I think I'll have to leave the smaller tugs for other people. They are in a different market from semi-custom resin models. I'm not sure how to build them aside from injection molding, where I am not going.
Thanks. I've been over at ModelWarships.com for a while and enjoy the site. The 614' container prototype is under paint right now, but it and the 375' look to be very buildable kits at a reasonable price point. I'll probably be able to scale the 125' Active-class cutter and 142' ATSF and PRR tugs, as well as the ATSF 263' car floats, before leaving for Ohio in early February, which means they may be available late Spring. I've got other ships under development for N scale, including a Sumner-class destroyer and a 210' Reliance-class cutter (which has been a Bear [sic] to finalize), and also a 173' subchaser and 173' minesweeper. There are also a number of smaller N and Z craft that I've mastered, molded and cast, but haven't been able to introduce yet.
Not complaining about the future of war ships in Z, but I'm betting you will have more call for pleasure craft to be used in lakes, rivers, and harbors. whether they be for pleasure or industry.
Loren, I suspect the market for Z and N scale ships is going to take directions I can't imagine. I've said before that I'm going to leave the market for smaller craft to others. If you look around a bit, there are plenty of hulls suitable for Z or N scale pleasure craft, fishing boats, tugs, small trawlers, etc. out on the market, just not specifically marketed to model railroaders. The larger injected plastic hulls from Amati, for example, are very inexpensive, extremely clean, and probably adaptable to anything up to about 80' in Z scale. That's a harbor tug. I think there is a market for well executed warships outside of model railroading. I'll be doing destroyers and minesweepers mostly because I've built them on commission for WWII vets, so they are laid out on my computer. And I don't consider the medium cutters as warships, as they can be in any harbor. I think this market will take time to develop. Not everyone has a harbor or river or lake on a layout. Some will, I hope, take some of my efforts and think to design a harbor scene into a new layout or an extension of an existing layout.
Pete, any consideration given to doing some of the Great Lake freighters? Could see those as another niche or on commission possibly. BTW, like what you have shown us thus far for the container ships. ~Paul E.
Yes, but this will be another area of research, as I know little about them. For example, what is a typical size? I know some of them got rather large. They seem to be relatively straightforward designs, which would make them good candidates for kits.
I have drawings for a small great lakes bulk freighter. The SS Calcite. In Z scale she would be about 2 feet long. It was an early self unloader and was on the lakes from around 1910 until 1961. About 440' in length. The lengths of lake boats did vary greatly. But the beam kind of gradually went up in stages. 58', later 60', then 65', 75' now it is about 105'. It was all based on the size of the locks when each generation was built. But, that makes it easy to make bigger and smaller boats. They only incresed in length, not beam. A 440' boat could be made with a two section hull, a 530' with a three section hull... It might take a couple of searches, but the following site has a lot of info on specific lake boats. It's probably easiest to search by builder to get a variety of offerings (i.e. American Ship Builders, US Steel,...) http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi Dan S.
Thanks, Dan, that was helpful. Still can't really figure out what modelers might want more than a run of the mill freighter.
Um, that came out wrong. What I meant is this: is there a particular class of freighter that folks would want? A particular name?
I know there are modern 1000 footers with stern mounted pilot houses, but the iconic Laker is the dual cabin, bow mounted pilot house. That's all that was made before the mid 70s, and a lot of them are still afloat. Their "run of the mill"ness is kind of a defining factor of the lake boats. From a distance, they all looked alike, other than their liveries. I would steer clear of the self unloaders as that would add a lot of complexity and cost to the model. However, removable cargo hatch covers would be a must. Just my two cents. Dan S.
none of the lakers( ships on the great lakes) are container ships they are either bulk carriers carrying grain, ore, coal, salt etc. the ships carrying containers on the great lakes are ocean going vessels with stern accommodation with engine room below and pilot house above. I live on the Welland Canal and see them going by 9 months of the year. and not all lakers have forward pilot houses as many are now classed as coastal trade and have self unloading capacity and stern accommodation with pilot house on top and engine room below.
Great Lake bulk carriers I guess I was think along the lines of what Dan S. mentioned, as the iconic Laker is the dual cabin, bow mounted pilot house. While I like the 1000' self unloaders they are relatively new, in comparison and therefore not may not be as adaptable to the various railroad eras. A few that I have caught my attention are below. They're newer but still the traditional styled Great Lakes bulk carriers and still in service. Saginaw, http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/saginaw.htm Algosteel, http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/algosteel.htm Roger Blough, http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/blough.htm There is a nice comparison of the two styles on the Roger Blough page, http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/thumbb/BLOUGHSPEERb10080906.jpg ~Paul E.
I think the advent of compact diesel power plants (and electrically driven bow thrusters) tipped the designs toward stern accommodations. From what I've seen over the past few days, I can do this style with some small changes to the container ship hull, such as a shorter forecastle and more hatches. The dual cabin needs a different hull, which is not that big a deal these days. I think a popular dimension was 618' long by 60' beam. I can certainly do removable hatches and convincing holds (though they are waterline vessels, so the holds won't be prototypical depth). I've ordered some Z scale containers so that I make the container ship holds long enough. I would hate to lay out the holds only to find that Z scale containers won't fit. They should be in late this week, but if anyone could measure the length of one or more brands, I could start sooner. I've made a few of my own containers independently from measuring the holds on ship plans and . . . they don't fit! It has to do with tolerancing in 1:220 versus 1:1. While the bulkers have 18-30 smaller hatches, they have many fewer holds, so I'm thinking that the container ship holds will do for the bulkers, with only minor fiddling of the spacing of the bulker hatches on a deck with different openings.
My Z scale photo etch railings and stairways came in late this morning. Being painted as I write. Tomorrow will be a fun day! (Or an excruciatingly difficult one, as I've never tried stairways before, and these ships sure have a lot of them.)
I decided to post this as an early view of the 614' container ship--a 2200 TEU built in the mid 1990s. This is a mock up, so nothing's glued down, nor exactly lined up. For comparison is the 375' 550 TEU ship that I've shown earlier and, also, on the smaller ship, a 125' Active-class cutter that I'm thinking about. Those are 10 x 5 container stacks that I may produce to populate the decks of these kits, or an intermodal facility. The 614' ship is too big for my makeshift 32 x 40 matte board photo backdrop. But I'm in Alabama still, so studio pics will have to wait. Now to install all the railings and stairways on both ships.
