatch.
The double hand pump.
Canvas cover for the Wherry (cut from an old khaki coloured shirt).
The 8 sand buckets (without sand as yet) and the crate that they sit in. The buckets were in the same kit as the 50 gallon fuel drums.
Equipment lockers either side of the Wherry made from thin birch strips.

P1010023.jpg

Here we can see the Lewis machine guns mounted on a 1/8" dowel post. A couple of ammo boxes on the deck in front of them.
The signal flag lockers mounted behind the guns. Again made from thin birch strips ( left over deck planking).
Canvas weather shields on the railings cut from the same cloth as the cover on the Wherry.
A couple more life preservers.
50 gallon fuel drums. These & the sand buckets are from a 1/35 scale Tamiya kit.

P1010025.jpg

Another view of the fuel drums.
The antennae tube & the guard. The guard was cut from a piece of fly screen & bent to shape. A couple of ammo lockers either side of the Pool gun
The search light up on top of the fly bridge.

P1010035.jpg

The only extra bit here is the chain guides on the deck. And another view of the ammo lockers.
But you can also see the aerial attachment to the top of the jack staff via a pulley, and the handrail installation.
Unfortunately those anchors supplied with the kit are totally the wrong type for this boat. I will change them when I find some of the right type & scale.

P1010027.jpg

[785boats]

Just some more pics from different angles.

This one shows a bit more of the rigging and the aerial connections.

P1010032.jpg

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How the seagulls see it.

P1010031.jpg

A better view of the rear Samson posts & the Carley float.
I still need to carve the oars for that yet too.

P1010037.jpg


As I said, there's still plenty more that can be added yet. A 1/35 scale WWI navy crew is on the list.
If anyone can help with that, I will be most appreciative.

Cheers.

[fweasel]

I love all of the aerial rigging. Gives the model a lot of height.

[785boats]

Thanks. Yes it does give it some dimension.
Have a guess how frustrating it was to rig this boat with my pudgy sausage fingers.

[Jesse J]

amazing work Paul!
as i was cruising through your pics, and appreciating all the bits and bobs.. I was wondering how top heavy this might be?
got ballast?

ready for test run video..

[785boats]

Hi there Jesse.
Thanks for the compliment.
A good point you raise.
Pat Trittle, over on R/C groups, is an amazing scale modeler
In his build thread, he raised the waterline boot topping a bit, to allow the boat to settle in the water a bit more than the plans showed, with some extra ballast.
I followed his lead.
I have some strips of adhesive wheel balance weights that I will use to ballast it to the waterline. I was going to do that at the lake.
But it looks like I will fill the bath tub & do it here at home, as we are not allowed out for recreational purposes at the moment because of the virus.

You've got to admire the sailors on these little boats, heading out into the seas of the North Atlantic.

The bulwarks underwater

Woofenden-SC-254-seas.jpg

A heavy swell.

Parks-at-sea-02.jpg

Diving like a submarine.

Miller-Diving.jpg

But they had fun too.

SC-99-McKeige-depth-charge.jpg

[Doug Smock]

Very nice as usual Paul!