50th birthday pres for dad project

[Brendan RaymondParticipant @brendanraymond87036]

Building the HMAS Darwin FFG-04

[Brendan RaymondParticipant @brendanraymond87036]

So dads Bday is coming up soon… and I hope I haven't left this too late but I have alot of time on my hands so if I knuckle down (to 18th of October 2012) I can get it finished.

So when I was a kid (I'm 25 now) may dad was in the navy doing alot of tours at sea on the HMAS Darwin. For Christmas I just gave him a candle powered put put boat so I think I'll have to do better than this for his 50th.

I'm not sure what scale I would like to do nor have I found any kits for this, so I presume this would have to be made from scratch. I'm not that new to modelling, however I've never worked with wood… just metal and plastic.

I think I might need a bit of help with this one actually, as I don’t have any plans or even photos to build from… so hopefully I can get some guidance from this forum and get it done on time.

It would be nice if it was RC too so if he ever wants to drive it he can… but its more or less going to be a big model that will be on display in his lounge room… I hope… maybe with a fish tank as a dust cover

So a big thanks in advance for a fairly daunting project

[shipwrightParticipant @shipwright]

Hello Brendan,

I don't want to ruin your day and this is only my opinion (and there will be others who disagree), I think that your project timescale is unrealistic for a scratch build. You have got about 120 days prior to trials/tests of the model ship – I could not complete a complex scratch build of a scale model HMAS Adelaide class ship in that time – even if I worked on it non-stop. You might have a chance if you went for a kit – doing a bit of googling I came across a kit for USS Oliver Hazard Perry (Wikipedia says that the Adelaide was based upon the Perry design) :

**LINK**

Regards.

Ian

[Brendan RaymondParticipant @brendanraymond87036]

Thanks alot Ian.

Yes, the similarities with the USS are striking! Hopefully that opens up my options

I'm still trying to think of a good scale for the model… maybe the one you linked might be too big? (1.4m long) But my major concern was the price of that kit all together… and what the kit actually comes with? i.e. would 90% of the details have to be made from scratch? If so, its a pretty expensive kit…

So I was thinking of maybe a smaller scale and I can see on ebay the biggest they have is 1/350 scale… and I'm rather worried that would be tiny… though they come with alot of photo etched parts which sounds nice I guess… but I cant seem to find actually how big it is (length wise) as I would like it to be the center peice of his living room (where ever he puts it)

I found a photo online but the only think I could scale from the stain on the table (thinking its about the size of a standard humbrol paint tin?) then if so, its probably too small for a purpose so grande. Do you think there would be any larger scale models out there based on this hull?

http://www.falconbbs.com/USS-Oliver-Hazard-02.jpg

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Academy-14106-USS-Reuben-James-FFG-57-Oliver-Hazard-Perry-Class-Frigate-/261032214788?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cc6bb8104

 

Again, thank you for your reply.

Edited By Brendan Raymond on 04/06/2012 05:08:15

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Brendan, about 15 inches is the rough figure at 1/350 <so says a vendor of this kit I managed to find> (133m real ship length divided by 350)

This is a bit small and would be very very difficult to r/c, or just stick one of those small submarine battery propulsion units underneath and have it free running !

. I think a ship length of about 3 feet would be the smallest without huge propblems with stability etc. I know bods motorise the Revell flower corvettes but they are proportionaly much fatter that a Hazard.

SO that would be about 1/133…..and I think 1/144 is a prefferred warship scale which gives almost spot on 3 feet!! you only have to find one now….

Ashley

[shipwrightParticipant @shipwright]

Brendan,

If you have very deep pockets then you can get a display quality FFG-7 here (display only – not an RC ship) :

**LINK**

If you decide to go down this route I would advise finding out a physical address of this organisation first – no address displayed on website only web/email address – seems to be based in Phillipines. Typical lead time is 3 months aro (after receipt of order). For an additional fee they they would adapt to your design (ie you could have HMAS Darwin)

Also worth looking at this site as it shows details of build of a kit based FFG-7 :

**LINK**

I totally agree with Ashley about his points on scale – I think about 3 to 4 feet is a good scale length for RC. Because warships are usually slender (ie beam is small relative to overall length) lateral stability (tendency to capsize) can be a an issue but normally soluble (eg ballast inside bottom of hull) – warships have a lot of tall superstructure and this needs to be kept a light as possible.

Good luck with your hunt for a suitable kit.

Ian

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