An International Build

[R.F.Bennett]

Gentlmen,
A proposal. . .
As a way of bringing us as a group of artisans together in a meaningful and lasting way, I propose a group build the likes of which I don't believe has been undertaken by any modeling group. Yet could be a cornerstone and celebration of the ever shrinking divide among the nations of this world and a lasting legacy of our small group. This task will be undertaken once a year and will require a co-operation beyond myself and my small skill as a modeler.
I propose, the construction of an ocean liner, a symbol of commerce, peace, and grand times of days gone by. This liner will be built in many pieces, at an agreed upon scale from an agreed upon drawing all over this world, and sent to an agreed upon assembly point. Were it will be accepted and built by one of our finest, for donation to an agreed upon museum in the name of the Guild of Solid Model Memories. A signature card of each participant will be placed within the hull as well as notation of his contribution. Please post suggestions and comments in this string only. Construction will begin on January 1st 2010 for a completion on the same date the following year. 

R.F.Bennett

P.S. Yes, I know we're not a Guild, Not yet 

[lastvautour]

Count this Eastern Canadian in. The maritimes have a long and proud history of ship building.

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

I'm in, representing North Carolina, USA.

This is going to require a great deal of planning in 2009.  The curator of the US Naval Academy wrote a guide of construction standards for ships to be displayed there.  Some of the info in that guide may be helpful to us.  I will write a construction standard proposal and see who yells at me.  We can massage it over time and come to an agreement.  The construction standard will make the final assembler's job much easier as we all have different techniques that can come into collision with each other.  Of course, some of the items in that guide will greatly depend on the final size of the ship.  This proposal can be adjusted again when we have new information, i.e. size of ship, subject, etc.

This can be a lot of fun.

Ken Pugh

[dave_t]

I'm in too.

[R.F.Bennett]

I have seen this book and agree some kind of standard should be settled on. We will have to take into account the level of ability of all participants. So anyone who wants to help, can. I can cast small metal parts if someone can build the master. I cast them out of silver solder so they aren't harmful and they don't oxidize over time. Copious amount of photos should be taken and I'll try to get us some press when completed and assemble a small print on demand booklet for members to order. I would not be adverse to an experiment with a small, simpler subject. Perhaps a prototype to iron out the design. But the completed model should be big, 30 inches at least, but no more than 40. I would like to use recovered materials if at all possible. I would like to see a builder from Australia or New Zeland and somewhere in Britain and of coarse South America and anyone else that wants to join in. Due to the high costs of shipping it will have to stay in the US or Canada. Perhaps , in time, we can have them in other parts of the world. But most of our members are in Canada and The United States. Personally I'm not that concerned where it ends up, as long as it is well cared for and it's message can be heard. For me it will be the journey not the destination that counts the most.

[Ken Pugh]

I was thinking small, 30-40 inches.  For a ship model, that is small!  If we can get some international support, we can try to farm out smaller parts the further away and keep larger items, like the hull, close to the final assembler.  This can be a lot of fun.

As a consideration, how about a passenger liner that became a hospital ship or Red Cross ship?  Are there some medical humanitarian ships running around?  I would bet they are converted passenger ships.

Ken Pugh

[R.F.Bennett]

There was the Britanic, sister to Titanic and Olympic. It was sunk during WW1 though. I'll look through the US Navy archives.

From Ted Billings,

Mr Bennett, I would surely like to join in in this endeavour, sounds
like a real winner. I am still trying to learn computor skills so I'm
unsure of how to get involved, and many questions come to mind, which
I'm sure will be answered as we go forward. At any rate, YES, I will
like to be involved!!
Ted Billings

You are certainly welcome Ted we'll keep you up to speed.

[lastvautour]

At 1/288 scale the Britannic's 852 ft lenght would be 35.5 inches long. Purhasps somewhere between 1/288 and 1/144 scale may give us what we want. Regardless of the size I am fired up over this.

lou

[R.F.Bennett]

I second the Britannic, Anyone?

[Ken Pugh]

Sounds good to me.  White Star Line or hospital ship?

Ken Pugh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Britannic

[lastvautour]

I would vote Hospital Ship myself.

Lou

[R.F.Bennett]

If someone would like to purchase a working plan we could scan and share, So we're all working from the same place;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200258200162

I could scan it and distribute it, Olympic is a sister, but there is enough info out there to make the right changes.

[scottzepher]

Great idea, Raymond!  I'd like to add something, though I'm not sure my skills are up to a museum piece.  The Hospital Ship would appeal to a wider range of potential recipients, especially with the WWI centennial coming in 2014. 

BTW, did you get that color view here:

http://www.hospitalshipbritannic.com/

[R.F.Bennett]

I mite have, I just go through google images.

[Ken Pugh]

When you go to that ebay link, click on his store.  You will find that he does have a Brittannic plan that looks better than the Olympic plan and is $1 cheaper.  My suggestion, someone buy it then make copies for the others who need it.  We can all buy the plan, or just one person per country, etc.  I am sure shipping within Canada is much cheaper than shipping between Canada and USA or other countries.

Let's look around to see if someone else has a plan, compare them, then settle on one.  I also suggest we build to whatever the scale of the agreed upon plan, no matter what it's size.  The ones on ebay look like a good, manageable size.  So, I nominate the Brittanic plan available from the Plans N Things ebay store.  I will look for some more plans as I have some ship model links and let you guys know.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RMS-BRITANNIC-plan_W0QQitemZ200219906465QQihZ010QQcategoryZ14053QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Ken Pugh