Well, here is the latest edition to my N scale fleet, the coast guard cutter Androscoggin. She was a 255' medium endurance cutter that was scrapped in 1974. I built her as she appeared in the late sixties. The model is entirely scratchbuilt using Evergreen styrene.
Wow! It's so clean and white! Don't you need to weather it some? Or did they just paint them all the time? Beautiful job. I think I followed some of the work in your album.
Thats awesome , but I agree with others , some rust is a must , even for a newly painted USCG cutter I would think . A stain here and there , a speck of rust at wear edges would go a long way IMO . Were you stationed on her to have put up with the hard work that it must have been to make her ?
Incredible work , are the handrails also scratchbuilt ? Did you work from pictures or from drawings ?
I was thinking of giving it a very light wash of black to bring out the detail. the pictures i used showed it rather pristine. Louis, I built the railings from plastic rod. I used plans to build all of my ships, along with as many reference photos as i can get my hands on.
The angled walkway aft is especially nice, and I can only imagine how much fun(?) that must have been.
Great work, Bill! I've been aboard cutters in MA, Maine, South Carolina, and Alaska. They are meticulously maintained. No spots of rust anywhere!
Thanks guys Pete, I remember when they had the Acushnet that you modeled stationed here in Humboldt Bay about five years ago. I went aboard her and she was spotless. I love the colorful striping against the white hull. I'm going to start on another one here shortly. I need a break from scenery building on the railroad. I've got N scale plans for two more, and there are a few more that I would like to do also.
Maybe we should share some plans? The Acushnet was retired last summer. I never had plans for her, nor the MacLean (Active class). Just built them from photos.
Hi Pete: I actually figured out how to to the flare and swept decks on this one. I did them on some of the previous ships, but I wasn't really happy with how they turned out. I figured out how to do it correctly, and a lot easier on this one.. Why it didn't dawn on me before, I can't say, but each one is a learning experience. I actually built and painted and decaled another hull for this one, but threw it in the garbage because it didn't have the right contours and sheer lines. I did keep the anchors I built for it, and they are on this version. I made a mold for the 5"/38 single gun turret and cast the one on this cutter. In the future I don't have to build one from scratch for each one, just cast them. I have plans for three different cutters in N scale. The 255' I built, a 311', and the 327' cutters that were made famous in WWII. Let me know if you would be interested in any of them and I'll send you a set.
Pete , then who spilled carrot juice around the anchor on this one ? http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/SHIP_USCG_Cutter_Boutwell_OIF_lg.jpg Scupper stains on this hull http://www.juneauempire.com/images/020907/16321_500.jpg But I will admit I looked at 25 or so to find these two . So a freshly painted looking USCG boat/ship is more the norm than not . You win .
Ah, the Boutwell 719 and the Storis 38! I've got many pictures of the Boutwell without that orange stuff--i.e., with white painted anchors! She's almost 40 years old now. The Storis was retired two summers ago after 60+ years of duty; the Acushnet that I modeled just last summer, also after 60+ years. I believe they are still at Kodiak, and being maintained. I'll have to look up the figures, but I think they were both launched in 1937. It's pretty hard finding pictures of rust on a cutter, especially from Coast Guard photos. Some were very heavily used during WWII, when they were not white.
My first swept and cambered hull--the C3 freighter Beavercove--ended up in the trash also. So I practiced on a small cutter (wood hull) and a minesweeper (styrene). The second Beavercove hull went together very easily, although fitting the deck houses to the curved, sloping decks has proved a challenge. I've casted a Navy 5/38 turret for the Benson. Sure beats building them! Where did you get your plans? I'm always willing to buy plan sets, if they are not publicly available, or defray acquisition and copying costs if they are publicly available. These days most everything is electronic. I'd like to look at all three sets.
