First Stab at ships

[fallenphoenix1986]

Hi folks, after putting it off for too long I've finally got the time and will to start modeling for FS, plan is to have a go at the Majestic class carriers Bonaventure, Melbourne and Karel Doorman.
Before I jump in at the deep end though I was wondering i anyone could recomend any sources for research material, pickings seem to be pretty slim on the drawings front, cut aways of the hull would be great but I can't find them anywhere online or off.
Also from what I gather all I eeed for the models is Gmax 1.2 and the FSX SDK?

Craig

[Collin]

And a decent paint/graphics program.

Good luck

regards Collin:ernae:

[fallenphoenix1986]

Thats the bit I'm REALLY not looking forward to lol
I've plenty of experience with pro Engineer. Rhino and Ansys.... none with grphic art
Suppose I don't have to think about it for a while though.

Craig

[Woof]

Yep, the painting is always the boring bit!

In terms of research stuff, I recommend you take a look at the shipbucket forums- whilst most shipbucket stuff is just side views, there are often threads with more detailed reference pics. You could also try the airbase forums (http://forums.airbase.ru/viewforum.php?id=91) which are in Russian but contain a huge amount of reference material on any number of ships (google translate is your friend on this one).

Hope this helps!

[Collin]

Not sure how you wanna go about it for FS but for CFS2 the max size is 1024x1024 at 16 bit. So I start it off at 2 or 4 times the size at 32 bit, this enables the single width lines to be accurately portrayed as well as portholes etc in seperate layers, camouflage layers, flight deck layers, weathering, wear and tear layers. Which after much screams and hair pulling and several kicked cats later I can amalgamate and reduce in size and bit. If it doesn't look right on the model I can go back and alter quite easily on the offending layer.

Does this help or give you an idea?

regards Collin:ernae:

[fallenphoenix1986]

Thanks Woof, I can speak pigeon Russian so if theres anything there I should be able to find it. Managed to find a set of Hull form drawings in J. Allan Snowies book "The Bonnie" and I've thouroughly raided ship bucket for deck markings. Also came accross a guy scratch building a wooden model of her with some really good detail shots.
Coming from a mainly ProE/Creo background I'm finding the interface in max a tad wierd but I'l get there, aiming to have the hull moddeled by mid week.
Think I follow you Collin, given that I know next to nothing about this black art it sounds like a pretty good approach when the time comes.

Craig

[fallenphoenix1986]

Some might be interested in this, found a fairly detailed paper on canadian carrier operations... seems that in the case of the Bonnie if it could go wrong it frequently did:

http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/assets/pdf/e_AircraftCarriers.PDF

Craig

[Collin]

Some further info for you.....

While the Majestic class were an improved version of the Colossus class it is always stated that this was just internal (mess decks, accommodation etc), this isn't quite right.

External differences were the main armament, in the early days Majestics had single 40mm while Colossus had 4 barrelled pom-poms, this means that the Colossus gun platforms were larger to house the bigger units and larger ammo bin ready use lockers.
Some radar differences and range finders.
While the 1/400 model by Heller denotes a wooden aft mooring deck, I think you will find this was a metal deck.

Have you tried the veteran sites for photo images and stories? We (Fox4) did that with HMS Glory and the Sea Fury models to be made and the amount of unpublished info we got back was amazing plus private photo collections which were returned when the models were completed.

PM me if you need any further help.

regards Collin:ernae:

[Collin]

Here's a real good site for you....beware there's 46 pages just for Brit carriers

http://www.dockmuseum.org.uk/archive/browser.asp?deepcriteria=Aircraft+Carrier&searchtype=1

I use this site quite often to get pics of guns, mountings, radar, fire control etc.

regards Collin:ernae:

[fallenphoenix1986]

Thanks for that, if I'm honest I had been struggling to come up with exactly what differentiated the Mejestic and Collossus classes... so much so that a few days back I discovered the Karel Doorman was in fact a Collossus rather than Majestic as I initially thought.

Had a qucik scroll through that link, getting kinda late but will deffinatly be back to it tommorow, looked quite promissing, thanks.

Craig

[Seagull V]

Plans of the French Arromanches/HMS Colussus at:-

http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/02fonds-collections/banquedocuments/planbato/planbato/fichebato/fichbato.php?id=483

Previous threads that may also help:-

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?44010-Reference-Material&daysprune=-1
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?49187-Hmm-interesting-site-good-info

Another drawing site but it's pay for what you are after:-
http://www.navyhistory.org.au/shop/ship-plans/

Regards SGV :salute::wavey:

[icanfly]

Great idea! Got to your post looking for a Doorman model.
My grandpa sailed on the Karel Doorman in '54; he was responsible for the crew's pay and all expenses, i guess in effect he was the ship's accountant.
I will try to get you detailed drawings, made when they completely overhauled the ship with angled deck,new radar, etc. Most likely sources are the (Dutch) Naval Archives and Nationale Archief (National Archives). I will also look for any existing 3D models by dutch developers, you might have missed (cause of Dutch language sites). Still got family in the navy who can help me get the info.

[icanfly]

A wealth of info and photographs (lots of details) on the Karel Doorman R81 (fka HMS Venerable R63) can be found on www.vlaggeschipsmaldeel5.nl (http://www.vlaggeschipsmaldeel5.nl).
It is in Dutch but Google Translate can help.
Good example of level of detailed info is the page about the flightdeck: www.vlaggeschipsmaldeel5.nl/html/vliegdek.html#top (http://www.vlaggeschipsmaldeel5.nl/html/vliegdek.html#top)

[fallenphoenix1986]

Thanks guys, going to be buying those Melbourne plans and that dutch language site is great.
Icanfly, don't know if you're aware of this but there was an R81 for FS9: r81r8-v10.zip don't know if it ports at all but you might want to check it out in the meantime. Would be interested to know if you find anything hidden in the Dutch sites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ho9epRrKfY

Craig

[Collin]

Of course the Majestics didn't have the improved lift service incorporated into the funnel like the Theseus has here.:icon_lol:

71639

regards Collin:ernae: