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

[seadude]

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.

I'm not sure what you could use to build the Oregon ship. It's described as being like a tramp steamer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Files
I think the closest you could get away with might be to convert a Trumpeter 1/350 scale Jeremiah O'Brien LIBERTY ship kit. That's the only thing I can think of at the moment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Jeremiah_O%27Brien

[Diamondback]

560'x75'... hmm, that's a little shorter and beamier than a WWII Brooklyn CL. About 25' shorter than a postwar Type C5 and 3' narrower beam... the numbers are specific enough to make me wonder if the authors didn't have a specific ship in mind, Cussler was lovingly even to the point of excessively detailed when describing vehicles and vessels that actually existed.

The next size down, a C4, is way too small though, and even a much smaller C2 or C3 has way more cranes than 3 fore/2 aft.

EDIT: C5 is listed as 560 on the nose at an unspecified point, 583 OAL. Maybe this *is* Oregon's inspiration after all!

[Rick Lowe]

Nice work, Cap'n.

Yeah the accent colour is just enough to pick out the vents and break up the whiteness. 

[Weaver]

I think you've made some great choices there.

The observatory looks just right, as do the turquoise funnels. Funnels often carry the "identity" of a ship, so having their signature colour on them is entirely appropriate.

[seadude]

560'x75'... hmm, that's a little shorter and beamier than a WWII Brooklyn CL. About 25' shorter than a postwar Type C5 and 3' narrower beam... the numbers are specific enough to make me wonder if the authors didn't have a specific ship in mind, Cussler was lovingly even to the point of excessively detailed when describing vehicles and vessels that actually existed.

The next size down, a C4, is way too small though, and even a much smaller C2 or C3 has way more cranes than 3 fore/2 aft.

EDIT: C5 is listed as 560 on the nose at an unspecified point, 583 OAL. Maybe this *is* Oregon's inspiration after all!

I don't know where you'd get a tramp steamer model kit to use as the basis for the Oregon. But let's just use the Liberty ship instead as an example.

1/350 Trumpeter Jeremiah O'Brien LIBERTY SHIP model kit
Approximately 15.2 inches long x 2 inches wide

Real Liberty ship actual dimensions
Approximately 441 ft long x 57 ft wide

Oregon
Book: 560 ft long x 75 ft wide
Model: 19.2 inches long x 2.57 inches

So to make the Oregon from a Liberty ship, you'd have to lengthen a Liberty ship kit by 4 inches. I wouldn't worry too much about the width as there's only about a 1/2" inch difference. Where to lengthen a Liberty kit is a good question. I'm not sure on that.

Here's some below cutaway pics of a liberty ship.

[Diamondback]

Some C2's and C3's were cut-and-spliced up into C5's so a Liberty is a very viable start. Maybe 2" and one crane each fore and aft?

[Weaver]

Based on how post-war RN warships designs were stretched, I'd say put an extra parallel section in immediately in front of the engine room. That requires no design-heavy changes to the engine room or drivetrain, it just adds a section of "ship-cross-section tube" to the hull.

Essentially, this means add an "extra Hold No.3" in-between the existing hold No.3 and the engine room.

[Diamondback]

Thinking we should split the Oregon discussion off to a new thread so us Cussler fans can crowdsource and brainstorm without further cluttering seadude's very nice project. Can any of our Mods make that happen, please?

[seadude]

Thinking we should split the Oregon discussion off to a new thread so us Cussler fans can crowdsource and brainstorm without further cluttering seadude's very nice project. Can any of our Mods make that happen, please?

Got something started here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=54275.0

[seadude]

Getting back on track, a few more pics.

[scooter]

The NUMA logo and square backing looks fine...like something Sandecker would have ordered anyway.  You can BS it as "removable panels that can be replaced as needed" or some thing like that

[Rick Lowe]

Yeah, that works.
As for printing something onto paper and sticking it onto the model; again, whatever works. 

[seadude]

There's a small detail I want to put on my model, but I'm not sure what might look or work best?
The ship needs fire fighting hoses and/or gear.
Anybody have any thoughts and opinions?
Options and pictures are below.

Option 1 - Most or all civilian ships like cruise ships for example have red fire hose boxes/cabinets scattered all over the ship in various places.
Option 2 - Fire hose racks similar to what the US Navy uses. I have several of these racks as photoetch pieces.
Option 3 - Place various color coded decals in various spots all over the ship on bulkheads to indicate where firefighting and other emergency equipment is kept or inside the superstructure behind hatch doors.

[Diamondback]

Seadude, if you're in the US Hobby Lobby has print-your-own decal sheets. You do need a sealer, though... or hell, just DM me your email addy, and we'll talk about you sending me the artwork and I'll see about printing some on the next sheet I fire up.

[seadude]

Seadude, if you're in the US Hobby Lobby has print-your-own decal sheets. You do need a sealer, though... or hell, just DM me your email addy, and we'll talk about you sending me the artwork and I'll see about printing some on the next sheet I fire up.

I already have the decals for Option #3 already. They're spares from an older Navy warship kit I had.
Thanks for the offer. But I wouldn't be able to print anything as my comp printer is completely out of ink. Ink is expensive as hell right now and I can't afford it at this moment.