Anybody building homemade models?

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:54 pm

My weekends are spent getting reacquainted with my wife and kids. Usually part of it is building something the boys saw on Nova. One weekend it was a castle they could climb in and each have a tower (sort of), another a trebuchet.

Last weekend we started a 5' model of the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. The Japanese were losing the war, and after some minor gigs at sea, the Yamato was finally deployed to Okinawa, when they had no air force left and few ships to protect her. So, true to form, they sent 3000 of their best seamen out on a suicide ramming mission into the full US fleet. She was sunk in a matter of hours by torpedoes dropped from some of the 386 aircraft sent to take care of her.

This weekend I got a tower on. Here's the model in rough cut mode, as far as we got today.

<img src="http://roymond.com/misc/images/yamato/DSCN4747.jpg">
<img src="http://roymond.com/misc/images/yamato/DSCN4748.jpg">

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:27 pm

That's awesome Roymond!

(so is the Tie Fighter! Yah!)

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:54 pm

nice framework. What is the hull going to be made from?

anti-m · Post by **anti-m** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:31 pm

This looks so cool! Definitely post your progress as this continues!

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:13 am

sausage boy wrote:nice framework. What is the hull going to be made from?

Thanks. I find 1/8" masonite pretty good for this stuff (that's what the deck is). The castle in the background is made from two large pieces trimmed with 1" x 1/8" wood strips then bent into half tubes for the towers and held by 1/2" beams. The aircraft carrier in the back has a masonite hull as well (that was the first model, actually). The Yamato is made from recycled masonite from an egyptian obelisk that was taking up space.

For the Yamato, I'm not doing anything special, so perhaps a 4" hull and symetrical rather than realistic, to a point in front. If we seal it for water then I'll hang a keel below to keep it upright.

Is masonite nasty stuff? I don't know what it's made of, but it stinks when it's cut. I figure it's like pressboard with some yucky apoxy.

All these things are made on the floor with hand tools, btw. We live in a small apartment with no workbench or circular saw or anything.

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:09 am

You shouldn't have anything to worry about with masonite. That's what 95% of all skateramps are made of, and the majority of those aren't treated at all (meaning it's water-resistant for years). And it's bendy. Couldn't think of a better material for you, actually.

Dork!

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:25 am

That Trebuchet looks amazing! Does it work?

The real question is ... for the kids, or for you?

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:48 am

Kamakura wrote:That Trebuchet looks amazing! Does it work?

The real question is ... for the kids, or for you?

Yes, the trebuchet works, but the sling could be better. It throws a ball (or whatever) about 20 feet when it fires correctly.

And of course these are largely for me. The kids are a great excuse, however.

Tex Beaumont · Post by **Tex Beaumont** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:47 am

roymond wrote:All these things are made on the floor with hand tools, btw. We live in a small apartment with no workbench or circular saw or anything.

That is actually how the real Yamoto was built too

(BTW - I want a trebuchet. Age of Empires II is the only computer game I have ever liked)