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Destroyer to Liberty Ship in 2 easy steps


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Here's an interesting little work project I've got on at present. I've been commissioned to build a large N scale railway set during World War 2. Part of the layout will be a quayside with a Destroyer in dry dock and a Liberty Ship unloading goods. Since no suitable Liberty ship kits were available, I decided to kit bash the Revell Fletcher class Destroyer. The customer was happy so long as it looked the part, it didn't need to be millimetre accurate. Using the kit allowed me to use the hull, props, anchors, guns, railings and funnel, saving me a huge amount of time by not having to scratch build them. I've also added a 'Hurricat' on the bow for added interest, using the Sweet Hurricane kit.

My thread title says it was all done in two easy steps. They were:- Leave off everything that wasn't Liberty Ship shaped, and make all the bits that I needed to make it Liberty Ship shaped!

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Here's how it all began, with the Destroyer kit.

ship1.jpg

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Since Destroyers are fairly narrow, the hull needed bulking out a bit, so a 1 1/4 inch strip was added along the centre line, and the bow and stern pulled in. The remaining triangle space was then filled with styrene.

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The sides of the ship were also raised in height by 3/4 of an inch.

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Most of the basic structure done.

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All painted except for the bridge and superstructure. I was waiting for the second Destroyer kit to pinch the life boats, davits and a few other small parts which would be fitted to the superstructure before painting. That kit arrived this morning, so I'll be able to finish it off now. The second kit won't need these parts as it is in dry dock undergoing repairs for battle damage.

ship85.jpg

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A couple of close up pictures of the Hurricat and launch ramp.

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The railway will also have part of an airfield, with a number of B-17's, a C-47 and PBY5a, plus a crash landed Lancaster. I'll post up some pics in a few months time once I get around to that section of the layout.

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Thanks guys. It's been an enjoyable conversion. The guy in the model shop said I'd be better scratch building the whole thing, but there were so many small kit parts I've used, it made it worth while, plus I got the kit cheap too.

Edited by Army_Air_Force
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  • 2 months later...

It's been a while since I posted anything in this thread, but I haven't been idle. The first section of railway is almost complete, with the Liberty Ship at the quay, a Destroyer in Drydock, and lots of activity on the quay itself. Here's a few recent photos.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Try as I might, I couldn't find a 1940's fire engine, so this 1950's model had to do. I tried a number of different places for the fire engine, but with the Morris truck towing the bofors gun, it would have blocked the route the Morris would have just driven along. The only option was to move the Morris and Bofors to make way for the fire engine. Canvas fire hoses were made from thin copper wire sprayed, and glued down. One end passes from the water in the dock to the fire truck, then from the other side of the fire truck to the two firemen.

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I made a B&Q trip yesterday, mainly for some Conti board to make a dam around the area of water. The board was drilled for screws to hold it to the sides of the quayside section, then waxed with mould release wax to prevent the resin from sticking to it ( hopefully!!!! ). The board was then screwed to the side and end of the quay.

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While there are a number of cheap polyester resins that can be used for water, I was concerned about the styrene dissolved in the resin attacking the hull of the Liberty Ship. As a result, I had to go for the more expensive epoxy resin. This was to be poured in several layers, with the bottom layers having quite a bit of brown paint mixed in to hide the baseboard. Here we go, the first pour.

quay220.jpg

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The last of the water was poured this morning. There was only 250gms left, so it only forms a thin layer, but enough to add the final detail to the surface. After the majority had been poured in and spread around, I mixed in some fibre glass 'Micro Fibres' into the resin that was left. This thickened up up a little, and gave it more of a white colour. A tiny bit of brown paint was added to take the edge off the white and it was carefully poured in behind the tug and landing craft. With the handle end of a paint brush, I dragged the white mix and swirled it into the clear resin, creating the froth generated by the props of both vessels. I'm quite pleased with the result.

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Here's the landing craft which was placed into the last wet coat of resin since it was a flat bottomed model. This still needs a few troops gluing in.

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The very last of the resin had some green paint mixed in, and this was applied around the edge of the quay as weeds.

quay229.jpg

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