HMS Cumberland 1977

Gondor · January 12, 2016, 12:09:39 PM

Having really enjoyed Weaver's HMS Cumberland thread, found here, and the fact that I like the look of the County Class destroyers I decided this might be the time to bite the bullit and try my hand at building a naval craft

This is what I am building for those that don't know the thread

Using the venerable Airfix HMS Devonshire as a base for the conversion I will be turning the model into a waterline build which will help in several areas and if my calculations are correct some of the actual dimension changes should not be that difficult to achieve.

Lets start with the dimensions

County Class Cumberland Difference Difference:Scale

Beam: 53 feet 65 feet 12 feet/144 inches 0.24 inches

Length: 520.33 feet 633 feet 112.67 feet/1352 inches 2.253 inches

I am turning the kit into a waterline model thus eliminating having to deal with the vast majority of compound curves and such.

So join me one and all into an adventure across the seas of time as I try to build something I have next to no idea about within a deadline

Gondor

Captain Canada · January 12, 2016, 02:07:24 PM

Great looking ship ! Can't wait to see that one take shape.

Gondor · January 16, 2016, 03:44:37 PM

As the song goes "The first Cut Is The Deepest" in this case right down to the bottom of the Plimsoll Line!

Pity that my favourite disc blade for my mini drill has become bent since I last used it, however that does mean that the medium sized disc is nice and sharp so cutting the lower hull away was no problem at all.

More to come though no idea how fast or how often.

Gondor

Captain Canada · January 16, 2016, 08:02:53 PM

Thanks for the tip.....I need to fix my dremmel and saw off some hulls myself !

Gondor · January 17, 2016, 09:06:05 AM

The three main parts have now been brought to a basic stage where more detailed and delicate work car be carried out.

The lower edge of the hulls are now smooth and almost level, I need to repair where the old disc saw took too big a bite out of the hull but I will worry about that later.

One of the hardest things to do will to make sure that the waterline part of the ship stays exactly where I want it, perhaps a couple of sheets of plastic card as a base for the hull to sit on when I have finished her?

In the meantime more surgery to stretch the hull at the stern and midships.

Not sure how to actually achieve the addition to the hull width. Do I add a strip of 0.02" plastic card to the outside of both sides of the deck or to the inside of the each hull side? At the moment I am favouring the latter as midships the hull sides are vertical so I can use L shaped plastic rod to provide a lip for the deck though this method will not be possible nearer the bow or stern so perhaps a combination of the two?

Gondor

Thorvic · January 17, 2016, 09:11:39 AM

Well you could use the 1/600 kit as a scalearama for a 1/700 Cumberland

Gondor · January 17, 2016, 09:39:40 AM

Quote from: Thorvic on January 17, 2016, 09:11:39 AM
Well you could use the 1/600 kit as a scalearama for a 1/700 Cumberland

That would mean rescaling drawings and reworking parts to the smaller scale. Far easier to tackle these little problems than all the other work that would be needed.

Gondor

Gondor · January 17, 2016, 12:41:10 PM

Just been updateing the dimentional information after I had found that a couple of the main dimentions were wrong

The information on the first posting has been updated but I am posting it here so that people can understand why I am probably going to stop this build for a bit and maybe take it out of the Cold War Group Build as well.

County Class Cumberland Difference Difference:Scale

Beam: 53 feet 65 feet 12 feet/144 inches 0.24 inches

Length: 520.33 feet 633 feet 112.67 feet/1352 inches 2.253 inches

As you can see that's quite a difference when I had used some earlier information I had an increase in the beam of only 0.040" which was only a strip or two of plastic. These dimensions are a whole different order of magnitude.

The model length in 1/600 scale which Airfix is close to will be as the Cumberland 12.66 Inches with a Beam of 1.3 inches

Gondor

Captain Canada · January 18, 2016, 06:58:41 AM

It may be quite a bit more of a difference than originally thought, but if it were me, I'd carry on. It would still be a representation of your original idea and once completed will look good. You could always revisit the idea later with additional parts etc.

Of course I'm saying that as I just love the look of the ship and don't want you to quit

Gondor · January 18, 2016, 08:01:52 AM

Quote from: Captain Canada on January 18, 2016, 06:58:41 AM
It may be quite a bit more of a difference than originally thought, but if it were me, I'd carry on. It would still be a representation of your original idea and once completed will look good. You could always revisit the idea later with additional parts etc.

Of course I'm saying that as I just love the look of the ship and don't want you to quit

Captain, additional parts were always going to be needed due to the increase in the number of components such at the second Type 901 fire control radar and the addition of the Type 984 3D radar just behind the bridge.

Lengthening the ship should not be a problem, widening might be though "I have a cunning plan" which will probably change as soon as I start to try it.

Here is a picture of where the model is at the moment, next to a set of drawings that has been scaled to the correct size, at least I think it's close enough.

And for those of you who work in metric

County Class Cumberland Difference Difference:Scale

Beam: 53 feet 65 feet 12 feet/144 inches 0.24 inches
365.76cm 0.6096cm

Length: 520.33 feet 633 feet 112.67 feet/1352 inches 2.253 inches
3434.08cm 5.7234cm

It's a bit mind blowing when I look at the drawing and then the plastic. Almost makes me want to go and lay down in a darkened room for a while thinking about it.

Gondor

Captain Canada · January 19, 2016, 04:48:17 AM

lol I can imagine ! I was building a workbench yesterday and the simple math was mind boggling

Gondor · January 19, 2016, 06:48:43 AM

Just realised that I have not put down how big this will be even though it's 1/600 scale

Cumberland Scale size in Inches Scale size in Centimetres

Beam: 65 feet 1.3 3.302

Length: 633 feet 12.66 32.1564

Hight*: 125.6 feet 2.512 6.38048

*Measured from the waterline

So it's going to be some size so storage and transportation will get interesting too

Gondor

nighthunter · January 22, 2016, 09:28:10 AM

Gondor, as a member of the forum that the original drawing came from the scale that we use is 2 pixels = 1 ft, that should help you scale correctly

Gondor · January 22, 2016, 10:59:16 AM

Quote from: nighthunter on January 22, 2016, 09:28:10 AM
Gondor, as a member of the forum that the original drawing came from the scale that we use is 2 pixels = 1 ft, that should help you scale correctly

That's no help at all as its difficult to know how big the pixels are when the drawing is printed out. I am simply using good old fashioned maths and a ruler to scale everything.

Gondor

crudebuteffective · January 22, 2016, 02:33:26 PM

Quote from: Gondor on January 22, 2016, 10:59:16 AM
Quote from: nighthunter on January 22, 2016, 09:28:10 AM
Gondor, as a member of the forum that the original drawing came from the scale that we use is 2 pixels = 1 ft, that should help you scale correctly

That's no help at all as its difficult to know how big the pixels are when the drawing is printed out. I am simply using good old fashioned maths and a ruler to scale everything.

Gondor

how olds is the maths does it have V/L/LVIII and that sort of thing