D805 Piet Hein, ex HMS Serapis, WW2 S class destroyer

Marquinius said:
Although happy with yesterday's result ... last night I dreamt about this hull, seriously, and somehow "solved" the real issue: I had way too many spline points (through which the curve flows). A basic mistake, trying to hurry up by taking shortcuts instead of using the curvature handles as I should have. And I want this ship to be up to par.

So I threw the whole bow section away AGAIN and now designed a simple plan.

For whomever wants to try their hand at hull design, here's in a few bullets what I did. You will not see it in the image, but on screen, using "orbit" to view the hull at all angles, the hull is now smooth. I started with port holes and such and now feel confident I'm on my way.
  • I created a profile plan in simplest form, ensuring that the actual bow curve was a separate drawing (so it would act as a separate guide)
  • I created three plan views (so top down): one at water line, one at H deck level and one at G+ deck level and made sure these had the correct curvature
  • I created (only) four very simple "ribs" in the higher hull section (so G deck) without additional spline points!
  • I lofted from rib to rib and used the plan views as guides and in a separate loft created the last end to the bow, using the curved separate profile view as a guide. This means the hull consists of five lofts, but as I could use common rails mostly, the flow is now correct.
Onward!

View attachment 490574
Click to expand...
What a deja-vu’s, Marco: dreaming thinking about the hull at night, starting for the 3rd time and then the bingo!
This looks very promising.
Regards, Peter
 
I had two quite productive days and managed to create the required detail in that hull before going to the print phase. Some edges and faces will have to be hand sanded after print as I'm simply not (yet) able to create that level of detail in Fusion. Tough part was getting the thickening in some of the hull. I had to choose between raising some "bars" or depressing others. In reality these plate differences are only something like 10mm ... so in 72 scale ... I chose 0.2mm, as otherwise it simply is not printable.

It is rather a steep learning curve. But this looks like a destroyer hull.

A first simplified and very scaled down print showed only minor faults, so now I will go for one section at scale. Remembering Sir Gareth that will take some 10 hours printing for the one section. Hoping that the 0.2mm will show.

Last screenshots from Fusion ...

Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 12.46.41.jpg

Screenshot 2024-12-22 at 12.46.58.jpg
 
Hello Marco,
Hoping you don't mind and hopefully my eyes are deceiving me, but it looks as if the transition from mid- to aftships shows a discrete kink instead of a smooth tangent transition. It also shows in the edge lines of the deck. Maybe worth to have a closer look at.
Kind regards, Johan
 
Last edited:
Johan hi

No, I don't mind and actually like a critical eye and comment! How else can I grow?

These kinks: that is why I will do a full print of a section and will ensure that a kink is in it. I had the same hesitation about these lines, but when I "free orbit" I don't see these kinks. So only one way to test: print.

If it's just minimal I will sand it out, as I will do some sanding anyway. FDM printing will leave print lines, even at finest setting. It will require at least three, perhaps four layers of filler from a rattle can (Alabastine, car filler) to get that hull smooth.

Tomorrow will show ...

Cheers, Marco
 
Ah, there actually was at least one kink: with those raised plating I somehow did not connect fully to the next one. So it is actually a very small gap, showing like a ridge.

Good oh!
 
Marquinius said:
And as this "kink" idea bugged me and I didn't want to waste 10 hours printing ... and I actually tend to think a little longer about remarks ... I found the way to create a continuous guide along the midships and stern sections.

Oh boy, learning. Fast.
View attachment 490985

View attachment 490989
Click to expand...
Hey Marco,

When looking at your surface model, I couldn't help but wonder if it would have helped you if you modeled a surface over the height of the fwd hull. In other words, extrapolating the frames to the height of the fwd frames, followed by creating a surface over the length of the hull. Later, after having generated a skin, you can split the skin to obtain the desired jump from the front- to the aft deck.

Johan

IMG_0993.jpeg
 
Ah, but that was what I did anyway. I worked well above any decks and only made the profile cut after all was done. But what you suggest makes sense. I did two “heights”. Hmm…

So do all at highest level. Hmmm.


Sound advice.
 
I ran a couple of test prints at correct scale and immediately found a few areas that need additional work. But that was to be expected. The computer rendering only shows so much and being able to turn the actual thing in your hands provides a much better view on curvature.

First thing I am going to do is work on that bow. In profile it is 8 out of 10, but head on it is way to sharp. Good thing is I got some good advice and I know how to approach the problem.

Good fun!

The image shows two sections … of eight. It is going to be a BIG model .Oh, those thingies are supports for openings. They can be popped out easily.

IMG_5938.jpeg
 
Would it be an option to print staggered joints, matching the hull plate splices? Might present a more lifelike appearance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top