Shell Welder - 1955 - UK Tanker Coaster - 3D Print - 1/100

[Iceman 29]

Everyone knows this mythical model from FROG F137 (and other exotic brands) of this small English coaster in the equally exotic 1/130 scale.

 

 

 

It saw the light of day in 1961, when I was barely born, so the model dates back a long way (and so do I ), as do the injection moulds, now the property of a Russian brand, which can no longer export this model, which has been virtually impossible to find since the start of the war in Ukraine.

 

Personally, I put it together quickly some time ago, but I wasn't satisfied with this kit, which can be described as horrible to assemble, as there are so many defects, especially in the latest versions where the half-hulls are often warped and deformed.

 

FROG has never had a good reputation for the accuracy of its models, as can be easily seen with this model aircraft, but it is no exception:

 

F174 - Gloster E.28/39 (1/63?)

 

 

The same applies to the Shell Welder, which is not very accurate when compared to the rare photos of the real ship. The original sheer  is not present, an important feature of many old coasters, and the side profile is not respected either.

 

So I want to make this 1/100 scale coaster completely in 3D, then print it. 

 

This 3D design project is a challenge for me, insofar as there are no longer any plans from the 'Willington Quay' shipyard, UK, which built her, to my knowledge and after extensive research with my friend Roland Grard, a good specialist in ship plans.

 

So I'm going to use the hull of the 1/130 model, her deck plan and so on. We'll do our best to make it more credible in terms of the tank piping, etc., because it's been simplified. Because it's been simplified. 3D allows us to get as close as possible to reality. 

 

I sailed (as did Roland) on this type of oil coaster for many years, and I know them quite well:

 

This one for example, once it's loaded, it's a bit like all submarines, in bad weather on the open sea, it's very impressive, it's dangerous to go forward:

 

M/T Pierre Laffitte (1) originally 1950 tonnes: built at Chantiers de la Garonne & ACSO, Bordeaux in 1979. Mainly sailed in Marseille, but also in the French West Indies.

 

http://bordeauxaquitainemarine2.fr/n-ch-acso.htm

 

Originally a much smaller vessel when sailing to Marseille, she was quickly "jumbo-ised" at Le Havre, Normandy, France by adding a good section of  tanks and 400 m3 butane gas balloons from SNCF ( Railway ) wagons, to accommodate the long-term contract signed with the SARA Refinery in Martinique.

 

In the process of being extended (Roland Grard Collection):

Cutting:

 

The section is inserted: 

 

All you have to do is weld it together. 😜

 

Once extended:

 

________________________________

 

 

Name: "SHELL WELDER
Type : Tanker
Keel laying : 12/11/1954
Completed : 17/03/1955
Builder : Clelands (Successors) Ltd
Shipyard : Willington Quay, Newcastle.
Shipyard number : 193

 

Dimensions : 569 grt, 202 nrt, 170.9 x 29.7 x 10.5 ft ( Length: 52 m, beam 9 m, Draught 3,20 m )

 

Engines : Main engine, 2SCSA, 6cyl (Piston diameter and stroke; 265 x 345mm), 570 HP
Engines by : Crossley Bros Ltd, Manchester

Propulsion: 1 x propeller
Construction: Steel
Registration number: 186210

 

History :

 

28/03/1955 Shell-Mex & BP Ltd, London

 

1973 Purchased by Pounds Shipowners and Shipbreakers Ltd, Portsmouth

1974 Purchased by Northwood (Fareham) Ltd, London; renamed STEEL WELDER
Comments: 1974: Converted to a dredger.

1991: Dismantled at Otterham Quay, UK

 

 

First sketch of the bow. Don't expect any frequent updates at the moment, I have other 3D models to finish.

 

 

 

 

[Pig of the Week]

Great project 👍.. I'm particularly interested in this, as you probably know I'm building a version of the ex Frog kit in the later dredger guise. 

[Iceman 29]

Thanks, It's going to take a while. I've got a lot of 3D ships to finish first. I'll only be working on them from time to time.

 

Yes, I know. 

 

This project has been on my mind for several years..

 

 

 

 

[Courageous]

Another interesting subject. She is so low in the water...

 

Stuart

[psdavidson]

Looks interesting

[Pig of the Week]

Your 3d version's oblique view of the bow is useful reference to me in fact, I've been "filler-ing" the kit seam here and doing a bit of shaping, the top part of the bow is, as I thought, quite a flattish curve rather than a sharper edge all the way up.  I can file away a bit more now 😁

[Iceman 29]

I still don't know if there's enough sheer, I'm going to take measurements from the photos to get a more accurate idea of the angles.

