So, did you read the title and get a shiver up your spine? Well, I got a cheap deal so I decided I’ll try to build this up into something. I’ve seen a couple decent builds online that didn’t seem to require a whole lot of work to get it to look nice though I can’t speak for any accuracy. The box says 1/350 but doing the math it comes out to 1/406 for me, anyone get something different? Does anyone know of any good 3-view drawings out there? Or the Cleveland? I couldn’t find them or I didn’t use the right search terms. There were some photo’s, some in color, but no drawings. I’m hoping to find good views of the rigging as well being how many cranes she has. Wish me luck.
www.apl.com/…/1947.htm gives some information about the ship including the length overall: 609’ 5 3/4". If the box is correct about the length of the model (17.5") then you are looking at 34.83 feet to the inch and a scale of 1:418. Guess someone at Lindberg or Pyro got that wrong years ago.
The two ships were modified from a standard troop ship design (PE-SE2-R1) - the major external differences between the promenade deck and streamlined funnels. The o/p of the turbo electric plan was increased 18,000SHP to 20,000 SHP
Check your local library or half-price bookstore–Knight’s Modern Seamanship covers cargo booms and the like. If offered a choice, 12th to 14th Editions will be contemporaneous, long with showing details galore.
Now, this will not much help in determining which shrouds or guys hold the masts up. Nor will it tell you which aerials are aloft (though, an 11-meter is pretty likely).
Knights will give you some good details on winches and windlasses, too.
I wouldn’t say it wasn’t too much work to get this dog to hunt. The ships ( Wilson and Cleveland) were a troopship design, but came off the ways as liners from the start. Then over the course of their career there were some modifications, mainly around the aft superstructure. If you look at photos, you’ll see that area change from mainly cargo handling to extra passenger space. The kit treatment of that whole area is just mysterious though. Note that the hull color, ie the transition between white and gray, is incorrect in all the kit’s pictures. The scribed line on the hull is wrong too. In early pictures there was a blue stripe there, but it disappears later.
The APL eagle decals for the stacks just don’t fit right. I made my own.
If you go the troopship route…Mike Ashley in his first book describes and easy manner to do all of those perforated bottom life rafts one sees all over these ships. His book is available free for download on his website.
Might want to invest in a resin casting kit to make all of the extra lifeboats as well.
Well, I got a cheap deal so I decided I’ll try to build this up into something. I’ve seen a couple decent builds online that didn’t seem to require a whole lot of work to get it to look nice though I can’t speak for any accuracy. The box says 1/350 but doing the math it comes out to 1/406 for me, anyone get something different? Does anyone know of any good 3-view drawings out there? Or the Cleveland? I couldn’t find them or I didn’t use the right search terms. There were some photo’s, some in color, but no drawings. I’m hoping to find good views of the rigging as well being how many cranes she has. Wish me luck.
