1/350 scale USS Solace LHD Amphibious Hospital Ship

[Captain Canada]

Great stuff for sure. I want to land a few choppers on the deck 

[seadude]

Paging the U.S. Navy on the white courtesy phone. Your new hospital ship has come in!

LARGE UPDATE! LOTS OF PICS. I'll post a few explanations of things to go along with some of the pics. Some stuff may not make sense. Since this is a "what if" ship built for fun, I threw common sense out the window.    The ship itself is 99% done. I should have it done by this weekend.
What's next? All the aircraft, vehicles, cargo, and other smaller details and add-ons will be worked on from August to mid-October. With luck, I hope to have this project fully 100% done in time for a late October contest or early November contest.

PICS #'s 1 & 2 - All the red crosses on the ship are extra decals from spare model kits, specifically modern armor kits like the Boxer, Stryker, etc. I did use a ruler and Tamiya masking tape to get the red crosses "even" above the waterline.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8818/28613851545_4eade90351_k.jpg
https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7635/28613851565_4b201c933a_k.jpg

PIC #'s 3 & 4
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PIC # 5
Yes, I painted the life raft canisters orange. Why? White canisters on a white ship just looks too boring and too much white to me. I actually like it and see nothing wrong with it. Also, I put a large red cross decal on the flight deck. The better for overhead aircraft, helicopters, satellites, etc. to see that this ship is marked as a hospital ship.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8860/28581226036_fb7bcb86be_b.jpg

PIC # 6
Large crane placed in the spot where the forward Seasparrow launcher used to be. This crane was from a small toy truck model railroad accessory. This will be the crane for on/off loading of large/heavy cargo as well as some ship's boats.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8605/28581226066_af6488bc0d_b.jpg

PIC # 7
Yes, I added .50 cal machine guns, SLQ-32 ECM, SBROC chaff launchers, and NULKA decoy launchers to the ship. A hospital ship would be foolish to go into any sort of combat zone ill equipped to defend itself. International laws and treaties prevent hospital ships from carrying any offensive weapons. But what about defensive?
Also, you can see an angled ramp underneath the island superstructure. This ramp leads from the front starboard corner of the hangar bay all the way up to the flight deck where the "angled doorway" is just aft of the cargo elevators. From what I've read, this ramp is used by troops, ship's crew, and small flight deck tractors or other small vehicles to go from the flight deck to the hangar bay and vice versa.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8570/28581226086_41aec69a34_b.jpg
http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/files/2016/04/26th-marine.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/U.S._Sailors_and_Marines_commemorate_the_Bataan_Death_March_by_running_63_laps_up_and_down_the_ramp_from_the_hangar_bay_to_the_flight_deck_aboard_the_amphibious_assault_ship_USS_Bataan_(LHD_5)_in_the_Gulf_140409-N-MW280-088.jpg


PIC #'s 8 & 9
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8746/28581226096_f8b7beac77_b.jpg
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8066/28581281066_ed4469f739_b.jpg

PIC # 10
I still have to add the ship's launch to the boat cradle here. Also, you can see that I opened up the port side embarkation/debarkation entrance hatch. The doors for that were scratchbuilt.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8587/28581281086_8773a869f6_h.jpg

PIC #'s 11, 12, & 13
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8862/28581281096_c8309d9329_b.jpg
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PIC # 14
Here you can see the large cargo crane better. Also, I scratchbuilt a cargo elevator that you can see transferring cargo from the flight deck to the cargo hold or vice versa.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8861/28614364775_d1ebfc39f6_c.jpg

PIC # 15
I decided to add a second smaller cargo crane at the rear of the island superstructure to facilitate on/off loading of cargo to go to the aviation cargo holds and/or to be used to lowering/raising of some ship's boats.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8605/28614364825_7ef196982f_b.jpg

PIC # 16
A better view of the cargo elevator I scratchbuilt as well as the interior of the upper vehicle bay/deck.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8614/28614364895_962c5976d3_b.jpg

PIC #'s 17 & 18
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8690/28535322621_ed85fd573a_b.jpg
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8678/28535322661_df2861ab53_z.jpg

PIC #'s 19, 20, & 21
I have no idea what radars and sensors a hospital ship should have. When I painted and built the radar masts, I just took a guess on everything. For the radars I did remove, I did re-arrange some of the white domes a bit and put them in other positions.
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8855/28535322701_c36e18528f_b.jpg
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https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8359/28329797590_d32ca859f4_b.jpg

PIC # 22
Looking into the well deck. The angled structures on the ceiling (Left & Right) are the green lighting system for the well deck which I explained/showed earlier in this thread.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8702/28329797630_4f09512b86_b.jpg

