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Saturday, 18 February 2012

... but then I would not have ended up over there

Having decided that the Admiral Ushakov-class battleships/coast defence ships will be the basis of my next attempt to model a 'Monopoly'-inspired battleship, I set about finding a suitable set of working drawings.

After the suggestion that I look at old copies of Jane's Fighting Ships I found a very rough plan and side view of the Admiral Ushakov-class battleships/coast defence ships in one of my reference books. I scanned these into my computer and used them as a basis to create a 'cartooned' version of the design. I distorted the image I used so that it was twice as wide and tall as it should be, and the results looked like this:


This is much more like what I hoped my 'Monopoly'-inspired battleship would look like, and I can now proceed to the next stage, which will be constructing the hull. I will probably use a mixture of balsa and basswood ... although I might try using Plasticard.

14 comments:

  1. Hmmmm I like.

    Would it perhaps look better with slightly larger, cartoonier turrets? The current ones look a bit... secondary.. on the widened decks.

    Just a thought. Looks good as it is.

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  2. Dr Vesuvius,

    The same thought had struck me ... and the plan is that the turrets will be somewhat larger on the finished model than they are on these working plans.

    I do need to keep the decks fairly free as I might want to place figures onto them at some point ... but I don't think that larger turrets will make too great an impact upon the amount of deck space that is left.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. Hi Bob,

    There are some serious funnels in evidence here! I know the Russians tended to go for these so will you be following suit?

    The layout looks pretty good and suitably generic and more importantly could (probably) be easily replicated.

    I still think Tsushima using this type of model would be great fun. I may experiemnt with something similar for the Balkan Fleets in due course.

    All the best,

    DC

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  4. David Crook,

    The funnels are a little on the tall side, but like the turrets they will no doubt end up somewhat different from the drawings on the model.

    The design is - as you comment - generic and simple enough to be replicated fairly easily ... and the prospect of fighting an imagi-world version of Tsushima does appeal to me more than a little!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Bob

    I'll send you a private email with a hastily taken mobile phone pic of one of my 'cartoonish' ships.

    Jim

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  6. I second the bigger turrets and add shorter chunkier main guns. Looks great so far.

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  7. Jim,

    Your pictures arrived safe and sound ... and I would love to share them with other blog readers in due course.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Pat G,

    I agree that the model will need bigger turrets and somewhat beefier, shorter main guns, and intend to include these sorts of 'improvements' in the final model.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  9. Dear Bob,

    It may be a bit late in the game, but if you Google "Olympia Cruiser" and choose images for results, you'll get a nice selection of pictures and even line drawings of a vessel with a similar aesthetic. Might be good as a reference.

    Best,
    Ed M

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  10. Bob

    I'm loving what I see. The Ushakoffs had the cartoon look even in real life!

    PD

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  11. Ed M,

    Its never too late to make a helpful comment!

    Thanks for the reminder about the USS Olympia. I used to have a model of her, and you are right about her having a similar aesthetic.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  12. Peter Douglas,

    You are right about them almost being cartoons of a 'conventional' battleship of that era.

    I have seem them described as being the last ships built in the mode of the USS Monitor, and in many ways that is very true.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  13. I like the way this is shaping up and I am looking forward to seeing the finished ships (as I am sure you are as well!).

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  14. Fitz-Badger,

    For the first time ever I am actually making a mock-up to get an idea as to what the final design will look like. This should enable me to make decision about what I need to change before I begin the actual building process.

    I really hope that I can 'crack' this as it will enable me to build the navies that I will need/want for my Imagi-world of 1891.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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