 

 

 

Refining the shape of the front part of the hull down to the frame, which are identical in the middle.

 

I've redesigned the hawsehole, which has a very specific trapezoidal shape. We'll be able to fit an anchor in there, which isn't the case on the FROG.

 

It's a good, quick start. These are fairly simple hull shapes.

 

 

This photo I found recently is very useful, it's the only one where you can see the hawse pipe perfectly.

 

[Pig of the Week]

Reversing the image is a good plan, it kind of gives a better impression, like seeing it from both sides in a way 👍

I'll be stealing that one ! 

[beefy66]

16 hours ago, Iceman 29 said:

Shipyard : Willington Quay, New Castles

 

Should read Newcastle not New castles

 

Another River Tyne built ship Pascal will follow along as usual.

Peter Hall of Atlantic models does a photo etch upgrade set for the Frog kit he might be able to help with some information regarding the plans for this ship.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Andreas.R]

I have build this kit from the russian brand and also get the PE set from Peter Hall.

Due to the poor quality of the original, my model didn't turn out in the least satisfactorily. I've lost interest in this thing.

It was before i started with 3D printing.

Maybe I should portray it as beached with an excavator. Like in your photo of MV Blythe Star.

 

However, I have to finish my current project first!

But it motivated me to finish my coastal tanker.

 

 

[Iceman 29]

You have to take your time when drawing the shapes, even if it means going back and erasing what took you a few hours to draw. You can't let anything slip through the cracks.

 

I'm working on the rear section. 

 

I've stopped taking measurements on the model; everything is wrong, even the length, the scale isn't 1/130 (on average maybe...). 

 

The ship is supposed to be 52 meters long, which at 1/130 would be 40 cm, but the model is 44 cm, which is a scale of 1/118 in length. 

 

Ditto for this: if we transfer the draught of 3.20 meters, it should give 24.6 mm, we find by measuring: 22 mm or 1/145 in height! 

 

The FROG model is therefore largely flattened, and the length/height ratio is not good at all.

 

Using various photos and taking into account the perspective of the shots, we were able to find the proportions of the whole ship. It's not perfect, of course, but we're getting close. 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting photo I just discovered. 

 

The Steel Welder (sand dredger) is probably being decommissioned for scrap, beached at low tide on a bed of mud, you can see one of her whaleboats on pallets in the background on the quay, perhaps to avoid any looting:

 

[robgizlu]

Looking forwards to the usual Pascal Magic 😎

Rob

[Iceman 29]

On 04/03/2024 at 10:06, beefy66 said:

Another River Tyne built ship Pascal will follow along as usual.

 

 

 

I found this thanks to you, perhaps it is possible to have these photos and this plan. 
I'll have to request a paid search and then buy the documents, I suppose.

 

 

 

I don't know if I'm in the right place.

 

https://www.twmuseums.org.uk/collections/research

 

 

 

[beefy66]

Pascal this should get you some information but let me try I can visit the Discovery museum sometime this week when I will be in town on some personal business.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Iceman 29]

Thank you very much, that's very kind of you! 

[Iceman 29]

Some progress on the hull sketch. It's looking good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeddahbill]

A 3D printed alternative to the ancient Frog kit is fantastic.  The time and effort needed to obtain a decent result from the Frog kit is significant, a real struggle.  I would much rather have a 3D option.  Good luck with this project, I am following with great interest.

Cheers,

Bill

[Iceman 29]

Tks Bill !  

 

I've put this project on hold for the moment because it seems that the original plans for the Shell Welder exist in the archives, along with many photos of the construction.

 

Thanks to Beefy ( beefy66 ) who got involved and took the time to contact the archive centre. All that remains now is to finalise a purchase of the 5 plans and photos available in order to relaunch the 3D design and 1/100 reconstruction of this coaster with as much detail and accuracy as possible and with as few compromises as possible.

 

The good link to do some research: https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmview/

 

 

 

The list of plans available from the shipyard William Cleland & Co. Ltd, shipbuilders, Willington ( ACC1615 ) :

 

https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmview/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=Acc1615%2f116%2f1-22

 

https://calmview.twmuseums.org.uk/calmview/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=Acc1615%2f2

 

 

 

 

[Iceman 29]

With the rainy weather, I can't continue with the DIY work I've been doing for several weeks, so I've gone back to the drawing board for the time being.

