THG/Kyle Update - December 2023 (Patreon)

Season's Greetings!

First off, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and happy New Year!

Included here are 25 screenshots taken in the Belfast scene I made earlier this year, which itself stems from the Belfast scene we made for Demo 3 back in 2017. The gantry allows for lots of fun views of the ship as the structural model progresses. The scene can also be easily changed for weather conditions, so for these images I went with a snowy winter look. Most of the images show the latest progress on the THG structural model, some are just for fun.

2023 Recapped

2023 has been a year of ups and downs for us. We've formed some amazing and fruitful partnerships with such organizations as RMS Titanic Inc. and Mike Brady's Oceanliner Designs and seen the graphics our team has created featured in big exhibitions and in numerous videos. Earlier in the year we released the 2.0 update of Demo 401 featuring 50% of Titanic (or to put it another way, virtually every space you'd really want to explore on the ship).

During the spring I built a model of the Arrol Gantry with an improved shipyard in which to show off the new ship model and, perhaps in the future, to be put to use in THG itself. And then there's Jack, who created our new real-time sinking animation and other awesome videos.

Of course recent months have been much slower. James was working as an entertainer on a cruise ship through the summer, Matt was in the process of packing and moving the last few months, and I've spent pretty much the last 6 months completely out of commission as I dealt with the aftermath of my dad's passing and the seemingly endless housework I had to do after.

With James returning to land, Matt completing his move, and my deciding to put off further house work until spring, things have finally started to pick up again. The biggest bit of news is that, for the last few weeks, I have been back to work on THG and the structural model. Specifically, I've been making the rest of the hull frames, a process that's nearly done.

A Side Note

To reiterate what I've said previously, the goal with this model is to have a solid structural base in which to fit all the familiar parts of the ship we know and love, as well as to finally build out all those other spaces we've never seen or often ignore. While there are some aspects that are less important and visible, such as the double bottom, things like the frames are essential to the overall ship model, being visible in a great many spaces and affecting the rest in various ways.

While this method of making the ship may seem insane and unnecessary to some, it's important to keep in mind that almost every element, particularly above the double bottom, is a necessary part of the whole and would need to be made at some point. Creating the structure this way allows practically the entire ship to be built in a way that makes sense and brings many spaces to near-completion simply by having that structure in place.

Frames and Current Progress

The frames are perhaps the most important part of the model. Numbering some 600 total, 300 pairs, and spaced 3 feet apart along most of the ship, the frames form the "ribs" of the hull and are the structural members up which most others in some way depend. Deck beams are attached to the frames via brackets, hull plating is riveted to the frames, and more. They're some of the most visible structural elements (aside from beams) in many interior spaces.

There are mainly two types of frames - channel and angle. Channel frames are single C-shaped steel "beams" used along most of the ship. Angle frames are each made of two L-shaped "beams" riveted together and make up the frames at the fore and aft ends of the ship where the steel tends to be thinner and much more curved. I've done both types so far, but when you see in the above images is only part of the process.

The frames done so far are all the same as a means of making it easier to figure out other things, but once these basic frames are done, I need to go back and change a bunch of them to even more complicated types of frames. The most prominent of those other types being web frames, which are made of larger steel plates and give more strength to the hull where there are large open spaces like boiler and engine rooms. There are also differences for frames located on watertight bulkheads and so on. For now, I just have basic frames for everything.

What's Next?

Once I have the main frames in place, I'll move on to some other elements. It'll depend on what's needed for a given area, but there are several possibilities. I may do the propeller bossing castings, or the brackets for the frames, or I may even get a start on some beams. Likely it'll be castings and brackets, but we'll see. Watertight Bulkheads are another possibility. Once these elements are in place, the structure will really start to look like it's getting filled in. Overall there's still plenty of work to do even on existing elements. Now that I'm back on the task, I should hopefully have more updates as things progress.

In general, things should pick up in the new year. James will be able to devote more time on his end, Matt is settled after his move and now has a dedicated office space for work, and overall more should happen as the year goes on. 2023 was tough, but we think 2024 will be much better.

Demo 401

I was going to include a little update for Derek's work on the long-await Demo 401 update, but this post is big enough and I'd rather let him show his own work. I will say that due to the holidays, Derek has been unable to do a lot for a few weeks. He owns an organ-building business and this time of year demands near-constant travel and work for that sort of thing. However, the busy season is now over and, after a short holiday break, Derek hopes to jump fully back into his work with us and finally get that update done.

Thank You!

On a final note, I'd like to thank everyone for their patience and their continued support. I know we've said that a lot, but the last half year or so has surely been taxing for anybody who's already been waiting eons to see progress. So thank you to our patrons; new, current, former and future! I am personally grateful as I am now living on my own and THG is pretty much my job going forward.

Again, thank you. I hope 2024 is a good year for all of you as well as us!