Line of Z Scale Ships Coming

Fred Ladd encouraged me to join here and show what I have been doing with Z ships. I've previewed these over on Trainboard and Railwire, but wasn't aware of Z Central. These are out of the prototype stage and nearing production:

375' Feeder Container Ship of about 550 TEUs
614' Near Panamax Container Ship of 2200 TEUs
730' Great Lakes Bulk Carrier
125' USCG Active-class cutter.

Let's try posting an image of the front house of the Laker:



I've produced a number of N scale ships that could be produced in Z, but would really like to hear what folks here might want.

Stony has already saved my bacon with his Z scale bitts, of which I ordered five sets today.

Pete

To Fred I'd say...."are you saving your bucks for some of Pete's fine work?" And Pete.....send the bacon to Stony. I'm sure he could use it on a sandwich or two.

Already a cross reference I don't understand about the bacon? LOL.

If Shapeways can deliver me 100 bitts at about $0.62 per, by Feb 28, I'll be happy as a clam. My options today were 25 bitts (1:192) at $1.32 by Feb. 21; 500 bitts at $0.44 in about two weeks (if they have them); or 1000 bitts at $0.22 sometime in April. I took all four options--there's nothing worse than ships chomping without bitts! Sorry . . .

I need to take more and better photos, but I was down in my winter home in Alabama for almost three months without most of my gear. I was down there due to a family emergency. But here's a picture of the 614' and 375' foot container ship prototypes, with the 125' cutter resting on one of them:



The 614' ship was simply too large for my portable photo studio, which was a 32 x 40" matte board.

And the only way I could shoot the Laker was on the floor:



The most interesting thing about this hull is that all the holds are there. The hatches are removable, showing full (albeit waterline-restricted) holds.

The same will be true of the container ships. They can be at dock completely empty (or completely loaded).

I will be offering "container blocks" to populate these ships.

How about some Z and N scale cargo, mooring or boat-handling winches? Or the larger windlass? An N scale cargo winch can serve as a windlass, as it's about the correct size, but that's about it. Before container ships, break bulk freighters could have up to 30 or so winches per boat. Electric winches would be fine and easier, as they are essentially a box with a drum inside.

Wish I had the time (and initiative) to get up to speed with 3D.

Ahoy Pete- Welcome aboard -- looking forward to your releases. Thanks for "Cross Decking". And jumping into Z. A Small Passenger boat ( 100 foot +- ) would be nice--lots of ports operate day cruises. I had the Port Welcome (rated by USCG for 500 passengers) for several years ( during vacations from deep sea) sailing around Baltimore, the Chesapeake, Annapolis, and C&D canal.
Your ships look like they could almost be museum quality.

How long would a 500-passenger ship be? Longer than 100 feet?

I'd categorize them as "almost museum quality." The detail is better than "commercial" but the materials would not be accepted by museums. I have done museum quality on some small architectural projects, at a 10X cost, but not with ships yet. The market there is small, and hotly contested with some established masters. I met one of the masters a few years back. His budget for a container ship was just enormous, in addition to his fee. I'm not interested in three projects a year. And I'm still very much exploring how to build ships after 59 years of doing it.

Port Welcome was the style passenger boat I was thinking of. She was about 110 feet long, with 3 passenger decks. 500 had to be very good friends She usually had about 300 on public day trips and varied greatly on night 2000-2400 trips depending on charter. She was built in late 50's at Camden- even used a tug wheelhouse. She is sort of a classic for those times. She sailed out of Baltimore for many years then went to St Clair- Mi. and is still afloat in Fla.
Just a note here: We had our wedding reception on Port Welcome 33 years ago.






Newer boats like the Spirit class sort of lost the charm. A boat of Port Welcomes vintage can fit in with late 40's to present
The Prudence was built in 1912 and is still running today on Cape Cod!


Prudence was a ferry in RI along with her remaining sister- Patience. They would fit in from early steam engines to modern day.

Stony- I bet you call a shackle a clevis too.

Yes, I could build that. I'm not sure I could make a kit for it, so it might have to be only a built-up. What's the beam--about 25 feet? It would have to have the sweep to look right, which makes a kit that ordinary modelers could build almost out of the question in Z. To look right, the hull "wrappers" should be one-piece, and making those fit on sections (as the 01 deck seems almost totally clear--well, I know I could do it, but that might be too much to ask for less skilled ship modelers. I've been trying to build a Reliance-class cutter with one-piece wrappers for two years--it can be done, but at way too much cost for a saleable piece.

If I have some time on Sunday, I'll look at this type of cruise boat. BTW, it looks like there are life rafts and boats for only about 250 people.

stonysmith wrote:

Pete Nolan wrote: Z and N scale cargo, mooring or boat-handling winches?