A few days ago, I finally received the 2 plans I'd ordered from our English friends at the archives, after a bit of red tape. 

 

Many thanks to Beefy66 for his help in England.  👍

 

I didn't buy the photos, the price is prohibitive, and I've already left an arm and a leg for the 2 plans, which are certainly very beautiful and very well scanned in HD.

 

New project started this evening, always a pleasure to work with the original plans. I'll try to be worthy of it.  

 

So I'm starting the 3D drawing again at 0, although I wasn't too far from the original shape thanks to the photos on my initial project without plans, as can be seen here with the original plan superimposed.

 

Parallax errors due to photos and ship a little too high.

 

The errors are clearly visible.

 

-----------------

 

With the weather being capricious yesterday and today, I'm taking the opportunity to make progress on the Shell Welder.

 

I'm going to work on the stern now.

 

A few errors between the 2 plans, but I know how to deal with that now.

 

On the other hand, there's a big mistake on the front view of the torques plan: you can see that the aft torques at the main beam are much narrower than the forward torques ( 2 mm at 1/100, that's huge). I had to use Fusion to rectify the plan by deactivating the plan's proportionality and making it wider, and it worked. I can't explain this typo.

 

From the center of the left and right planking, the distance is not the same.

 

Now it's time to draw the hawsers for the bow.

 

 

 

[beefy66]

Great to see you making a start on this Pascal looking forward to the build after so much back and forth with the Archives people at the Discovery Museum.

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Iceman 29]

Some progress to day:

 

Finished the stern, and placed the propeller to draw the shaft line.

 

Drawing of the rudder, a little unusual in terms of its rotation axis system.

 

Hawsers tomorrow if I have time...

 

 

[Iceman 29]

I was fooled by the top of the forecastle bulwark, too flared, although I followed the couples' plan, but the photos and the plan of the top of the forecastle, it's not that, well you have to put it into perspective, too complicated to revise the shape, I'll leave it like that.  

 

It's complicated to work with plans that aren't those used for plotting and construction. You're always working to an approximation with ‘diagrams’.

 

You don't know the timing of the plans, there are changes made with versions, what remains in the archive isn't necessarily the final version and above all there are time discrepancies in the different plans, not to mention the changes made without plans on the plotting table in the cutting workshop... 

 

From experience, for a ship I took to Italy in the 1990s at La Spézia, the guys who were cutting and tracing the sheet metal explained to me that the guys in the drawing office, 10 metres above, never came down to see the rubbish they'd drawn, and for good reason... ‘We rectify mistakes when tracing, no one knows what's going on...We know what we're doing...’. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first couple in question is an identical reproduction of the plan.

 

 

[Iceman 29]

It's a good way of seeing if there are any dents or dings in the hull design, and it's quick - luckily this hull isn't too bad.

Some of the others I drew were less clean, especially at the beginning.

 

The method in question, just ‘sink’ the ship and check the water line... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've started drawing the electric windlass, I didn't have this model in 3D stock, so I'm getting on with it. I found sufficient plans with our Chinese ‘friends’. I've used the Model 3 electric as an example.

 

https://www.tytanmarine.com/products/windlasses/custom-designed-windlass

 

 

I took the side view of the hydraulic model 1 to help me with the gearbox.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beefy66]

Pascal great work so far that winch windlass looks typical of the ones made by Clarke Chapman of Gateshead sadly no more.

They supplied a lot of these to the various shipyards on the Tyne they also made cranes and davits as well as many items for the mining industry around the area.

I was an apprentice there in the early 80,s just out of school ah the good old days.  

 

This photo might just be a bit to old for the time frame of the Shell-welder but I do not think the basic designs changed that much as I recall maybe the motor casing would be more like you have in the drawing.

 

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Iceman 29]

Thanks beefy, excellent information, it probably looked more like this in the 1950s.

 

Ratchet system for the 2 chain grabs, DC motors. I found some plans of the steam model.

The model in your photo would be from 1929.

 

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Clarke,_Chapman_and_Co

 

 

In 1950, we could imagine this model with the central gear protected by a fairing.

 

Your revelation will lead me to reconsider my choice.

 

CLARKE, CHAPMAN & CO., LIMITED

GATESHEAD-ON-TYNE

WINDLASS BOOK.

 

More here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/67970487@N06/albums/72157628351292029/