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PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:07 pm 
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1/144th Fletcher Goodies

Hi all,

Upon request, I’ve started some work on conversion bits to turn the big Revell Fletcher into a later war ship, specifically Bethelehem-built units like the Heerman. Indeed, Heerman is the subject of this conversion, although I’m sure it could be used for other ships. The plan is to offer (at a minimum) the aft deckouse and tear drop tub, midships 40mm tubs, waist 20mm bulwarks, various ammo boxes and deck accoutrements (20mm ready service lockers, pyro lockers, 40m spare barrel boxes), and whatever else strikes my fancy. It may be ultimately possible to downscale these parts to 1/350th for the Tamiya Fletcher, for example, but with a requisite loss of fidelity and detail; sorry, that’s just the name of the beast.

Anyway, here’s the first look at the deckhouse. Heerman appears to have had a square cutout or window(?) portside at about knee level. Can anyone confirm what that is? Plans of Boyd, another Bethlehem-built Fletcher, show a fixed bolted plate on the deckhouse’s forward side which I’ve attempted to replicate as best as I could. I’m guessing that covered up a hatch that they wanted covered over for some reason. The big issues concern the shell dumps on the after sides of the tear drop tub. It appears that various ships had them in various sizes, some symmetrical, some asymmetrical. I’ve done m best to replicate Heerman’s probable arrangement form photos and the Boyd plans but I’m not sure if they’re correct in size and shape. Any suggestions here? Also, were they hollow on the inside (I’m guessing they were) and how did they interface with the inside of the tub to allow the gun crews to dump the spend shells?

Many thanks,

Bob


A rough draft showing the tub and ammo clips inside. Don't hold me to the 40mm racks and details, they probably won't print as being too small but I'll give it a go.
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The deckhouse itself showing the details as they are currently envisioned. Thoughts? Ideas? Where I totally screwed up?
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 11:59 pm 
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I redid the ammo chutes to better match some photos, but I'm still not sure they're correct and subtly redid some little fiddly bits. Any ideas? Some minor surfacing is also being added. The tub itself is pretty much done, so its just the deckhouse itself that is giving me issues due to the lack of super up close details with which to surface the CAD model.

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PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:24 am 
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A rough draft of the completed assembly, tub and deckhouse. The ammo clips will need to be cleaned up a bit, and the marker holes for the hatch will also need to be Booleaned in. Okay, what am I missing? I'm still not completely convinced that the ammo chutes are correct, although they seem to match the Boyd plans.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 12:09 am 
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The beginnings of the forward twin 40mm tubs. This is the starboard tub. The sheer was a pain, but it looks okay compared to plans the the plan book. The biggie is that the tub deck follows the sheer of the deckhouse its mounted on, but the Bofors obviously needed a flat mounting surface. I'll need to examine some photos and such to determine the shape and orientation of that mounting surface. I'll start adding internal supports tomorrow. Any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to chime in!

Bob

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:20 pm 
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Okay, I've redone the tubs to the flat sided version since that's what Heerman carried. Don't worry, I'll come back to the circular ones in due course, but as this is meant to be a Heerman conversion the flat sided design will take precedence.

As you can see, the this starboard tub is designed to notch onto the forward deckhouse. It will eventually get small supports underneath to allow the modeler to also attach it to the main deck, although that will be at the modeler's discretion. The shielding is 0.31 mm thin, about as thin as can be and still print, so while not quite photoetch thickness, its still pretty thin and will allow for some detailing on the insides of the tub.

Thanks for looking.

Bob

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And, with the scrap deck piece removed.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 3:56 pm 
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Adding the 40mm mounting ring.
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The inner hole is 10mm wide. I don't know what size 40mm people will be using, so I just tried to replicate one of the mounting rings seen in the various plans. The ring itself is horizontal so the Bofors will also hopefully mount horizontally straight atop it; no use carrying an AA gun if it droops or is angled off to one side! I've been experimenting with sweep cuts trying to add some camber to the shielding that sits over the deckhouse, but so far no joy mainly because my CAD program as been acting weirdly. More later.

Bob


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:54 pm 
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Pipe rail added. The lower surfaces of the shielding have been adjusted for camber as per the FDD's plan book. I know find myself at a crossroads. I want to add ammo racks, but without firm photos of Heerman's inner tubs I may leave it all blank and leave it to the modeler to handle this chore if one wishes to. What are your thoughts? The thing is, I don't want to add something that wasn't actually there. Looking forward to your input.

Bob


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:40 am 
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See the FLETCHER class CASF Thread.


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 11:46 pm 
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Okay, here we go! Thoughts? The one area I'm really worried about is matching the tub to the deck camber and sheer, especially the sheer. It matches the plans but it somehow still looks too severe.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:03 am 
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This is a case where you need to match the bulwark to the model kit deck. Right or wrong sheer and camber on the kit is what matters.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:09 am 
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Pipe rail re-added. It had to be temporarily deleted and then redone to get at the innards. There's also s super small pipe rail and foot level, like a kickplate almost, that appears in some of the photos so I went with it. Its hard to see, but its there.

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Okay, off to bed. I'm fighting the flu. More tomorrow if the Nyquil doesn't put me out.

Bob


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:23 am 
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I lied. One more. This is a blueprint of the original design before any supports or such were added. Does the sheer look okay?

Thanks for looking.

Bob

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:19 pm 
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Some progress. I've added some legs to the bottom of the tub, with a sacrificial rectangle there to offer some protection. They're slightly longer than the height of the deckhouse so that the modeler can trim and cut to his desired length, Given how firmly the modeler attaches the forward deckhouse, that could cause a height differential of a milimeter or so, so this looked like a good compromise.

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And, a teaser. Hermann Schulte cut out the tub blueprint to test out the sizing and sheer. That's the Revell model, Modelmonkey bridge, and my forward 40mm tub in paper outline form. The way things are going, you'll be able to really make a cool square bridge in large scale very soon!

Any thoughts on sizing? Sheer? Does it look okay to you all?

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:20 pm 
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PS. If anyone has any idea of what the undersides of those tubs look like, I'd love to add some texture there.

Bob


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 11:17 pm 
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There were "beams" below the overhang. See the drawing I have attached.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:35 pm 
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Based upon that drawing and some photos that Hermann sent me, I've come up with this. Thoughts?

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:03 pm 
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PS. I'm also adding a 40mm Bofors based upon request. This is preliminary and very much subject to change. The support ribs underneath are overscale, but 0.3mm is the thinnest that Shapeways can consistently print.

Can you believe we're saying that 0.3mm is overscale? What would modelers in the decades before us say?


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:26 pm 
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This will also be available soon in 1/144th. There is now a mounting hole for the in-progress 40mm base. I went with no camber here, so the base can be flat. For the forward tubs, that's another story...

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:12 am 
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When Revell's 1/144 Flower Class corvette becomes available, will you also be making alternate, or detail parts for that kit? :wave_1:


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:38 pm 
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Good morning,

I wasn't aware that they were releasing one. If there is interest, then possibly. I have plenty of plans and references for them. I'm a Flower-lover, especially the Flowers of ONS.5, Loosestrife, Sunflower, Snowflake and Pink. I'll say possibly yes, but it will depend upon what the kit looks like, and whether there is enough demand. In that scale, parts go way up in price (fair warning). I would like to see some early war, low forecastle designs, so maybe. Without having the kit in hand, I wouldn't commit to anything, but maybe depending upon what's needed. Right now, I've got to finish the Fletcher stuff and then get cracking on the prewar Indy bridges, and then probably Astoria.

When is the kit expected to be released?

Bob


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