DDG MODEL

[SSBN659]

Testing photo posting.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Test Sat. Nice.

M

[SSBN659]

Now that I've figured out how to post photos again I'll share some that show how I went from this

to this


Yes, it's a target not a sub but I thought I'd give it a try. Stay tuned.

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[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Hell yes. Let's see this thing, from beginning to end.

M

[SSBN659]

After having built several subs I wanted to try something different and the Arleigh Burke Class caught my eye. I knew it would be a real challenge but I'm retired and making sawdust help keep me active. Here are a couple pictures from my research.


Then I tweaked the drawings using Photoshop to get patterns for frames and bulkheads.



I didn't take a lot of pictures when I started but this one shows the hull early on. The frames and bulkheads are Luan glued to a keel. Then I used some Mahogany veneer left over from another project to form the hull. Normally one would use thin strips of Balsa for this but when I found out how much it would cost me I cut thin strips from the veneer. The blue tape held the strips as they were glued to the frames. Once the entire hull was formed I used fiberglass mesh drywall tape to cover the inside of the hull and wood putty to fill the gaps on the outside.


After sanding the hull and shaping the bulbous bow using pink foam I fiberglassed the hull. At this point I tore out the frames to give me enough room for the electronics. The clothes pins are holding in place balsa strips that will support the main deck.



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[SSBN659]

It took several practice cuts on pink foam, then wood to get the compound miters down before starting the final superstructure using balsa sheets. Note the prints and practice structure in the lower left of the first shot.


I numbered the pieces to keep from getting them mixed up. This shot shows the internal blocks I cut at about 10 degrees to support forward bulkheads.


It's beginning to take shape. At this point some of the electronics, superstructure, mast as well as the deck have been added.



By the way, the scale is about 1/190.

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[SSBN659]

More progress on the hull and superstructure. The fore and aft houses are removable structures held in place by rare earth magnets.


I used fiberglass drywall tape to represent the vertical launch system covers fore and aft. The aft system cover is removable for access to the motors.

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[Von Hilde]

I like it, scratch built and all. What scale is it?

[SSBN659]

Scale is about 1/190, based on the drawings I had reduced or enlarged at my local blueprint shop. The owner is very interested in what I was going to do with the drawings so he said "No charge", everyone should have a good hobby. Nice guy.

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[SSBN659]

Now it's on to some of the tricks to make antennas, stacks and other goodies. My jig for the first attempt to make what I guess are the four panels representing some kind of antenna using sheet styrene. The final attempt came out better. By the way, if anyone knows what these four panels on the forward house do, let me know. I'm curious and the drawings I have do not say what they are.




Here's another jig for cutting cable ties to represent the fan room ventilators over the fore and after engine rooms.



The stacks, as close as I could come without really getting serious about detail. I cut down the top caps of felt tip marker pens on my disk sander.



This model was never intended to be museum quality.

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[redboat219]

Those are the AN/SPY-1 panels

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/SPY-1

[Von Hilde]

Those stop sign antenna are actually Ageis missile antenna. My Son is an FC aboard CG71, thats is primary battle station. The little squares in front of the bridge behind the gun are silos for the missiles. all other hatches on deck like them are for missile systems, the main battery being Tomahawks. There is a great U Tube video of the USS Cape Saint George New Years salute to the USS Abraham Lincolin , firing all guns at once. I got a VIP tour of the ship whan they came back from deployment.

[Von Hilde]

Ageis silo hatches on the fore deck, After deck has Tommahawk cruise missiles in the silo. There is a U tube video of the USS Cape Saint George new years salute to the USS Abraham Lincolin. you can check out. Im no computer wizard, so i dont know how to link it.

[Von Hilde]

how about this for a stage to play on? couple tons of high explosive to stand on. the guy in uniform playing the guitar, is the Captain of the ship. They are somewhere in the Indian ocean, just happened to be Dave Jr's birthday and Toby had a house in Key West and knows me., so when it came time to let the Country boy play with the "Toys" machine guns and small arms, Dave was his guide with the twin .50s and SAW. Sea wizz and various rifles. He will be leaving the ship at the end of the month, for duty in Chicago at Great Lakes, foe 3 years. Glad to be off the ship for a change, and out of harms way for awhile.Teaching sailors how to shoot. BTW the Operations officer aboard at the time was a Key West resident and went to High School with Dave, so there were a few strings pulled to get to be the guy to showToby around the ship.

[SSBN659]

Thanks both of you for the info. I'm amazed at what training young sailors must have to operate ships today. Seems like very good training for many civilian jobs ashore.

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