Power plant:
4 LM 2500 General Electric gas turbinestwo shafts, 80,000 shaft horsepower
Length:
563 feet (171.6 meters) Beam:
55 feet (16.8 meters)
Displacement :
9,100 tons (8,190 metric tons) full load
Speed:
33 knots (38 mph, 60.8 kph)
Range:
6000 NM @ 20 knots
Aircraft:
Two SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters
Crew:
30 officers, 352 enlisted
I've been into many modeling hobbies: Model Railroading, Model R/C Airplanes, model submarines, and model ships. But, for some reason, I wanted to make a model ship that was BIG! I also wanted it to be to scale, and operationable. After contemplating even bigger versions I decided on an 9 foot long working model of the USS Spruance Class Destroyer. I had actually had the debate down to either Spruance or Tigonderaga class. It was the bow of the Tigonderoga that decided it for me. The Spruance just had a simpler deck. The Spruance and Tigonderoga have very similar hull dimensions but the walls on the bow of the Tigonderoga looked more difficult so, the Spruance it is... (Actually, I started this project in 1997 and it was put on hold due to lack of space. After pulling her out of dry dock this is how she looked in the spring of 2001.)

Plans

My first step was to find plans to build the thing. After some reasearch I ended up buying a set of plans from Taubman Plans Service. This was a while before the web got popular so I ordered it the ol' fashioned way, through a catalog and USPS.

Re-scaling

After receiving the plans I had to enlarge them to the scale I wanted. So, I went to my office and used the overhead projector to re-draw the bulkheads and other important features, including the ruler, in the scale I needed. The new scale is approximately 1/70th, using some basic math: ( prototype length/ actual length: 563' / 9' = 62.555555 )

Building the Hull

I started by cutting all the bulkheads from some good quality 1/4" ply. Once they were all cut I made a jig to hold them all in place while I sheeted the hull. The jig was two nine foot 2x4s side by side. I then cut the angle of the deck into the jig. So the jig would hold the bulkheads upside down.

Hull sheeting is 1/16" balsa, tacked in place until the glue dried. I used good old carpenters wood glue recommended by Norm Abram, master carpenter! This creates a surprisingly strong hull.

The entire bow section is a solid piece of balsa, including the sonar bulb, laminated from smaller pieces. I then had to carve the bow using a rasp, files, and sandpaper. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the process but the final results speak for themselves.

To make the hull is covered using fiberglass cloth and resin. Contrary to what you might hear from the masses, it's a lot harder than it sounds to get a perfectly smooth finish. At least is was for me! In areas where the resin didn't end up smooth I used body putty and LOTS of sanding. In fact that's how I'm spending a lot of my time at the moment.. sanding, sanding, sanding...

After sanding comes lots of body putty.
And how it looks after the primer's on.

Superstructure

This is the part I'd been looking forward to.. details, and lot's of them! The main part of the superstructure is basically a balsa box, sheeted with styrene.

Then the detailed areas are built up from styrene and acrylic sheeting. I'm looking forward to adding all the intricate details like ladders, guns, piping, etc...
this and this are how she looks so far.

 Starting to look like a vessel!

 Beginnings of the forward tower.

 This is the master for the cannon molds. I carved it from foam using a hot wire tool I made with some nicrome wire. I then filled and smoothed everything and gave it a coat of paint so it would be ready for the mold process.

 Here is the finished product. The master cannon mold on the left, the mold itself, and the two final cannons that will be used. A little sanding to clean them up and they'll be ready for installation. And yes, they're hollow.

Propulsion

The propulsion system will be dual motors driving two props. I'd done quite a bit of research into the best way to drive such a boat. It turns out that a gear or pulley drive system would work the best for this application(as apposed to direct drive). Basically, this allows the motors to turn at a higher RPM for better efficiency, while rotating the props at a slower RPM for more torque. I ended up getting my pulley system parts from Stock Drive Products. They even have a great little calculator to figure out your pulley and belt sizes. My system is a 3:1 ratio using Mabuchi motors that I found in a local surplus store. I built the mount from scrap aluminum and will use poly tubing for my universal joint.

The tape was temporary until I got some pipe clamps. I got my props from a company in the UK. Unfortunately, it was so long ago that I don't remember the company! I built a test bed in my shop to make sure everything would work together before installing into the ship.

 Another view of the test bed.

The drive shaft mounts are made from styrene and are held fast to the hull using straps of fiberglass cloth that actually enter the hull and are held in place with epoxy. This turned out to be a very sturdy mounting system.. I hope it holds up!

 Engines installed and ready.

 Rudder linkages installed.

 Top sheeting on the bow...

 and the stern.

This may give you an idea of the size of the boat. That's eight feet of balsa, fiberglass, and plywood.

 What a difference when the props are installed!

 and the rudders!

I've been working on finishing up the hull. It takes MUCH sanding marking to get it nice and smooth

What's next..

Immediate projects involve finishing up the superstructure and the masts. The masts are more tedious than I had hoped but it's fun to see the results! I'm also going to have a working water cannon and rocket launchers. I'll try to up date this page as often as I can.
I'll also try to keep a thread going with progress reports HERE

With any luck this baby's going to look a lot like this!