Calling all USS Indianapolis CA-35 & USS Portland CA-33 fans

[MartinJQuinn]

Steve,

Good photo; you're off to a great start. Please consider posting in the WIP section; strongly suspect you'll have a large following. I have an old Matchbox kit that may now have some use!

Please keep posting.

I concur with what Mac said.

[MartinJQuinn]

Okay, its finally time. I'm going to start the basic CAD design work for the prewar Indy bridges. My question is, what do you all suggest in way of a parts breakdown? Other than the bridges themselves, what else is mission critical to convert the Academy 1.350th Indy into her gorgeous 1930s light gray self? I'd like the conversion to be as cost effective and simple as possible to save the modeler on costs.

Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in, but I thought a thread on the Portlands would be the right place.

Many thanks for any suggestions.

Bob

I would break it down into as many different parts that Shapeways will allow. I think I read 4? If so, break it down by levels. She sure is purty pre-war!

Photo from Navsource CA-35 page

[aptivaboy]

The good news is that I don't think I'd need to do the 01 level deckhouse as that comes with the correct width and all from the kit. I'm thinking that the bridges, foremast and tops would be needed for a quick and dirty conversion, plus for a more in-depth job probably:
- directors.
- aft fire control area?
- new after funnel as the structures attached to it weren't quite as built up prewar?

One other area is of concern to me. The birdhouse up top that made Indy and Sweet Pea so instantly recognizable prewar should be prototypically thin, but Shapeways will only print in 0.3mm minimum thickness. Would this be a deal breaker for anyone? I've been mentally toying with the idea of offering a former or template so that the modeler could bend super thin brass sheet stock into the correct shape and then trim to suit and install atop the bridges. Your thoughts?

Robert

[MartinJQuinn]

The good news is that I don't think I'd need to do the 01 level deckhouse as that comes with the correct width and all from the kit. I'm thinking that the bridges, foremast and tops would be needed for a quick and dirty conversion, plus for a more in-depth job probably:
- directors.
- aft fire control area?
- new after funnel as the structures attached to it weren't quite as built up prewar?

One other area is of concern to me. The birdhouse up top that made Indy and Sweet Pea so instantly recognizable prewar should be prototypically thin, but Shapeways will only print in 0.3mm minimum thickness. Would this be a deal breaker for anyone? I've been mentally toying with the idea of offering a former or template so that the modeler could bend super thin brass sheet stock into the correct shape and then trim to suit and install atop the bridges. Your thoughts?

Robert

Do both - a quick and dirty and a full blown conversion.

Again - do both. A fully printed birdhouse and a template.

[aptivaboy]

That probably is the best overall solution. I'll start drawing tomorrow. Work/the real world has intruded so I wasn't able to start the last few days. Oh, the joys of being a teacher...

After Indy, Astoria.

[ModelMonkey]

That probably is the best overall solution. I'll start drawing tomorrow. Work/the real world has intruded so I wasn't able to start the last few days. Oh, the joys of being a teacher...

After Indy, Astoria.

[aptivaboy]

Question - did the 03 level remain unchanged despite Indy's wartime refits? I'm trying to figure out if I can reduce some of the workload and cost and not offer that part IF it was unchanged and is therefore correct as it would be in the kit. I'm referring to the "base" of the bridge structure that would sit atop the 02 deckhouse where the #2 gunhouse also sat. Coincidentally, that's also the part of the plans that reproduced the worst and are the hardest to read!

Many thanks,

Bob

[aptivaboy]

PS. Does anyone have any photos of the rear of Indy's bridge? There are some details on the plans that could be structures attached to the bridge or freestanding (again, poorly reproduced plans), but I can't tell which.

Thanks!

Bob

[aptivaboy]

PS. Any photos of what Indy's bridge interior looked like? With open windows, the wheel, pelorus, desks might just be visible so I'd like to include them, if possible.

Than you!

Bob

[Dick J]

The Life Magazine collection had a couple of shots of Portland's bridge interior in 1941/42.

[ModelMonkey]

Here are some photos that may help (if you already haven't seen them). The detail is pretty neat.

Indy:

Life photos that Dick may be referring to. Portland:

Use caution when viewing Life photos because many of them were reversed left-to-right before publication!

[aptivaboy]

Thank you! I'd seen the first one, but not the others. With those and the minimal data on the plans, I should be able to gin up something that looks reasonably accurate. The shapes on this bridge are far more complex than the photos indicate. It seems like everytime I examine the plans and photos, I find something new that I missed!

Bob

[ModelMonkey]

....The shapes on this bridge are far more complex than the photos indicate. It seems like everytime I examine the plans and photos, I find something new that I missed!

Bob

I know your pain.

The 1942 Portland design made my hair hurt at times.

[aptivaboy]

I know your pain.

The 1942 Portland design made my hair hurt at times.

Yup. The big issue I'm having is that the plans seem to show structure on the back of the bridge levels that I can't find in photos, not there are many good ones of the rear of the bridge tower. I want to add this structure, but the plans didn't reproduce well at all, so I'm reluctant to add things I can't quantify exactly. I'll work it out.

[ModelMonkey]

These are Portland, not Indy, but they may help since prewar the two ships were more similar, if not identical. You may have already seen these, but if not, here you go. Loads of detail visible in these.

All photos from Getty Images, among other things a repository for classic Life Magazine photos.

[aptivaboy]

Seriously, THANK YOU!

The C&R builder's plans are interesting. The rear face of the 03 level alone, for example, is beveled, for lack of a better word, with lots of little cutouts for what I believe are hatchways (Darn those poorly printed plans!). There are literally five or six different faces or facets if I'm reading the plans correctly. This may have been because Indy was fitted out as a flagship and her bridge levels were slightly different, as well as the accommodation area around her fore funnel. I have the Steve Wiper book on order to see how he interpreted the plans, and if his interpretation of the bridge levels is different than mine.

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

Some of Indy...

80G466167

80G466166

80G456407

[aptivaboy]

I was thinking of starting a new thread on this conversion in the Virtual Ship Modeling section so as to not clog up this thread. Is that alright with people or would you like m to keep the updates here?

I got the internal framing and some of the little details in the compass house done last night. They're probably too small to be printable with today's technology, but I'll know that they're there.

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

I was thinking of starting a new thread on this conversion in the Virtual Ship Modeling section so as to not clog up this thread.

Done. New topic is here: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=162657

[aptivaboy]

Hi all,

As this goes to the design of these ships, I thought I'd put it here. Do I have this correct? The fire control deck level is the same length fore and aft as that of the compass house below it?



The plans are not a help. They profile shows the compass house as longer than the fire control deck. The plan view shows them as the same length, each being more or less copies of each other dimensionally. Fun, huh? Dueling C&R plans. So, does anyone know which was correct for the prewar Indy, as built?

Thanks all!

Bob