USS Cascade AD-16

General Discussion Welcome - Introduce Yourself
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Greetings from aformer modeler coming out of retirement. I am in serious need of assistance for a project I need to finish by Sept 1, 2005. I want to build a scale model of the USS Cascade, a US Navy ship commissioned in 1942 as a destroyer tender. This is for a group of aging veterans who have biannual reunions to meet and remember past friends,ship mates and cruises.

The ship was492 ft long 69.75 ft wide and drew 27.5 ft of water with a crew of 86. It was decommissioned in about 1975 and scrapped a short time later. It went thru at least two retrofits.

This ship was the main ship in the recovery of an atomic bomb lost off the coast of Spain and was the mother ship for the first uav recovery of an object off the ocean floor (said atom bomb). So, not only will the veterans be happy to have a model, it will be of some historic significance.

Now, on to My problem. I have a number of questions I can not answer to my satisfaction: what scale to use? What are the best materials to build it from? Is there any person or place I might get the hull made to jumpstart the project?
Can I do this on a limited budget? Am I wasting my time? Help!

This is important as the number of WWII vets is rapidly dwindling, the Korean War vets are beginning to pass away and the Viet era vets are not far behind (My father-in-law, included).

The next reunion is in September of this year. Any help will be welcome…

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Welcome to the FSM Forums [#welcome]. Sorry I can’t offer any help on your Ship questions, But if you Post on the Ship Forum you have a good chance of getting some good info.

Regards, Rick

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Welcome.Hope you enjoy the website.

-Levi

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welcome to the forums friend!![:)]

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Hello Nochehawk, Welcome to the forum.

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welcome!!! I remember the movie on the subject… I can’t remember the name… Interesting subject to model! Yeah try out the ship section… some real brainy types there!

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Welcome to FSM!

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Welcome

Thad

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Wow, scratchbuilding a ship as your first model is a tall order…here’s what I would suggest (having done this a few times).

You’ll need a set of builder’s plans, I would suggest looking at Floating Drydock www.floatingdrydock.com or Taubman’s Plan Service. You’ll need plans that have hull lines. I would also suggest getting a couple of books, John Bowen’s Model Ship Building and Mike Ashey’s ‘Basics of Ship Modeling’ (Kalmbach). Select a scale, I would recommend either 1/350 or 1/192, as you have ready access to fittings and detail parts in these scales.

You can build your hull in a conventional method, plank on frame, bread and butter, or you can carve one from a solid piece of wood. If you want a quick method, you can use the following, which I use on my hulls.

Build your frames like you would a conventional ship, using heavy styrene for the ‘ribs’. Once you have the skeleton of the hull complete, ‘plank’ the hull using masking tape…and fill each of the compartments with resin, use slow-curing resin so it doesn’t generate as much heat. Once the resin has cured, remove the tape and start wet-sanding. When you see the plastic frames show through, you have the correct contour of the hull.

From there, building the superstructure is relatively simple, using styrene strips and plastic sheet. Fittings such as AA guns, ships’ boats, Carley floats, etc., can be taken from another kit. In 1/192, you’ll need to purchase each part. Floating Drydock also sells ships’ fittings specifically for USN vessels.

It’s definitely an ambitious project. Feel free to drop me an email if you have any other questions.

Best of Luck,

Jeff Herne
Associate Editor, FineScale Modeler

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Welcome to the gang…