Landing Barge - I'm going nutts...........and bolts!

[chris0423]

Well folks, after a bit of a break from the bench I thought it where time to join the party again.

I have been super busy with work and family, and have lost a bit of the old mojo, but I have been plotting and planning my next modelling adventure.

Adventure might be a bit of an understatement, but moving on from the ‘Remora’ experience, and taking inspiration from another Ian McQue subject, the ‘Bunker Barge’ (picture below).



I have been designing my own version, and re-designing and re-designing some more. I finally called it a day today and Jon Page at Progressive engineering is hopefully laser cutting a mass of 2mm acrylic sections which if all goes to plan should come together to form the basis of a skeleton.

The Vessel will be called ‘Steady Eddie’ and my ‘draft’ function/use is ‘landing barge’

Here is a CAD screen grab of the sections to be cut, and a rough side elevation of what it should look like.






I am under no illusion that this is at least a 12 month project, and I am not 100% sure if this will be a military, mining or pirate vessel, or maybe something in between but I do want it to be armed to some extent and have the Meng D9 coming down the ramp, a few ISO containers and a heap load of stowage.

So, all comments and suggestions as always are very welcome and much appreciated in anticipation of Jon Page dealing some laser magic.

By the way it is 1/35 scale and coming in at 997.3mm long and 347mm wide.

[moramarth]

I am not 100% sure if this will be a military, mining or pirate vessel, or maybe something in between

How about ex-military in civilian use?  IIRC, various LCMs, LCTs and the like ended up as ferries.  I belive there's still a Farmile HDML doing service as a pleasure craft.  The last LST from WW2 was in Pound's Yard in Tipner, probably gone the way of it's former neighbour "Demon" (HMS Handy).  An airborne version of "Demon" might look nice...

Cheers,

M

[deafpanzer]

WOW! If you ever are going to build you will definitely have my attention as my eyes will be glued with crazy glue for this!

[Leon]

You have me glued to my seat Chris! This is going to be an awesome project.

[TRM]

Very ambitious and very COOL!! Can't wait to see you dig your heels in!!!

[chris0423]

Boy oh boy, it is certainly an ambitios project, thanks chaps for stopping by, and the kind comments. Where it will end up, will certainly be a work in progress, but here is a small update.

Mr Jon Page came up trumps once again. A rather large parcel arrived yesterday, I made start on it last night and a got a little more bench time tonight. so here are some pictures taken on my phone so not great, but hopefully give you all an idea of where it is at the minute.













Thanks for stopping by.

Chris.

[Leon]

WOW !!!!! Nice start Chris,that looks huge.

[chris0423]

Thanks Leon, and it is huge. Mrs Babes still hasn't clocked it. Not sure how that will pan out !

[deafpanzer]

HOLY CRAP! It is HUGE!!! Where will you be able to put it when you are done with it?!?!? Man, this is going to be blast...

[TRM]

Looking good Chris!! Big Sucker!!

[kaytermarram]

Rocking good! What a great idea, and even greater beginning of the pain! I would vote for some kind of mining vehicle cause of the tons of possibilities you have (ok, more tons of ideas for the other things you have chosen...). I am glued AND nailed here to watch with dropping jaw for more!

Frank

[Foenetik]

im in. this will be amazing.

[coro69]

bookmarked and amazed...

[dupes]

WOW, man...that is insane!

[Deano]

That is a huge excellent looking model mate , cant wait to see the progress with this!

[chris0423]

Update inbound in next you.

A small one at least, but recent posts have shamed me into pulling my finger out !

[chris0423]

Well folks, it has been quite a time since my last update. Christmas, children, work and life in general has pushed bench time and anything modelling related well down the priority list.

Progress will be slow, I sort of knew it would be, but here is my latest efforts. Pictures are not great with the acrylic being transparent (a coat of primer soon, will make more sense), but hopefully you will get the drift. I have started with the 'wheel house' and some elements of the load.

I do live the Meng nuts/bolts sets. so simple to use.








Italeri's ISO container all wrapped up.


Some UCBs (universal concrete bollards) from 'the troubles' days, will be a nice addition for any mining operation.



Thanks for hanging in there chaps, hopefully I'll get the mo-jo back.

chris,

[kiwibelg]

This thing is insane!!!
Looking forward to seeing this updated, man...what a build!!
Shay

[kiwibelg]

You bet me to it!
Fantastic work on everything, loving the detailing!
Shay

[S e r z h--Rest In Peace]

Interesting and a great project! Like the quality and accuracy of work. Good luck!

ps

Transparent plastic is easy to use? With white and black is not just your eyes get tired, as transparent?

[Deano]

Detailing is first class , keep it coming mate !

[maschinenkrueger]

That's serious business! Great use of the technology.

[Prop Duster]

OK this looks to be a real learning experience for me.
Good thing I have  so I can enjoy it all

[Leon]

Chris! No rush mate,this isn't a shake and make kit .Wheel house and load items are looking good.

[chris0423]

Hi folks, hope all is well aboard the good ship MSC.

Another long over due update, still having trouble motivating the build of the actual barge, so focusing on the load for the time being.

Thanks kiwibelg, S e r z h, Deano, maschinenkrueger, Prop Duster & Leon for stopping by, comments and vote of confidence. Well I decided to build a skip and a 125KvA mobile generator set, obviously items essential for any self respecting mining barge. Next on the to do list is a few ‘Port-a-loo’s’ (for my American brothers ‘Port-a-potty) and some mobile lighting based in Verlinden airfield base kits.

Bit of a custom 20yard skip, simple white card and a bit of weathering.





A 125KvA gen set, based on dims from the FG Wilson website with a little added value in exhaust and fuel tank. (again a white card special), still plenty of weathering to go.







and some rusted wire mesh sleeves



any suggestions for what should be aboard, please fire away.

All the best.

Chris.

[Leon]

Awesome scratch work and weathering on the skip,generator and rusted wire mesh Chris.

[dupes]

Dang. This is some good stuff!

[kiwibelg]

More impressive scratch work and weathering!
As a suggestion maybe a large amount of oil drums could be added I don't really know what else could be added but a modern day military motorbike or two just to break the heavy stuff with some smaller items could be an option.
After all there is a LOT of space on this monster!
Good luck with your next endeavours on this project.

[coro69]

absolutely amazing and fantastic scratchbuild of your generator and the skip... and of course the barge also...

[kaytermarram]

Wow, that is really inspiring! Tons of weathering and details whereever you look. Great idea and one can be curious what you will do within this build up. And the old rusty look fit perfect, love it!

Frank