When I started on the real 1:96 scale model of the Okie Boat as it was in 1972 I needed drawings to work from. Those I obtained from modeling sources were not detailed and most lacked dimensions. Further, they were for the original 1959 configuration, and a lot had changed after that. I decided to make my own drawing sheets, based upon the original drawings, but with the changes added that I could see in my photos.
It soon became clear that this wouldn't be enough to build a really accurate model, so I began to investigate what drawings were available through the U.S. National Archives. This turned out to be a bonanza, and I eventually obtained 40 reels of microfilm containing thousands of the original blueprints. I scanned hundreds of these and cleaned them up with Photoshop. These were the dimensioned drawings that I needed. Using them for reference I began making my own model drawings.
Eventually I realized that the blueprints were not always clear how things should fit together (and some were actually wrong). So I started constructing 3D CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) models to "test fit" pieces. This turned out to be quite a challenge, and a lot of fun. So I decided to build a complete 3D model of the ship before proceeding with the real model. One odd thing about this is that although I want to make the drawings as accurate as possible, because most of it is based upon the original blueprints, it may actually be "more accurate" than the real thing. Shipyards often did things their own way, sometimes loosely interpreting the blueprints. And sometimes last minute changes were made that were not on the original blueprints.
Here are some images from that still incomplete project. The models and rendered images were produced with the program DesignCAD 3D Max. The images were made at various stages of completion, so some are a bit out of date. Parts that are about finished are rendered in a bluish gray similar to Navy Ocean Gray. Preliminary parts are rendered in a yellowish gray. I will update this gallery as I make progress. Don't hold your breath - what you see here started in 2004, and I estimate the project to be about half done in early 2009. So far the CAD file is about 450 megabytes, and may be as much as a gigabyte when finished.
Whole Ship
These images of the whole ship were made in January 2009. It takes about an hour to render the entire ship, so I don't do it very often. All of the main elements are in place but details like doors, ladders, railings, and life lines are not present.
Hull and main deck
The hull was quite a challenge because there are few flat surfaces. I had to stretch the skin over 150 lines that represented the frames of the hull. What you see here looks pretty good, and it served to help me place other features. But the real hull was plated with overlapping sheets that are quite visible in the photos. In the interest of accuracy I will reconstruct the hull plate by plate - someday.
The propellers were a project in themselves. They were created from the original blueprints, after several attempts. This is one place where I have varied from the real thing a bit. There were four different "screws", port and starboard and inboard and outboard. The port and starboard screws had opposite pitch - they rotated in opposite directions. All had the same diameter, 11 feet, but the outboard propellers had slightly wider blades (less than 1% difference). In the model there are only two kinds of propellers, port and starboard. Maybe someday I will correct this error.
The fittings on the main deck were mostly on the bow and stern. Forward were some vents, hatches and the anchor handling gear. The chains and pelican hook "stoppers" were a lot of fun. Aft of the helo deck on the stern is another collection of vents, hatches and other details.
The bolster and hawse pipe for the anchor chain were quite a chore. The bagel-shaped bolster was drawn from a series of horizontal and vertical cross sections shown in the blueprints. This turned out to be the most difficult thing I have ever modeled. It took about a month of evenings and weekends.
Superstructure
The forward deck house is fairly complex, but the blueprints show the basic structure. There were a lot of small changes between the initial construction and the period (1972) that I am modeling. To discover these changes I had to study many photos. There are lots of doors, air ports, ladders, railings, etc. remaining to be added to this model. Look closely and you can see faint outlines where the doors and air ports will go.
The midships deck house includes the boat decks, kingposts, boat booms and the winches used for boat movements and transfer of large objects from ship to shore. Again, there are lots of details still to be added.
The after deckhouse sat atop the missile house. It housed the missile tracking and guidance radars and associated equipment and Weapons Control where the missile system was operated.
Smoke Pipes
The smoke pipes are actually two large concentric tubes. The inner pipe is the exhaust for the boilers - a baffle divides it into fore and aft sections that service two boilers. The outer, shorter pipe is an air intake for the boilers. A skirt fits over the top of the outer pipe to keep rain and spray out. At the top front of the forward smoke pipe is a platform for the ship's siren and whistle. A catwalk circles the top to provide access for the crew so they can stretch canvas covers over the opening in port. Along the aft side is a large pipe for steam release - a pressure relief for the boilers. A compartment on the forward deck house wrapped around the front of the pipe - this was a shelter for the signal watch.
The after smoke pipe also has the catwalk for access, and the large steam relief pipe. Along the front edge is the flue from the trash burner. Around the funnel about half way up is a remnant of a searchlight platform from the original WWII configuration.
