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

[NARSES2]

Litle late here, but congratulations on the award t's nice to see recognition for this truely amazing build 

[seadude]

I'm not dead yet. Just want everyone to know that I will get back to posting more progress sometime this summer. Maybe next month if I can. For now, I've just been on a long break. But the Habakkuk will eventually get finished in time for more contests this Fall. I still have to finish some aircraft, the interior cross-section, and a few other small details. 

[seadude]

I think this may have been posted by someone, but I can't remember where. Anyway, I was wondering if I should have one or two cranes somewhere on the Habakkuk for on loading/off loading supplies, aircraft, or equipment? It would sorta be like the way the cranes are in these pics on a British WWII carrier near the aft area by the boats:
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/hms/illustrious-400-lc/lc-index.html

Using this pic of the stern area of my Habakkuk as a guide/example, Where do you think I should add cranes, if I do add them?

[sequoiaranger]

The well-done 1/400 model of the Illustrious (a pic of which is below) to which you referred has some nice cranes on it. I trust you do realize that most of the crane-like objects are actually antennas folded down for flight operations.

The pic below shows two cranes sited on a deck level slightly below the flight deck on either side of the ship. I am not certain how the Illustrious, or other closed-hangar carriers got their aircraft and other supplies on board, but I guess they had to hoist everything up to the flight deck, then down below with elevators. One of the salient features of American carriers was the open hangar deck, and stuff could be hoisted up to that deck and distributed. That is why, say on the Enterprise, there was only ONE crane on the flight deck, just behind the island, and the others were tucked in below along the hangar deck.

A crane needs a strong support underneath (can't put a crane on a sponson like a 40mm gun battery!). I think any cranes should be slightly below flight deck level, and the type the Illustrious carried (that doesn't have a tall vertical post like American cranes). What I would suggest is to remove a few 5" gun mounts (on one end of the trio, not the middle one) around the perimeter and put the cranes in their place. Unless you made some openings in the side as "cargo ports", there doesn't seem to be many other options. Also, a ship that size would probably need a set of cranes fore AND aft, so that all the supplies don't have to be trundled the entire length of the ship to get to where they need to be.

Just my opinion.

[seadude]

@sequoiaranger: The only cranes I've got are on the aft end of the Habakkuk for launching/recovering boats in the first pic below. The second pic below shows the bow area of my Habakkuk model. I'm not sure how I would add cranes there if I did. The last pic shows the right side of the superstructure area. Might be difficult to put cranes along the side because of all the 40mm positions I have.

[Mossie]

A crane needs a strong support underneath (can't put a crane on a sponson like a 40mm gun battery!)

It's possible.  Offshore rigs often have platforms for cranes that overhang the edge.  You just

http://www.ehelpfultips.com/how_to_find_a_job_as_a_crane_ope.htm
http://www.vctvl.ru/Eng/about/Equipment.aspx?id=6 (this one looks like it's on a supporting leg, but the leg is attached to the main frame)

[Caveman]

Is there the possibility that as the sides are so high that there may be hatches in the sides of the ship lower down to allow for materials to be brought on board? You could have a crane semi recessed into the side of the hull with a hatch next to it and some sort of platform to load onto.

Failing that, this thing is big enough for it... find the biggest aircraft available and fly the stores on

[tinlail]

Is there the possibility that as the sides are so high that there may be hatches in the sides of the ship lower down to allow for materials to be brought on board? You could have a crane semi recessed into the side of the hull with a hatch next to it and some sort of platform to load onto.

Failing that, this thing is big enough for it... find the biggest aircraft available and fly the stores on

There is going to have to be something down at the level of "normal" ships. The greatest consumable on the ship will be fuel oil, to run the refrigeration plants and the engines. That can't be flown on. I would expect there to be an oiler besides this carrier almost continuously. I think that a ship of this design might have some of walk ways to handle operation of underway refueling added on to the outside of the hull.

[Mossie]

Is there the possibility that as the sides are so high that there may be hatches in the sides of the ship lower down to allow for materials to be brought on board? You could have a crane semi recessed into the side of the hull with a hatch next to it and some sort of platform to load onto.

Failing that, this thing is big enough for it... find the biggest aircraft available and fly the stores on

The pykrete walls are very thick.  There would have been ducts for the engines, so it might have been possible to put small loading hatches in the side of the ship to make handling easier.

[ALVAMA]

Awesome work!

[rickshaw]

I would expect hatches on the hull sides, opening into the depths of the ship above the waterline.  These could have extending beams which slide out, at a 90 degree angle to the hull which have travelling cranes on them.  It would be easiest way to do it.

Considering her size, her complement would be as large and that needs LOADS of supplies.  Victualling her would be an operating in it itself.  At least you wouldn't have to worry about refrigeration for food stuffs.

[seadude]

I appreciate all the tips and advice, but for what it's worth, the ship, for all intents and purposes.....is done. Making hatches or doing any other cutting means also re-working areas of the flight deck or other structures, etc. Maybe it's best to just leave the hull as is? I had a feeling as time went by and I wanted this project to be completed, that I would eventually forget some stuff and make mistakes. 
If anybody still has any other ideas or options, then feel free to share.

[tinlail]

I think that is quite reasonable.
One of the problems of Habbakuk was that it wasn't fully thought out, you have created a model that is quite reasonable interpretation of the original concept. However operationally the concept would of had to under go many modifications, those issues were part of the reason the project wasn't completed. If you made a "practical, operational" version of Habbakuk you would probably have to explain what it was and why you made all these changes and no one would be able to say if you did a good job because it wouldn't look like what they had seen in books.

You have made a excellent rendition of a design that wasn't going to work. It is not your fault that the design has major flaws.

[seadude]

Hi guys! I'm back!   For a very long time, I've talked in various posts in this thread about how much trouble I've had trying to build the 2 dozen turboelectric propulsion pods for my Habakkuk model. My last post was # 313 on Page 21 or 22 of this thread.
Suffice to say, the shape of the pods made from modeling clay in those past pics just seems not the right size to me. I've thought long and hard about what to do next. Not many solutions have presented themselves........until now that is.
For starters, the shape of the pods is supposed to look something like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/HMS%20Habakkuk%20model%20project/scan0002.jpg
It's supposed to be a teardrop shape. I've looked long and hard for many months to find something similar, but to no avail. Not even art and craft beads come close.
Finally though, there may be hope. I suddenly remembered last night that my mother used to have measuring spoons that were oval shaped. I went shopping today and bought my own set. Now granted, the spoons aren't in a teardrop shape, but the overall shape might be close enough to what I need. Here's a pic of the measuring spoon, the clay mold I made (Below the spoon), The original latex rubber mold I made (Top), and the clay pod I made from the latex rubber mold (Bottom).
I think the clay part from the measuring spoon looks better than the clay part from the rubber mold. What does everyone else think? The clay part from the spoon actually comes closer to the 1/700 dimensions that I need, which is: 11mm high x 26mm long x 8mm wide.

[NARSES2]

Good to see you back. I think the clay part from the spoon looks