1/350 scale NUMA oceanographic research/exploration ship "Neptune's Trident"

[Rick Lowe]

I just want the vents to stand out a little bit, you know?

Fair enough, that makes sense. 

Then a slightly darker grey than the ships colour should be sufficient.
Just enough to make it a noticeably separate part from the rest of the hull.

[seadude]

Why is it that ships of this type always have the flight deck on the rear of the ship where the pilots have to deal with all the turbulence created by the superstructure? Just a general question, not a criticism.

Well, here's an example of a ship with a helipad in the front. Picture below.

I just want the vents to stand out a little bit, you know?

Fair enough, that makes sense. 

Then a slightly darker grey than the ships colour should be sufficient.
Just enough to make it a noticeably separate part from the rest of the hull.

Well, I already am using TAMIYA Light Gray Panel Line Accent Color. Or are you suggesting switching to a slightly darker gray? TAMIYA does make another gray panel line accent color, but I don't know how much darker it is.

[Weaver]

Here's an example of an amphibious warfare ship with a forward helideck: the Russian Ivan Rogov class.

The aft helipad is used for helos all the time, while the area in front of the superstructure is normally used to carry vehicles, but it also has a helicopter landing spot, and the hangar runs right though the superstructure with doors at both ends:

[Rick Lowe]

Well, I already am using TAMIYA Light Gray Panel Line Accent Color. Or are you suggesting switching to a slightly darker gray? TAMIYA does make another gray panel line accent color, but I don't know how much darker it is.

I wasn't suggesting any, use whatever you like - I was just commenting that making it a slightly different shade to make it stand out makes sense. 

[kerick]

Why is it that ships of this type always have the flight deck on the rear of the ship where the pilots have to deal with all the turbulence created by the superstructure? Just a general question, not a criticism.

Well, here's an example of a ship with a helipad in the front. Picture below.

I just want the vents to stand out a little bit, you know?

Fair enough, that makes sense. 

Then a slightly darker grey than the ships colour should be sufficient.
Just enough to make it a noticeably separate part from the rest of the hull.

Well, I already am using TAMIYA Light Gray Panel Line Accent Color. Or are you suggesting switching to a slightly darker gray? TAMIYA does make another gray panel line accent color, but I don't know how much darker it is.

I think your panel line color is just right. Any darker would make the vents stand out and I don't think that's what you want.
Thanks for the pic of that ship. That looks so unusual I'm going to have to look that one up.

[Weaver]

Thanks for the pic of that ship. That looks so unusual I'm going to have to look that one up.

it's not uncommon for oil rig support vessels to have a helo pad on top of the superstructure. This is the former Royal Fleet Auxiliary repair ship RFA Dilligence. She was built as a civilian vessel, the MV Stena Inspector, before being taken up from trade to act as a repair vessel during the Falklands war. She proved so useful that the RN bought her outright and she served until 2016. The helo pad wasn't a military addition: both she and her sister ship, MV Stena Seaspread, were built with them:

[kerick]

There was another ship with a red hull that I think was an Antarctic icebreaker and research ship. Might have been Australian. It had a helipad added to the front of the ship at some point. It's been a while since I've seen anything about it. If anyone thinks of something let me know.

[Andrew Gorman]

The USS Granville Hall had a forward helipad and lot of specialized sampling and washdown systems- it was sailed under remote control through fallout plumes after nuclear tests, along with the USS George Eastman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Granville_S._Hall#/media/File:USS_Granville_S._Hall_--_1965.jpg

[kerick]

I finally found it!



Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield. IIRC the helipad was added at a later date. It had a sister ship called Ocean Protector.
Landing a helicopter on that pad with any kind of wave action causing the ship to roll would be difficult to say the least.

[Old Wombat]

Ocean Protector, Christmas Island, ca. 2013/2014;

[PR19_Kit]

Not exactly pretty ships, are they?

[Weaver]

Not exactly pretty ships, are they?

They aren't but it's a good kind of ugly that I rather like. The kind that says "I'm here to do a job of work, not pose for pictures"...

[seadude]

Folks, I'm sure talking about ships with unique hull designs and/or helicopter landing pad placement is fascinating and all, but it's starting to derail my model thread.
If you want to continue, how's about starting a new separate thread in a different forum, ok? Please?

[seadude]

And a little bit more progress.

[Diamondback]

Interesting project... now you've gone and given me a wanting to build the Oregon.

Funny story, my frat in college were all Cussler fans... when one of us had to drop out, we actually made candidates to become the new Pestilence (there were four of us, the computer lab supervisor dubbed us 'The Horsemen') take a written exam on their knowledge of Cussler novels - though War, Famine and I were nice, we let the candidate pick any three books of their choice and only tested on those three.