Radar towers
The forward radar tower was the most complex single part of the ship. It carried 49 antennas of various types and all the features necessary to support them. It was the first of the 3D models. I used it to determine the actual length of all the pipes. The blueprints were not clear about this - they showed the finished height of the vertical tubes, but these angled inward and are, therefore, longer than the overall height. The blueprints did not give the angles, so the lengths could not be calculated. In the shipyards they just welded together pieces, trimming them to fit as they went. That is what I did with the 3D model, and then I created detailed 2D drawings showing dimensions of all the pieces.
The midships radar tower originally carried several large antennas on the platforms at the top. However, the ship was dangerously top heavy so some of the antennas were eliminated and others were moved to lower positions of the forward tower. The remaining antenna were TACAN, communications and other functions.
The after tower carried the AN/SPS-30 air search and height finding radar plus a collection of communications antennas and weather satellite antennas.
Radars
The AN\SPS-43 was a large "bedspring" antenna used for long range air search. I have no dimensioned drawings and just a few decent photos, so this is just a best guess of it's dimensions and components.
I had even less to go on to make the AN/SPS-30 air search and altitude finder radar antenna. I made this model from a few medium resolution photos. Someday I hope to find blueprints so I can make a more accurate model.
The AN/SPS-10 was the ship's main surface search radar. Again, I have no dimensioned drawings to work from, but I do have some fairly good photos.
Directors
I found a dimensioned drawing of a Mk37 gunfire director to use for the basic structure. I took a lot of photos of the director on the USS Little Rock and they were useful for details.
I worked from photos and sketches to create this model of the AN/SPG-49 tracking radar. During a visit to the USS Little Rock I took lots of pictures and I made some drawings with dimensions taken from the directors. The dimensions of this model should be accurate to within a few percent. However, there are some missing pieces, and I would appreciate photos showing details of the 49s.
The AN/SPW-2 missile guidance transmitter model was based on lots of photos of a unit on the Little Rock, plus several detailed and dimensioned sketches.
Weapons
The missile launcher was a challenge. I have been unable to obtain the blueprints so I had to work from sketches in GMM training manuals and photos. I visited the USS Little Rock and made some measurements so the overall dimensions are more or less correct.
The NARA microfilm contained detailed blueprints for the triple 6"-47 turret, but I have found no detailed drawings of the guns. The gun dimensions were taken from photographs.
I found a few dimensioned drawings for the twin 5"-38 gun mount, but again, no drawings for the guns. There are several varieties of this type gun mount but I was able to identify the type on the Okie Boat by examining photos.
Talos Missile
This sequence of pictures shows the Talos missile in various stages of disassembly. First is the missile ready for launch with wings and fins installed. Next is the bird without wings and fins, with missile and booster mated, in the flight ready condition as they were stowed in the Ready Service Magazine. Then we see the missile alone in the state it was when it was being tested in the TATTE cells. On the right is the missile with the cowling removed showing the warhead.
Here you see the missile with the "skins" removed showing the fuel tank in the middle and the fuel injector support ring just aft of the tank. In the section just forward of the tank were the air turbines and hydraulic motors to move the wings, and forward of that were the electronics modules of the guidance, homing and firing systems. The second picture is of an unmated missile and booster, as they were stowed in the Missile Magazine. The third picture is a cutaway showing the hollow ramjet tube with the warhead ogive at the front, the engine or "burner", and the nozzle at the end of the tail pipe. The right hand picture is a closeup of the ramjet engine.
The Talos missile could carry two warheads. The Mk 46 conventional warhead is shown on the left, and the Mk 30 nuclear warhead is shown at right.
Boats
The ship had five boats, and each was a modeling project in itself. The largest was the Mk 4 40 foot Personnel Boat. It was used to ferry personnel between the ship and shore during inclement weather.
The Mk 2 40 foot Utility Boat was most often used to ferry liberty parties between ship and shore. The middle benches could be folded and moved aside to allow the boat to be used for hauling cargo.
The motor whale boat was the general purpose boat that got the most use. It was used to transfer personnel and materials between ships and shore, and it was launched for recovery of men overboard.
Miscellaneous
There was quite a variety of odds and ends scattered around the ship. The snaking winches and topping winches are just two of five winches on the ship. The burtoning winch, large boat winches and whaleboat winch are on my list of things to do.
The ship was an antenna farm. The AN/SMQ-6 weather satellite antenna (with the two helical elements) was on top of the pilot house. The ship received satellite data several times a day.* The large discone antenna was located on the bow, away from potential sources of disturbance on the ship. The crew referred to the cylindrical stowage compartment at the base as the "beer can."
The saluting gun was used for ceremonial occasions. It fired a 37mm blank cartridge. The wildcats were the mechanism used to raise and lower the anchors. They were essentially large chain sprockets. The anchor weighed 13,000 pounds, was six and one half feet wide and over eight feet tall.
The propellers were an interesting modeling project. I started with the original blueprints and built up the blade through several iterations to get the correct proportional pitch. The propellers were eleven feet ten inches in diameter and weighed 14,930 pounds each.
