San Antonio class LPD ideas, suggestions, and whifs.

[scooter]

Its close enough.

[zenrat]

There's always one!

I'm wonder if he missed the NUMA Rotodyne on the fantail 

I did!
Not paying attention - 5 demerit points.
I think I was distracted by the wonderful paint job.

Dirk Pitt would obviously have a Rotodyne in his collection of historic vehicles.

[seadude]

Just got the 1/350 Bronco Models USS San Diego SAN ANTONIO class LPD kit in the mail today. After reviewing the contents and the instruction sheets, I have decided not to build it into a Ballistic Missile Defense ship as described in my opening thread post. If I had gone that route, it would've meant serious cutting, grinding, sanding, etc. of the superstructure to make it look like the linked article/picture I provided.

A Command & Control ship to replace the Blue Ridge class seems too plain. The only thing to make the San Antonio class into a command and control ship is the addition of extra antennaes, domes, and other radar/sensors. That to me hardly seems exciting enough of changes to make the ship worthwhile to look at.

So.........what I think I may do instead is build it into a large civilian oceanographic/science/research ship. I'll get rid of the two tall enclosed radar masts and instead add a tripod mast from one of my spare Arleigh Burke kits. Are there any 1/350 or 1/400 scale oceanographic or science/research ships that I can buy and rob parts and decals from to make this type of WHIF?

[jcf]

Hasegawa does the Antarctic research ship Soya in 1/350th:
http://www.hlj.com/product/HSG40023/Nav

... but it's a ship that was retired in 1962 so the helos (S-58 and Bell 47) are old school.

[kerick]

Clearly a flight deck would be essential, However, consider a deep sea drilling rig for core sampling the ocean floor. And a submersible handling system.

[seadude]

Hasegawa does the Antarctic research ship Soya in 1/350th:
http://www.hlj.com/product/HSG40023/Nav

... but it's a ship that was retired in 1962 so the helos (S-58 and Bell 47) are old school.

Too old. Parts and helos from that ship wouldn't look good on a modern San Antonio class ship.

Clearly a flight deck would be essential, However, consider a deep sea drilling rig for core sampling the ocean floor. And a submersible handling system.

And where would I get the deep sea drilling parts and the submersibles? I haven't seen a 1/350 drilling ship, etc. that I could buy and rob parts from to make a conversion.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the whiffing opportunities for this class of ship might be too limited. There doesn't seem to be a lot that can be done for this type of kit.

[kerick]

Lots of plastruct parts for one of these:
http://eo.ucar.edu/staff/rrussell/climate/paleoclimate/sediment_proxy_records.html

Maybe start with a helicopter fuselage to make a sub.
http://www.military-today.com/helicopters/kamov_ka31_images.htm

[pyro-manic]

There's plenty that can be done, but it's not necessarily quick or easy to do! Scratchbuilding is going to be required for things like drill rigs, subs, cranes, etc.

[kerick]

That's the fun part! Instead of a typical drilling rig how about enclosing most of it and have it serve as the mast also? Big satcomm antennas for transmitting all that data back to Woods Hole.