German Federal Navy Carrier Peter Strasser

proditor · July 01, 2016, 07:24:16 PM

I'm still waiting for decals to finish the Joffre, and well, i got bored. I looked at the stash, then I looked at the Shapeways stash, and here we go.

Backstory to follow.

sandiego89 · July 02, 2016, 05:26:28 AM

Excellent, big fan of the wild German jet V/STOL projects- and on a carrier as a bonus. Excited about this one!

-Dave

dumaniac · July 02, 2016, 09:31:53 PM

I look forward to this one progressing

Captain Canada · July 13, 2016, 10:30:59 AM

How cool is that ? Love the wee airwing. Is that a set ? Add a link to the maker if you can I might jump on a few of those as well.

proditor · July 15, 2016, 07:03:09 AM

Sure, the maker was Kokoda Trail Models. He did them as three sets.

VJ-101: http://www.shapeways.com/product/458V6YA63/1-700-luftwaffe-vj-101-vtol-x12?optionId=28862056

VAK 191: http://www.shapeways.com/product/PJ9Y83PHD/1-700-luftwaffe-vfw-vak-191b-vtol-x12?optionId=28784222

DO 31: http://www.shapeways.com/product/PXMF3TUJA/1-700-dornier-do-31-vtol-x2?optionId=28782532

Captain Canada · July 15, 2016, 10:44:09 AM

Excellent. I love how Shapeways is making these super-cool projects become reality !

proditor · July 17, 2016, 12:58:02 PM

Yeah, Shapeways has been a gigantic boon to my modelling and geek interests.

I actually have been getting some work done on this sucker. I started by taking my Dremel to it and waterlining the ship, as I don't do hull full.

So here is the first WiP shot, after cutting off the bottom hull, and sanding like a madman while watching Clone Wars.

I then needed to start making some decisions about the elevator configuration. They are WAY too small, even for the tiniest plane, the VJ-101. So I puttied in the lines, and started sanding. PSR hell has been entered.

The back elevator also needed a LOT of fill to get even with the deck.

Middle one not so much:

And the front one also got new rescribed lines for it's new size.

And then the Rhinoplasty begins.

So, it's moving along. This is most of the really tedious stuff, so I'm hoping to pick up some steam soon. I also widened the gun bays. I'm removing the fitted casemate artillery and going with open 5" mounts. He will have 2 per side, 4 total. I have a dual 3" enclosed mount for the bow, which is why I decided against an enclosed Hurricane deck, and then I have to figure out where the other two 3" dual mounts will go. I removed some of the built in tubs on the starboard side, aft of the island location. This will eventually be the home of a new side mounted elevator. Oh, I also filled in all of the small mounts locator holes, as a lot of the 1960's carriers tat had been updated still had the tub locations, they just removed the guns. I figure this will also save me some time, though filling all of those little holes was pretty time intensive.

And wait until you guys see what I have for the island. Hint: Shapeways does a lot more than aircraft!

sandiego89 · July 17, 2016, 01:32:53 PM

Great! Maybe a deck edge elevator? Many WWII era carriers got a deck edge elevator later in life, and it looks like she has enough freeboard and some good places where the boat decks are already cut out. Just a thought.

proditor · July 17, 2016, 04:53:33 PM

That's the plan. I'm going for the starboard side, roughly where the middle elevator was located. I already cleared off the side mounted walkways and blisters. You can sort of see it in the second pic.

sandiego89 · July 17, 2016, 06:00:53 PM

Great

Thorvic · July 18, 2016, 03:23:22 AM

What about Hurricane bows for the North Atlantic ?

proditor · July 18, 2016, 04:49:21 AM

I thought about it, and I had a plan to extend the flight deck to match, but I decided against it in the end. Reason the first: I want to maintain those really unique bow lines. Two: I have a very nice 3" dual automatic mount I want to put in place of the former bow mounted AA, Three: The plan is to make him basically a partial SCB-27 refit.

I originally was going to go for SCB-125; enclosed bow, angled flight deck, the whole bit, but then I realized I didn't actually need most of it for the stated purpose. So I'm shooting for a fairly "austere" NATO refit to bring it in line with other defense forces of the mid 60's, able to launch and recover an entirely VTOL force. Heck, even my COD is a VTOL.

