Zana Maru

[Gunbird]

I tried coming up with a Aeronef of some kind, but my enthusiasm for that has died down so I've switched to my other love, 1/3000 ships.

My project for the Group Build is the Zama Maru.

She is a Roro car carrier, ever since I read about one in the TW:2K storyline I have wanted to build one.

The Zama Maru aka the Zama, aka the Honshu, aka the Diamond Ray is a 45.500 ton ship, 190 meters long, 32 meters wide and 22.5 meters tall from normal draught to deck level. Built in 1979 by Hitachi in Japan, she carries over 5000 cars (capacity reports on the net vary and she has no provisions for trucks or other vehicles.....not that it matters gaming wise)

In 1/3000th she will be 63mm long, 17.3mm wide and 12mm tall, but she will be a bit lower then that fully loaded.







Building a ship in this scale is not that hard, but it takes some time and effort to find enough pictures and then sketch out what comes where. I skecth the ship in a block en profil, then start looking at how many layers it will have (in this case 9 1-mm layers up to deck level and 1-2 mm layers for the details on top, the funnel being the biggest with 3-4mm.

The sketch shows the loading door on the port side, the starboard side has it (as far as I know) in the same location plus another one aft.

What I am doing now is making marks where I need to take out some plasticcard to fit in the doors on both sides so I can fit these in later and fill up/ clean up the gaps with Milliput and then start sanding. I can also make a start with the shape of the ship by pre cutting the first 3 mm of the bow section.

Because  these Roro ships are so boxy in shape this process takes a lot less time compared to a coaster or naval ship. Having said that it also more obvious if you muck up.

The best way to look st the building of a ship is to look at a layer cake.


(Yes, I made a mistake with the loading ramp, not far enough in front, this is being remidied right now with the new one)

Basically, you look at what section needs to be open, and mark those on the layer map. You start off with one, in this case the ones near the stern on the port and starboard side, then add a layer and add the one on the stern. Then layer some more and do the loading ramps on the port and starboard side. The additional ramp on the starboard side will be painted. When the basic hull is done the contours will be shaped  and the stern loading ramp holes made and the ramps fitted, as well as the ramps on each side. Then detailing on top and basing.

Start rounding off the hull near the bow and the stern, which uses the same methode as with wood. Mark the area, then scrape away layer after layer. I could use sandpaper but I feel I get more control with a sharp knife.



As the doors are not a straight block I'll need some work with those to get them in shape and fitted. They do not need fit in straight, they can stick a bit out as the ship needs sanding on the sides before it is ready for detailing on top. Now at the stern I need to take out a section to fit in the 2 stern doors and copy the correct shape.

One thing I forgot was the crew exit  and walkway on the port side, but this is so small I'm better off painting it on anyway. I could have done it with a few sheets of 0.5mm but maybe next time.

Now the easy part about plasticcard is that is easy to fill with filler or superglue, or just plastic glue and some clippings, but that takes longer to set.

As I don't have a proper pic of the top I had to guess what goes where using various other Roro's and what pics I have of this model from the side and rear.





These should also give you a good idea of the size of these ships compared to other types.

Added the side loading ramps


And added the rear loading ramps, just need to cut out the extra flaps and then sand the funnel some more, cause I'm still not happy with the shape.  Then the antennas.



And this is the last you will see of her untill she is painted.





She really is a ASM/SSM's wet dream 

These techniques are just as easy to use to build Aeronefs, being a real copycat I have no trouble seeing a real ship in my head in such a way that I can copy and build it, but somehow I just can't duplicate that with 'nefs at this moment. No idea why.

As I don't mould these, they will always be one-offs too, but I'm ok with that, casue how many Roro's would I realistically need... 

Johan

[Silent Invader]

Such intricate work 

[andekmcc]

very nice model , though as a Naval Architect I have to say these car carriers have to go down as some of the ugliest ships ever built  are the bulker and the tanker in the pics scratchbuilt as well?  Also nice models.

[Gunbird]

Thx 

The Bulker is a bog standard Navwar model, I'll propably do a few more but with self loading/unloading capabilitties, which seems pretty common as well. The Tanker is a the hull of another, smaller Bulker, with the superstructure moved further aft and a new LPG containment section built on top of the hull. I'll propably do that trick again if I do a commercial container ship, which is another thing you can't get in this scale and size, or another LPG tanker, but one with domes instead of a covered area.

And yes, Roro's take the crown in being the biggest floating eyesores that ever crossed the oceans, though the ones with the bridge even further out on the bow really are the worst, floating shoe boxes.

The Zama Maru is now done, fixed a few painting errors but she came out really nice.

Not sure if one day I will do one of the Mighty Servants as well.....not to have another target, but just as another fun excercise. I've also been challenged to build the Russian Barge carrier used in the invasion of Iceland (Tom Clancy novel, Red Storm Rising) but with my current workload I won't manage those before the deadline.