1/700th scale HMS Habakkuk WIP (aka Project Habakkuk)

NARSES2 · September 06, 2009, 02:36:30 AM

That Island looks fantastic

proditor · October 08, 2009, 06:54:29 PM

That's just simply amazing.

My wife would kill me.

seadude · October 12, 2009, 08:00:07 PM

Long time, no see. Just a short post for tonight to ask a question or two. Hopefully, I'll have a better update later this month with more Habbakuk progress.

Anyway, this is a small cross-section that I built that I'll be putting near my Habbakuk model so other people can see what the inside would have been like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/HMS%20Habakkuk%20model%20project/overlord2.jpg

The thing is, I want to detail it in some way, but am not sure with what? I can put a few planes inside on the interior hangar decks, but I'm not sure what else? Anybody got any suggestions?

Ed S · October 12, 2009, 08:06:54 PM

Some ideas. You could include some a/c parts, a spare engine or prop. Some crates and boxs of "stuff". A deck tractor and crane. An engine hoist. A few 55 gal drums. And of course, you want to include a basketball hoop hanging from the ceiling. You might use one hanger as a cargo hold and include some armor, jeeps, other vehicles, shipping crates, etc. A lot depends on how much detailing you want to do in that scale.

Ed

Mossie · October 13, 2009, 02:32:17 AM

I ssem to remember you can buy figures in 1/700, IIRC they're just PE shapes, but if you pop a few around it'll make it look busy & provide some scale.

proditor · October 13, 2009, 06:56:12 AM

And if you get the right ones, you don't even have to paint them!

http://www.eduard.cz/products/card.php?id_product=3485&name=&catalogue_nb=&type=9&pgroup=3&scale=&product_month=&product_year=&page_start=0

sequoiaranger · October 13, 2009, 09:08:40 AM

I would think, like some of the ram-earth structures of the Southwest US, that all fixtures/plumbing, etc. would have to be on the "outside" and visible. That is, nothing "in the walls", but exposed to view (and maintenance). I would think you would "need" thick insulated pipes (heating?), pipes to transfer fluids, lots of wires/cables, tubes, etc. to represent the plethora of communications, ventilation, and such devices. There might be fenced-off areas (screen-door material might be good here) around pumps and other machinery, and shelving and stacked crates.

Have you ever been inside a real aircraft carrier hangar deck?? It's a pretty "busy" place with "stuff" hanging from the upper deck, stored in crates up against the wallls, strewn about (in a tidy, ship-shape way). If you are anywhere near a current Navy Yard, port that might allow visitors aboard Navy ships, or, especially, the USS Intrepid (New York) or USS Lexintgton (Corpus Christi), or USS Midway (San Diego), you can see for yourself. Definitely educational!

Did the Habakkuk have occasional internal steel beams for bracing, etc? Those could be included visually, too. I know that Skywave (is that company still in business?) had some "dockyard accessories" in 1/700 scale.

I think this is an exciting project, and full of potential. Keep with it!

Jeffry Fontaine · October 13, 2009, 10:26:00 AM

QuoteDid the Habakkuk have occasional internal steel beams for bracing, etc?

Now there is an opportunity for a mini-vignette within your model. A sailor with his tongue stuck to one of the frozen metal supports with a small sign on the bulkhead warning of the hazards of doing that very same thing.

Logan Hartke · October 13, 2009, 10:54:14 AM

You should do a 1/700 scale snowspeeder tucked way in the back.

This might do.

Cheers,

Logan

Mossie · October 13, 2009, 12:53:37 PM

On WWII era carriers, they often suspended aircraft from the ceiling of the hangar deck. With the height that's available on Habbakuk's deck, you should be able to even hoist the bombers.

Type in 'hangar deck' on Google Images & you'll get plenty of stuff.

Hobbes · October 13, 2009, 01:13:47 PM

Would a Habbakuk's hangars be as cramped? With all that space available, I don't think they'd have to resort to hanging aircraft from the ceiling.

Seadude: you could put some machinery in one of those spaces. Some cylinder shapes, piping, etc.
Another space could hold a plane being worked on, but at that scale, that would be difficult to do convincingly. Do you have access to very thin metal sheeting (the type of stuff used for PE)? That could be used to create some parts lying around (engine cowlings, fuselage plating etc)

sequoiaranger · October 13, 2009, 02:07:59 PM

Purported to be the USS Enterprise, but I am suspicious that it is actually Saratoga or Lexington. Though not absolutely definitive, the first number of the plane usually refers to the carrier. Enterprise was CV-6 and GENERALLY had, for instance, 6-F-3 or something on the side. The Felix-the-cat-holding-a-bomb emblem on the fighter indicates the Saratoga (or possibly Lexington), and the 3-T-3 of the hung TBD would seem to indicate that also. The 2-S-3 hanging SBD is probably from Lexington.

I say GENERALLY, because I have seen "odd" numbers on aircraft that SHOULD seemingly have been from another carrier.

[later] Googling "Felix-the-cat" and associated fighter squadrons, it gets even more confusing, so I think I will stop here. Lexington, Saratoga, AND Enterprise were mentioned as having VF-3 attached at times. Sheesh!

As for hanging stuff from Habakkuk's ceilings, I would not think that wise without steel bracing. If pressure is put on ice it tends to liquefy, so if something were hanging by a large screw or something stuck in the ice, the screw or something would likely pull out as the ice around the screw or something melts and reforms with the pressure.

seadude · October 13, 2009, 07:17:58 PM

Thanks for all the tips, guys.

I'll try to do what I can, but my eyesight really isn't that good for small stuff as I'm in the early stages of getting cataracts.

QuoteNow there is an opportunity for a mini-vignette within your model. A sailor with his tongue stuck to one of the frozen metal supports with a small sign on the bulkhead warning of the hazards of doing that very same thing.

QuoteYou should do a 1/700 scale snowspeeder tucked way in the back.

And I know just where to get one too! Hehehe!

QuoteDo you have access to very thin metal sheeting (the type of stuff used for PE)? That could be used to create some parts lying around (engine cowlings, fuselage plating etc)

Nope. None at all.

Mossie · October 14, 2009, 02:15:20 AM

Quote from: Hobbes on October 13, 2009, 01:13:47 PM
Do you have access to very thin metal sheeting (the type of stuff used for PE)? That could be used to create some parts lying around (engine cowlings, fuselage plating etc)

Random little bits of unidentifiable plastic parts from the spares box are another possible source for that kind of thing.

sequoiaranger · October 14, 2009, 07:51:55 AM

>You should do a 1/700 scale snowspeeder tucked way in the back.<

I like it. There is a mischievous "tradition" in display work to deliberately put something subtle-ly out-of-place, but only for those who take the time to look carefully.

As you may know, I was a Park Ranger in California State Parks, and among our historical treasures are many original buildings of the first "capital" in California---Monterey. I was attending a seminar at the Ranger Academy in "interpreting history" and having a tour of the old town guided by one of the exhibit specialists who created the displays. In the Customs House in "Old Monterey" an exhibit depicting California tradesmen in the early 1800's had a coil of rope (amongst many) ending in an electric plug! I knew the exhibitor, and he said it was done deliberately to "reward" any visitor fascinated enough to look at everything with a little humorous anomaly.