Hi y’all. I’ve been wanting a smallish WWII ship for some time. I wanted a Whitehall, but they went out of production and all of a sudden a kit that ranged in price from 95-120 dollars were being priced at over 500 dollars!! Now, I know there are some Graupner, Robbe, Sterling and Midwest kits that go for good money, but this is a bit extreme. Anyway, one came up for bid on EBay for 100 dollars, and I won the auction at a very little over that. I had sold my Paula to have some “boat funds”, so it was perfect timing.
The Whitehall is a PCE, Patrol Craft Escort. At 1/96 scale it’s still small, around 23 inches long with a beam of 4 inches. This is the first kit I’ve built where the hull is in 2 longitudinal halves….anyway, let’s get started!!
The first thing the builder does is to build a temporary stand, which is provided in the kit. It’s made of expanded pvc. Then you get to assemble the hull. This is not abs, but a form of styrene, but not stiff like a static model. You basically get the 2 halves lined up then use thin ca and glass tape to reinforce the joint. There was extra tape in the kit so I reinforced the bow and stern areas as well. It took a little fiddling to get the hull to line up. You then add the 2 bulkheads and fwd deck.
The kit, in usual Dumas fashion, does not come with running gear. I sourced a Caldercraft 4mm fineline shaft and tube from my stock, an old Graupner rudder and a Robbe steering arm. Ca works best on this plastic, epoxy’s ok, Stabilit Express seems to work well, but you have to scuff the mating parts in any case. Anyway, once the stuffing box is lined up and then ca’d in place, you then build up the skeg out of plastic, then fill and sand. Once I was done I caoated the inside joint of the tube and rudder tube with Stabilit.
Now, this boat is designed to use the Dumas 4.8 volt motor, basically a Speed 300, and a 4.8 volt pack…..nope. On the Dumas website this motor is rated at 4.8-6 volts, with 7200 rpm being it’s upper limit. Now, the question is, it’s that rpm measured at 4.8 or 6 volts? I emailed Dumas with that query and got an answer same day..measured at 6 volts. That gives the motor an effective kv of 1200 rpm per volt, roughly 5600 rpm on a 4.8 volt pack. I was going to use a geared Speed 400 but the gearbox is offset, putting the motor higher in the hull than I liked. So…I went with my latest fave, the Zippkits 650kv 36mm outrunner, and a 2 cell lipo. Fully charged I’ll be down maybe 300 rpm, and the boat needs ballast anyway, so the weight of the motor is negligible. I’ll have decent speed, and that motor will never, ever get hot. I use that motor in my Taucher, and it comes back a touch over ambient, so we’re good.
The back deck, as well as the mid deck are supposed to be removable. I don’t like that many big holes in my boat. I decided to mount my rudder servo just aft and to the side of the motor, instead of aft of the rear bulkhead. I then cut a hatch in the aft deck for rudder linkage access, and glued the aft deck in place.
The superstructure is built up of balsa, expanded pvc and styrene. Nothing new here, but as the boats so small it can get fiddly, but I got it done. I have the rub and spray rails to install, and then the hull is ready for paint. The superstructure is built in 3 levels, then assembled and painted. Then it’s off to guns, gun directors, hatches, rails…and the fittings for this kit are no longer available. Some of the NTWS club members are offering to print what I need, I’ll just have to source and scratch the rest. Anyway, that’s it for tonight,,
Cash

Hi y’all. Since last post I have just a very little bit done. I worked last Saturday which is a straight shift, 630 Amish to 5 pm. Oh..our annual inventory was going on in the warehouse while I was at my counter. Then…Easter. My wife sang at the Saturday service in the choir, then 4 services Sunday…I went to the first service then cooked Easter dinner…so, I’ve been not worth a lick for a day or two…to top it all off, my debit card was compromised, and I hit something on the way home which I paled itself in the sidewall of my right rear of the Abarth. I had to get the car to work the next day, as I work in parts and I can get my tires ordered early, and the Abarth doesn’t carry a spare. So, being a modeler with a lot of adhesive knowledge, I made a rather sketchy repair that actually held up for the 15 mile drive to work. I ca’d it🤣 Seriously. Left the metal in the sidewall, ran thin ca in the crack and hit I with accelerator, multiple times. When the rate of leakage slowed I put medium over the spot in several layers. I pumped the tire up and drove her, rather gingerly, into work and had 2 rear tires installed that day. In short…no fun!!
Anyway, now that y’all have listened to my whining, I’ll share what little I accomplished the past 2 days.the night of the aforementioned tire assault I cut, trimmed and installed the 2 rub rails. I also started building up the anchor chain guides and the fwd mount and cupola for the hedgehog. Both parts need more work, but I felt like I was fortunate to get that done. I plan on having a good, slow build session this Saturday, and I’ll post what I get done then, but I have a pic of my tire repair🤣
Cash
Cash