PIC #'s 23, 24, 25, & 26
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https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8709/28329925370_c088b48e64_b.jpg

PIC # 27 & 28
I wanted the well deck to look a bit wet for when I put an LCAC inside, so I brushed a bit of acrylic gel on the floor of the well deck.
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8623/27998016013_6314e44a69_b.jpg
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8592/27998016053_4611036ea4_b.jpg

PIC #'s 29 to 38
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PIC # 39
Why so many boats you might be thinking? Not sure really. Guess I just wanted to imitate what the MERCY class hospital ships had with the amount of boats they have. But......if you really think about it, not only are they good for transferring cargo and patients and/or evacuation, but smaller boats can get to places where LCAC's and aircraft might not be able to go like inland rivers and waterways for example.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8743/27997402774_bc66edd204_h.jpg

PIC # 40
All the island's windows were painted (Drawn) with a .25mm Sakura Pigma Micron green ink pen.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8732/27997402834_9396b8eb29_h.jpg


PIC # 41
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8724/28581818346_6fc6f8f3ce_z.jpg

PIC # 42
I cut open the doorway that leads from the replenishment area to the hangar bay.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8534/28581818376_817a577c1e_b.jpg

PIC #'s 43, 44, 45, & 46
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https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7762/27998267873_fcbd0fd54e_b.jpg

PIC # 47
In this pic on the right center side, you can see the scratchbuilt ramp I made that leads down to the lower vehicle bay/deck.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8561/27998267943_48d832317a_b.jpg

PIC # 48
https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8614/28614957635_91e375d5e1_b.jpg

PIC # 49
A better view of the scratchbuilt cargo elevator on the left side, as well as the angled ramp underneath the island superstructure that leads from the hangar bay to the flight deck and vice versa.
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8584/28614957685_983aa592ea_b.jpg

PIC # 50
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8644/28581974006_4a0c8382a5_b.jpg

PIC # 51
This view shows the two aviation cargo elevators (Note the yellow "bars" above the elevator doorframes.).  The cargo elevator on the right is open and has cargo inside it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8796/28581974016_038380a45e_b.jpg

[NARSES2]

Phewwww 

Tremendous work

[seadude]

Now, getting to the hard stuff. I have a few questions on the following and could use some opinions.

1. AIRCRAFT
Most aircraft will be transport types. Things like CH-53 Sea Stallion, V-22 Osprey, a few UH-1 Huey's, and some SH-60 Seahawks. What I'm trying to decide is whether to paint them all white to match the ship and add red cross decals on them? Or whether to paint them in a light or medium US Navy grey color and add standard US Navy insignia and/or red cross decals on them?

2. VEHICLES
There will be humanitarian vehicles in the vehicle storage deck, LCAC's, and a few other places. While I do have plenty of ex-MRC (Now Trumpeter) US Marine Armor Accessory packs like this:
http://freetimehobbies.com/1-350-trumpeter-us-marines-armor-accessories-set/
.........the detail on the vehicles from those packs is severely lacking, or I should say "non-existant". 
I found much better vehicles from GHQ Wargaming which are much better detailed, but at a slightly larger scale of 1/285.   


I'd very much like to use these vehicles even though I know they'll be out of scale and will look wrong. I'll also have to be sure not to mix different 1/350 and 1/285 scales of vehicles together which hopefully shouldn't be too much of a problem as the only 1/350 vehicles I'll have will be the flight deck tractors which I have bought the following and are nicely detailed:
http://freetimehobbies.com/1-350-black-dog-deck-tractors-accessories-set/
........as well as some cargo forklifts from main WASP kit.
Again, the main questions are: How should I paint all the different vehicles? All white with red cross markings, or something else?

3. LCAC's and LCU's.
I'll have probably one LCAC and/or maybe one LCU (Landing Craft Utility) in the well deck of the ship. Same questions as above: What would be a good paint scheme for these? All white with red cross markings or something else?

[proditor]

This may help, Shapeways has a guy churning out 1/350 vehicles.

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/3dmodellbaugermany?section=1%2F350+scale&s=0

Oddly, this mixed set doesn't show up when you filter for 1/350, but it may be more what you need.  http://www.shapeways.com/product/FFYUY69NL/1-350-humvee-set-of-20-mixed

[seadude]

This may help, Shapeways has a guy churning out 1/350 vehicles.

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/3dmodellbaugermany?section=1%2F350+scale&s=0

Oddly, this mixed set doesn't show up when you filter for 1/350, but it may be more what you need.  http://www.shapeways.com/product/FFYUY69NL/1-350-humvee-set-of-20-mixed

That's nice, and I like the variety of different HUMVEES, but..........it's only HUMVEES. I'd rather prefer more the variety like I showed in my pic before your post above. Plus, what is offered on Shapeways is a bit too expensive for me to buy.