I'm still pondering the flight group. In terms of size, this ship would be a bit longer than the Invincibles, but not as beamy due to the cruiser-like hull. Wiki says that the best we can do on an Invincible is a strike package of either 12 Harriers and 10 Sea Kings, or 18 Harriers and 4 Sea Kings. The latter sounds about spot on for what I want, and I'm currently thinking three groups of 6; 1 x VJ-101, 2 x VAK-191 and then helicopters. But....we could also do three groups of 4, 2 DO-31, and 2 Sea Kings. The question is when do I hit the point of diminishing returns? Maybe the DO-31 is land-based and not generally carried?

Random thoughts, input appreciated.

Thorvic · July 18, 2016, 06:51:55 AM

Expand the flight deck over the gun sponsors to give a wider flight deck and mark up a large circular vtol landing area as those were vogue for Vtol carriers. The Kiev and Kuznetsovs had them for yak 38 and 141 landings.
I would rebuild the island possibly rob a lattice mast from a Fujimi Ark Royal

sandiego89 · July 18, 2016, 06:53:51 AM

Interesting debate on the air wing- all sorts of possibilities.

I think the air wing would be directly tied to the role the carrier is playing.

1) ASW heavy. If it were a typical European NATO role of the time, it could be more ASW/North Atlantic focus and the air wing would be more ASW heavy with around 10-12 sea kings and ~6 101's for top cover and ~2 DO-31's for COD. Like the role first intended by the Invincible with a few 101's to keep those pesky Soviet MPA's and bombers away. Likely the most boring complement given your stash.

2) Amphibious assault, attack and transport heavy. Like the early Iwo Jima class LPH or Hermes as a commando carrier. Heavier on attack. ~4 DO-31's and 10 helos for troop transport, a few 101's for top cover, 191's for attack. No ASW. Makes for an interesting flight deck.

3) Mini carrier/Sea Control. A mix of everything for multi role operations. Makes for an interesting flight deck, but in reality a jack of all trades, master of none. As with the Illustrious and other smaller carriers it was shown your could not do everything all at once, or for only short duration. With such an air wing you could not generate enough aircraft to conduct a 24/7 combat air patrols, ASW, strike etc. Makes for a very interesting flight deck, but you need to acknowledge the limitations.

4) Strike/Attack. Similar to above, but more of an attack focus. I Like your proposal with 3 fast attack groups with a detachment of 6 101's for top cover and 12 attack 191. 2 COD and a few helos for SAR/plane guard. No ASW helos. An interesting flight deck.

I like the idea of using everything in your stash to make the most interesting flight deck. I agree your flight deck will get crowded quickly given it is narrow, you will be limited on deck parking- agree you want to extend some parking areas. I like your 3 squadrons of fast attack VSTOL jets. like 6x 101, 12x191, 6 helos and 2-3 DO-31's, but some will be relegated to the hanger deck. The DO-31's will eat up a huge amount or deck space, but they are so cool you must include at least 2 of them.

The good thing is you can build the carrier, and display (ie: play with them and quietly make jet noises from your bench while Mrs. Proditor isn't watching) it with a few different air wings given different scenarios.

proditor · July 31, 2016, 06:02:06 PM

So more sanding has occurred. I also cut and sanded down a starboard side elevator. I wasn't too sure about the size, but I trimmed it a little, and I like it now.

Also, I added my latest shapeways purchase: A beautiful late 50's style Essex refit bridge. The detail is simply staggering, but it's mostly see-through, so that doesn't photo well alas. I also replaced the casemate guns with free mount 5" and put the twin 3" AA artillery on the bow.

I really wasn't sure what to do about the flight deck, so I decided to see what it would look like with the 6/12/1/1 mix of VJ-101, VAK-191, DO-31 and a Sea King and see if I liked it. When I started, I was worried it looked too busy, but looking at a comparable pics of Midway and Essex carriers from the same time period alleviated a lot of those fears. It looks full, but I think it also looks manageable.

Still left to do: Sensors and final fittings, and then paint and decals. This also came together quicker than I thought it would and I'm resisting the urge to dive into a third kit just cuz.