Attachment:
InkedUSS St Paul 1966 Mast.jpg
Thank you for the welcome!
DrPR;The antenna in question is horizontal (looks like a TV antenna or Yagi antenna of some sort) above the Romeo flag, forward of the AN/SPS-8A Radar height finder. The vessel has a surprising number of AT-150 antennas! I have definitely enjoyed comparing the BoGP antennas to the photos, and then using certain web pages and "Shipboard Antennas" by Preston E. Law Jr. to identify them.
That does make sense with regards to the electronics enclosure as there were upgrades made in 1968 which most noticeably converted the AN/URN-3 TACAN to the newer AN/URN-20 TACAN.
For 3D printing, definitely doable. Running the vessel on lakes the 1:96 may be more stable. Fitting a 7' boat in my condo may be a challenge though!
DavidP; The cameras are still a work in progress, but I know digikey has several micro sized cameras that would work well if connected to the optical range finder tubes. 1:192 scale may be hard to accomplish that, but may make large scale 1:96 as well.
BB62vet; Thank you for the welcome!
I appreciate that, there are a lot of great 3D resources on here. The challenge is part of the fun! I do not anticipate this taking only a month or two, but some of the best projects are those that take time!
It would be quite the sight to see her in person. Closest I have been is touring the USS Salem (CA-139). Doing research for this project I stumbled upon some information that a great uncle, who served on the USS Nashville (CL-43) may have also been on the USS St. Paul as a Coxswain when both were in Shanghai (still verifying that).
Fliger747; Thank you as well for the welcome!
I have been impressed with the information here so far. Lots of valuable information and discussions.
General CommentsPart of what makes this interesting to me is learning the history of both the ship and crew, as well as diving into systems and learning about all the nuance between different iterations of the same equipment. I have an excel workbook that is keeping tabs on things to model, as well as progress on each item (initial information pull, modeling, printing, painting and final assembly). This vessel has been interesting as well as it received a more robust forward mast, as well as a unique structure between the forward and aft funnels which supported her use as a flagship and contained many flag staff support and cryptography functions.
I have attached another view of the mystery antenna, as well as version one of the aft section of the hull. The first version here fits the general profile of the vessel, but not the curvature, especially in the bow. This first version is more of a "In Theory this will work".
More to come!