So, after the sketchy tire repair debacle, I was able to get a bit done this week. I’m almost thinking I’ve bit off a little more than I can chew, as this boat is 1/96 scale, and the details are small, some are tiny. Anyway, I’ve got the funnel built, and it’s support is mostly done. There’s supposed to be a ring around the joint between the funnel and cap, you bend thin plastic strip around and ca it into place. Should be easy, but the plastic snapped at the bend every time I hit it with ca. So, I used 2 layers of coarse thread, once primered and painted most people won’t know the difference. I built the lockers for the fwd hedgehog deck too, instead of wood block I modified legos.
That’s about it, I’m hoping to get much more done this Saturday, with a good nights sleep and fresh eyes.
Cash

Hi all. Got some mor work done today. First thing was finishing up the fwd tub for the 3”/50 caliber gun. This has slim triangular supports all around it. The build manual, not the written manual, shows tiny pieces of thin plastic cut into shape and glued in place. This is a smallish craft at 1/96 scale, and I thought it would be easier to mark my spots, glue up trimmed pieces in place, a minor trim to start and sand to finish, so that’s what I did. Later I read the WRITTEN instructions and the writer suggested the same thing. Great minds think alike😁
I finished the funnel and the funnel support. I hade to make a small brass mast and a watertight door. The door is about a 1/2 inch tall and maybe 3/8 or so wide. I shaped a door out of thin plasticard and simulated rivets by drilling tiny holes. They won’t protrude but will be seen.I sincerely do not have enough experience with details this small at this scale to get this right and without frustration, so I opted for the drilled holes. I went ahead and primered this unit to get a better feel at what needs to be touched up and filled.
I then built up the anchor chain capstan out of dowel and wood. Looks okay, will be better with the chain on. I also built the gun director cupolas. The vacuformed parts are VERY tin, the bottoms are almost translucent, so I had to be quite careful sanding, managed to damage one but repaired it. I also cut out and sanded one tub for the 40mm bofors.
I took a pic of the parts laid in place, but not glued to the deck. This gives me an idea of how she’s going to look and helps me get my mind wrapped around my next job.
Cash

Hi y’all. Got a gift from one of my club mates, Ed Tordahl. Some of you who follow rc subs may know him from the SubCommitee. Anyway, he and another club mate, Steve Davidson are heavy into 3D printing. Steve found out I needed guns for the Whitehall, I sent him pics and specs on what I needed, he handled the files and scaling, sent the files to Ed who did some work and printed the guns for me. I owe Ed breakfast!! The first two pics are as they came off the printer, the gun in the tub is trimmed but not cleaned up.
Cash

After looking over every other Whitehall build I could find, it looks if we got the dimensions wrong. It looks as if the guns need to be about 30 percent smaller. I was warned that this might happen. I’m going to double check my data then we’ll go again. Once we get the Bofors right the other guns should be a cinch.

Doug, I’ll try to get with Ed this week get you the info. I’ll post it here or message you your choice

Hi y’all. Got a bit more done today and the past week. Before I go on I have to say this is, for me, a challenging build, as the boat is small, the details are tiny and my eyes are old🤣. Anyway, the 2 deck tubs for the Bofors are installed, I made up watertight doors by using 1mm plastic and using an xacto, I made divots from the back of the door that left rivet looking protrusions on the other side. I made up a pelorus from cast off Lego parts, as well as some lockers and a table. The signaling lamps are some small white metal fittings that I cut down, the compass is a Deans unit from my stash, and I made up rope reels from odds and ends. I still have a lot more to do but I’m getting my mind wrapped around it now. Oh, it look as if the Bofors are not too big to use!! I’ll have to trim them a tiny bit but they’ll work. I should have more done by the middle of the week.
Cash

Hi y’all. Not a lot done, this week but I’m pressing on. I have the ships boat built up, and I’ve started on the mast. It’s built up from 1/8 and 3/32 dowels, brass wire and detail parts. It’s going to be interesting, as the mast goes into a hole on the aft deck support, and down to the deck. There are several eyes on the mast for rigging, but the bottom two cannot be installed until the mast is stepped to the superstructure. So, from what I can tell, the superstructure has to be done, completely fitted out, and painted. The mast needs to be mostly done, painted, stepped, the last 2 eyelets installed, then rigged in situ, glue that whole assembly to the deck and finish rigging to deck points…at least that’s how I see it. Anyway, I hope to get to that point, or close by the weekend.
Cash

Hi y’all. Had a go at doing what I could to finish the mast. I have decided that the best tool for drilling 1/32 holes in 1/8 dowels is a pin vise. Sometimes I forget I have it, or just too lazy to drag it out of my small tool drawer, but it’s been indispensable building this boat. Much more control in a tight spot than any drill I own.
Anyway, I decided to try to build up the mast, get it painted and installed on the superstructure. Last week I got the basic mast built. Today, I built up the supports, the radome on top of the mast, bent up and installed the yardarm, and built up railing for the searchlight support and installed a “searchlight” built from bits and pieces. I also installed the boom and rigged it.
The railings on the searchlight platform were made up from single hole stanchions that I had in my parts stash, cut down to the properish size. Once glued in I ran the rail and secured it, then ca’d a second rail to the sides of the stanchions. The radome is made from an old rc car body post.
I went ahead with prime ring and paint on the deck, and made a divot for the mast to step once I finally glue down the superstructure. I still have a long way to go but I figure I’m about 5/8 there.
Cash