A quick search on Google shows several hundred styles, so I'd need to know which type you're looking for. Then, I'd need to know what dimensions these things are. The more info you can supply, the better.. while keeping in mind, I'm a landlubber. I've never been around such devices.

Yes, indeed. There are more like a zillion. I went to my N scale cargo winch drawer to measure one again, and promptly dropped it, so I now know I have 193 N scale cargo winches. Of course, by the time I picked them all up, I forgot to measure one of them, seeing as my digital cutter was spewing curlyques of styrene all about.

Let me get re-oriented. I think that undersized looks better, as does the older models that aren't as cubic, and still have warping drums. Ah, warping drums in N and Z scale! I'll get you some details next week, if I don't forget.

Windlass and wenches- I mean winches. Stony also makes props-- Many ships have spare prop on stern or fwd of breakwater. radars, and anchors. He already made the bells

Can I have a few days to catch up?

While total immersion is not against my nature, I feel like a Z-scale guy who's just jumped off the mast of a real-sized ship.

I did just have a postponement of delivery of the very first 375' container ship. I nearly finished it today, although it will not be completed until I get some of Stony's Z-scale bitts, of which there are eight on this ship. I'll have pictures up over the weekend, I hope. Serial No. Z375C-002. Available for shipping March 5, if I receive the bitts on Feb 28 from Shapeways. Now $550 plus shipping. Shipping shouldn't be too much, as this one doesn't require a custom-fitted shipping box to get there in one piece. This will be available as a kit for about $200, with future built-ups around $650, depending on options (such as an open-hold version). I know I haven't even put this on a web site, or announced it properly, but folks have been jumping the gun. I believe they are very nicely done, near museum quality--but I'm trying to make sure that I can make them reasonably.

I really will try to get a web site up soon.

So you are using a digital cutter on styrene? I have heard of people using these, and the even the hobby ones can make fantastic items at a price the average guy could afford.

Did you have to use special blades or do any modifications?

I am surprised people are not using these to whip up houses and buildings ect. I have seen somewhere you could even scribe with it.

There are guys in Germany using CNC machines to cut very very fine details, even in plastic, that I thought could only be done with lasers.But CNC machines are out of reach for most average modelers. I see potential for a lot of stuff in Z that could be cut with a digital cutter.

Yes, I started with the Silhouette SD, which is about $200, and won't cut through 0.5 mm styrene (.020"), though it will cut through 0.25 mm. It scribes very nicely, and a few folks over at Railwire have been building things. I use a score and snap technique. I recently went for a $750 BlackCat Cougar, a far larger machine that will cut through 1.0 mm styrene. I am still fine-tuning how to make this cut with precision. No special blades with the Silouette, just a slightly longer blade with the BlackCat. Two entirely different machines in nature and operation: 4 lb Silhouette versus 30 lb BlackCat. I bought the BlackCat so I could offer kits of some of the ships. There are, in my opinion, just too many fine interior cuts to be finished with the Silhouette to offer kits.

Some of the older CNC machines can be had for a pretty much scrap prices. Of course, they may be run by DEC VAX computers, and you might need a fairly large forklift to move them. But yes, small new CNCs are still pricey, as are competent 3D printers and even laser cutters. The digital cutters are mostly plotters with a knife blade instead of a pen. Most (perhaps all) have a pen option.

This is the N scale version of the 125' USCG Active class cutter that will be coming to Z soon. I've already conformed the cuts to Z, and cut the first hull and superstructure. This "racing stripe" version would be very late in the life of these boats; it is, of course, available without the stripe.

Here are some images of the 142' Santa Fe tugboats used in San Francisco Bay service. These will be a little later coming to Z, as the hull master was not completely drawn. I think the hull here is best in resin--at least it is for the N scale version.



The identical Hastings:



And the car floats that go with the tugs:

There's also this 173' Bluffton class patrol boat. This has drawn zero interest in N so far, so I'm not sure I'll convert the drawings to Z.



This was actually my first "trial" ship, a simple design to see what a digital cutter could do.

There are a number of other ships in the works in N scale: a 173' Aggressive class minesweeper that would make a dandy trawler, and a 210' Reliance class cutter. These have proven, at this point, a little too difficult to produce, at least at less than $1000 each. The sweeper just has too much special deck gear in cable reels, paravanes, and other gear, while the cutter has too much in terms of safety nets and hull problems, shown here.



The bow of this cutter has given me fits. You can see on the top cutter that just a few strokes of sandpaper ruined the line of the bow.

And I'm casting about for rescue boats, davits, life rafts, etc. in Z. I'll probably make them myself, but it will take time. I know Stony may be able to help, but I have only 24 hours in a day, and like to sleep 9 of them.