Older Revell Hawaiian Pilot soon to be Doctor Lykes

Modeling Subjects Ships
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So, I thought id convert this Hawaiian Pilot to the Doctor Lykes C3 to replace the previous one i did and gifted… Not a big deal other than color scheme. When i did the last one, i got 2 sets of decals so im good thee too. Thought id share some pics - i love the “Security - Text” warning…

Also love the way they makred out part no. 42. I saw these on the sprue and kept looking for them in the directions - until i decided to look in the legend. Blacked out means not needed! Guns for another model??

Part of the kit…

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are you going to leave it a flat bottom or add height(depth) to the hull?

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not sure what you mean. Raise waterline ??

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extend the hull downward to really make full hull. http://www.modelerjoe.net/shipmodellist.html#RevellPilot

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C3 hulls were used to make the Bogue CVEs.

Just look up the depth of keel compare it to the kit below waterline depth and adjust as needed.

I dont remember but having done one could tell you. something like 1/4" basswood.

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CVE-53, D79 – HMS Puncher – Booklet of General Plans, 1944, Bogue Class https://www.hnsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/cve53-d79.pdf

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Same sprues were used to make the kit as an APA (ambibious personnel ship), with just a diffrnt box ans instructions page inside.

The “flat bottom” comments ar due to this “generation” of Revell kits having truncatd hulls which fit the standard shelf box, not the actual hull shape.

As cast, the hull just “stops” about 10-12 (scale) feet below the waterline, ommitting the additional 15-20 feet (and the rudder/screws, etc.).

Many of Revell’s ship kits, warcships and cargo vessels alike were flattened off this way. They were not “waterline” not “full hull” but a strange hybrid. The reasons for this have never ben fully explained (beyond the standard box sizing).

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What’s that odd orange starburst-shaped thing in the one photo - thread for rigging the cargo booms? Never seen that in a non-sailing ship kit before.

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Probably for the cranes

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Yep - rigging for the cranes.

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Aha;

Somebody noticed! That is the Rigging Material star! You would run into it sometimes and sometimes not. Never was consistant in the kits. I have four “Dr.Lykes” and twelve “Hawaiian Pilots” of them, three have it the rest don’t.The APA and AKA and the other nine I have and two Pine islands don’t have it.

I know seems like a lot of ships. Some are Box Stock but many are undergoing mods to different types of ships. For instance"the Alaskan Highway" early container ships. None were identical. For “Full Hull,” versions and twin screw mods I add the hull depth with .030 Framing and .020 planking in plastic. It works well and I have done this for years. Especially after seeing the “Helena” in drydock.

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so i hadnt really thought about making it a full hull - may be beyond my skill set. But i have to think about it now - try to get better… So if its to be a full hull, for those that have done it before, im guessing then the rudder needs to be re-done?

ok, before i finished that last sentence, i was then wondering if you could just add the area to the top - just makes the deck higher?

Then the screw, then the shape of the hull bottom. My head start to spin.

I think ill look around online for done examples and see what comes up.

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Of course another option would be to go waterline on a sea base.

Bill

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Mrchntmarine, add it to the bottom as less work then adding to the top to correct the problem.

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got it. question - would it be best to cut the bottom along the sides, including in the separation parts the sides or flip the hull upside down and try to cut out the bottom not including the sides? Im guessing id want the sides included w/ the bottom as the bracing / reattachment would be stronger by keeping it intact?

Also, im not an engineer or architect so my eyes cant see whats not there… But if i do this, wouldnt the stern area have to be re-worked? The area where the rudder comes down… I have a hard time “seeing” whats not there.

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There’s a Rock Group!

I believe their name is K.I.S.S. that’s how I do it! I put a keel piece down the center. Don’t worry about that rudder! Toss it in the parts box. Then take some general patterns of a Slightly Quarter Round shape. Longer on one flat side. The long side faces down, giving depth to the hull. Remember we’re talking freighter here.

I think the last one I did that way I used six per side. Now Plank with Strip plastic following the general shape at the Stern and Bow. You can work the stern with smaller frames up to the rudder area. Then narrow it up to the shaft exit. The Bow is broader than it looks with a very bluff curve where the bottom and sides meet at the bilge curve.

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Full disclosure: I returned to building scale model kits in mid-2019 after a break of more than 60 years. Back then, I would complete a model, including decals, while the paint was still drying! Ergo, I am still an amateur! However…

If I were you, I’d forget kit-bashing this particular model to add the lower part of the hull as well as the rudder and screw. Waterline ship models simply display ships as most people see them, in the water with nothing visible below the water. Working for realism above the waterline is far more important, and will require some tasks which require a steep learning curve, take a lot of time, and inevitably include some mistakes, some of which can be fatal, not to you but to the model, although some of my mistakes made me feel suicidal!

Three of the four models I have completed are based on actual, specific aircraft, two of which I flew in and one of which I learned a great deal about while researching the death of a Canadian airman in the Second World War. The fourth model is of the U.S. Navy hospital ship Repose, on which I was a surgical patient after being wounded in South Vietnam. Repose kits exist, but they’re rare and represent Repose as it was during the Korean War, not the Vietnam War, so I had to start with a model of another Haven-class hospital ship, S.S. Hope.

Each of those models required DIY decals, addition of various antennas, roundels, changes of paint schemes, addition of camouflage, hull numbers, registration numbers, and even static wicks. The helicopter that came with the hospital ship, supposedly representing a Sikorsky UH-34 Seahorse, was far too small for the scale and didn’t even look like a Seahorse, so I scratch-built a larger, more-accurate one. I’ve used printer paper, sprue, wine bottle stoppers, brass rods, and carpet thread to add details to my models.

While 100 percent accuracy is a worthy goal, it’s not necessary to build an attractive, realistic, and very satisfying model.

Bob

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Mrchntmarine, i would use what i call the “modified bread & butter method” instead of the “standard bread & butter method”. the “standard bread & butter method” involves using glued layers of plastic or wood like in a ham sandwich. the “modified bread & butter method” i use involves using layers of strips of 2mm thick & 5mm wide plastic. the 2nd last layer would be wider so as to have meat to carve into once the bottom sheet usually 1mm thick is glued in place. using the “modified bread & butter method” means the hull bottom is hollow wereas the “standard bread & butter method” means the hull bottom is solid. once the layers is glued in place & cured then can start carving, grinding & sanding the lower hull to shape.

i use the “modified bread & butter method” to make the torpedo bulges for the ships in this link & the bulges are hollow. http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165105

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So, i chickened out on the hull mod. But, I HAVE A NEW FOUND RESPECT FOR ALL THOSE THAT TAPE AND AB TINY AND AWKWARD PIECES !!!

I knew better, but i went ahwad and brushed Tamiya gloss white for the outer deck rails. I knew what would happen, but i thought i could do better this time. Well, i was very disappointed - looked like it was done blinfolded… YUK! So i tried something newfor me and decided to drive myself crazy and try to tape and spray.

Well, it aint perfect. BUT, for a 1st try, im pretty happy with it. Now, what to do with the other 2 decks? Ill have to dry fir them when all the paint is set and see how big a difference there is between the hand painted and the brushed.

Here are the 2 i air brushed

And all the TINY pieces of tape responsible for my partial insanity!!

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Very nice build voting along here.

Did anyone read Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising,the Soviet airborne division that captured Iceland disguised the freighter that was transporting them as the Doctor Lykes to avoid detection.Same ship? Pretty cool.