seacon Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Hello there Well, I already know that I will never finish this one... Looking at old photos I found these and got interested in the story of the little minesweepers that cleared much of the Italian coastal waters from the leftovers of WW2. I have plenty of plastic sheets and some time to spend on this build... so why not give it a try? Here is what I came up with... Enjoy M 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 9 minutes ago, seacon said: Well, I already know that I will never finish this one... never say never it just take a long time to get there beefy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) Oh, well... we will see about that. For the time being I am gathering some info and a scale plan. I am planning to use styrene plates and profiles, metal and resin details and maybe some 3D printed parts. It is definitely a very low budget project. Stay tuned on this one M Edited February 19, 2021 by seacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Nice!!!! I father commanded one of these in the USNR. It was his favorite ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 I look forward to seeing your progress, no need to rush Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 Di mare, legno e mine. Of Sea, Timber And Mines. Short story in plasticard and basic tools, in 1/144 scale. YMS and BYMS were built by the hundreds during WWII. Nonetheless, these little, important and omnipresent warships did not get very much recognition by model companies. Over the years, only the Heller Calypso has filled in a position that, for size and level of detail, should appeal to a vast potential market. This is my take to the Italian Marina Militare's Verbena. A WWII veteran with a distinguished postwar career in clearing mines along the Italian coast well into the '60s. I already have a problem: I do not have a web hosting for my photos! How can I post them??? M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 You'll need to get a web hosting service. There are many. I use https://postimages.org/. Niko Model makes a nice 1/350 resin kit; here's my build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 9 hours ago, seacon said: I do not have a web hosting for my photos! How can I post them??? Gidday, I use Flikr myself. My son set it up for me, I'm a tech neanderthal. I like your choice of subject. These little ships did so much service during and after the war, in unglamorous but vital tasks. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do. Regards, Jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 12 hours ago, seacon said: ..... For the time being I am gathering some info and a scale plan. M Hello M, I have some plans of a BYMS, send me a pm and I'll scan them for you. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Let's start with scaling down and printing the 1/144 drawings on a regular photocopier. I prefer to figure out the "engineering" and assembly of the frame working directly on the paper plan in order to make all the corrections required to compensate the plastic sheet thickness and take into account any fit issues. Wow! This thing is small! I got a 1x1m 2,7mm thick plasticard sheet from a friend. He uses it to make fairly large RC aircrafts wings and fuselages. At first glance it looked ok but after a few cuts I realized the plastic is much softer than regular plasticard. Will see how it will work out... While scaling down the plans I decided to make a waterline BYMS. So, I cut the keel, the bottom of the minesweeper, the decks, 8 frames and the transom. I left some extra material on the rearmost part of the deck and on the transom sides. Later I will figure out the exact shape of the stern and will grind away the extra plastic. M Edited February 20, 2021 by seacon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Looks like this soft plastic reacts well with thicker liquid polystirene glue. I normally tack in place with a little CA and accelerator and then splash the joints with liberal amounts of whatever is available. In this case I dug out an ancient bottle of Mo-Lak Fiss thick liquid cement but would have as well used Tamiya orange cap, Faller or anything similar. I made a 90° jig to make sure that I have everything squared away. The soft wobbly plastic keel is held in place clamping it down with a metal ruler. In the end I added a few more frames to get a sturdier structure. In less than a hour my BYMS frame is done. Now I'll let it dry for a few hours. Looks pretty sturdy. Later I'll check for warpage. M Edited February 20, 2021 by seacon 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 Oh! Oh! Small photos! Is there something I missed setting up Postimages??? M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 8 minutes ago, seacon said: Oh! Oh! Small photos! Is there something I missed setting up Postimages??? M No, it's the "Share" link you chose, which I believe was "Thumbnail for forums". I usually choose "Direct link." I wish they made a "Fullsize for forums" or some such to get both the original image and the link. I'll sometimes insert the image and the use the forum's link function to add a link to the album. And, you're coming along nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 1 hour ago, dnl42 said: No, it's the "Share" link you chose, which I believe was "Thumbnail for forums"... I think I fix it! Thanks M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Shipshape. Getting there. YBMS 2280 was built in Chicago by Grebe and Co. Inc. This is one of her sister ships under American ownership. M Edited February 20, 2021 by seacon 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Take a look at my YMS build link above. I added more photos of USNR ships from the early '60s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) I saw that, thanks. Verbena was transfered to the Italian Navy after three years of service with the Royal Navy and did not featured any of the late war US Navy improvements carried on into the '50s. Check this Youtube video: Napoli. Consegna di dragamine americane - YouTube Ciao M Edited February 20, 2021 by seacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 Dry fitting the decks. Glue time. I do not like it like that. On many period photos of YMS/BYMS you can often see an open door on the port side. That was the galley and this offers the opportunity to peek inside the crew living areas. My Verbena will have some interiors! To be able to do that I must chop off part of the keel to build the galley and the dining spaces, with a full complement of stoves, preparation tables, refrigerator and the water boiler... These are the things that I do on a whim without too much thinking. After a couple hours of work I have my galley... too bad it will disappear in the darkness once the deck will be fitted... Oh, well... I know it is there! Next, the engine room casing and ... f@#§!!! I could have scribed the deck plancks before doing all rest... Oh, well... Let's scribe them now! This is going to be messy. Bye for now M 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 A bit messy. But with all the sweeping gear around the deck planking will disappear... The engine casing turned out OK. Debris from the deck planking scribing litter the place. It is time to fit the transom. I need to reinforce the whole area to give some support for the transom. The piece is relatively small and tends to spring back flat rather than keep the shape. Quick solution: cut it in two to make it sit properly. Later I will sand it to shape. That's enough for today. Goodnight M 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Wow! That's quite a lot for a day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Verbena alongside one of the newer AMS' in Genova. The end. Decommissioned BYMS waiting for disposal in La Spezia at the end of the '60s. M 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Just a little progress. I downloaded a papermodel to understand the basic shapes of the minesweeper. This has provided a pretty good insight on the sides of the shell expansion (strange, uh!? This is a wooden boat!!!) to cut some 0,70mm plasticard. That is what I had planned for but now that I am at it I think that this was a poor engineering choice and that this will need to be address over and over again later in the construction. Looks the part but it starts showing that my concern was real... No issues with the stern but the forward part of the hull does not hold the simple BYMS shapes. Some filling is in order... Ciao M 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 The plasticard sheet is either too thin or too soft. I need to block it in position to be able to provide some support for the massive amount of filler that will be needed to bring the hull to the proper final shape. Good thing that Leroy Merlin is close by and open on sundays! I was out of the 5 minute epoxy that I plan to use to fill the front of the hull in the hope to strengthen the whole structure and block the caved in plasticard sheet. After the cure has ... cured! Let's give it a rest to make sure the hardener works. ciao M 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacon Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 Back to the transom for a bit. The stern gave a lot less problems than the bow... Nothing that couldn't be dealt with a couple rubber bands. Had to make these before I am going on. A drill bit case provided a flat surface for my T square. Green cap Tamiya is perfect to glue the bumpers (?) to the transom. Then, back to ... the front. The epoxy is holding. For once I must have done the right thing. Looks like I will have to get some of the gunwale ready before going on. More about it later. I have an idea... Ciao M 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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