[NARSES2]

Aircraft - Although my preference would be white I think they'd more likely be in light grey, retaining national markings but with prominent red crosses.

Vehicles - If you stuck with the GHQ stuff (which is nice) and didn't mix in with 1/300 then you could probably get away with it. Note there are several UK companies producing 1/300 white metal vehicles for wargamming which might be available in the U.S. They are no where as nice (or weren't when I was buying them) as the GHQ stuff however.

Landing craft - More likely light grey again with prominent red crosses. I couldn't see them being white given what the sea would do to the colour even after one trip, unless the Capt' was particularly vindictive and intended the constant cleaning necessary to be punishment drill ? If white though how about a wide green stripe with the red cross mid way on that. I have seen that used on some rescue types.

[seadude]

Vehicles - If you stuck with the GHQ stuff (which is nice) and didn't mix in with 1/300 then you could probably get away with it.

Like I said, I do want to stick with the 1/285 GHQ vehicles. The only 1/350 vehicles I will be using are the flight deck tractors for the flight deck and hangar bay, and the cargo forklifts from the main WASP kit. Most of the GHQ vehicles will be in the upper vehicle deck/bay and/or in the LCAC's and LCU's. So there will be hardly next to no mixing. You won't see a 1/285 vehicle sitting side by side next to a 1/350 vehicle.

[Old Wombat]

If the aircraft are dedicated for use by the Solace in a non-warfare scenario (civil disaster relief), I'd go all-white with prominent red cross & US symbols, & minimised NAVY/MARINES markings.

This would advertise their assistance role & who was providing it, & reduce the military aspect.

For boats, I would go orange & black, similar to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) or orange hull with white superstructure.





In a direct conflict situation (where the US is at war & Solace is acting as a military hospital ship) the usual greys & service markings with smaller red crosses.

[seadude]

A few last minute photos. This will be the last update for awhile. I still have to build all the aircraft, vehicles, and cargo, but you won't see pics of any of that till maybe September.

At the rear of the island superstructure are two doors. One is cut open on the left. The one on the right isn't. The one on the left is a garage/storage for flight deck support equipment. The one on the right is for access to a cargo elevator that leads down to the hangar bay and aviation cargo holds.
The door on the left "looks" like it is directly overhead the cargo elevator, but it is not. Although it will be hard to see when a person looks at the model, I did add interior bulkheads made from spare model parts for the garage/storage area on the left.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8415/28109814374_f3de5ee9df_b.jpg

The doorway that leads from the starboard underway replenishment area to the hangar bay was cut open.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7703/28728204375_e33546b663_b.jpg

Two finished motor launches at the rear of the island superstructure.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8717/28109814414_f15b4c9c7a_b.jpg

Main motor launch on the port side of the ship hull.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8748/28109814434_9b4ac0dd59_b.jpg
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8747/28109869034_5428a9200a_b.jpg

One of the larger personnel utility boats at the front of the island superstructure.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8754/28109869044_584af2bd87_h.jpg

Although the flight deck and hangar bay floor are cut open so that spectators can view the interior of the ship, I was concerned about how well lit the interior would be from light sources overhead such as sunlight, ceiling lights, etc., especially if I had to display the model in any rooms or spaces with minimal lighting and darkened areas. Not only was green EL wire (Explained earlier in this thread.) used for the well deck, but I also placed white (Looks light blue when lit.) EL wire on the ceiling (Underneath the flight deck.) of the upper vehicle deck as backup to help light that area if needed. No EL wiring was placed in the hangar bay as the cutout in the flight deck above the hangar bay should be sufficiently big enough to allow overhead light sources (Ceiling lights, Sunshine, etc.) to illuminate that interior section.
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8678/28535322661_df2861ab53_z.jpg

The below pics show what the white and green EL wire lighted areas would look like in a completely darkened area. In a well lit room with adequate ceiling light and/or sunshine coming through windows, the white EL wire when turned on may not be very noticeable, if at all. The green well deck lighting may be ok because the well deck is a deeper part of the ship under the hangar bay and would require extra illumination. Although the EL wiring may look bright in the pics, this is actually false and is an effect of me playing around with the camera settings to try and get a good picture. The green well deck lighting "spills" into the above hangar bay when reflected off the acrylic gel water in the well deck.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8157/28650160761_8a9b8e7cc9_k.jpg
https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7785/28650160781_c5cb4ad6a2_k.jpg
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8774/28650160791_23f4de38ff_k.jpg

[seadude]

