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[Positive]

Imperial Star - Scratchbuilt - 32 feet to 1 inch  (1:384).
 I began this model on the 1st November, 2016, but for various reasons, lost interest in it until a few days ago.  [/font]I have now resumed the build.    The images show the start of the build and progress on Monday 20th February, 2017.    I have now worked on it for a total of 23 hours, all timed on a stopwatch.   If I stopped work for any reason, I stopped the watch.    In addition to the progress shown, I have also assembled the display case, and fitted the 18mm wood quadrant  moulding around the base.     The Imperial Star was a large motor ship of  13,181 gross tons, completed in 1948 by Harland & Wolff, Glasgow, for the Blue Star Line (managers).    She had a length of 549.9 feet, a beam of 70.3 feet,  and a depth of 40.7 feet.     She was driven by B & W diesel engines driving twin screws, giving a service speed of 17 knots.    The model has a length of 17.1 inches between perpendiculars.

[Positive]

Shaping and smoothing complete, a lick of paint has brought about an amazing improvement!
Bob

[Stavros]

looking rather good there




Dave

[nemesis]

Classiest funnel in the British merchant fleet and a real pain to paint.Nemesis

[Positive]

Yes, they were smart ships, and I preferred them with black hulls.    Later on, they seemed to go into competiotion with other companies to see who could uglify their ships most.    My first ship was Rhodesia Star in early 1961 - London - Australia - Liverpool.   Later on,hey took to sticking a plant-pot like structure on the top of the funnels that did nothing whatsoever for their looks, and made no difference to where the smoke went!       Ellermans also became keen on ruining the looks of their funnels!     I don't think the Blue Stars looked half as smart when they started painting the hulls  white, grey,  light green or a sort of lavender grey!
Bob

[nemesis]

I agree, the black hulls were Class,especially with the size of that Funnel. I have been told that the hull colour was for what " run" they were on, say Black for the Meat run, grey for the far east, etc. Had a visit to the Ulster Star when it was in dock in the Tyne, well appointed vessel.Regards, Nemesis

[Positive]

Got round to doing a bit more, and have almost completed the bridge section.
Bob

[Positive]

More progress has been made, and it probably wont take long to finish it now.
Bob

[missyd]

Fantastic!!!! 

[nemesis]

Dying to see the funnel, looks good, nemesis

[Positive]

Thanks,
Unfortuntately, this type of model generates very little interest amongst ship model builders.    Too small, I guess.     Collectors love them though.
Bob

[nemesis]

possibly because you just cannot go to the model shop and get the bits. You have to make everything. Try getting info on a long lost winch for instance  Just got to dig and delve. The plans that I got for the Australia Star, by the time I got them copied was the thick end of £100 and to think you have not started the build, just love that funnel, very good, Bill

[Positive]

My models are so small that they don't use up much material.    I get the plans mainly from books  The Motor Ship etc.    I just make representative winches that look OK on miniatures.     No-one has ever commented on whether they are accurate or not, because when they look at the model, they take it in as a whole, rather than focussing on any particular part.   I have just completed the winches, and although you will probably find them innacurate, they do give a good impression of a winch considering that they are tiny.   Here are the parts, turned from brass, and the completed winches.   They do look a bit rough, but look much better on the model.   The parts are in a bottle top!
Bob

[ballastanksian]

Bless you. Anyone grumbling about the roughness of a piece less than a quarter inch long that looks like it took fifteen minutes to make needs to have their bumps felt. Those fall in the category of master model engineering as they are all but identical.

Top top work Bob.

[Positive]

Thanks,
This is a good test of a model.   Below are two pictures of a model that I built of Carmania at 32 feet to 1 inc (Same scale as Imperial Star).    The first one is of the model on its own.   The second is the model photographed from a low angle with a picture of the sea superimposed over it.      One of my best models, I feel.
Bob
PS.    Look very closely at a real ship, and you will find that in most cases, they look pretty rough at close quarters!