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.
The deckhouse itself showing the details as they are currently envisioned. Thoughts? Ideas? Where I totally screwed up?