Flight deck tractors and aircraft could be more trouble than I thought. 
I used Tamiya TS-34 Camel Yellow on the forklifts. Bad choice. The color seemed appropriate, but the finish came out as a gloss instead of a flat.  The writing on the can didn't specify if the color was a gloss or a flat.
The large flight deck crane had 3 spray coatings, but STILL needs more white as there are some spots where coverage wasn't very good.
The Testor Acryl Dark Ghost Gray was hand brushed on the aircraft. It turned out fairly nice. But a lot of fine details like the cockpit windows on all the aircraft are going to need to be "painted" (drawn) with a .25 or .20mm ink pen by someone else who has better eyesight than what I've got. I tried, but failed.
Not sure if I'll use all the following, but I've got so far:
1x  Large flight deck crane.
22x  Various flight deck tractors.
6x  Large forklifts
6x  Small forklifts
4x  CH-53
4x  CH-47
4x  V-22
4x  SH-60
2x  UH-1

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8027/28802048966_51d6dd22b7_h.jpg
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[Captain Canada]

Love the little forklifts ( who makes those ? ) and the Air wing is going to look excellent !

The Hummers from Shapeways belong in the " they want what for it ?" thread 

[seadude]

The forklifts come from this pack here:
http://freetimehobbies.com/1-350-gallery-models-carrier-deck-equipment/

I bought 3 packages long ago, but only used 1 package plus whatever carrier deck vehicles came with the main Wasp kit. The other 2 spare packages of deck vehicles will be used for future projects. The air wing is all from the main Wasp kit except for the 2 Hueys which are from Trumpeter.

[seadude]

Almost there.   Just a little over 2 months to go to finish this project before I take it to 2 contests. Hopefully, I should make it. 

1. Aircraft are painted except for the windows. My eyesight is not good enough to paint them, so I gave the aircraft to another modeling friend and asked for his help in painting them. Once I get the aircraft back, then I have to decal them and add the rotors.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8570/28216130344_35b78e4d7d_c.jpg

2. Vehicles are completely done. 
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8090/28993777712_1107e14860_h.jpg
Whether or not I use all of them, I don't know yet.

3. Currently working on building and painting the landing craft. Should have the LCAC's and LCU's finished this weekend. But still need to buy 2 LCM-8's.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8558/28993777752_883304950a_b.jpg
The white structure in the picture is a Personnel Transport Module (PTM) that I will be adding to one of the LCAC's.
http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/548609008_1280x720.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/LCAC.JPG
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jeMqffNGaIc/maxresdefault.jpg

Here's what I plan to have for this project:
AIRCRAFT:
4x  CH-53 Sea Stallion
4x  CH-46/47 Sea Knight/Chinook
4x  V-22 Osprey
4x  SH-60 Seahawk
2x  UH-1 Huey
VEHICLES:
4x  Cargo HEMTT's (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck)
4x  Tanker HEMTT's
5x  5-ton cargo trucks
5x  2 ½ ton cargo trucks
5x  HUMVEE Ambulances (With Red Cross markings.)
10x  Regular HUMVEES (3 different styles)
2x  LARC-V amphibious resupply vehicles
2x  Generator trailers
FLIGHT DECK VEHICLES:
6x  Large forklifts
6x  Small forklifts
1x  Large crash crane
6x  oxygen/hydraulic support trailers
16x  Crash/Fire/Tow flight deck tractors (3 different styles)
LANDING CRAFT:
2x  LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion)
2x  LCU (Landing Craft Utility)
1x  LCM  (Landing Craft Mechanised)

[seadude]

As mentioned in item # 3 in my post # 208 above, I made a PTM out of 3 pieces of 1/4" x 1/4" Evergreen styrene square rod about 1 3/4" inches long, glued together, then added photoetch doors from Gold Medal Models. The entire structure was painted aluminum since that is what it mostly looks like in real life.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8514/28515995683_2955515eb5_z.jpg

Completed landing craft. I'll add the cargo and trucks later.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8376/28515995703_a05c0b5e35_h.jpg
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8510/29102031926_3c92a44a63_c.jpg

This is how I'll probably display the model at a contest. Put a few landing craft (On a water base. To be built yet.) in front of the main ship to show what the landing craft look like, their respective sizes, and the various cargo and trucks they can carry. I still need to buy and paint an LCM-8 to add to the display.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8370/29102031956_a54e81ffa5_h.jpg

I'm thinking of putting an LCU and an LCAC both in the well deck. Normally, this wouldn't be done in real life on an actual LHD for various reasons. But I'm thinking of combining the two just to "show" what these craft would look like in a well deck and that an LHD is capable of carrying both types. Should I put both types inside, or just one?
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8821/29102031966_ae24eac3a8_k.jpg
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8330/29102031986_30a20987a7_b.jpg