Laker conversion models

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Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » June 7, 2018, 4:12 pm

Now there's a timely project, the Middletown. And the Aquarama should be interesting to see, as any C-4 conversion should be a complex, involved one. Montrose to Cliffs Victory, love it. By all means, do post some pix. Would love to see your work and technique.

Re: Laker conversion models

by guest12 » June 7, 2018, 3:19 pm

Richard, can you post some photos?

Re: Laker conversion models

by Richard Jenkins » June 6, 2018, 11:20 pm

I have a Revell T-2 that I converted into the Middletown (or started to anyway, it's about 85% complete). I modeled her as I knew her in the early 90s, so that includes the self-unloader conversion, as well as reshaping the bow and stern, increasing the height of the stack, and modifying the aft cabins to turn the T-2 into a T-3. I also have a Revell Montrose kit that is awaiting a Cliffs Victory conversion, and a USS Haven C-4 hospital ship that will one day become the Aquarama.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Jerry at Duluth » March 4, 2017, 2:39 pm

Hi Wheelsman,
I will be glad to send some photos of the model when I return to Duluth end of March. It was a great build and the first one that I have done in wood. I was particularly pleased with the detail that I was able to do and the products that I was able to find on lone. For example, the draft mark numbers had to be 164" high and I was able to find them in New South Wales, Austrailia. Ordered them on a Monday and they were on my doorstep on Friday. They had six sets of draft numbers as well as the Plimsol. I was able to put a real gunnel bar in using a 1/64" brass angle and I cut the stem with a dermal circular saw and inserted a scale stem bar. The hatch covers were under cut simply sanding the edge which made them look more realistic and separated from the deck rather than just gluing a piece of balsa block on to the deck. I have never posted pictures on this site so I will have to figure out how do same. Will send them as soon as possible.
Jerry

Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » March 3, 2017, 3:48 pm

Jerry, your Lamont model project must have been a labor of love with all the details you mentioned, especially the portholes. Would love to see pictures if you can post any. She was one of the classics.
On your Victory project, I did the same thing on mine, too, cutting the hull of the plastic kit just forward of the structure and, in my case, using plastic Evergreen sheeting for the hull extension.
I'm curious about the American Scout name. Was this the original name of the ship? The name suggests she may have been with American or United States Lines, possibly under charter from the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), or successor Military Sealift Command (MSC).

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » March 3, 2017, 11:38 am

Jerry at Duluth wrote:40 years ago, I started a wood model of the American Scout Victory Ship. I got it ninety percent done and put it away. The hull was done, the superstructure was half done and I had started on the deck gear. I got busy with other things and never got back to it. Last winter I did the Carr Hobby model of the Thomas W Lamont and that got me to thinking about the victory ship. I got it out and looked it over and I have decided to cut it just forward of the midship house and extend it equal to the first extension done on the Cliffs Victory. It will be a big model, five plus feet in length, but a large enough model to do a lot of good detail work.
When I was building the Lamont, I purchased additional port holes and after installing them I put a mini drop of the glue that cures with ultraviolet light into each one, cured it with the light and I had a glass in every small porthole.
I built the Carr Hobby model of Thomas W. Lamont back when I was in my early 20s that I purchased from the Great Lakes Historical Museum at Vermillion, Ohio. Unfortunately it became a casualty of a subsequent divorce. Is Carr's still around and is this model still available?

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » March 3, 2017, 10:26 am

Any Lamont photos?

Re: Laker conversion models

by Jerry at Duluth » March 3, 2017, 8:52 am

40 years ago, I started a wood model of the American Scout Victory Ship. I got it ninety percent done and put it away. The hull was done, the superstructure was half done and I had started on the deck gear. I got busy with other things and never got back to it. Last winter I did the Carr Hobby model of the Thomas W Lamont and that got me to thinking about the victory ship. I got it out and looked it over and I have decided to cut it just forward of the midship house and extend it equal to the first extension done on the Cliffs Victory. It will be a big model, five plus feet in length, but a large enough model to do a lot of good detail work.
When I was building the Lamont, I purchased additional port holes and after installing them I put a mini drop of the glue that cures with ultraviolet light into each one, cured it with the light and I had a glass in every small porthole.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » October 25, 2016, 2:51 pm

Thanks! I will post if anything comes up with this project. As I have indicated before this would begin sometime early next year. As I have never scratch built or kit bashed any ship models, I think I'm going to throw together some cabin sections first to get my feet wet. From my memory of building the Revell Attack Transport kit, I believe I will have to fabricate a large percentage of this project from scratch as much of the kit may prove useless. I guess I will be investing in some Evergreen and Plastruct supplies from the local hobby store!
I have just finished my 1/700 Hasegawa Hikawa maru hospital ship and have begun working on a Focke Wulf Ta-154 from PM Model that will require a lot of work over the next several weeks before it is done. After that, I have promised my wife she could pick me out a surprise model before I begin working on the Cliffs Victory. In the meantime I have a few others to make: a paper model of the car ferry Badger and a toy wooden submarine kit. I have never built a paper model so I will start a new thread and see if anyone has any hints.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » October 24, 2016, 3:28 pm

Thanks and best of luck guest. Hope it will be as fun and educational as it was for me. Need anything, just yell...

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » October 24, 2016, 12:16 pm

Nice models wheelsman, I enjoyed your pictures. I will post some of my project if I go forward with it next year. I have to look into getting some plans for the Cliffs Victory before I get started.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » October 17, 2016, 3:26 pm

Ok, we've got them all now, thanks to a friend of mine. I had done a little commentary on the Victory and Carnahan conversions earlier, and just wanted to put in a few words on the Thompson. The third and last of these labor of love jobs was by far the most extensive. The only thing I was really able to use from the hospital ship model kit was the aft third of the hull, a must because of that unique configuration. A portion of the forecastle deck and prow of the hull was used, and even that needed modification with some putty. Pretty much everything else was fabricated with sheet plastic, index cards and a few pieces from the parts box, notably the 2 gun tubs from an old destroyer model cemented together that were used for the pilothouse, and the stack fashioned from 2 old nose parts from an airplane (P38?) model.
It's a good thing I did this one last with the experiences of the first two as it probably would not have turned out as good as it did. I knew C4s, and the Thompson was my fave of the C4 conversions. I did have a chance to wheel a C4 out of Midway Island's harbor. She was none other than the USNS Gen H. H. Arnold, a converted C4-S-A type serving as a missile tracking ship in the Pacific in the mid-70s. Unforgettable in all white with those 3 huge radar dishes, she was a lumbering thing. Her and sister Hoyt S. Vandenburg were frequent visitors for logistics.
I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. They were fun projects.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » October 15, 2016, 3:47 pm

still more...
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Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » October 15, 2016, 3:43 pm

more..
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Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » October 15, 2016, 3:39 pm

the last bunch
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Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » September 17, 2016, 5:34 pm

a couple more...
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Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » September 2, 2016, 7:35 am

I hear you about the newer reissues made from older molds. When I built the Revell "Attack Transport," reissued during the 1990s and labeled as being made in the USA, I spent several hours scraping away several large ejector pin marks on the nearly every piece of the model's deck. Conversely, several years ago I won an old Monogram Hawker Typhoon kit from the late 1960s at model show in Toledo. I found it to be one of the best fitting and easily assembled kits I have ever built. Growing up during the early 1970s, one of my favorite kits was Otaki's 1/144 scale C-5A Galaxy. Although this kit was later reissued by a series of manufacturers, a rumor persists of its molds winding up somewhere on the bottom of Tokyo Bay following some dispute. I don't know if this just urban legend or reality, but original kits from the early 1970s can fetch several hundred dollars today. Luckily, I was able to build one during the early 1990s that was issued by Testors. Sorry to get off marine subject kits, but many modelers have interests that span several genres.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » September 1, 2016, 2:50 pm

Thanks, guest. The lettering is all from dry-transfer letter sheets I've had laying around for years. Applied with a pencil-rub by eye, then clear-coated.
I went thru what you mention about the older kits. And the new reissue kits, besides being made in China, show tooling mold wear with a lot of flashing to be trimmed and details lost. It's worth the few extra bucks to get an original or older issue of any kit if you plan to build it, the details and molding are crisper. I did this with the T-2 ships and a bunch of AMT 57 Fords. More to come.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Wheelsman » August 31, 2016, 3:46 pm

Actually, there are few more coming, the model car box was an error.

Re: Laker conversion models

by Guest » August 31, 2016, 12:55 pm

Nice close up shots! I found the Revell "Attack Transport" or "USS Montrose / Randall" to be well engineered kits for its day. My first exposure to model building was watching my mother build them for me when I was very young during the early 1970s. My father was in the Army at Fort Gordon, Georgia at the time and the Toyland at the base always seemed to have a well stocked selection of plastic model kits, with Revell playing a prominent role. In 1974, I built my first kit at the age of 6 when I put together a Revell A-5 Vigilante and have built ever since. During my early adult years I slacked off somewhat when I built maybe one or two a year, but with my child now grown and having reached middle age I find that I have more time to pursue the hobby. Although many of the newer kits are considerably easier to assemble and more accurate in most cases, I find myself occasionally purchasing an older kit offline or at a model show to relive some old memories.

In considering the building of the Cliffs Victory from the Revell kit, I'm likely to build it to its original converted configuration with the plan to display both models in a side by side comparison. Where did you obtain the decals for the billboard lettering and the names?

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