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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:35 pm 
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They are some quite useful pics! I'm not going to go mad on the details but they will help with the etch railings and masts for example. I had done some searches but found nothing as useful myself. During 1942 (prior to the October pics), did she have enough time in port to fit an sc radar? Clearly she didn't have one in January but I'm thinking maybe later in the year as they became available, she might have been fitted with one.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:09 pm 
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What I'm uncertain about with this photo is that platform on the foremast. It was a common feature on ships getting radar installed. It was temporary while they modified the mast to install the structures needed for the antenna. A lot of USN ships in December 1941 and early 1942 had their mast (fore or main) modified well before a radar was actually installed.

Her radar could have been installed shortly after this photo was taken or several months afterward. She was reportedly escorting convoys from the West Coast to points west until May 1942. That gave her plenty of opportunities to have her radar installed.


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:18 pm 
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I've fitted the quad 1.1's now and I'm working on some railings around the bridge. I'll use some pva (white) glue on the bridge top railings to recreate the canvas. Thanks for the help folks, it's all been useful. I'll pop a radar on the foremast then and I guess it'll be more or less correct for some point in the middle of 1942. The model won't be brilliant but it will be better than before and importantly, it will be in the correct camouflage measure. I've also ordered myself a Niko Helena, which I've read is a good kit and it'll mean I've got one each of the different US large light cruisers.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:40 pm 
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The Helena kit by Niko Model is good, but there are two small problems, which are easy to fix:

a) according to the kit's instructions the after Mk 33 director should be placed too far aft:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=32971&start=120#p585365
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=32971&start=120#p589515

b) the hawsepipes are too much forward, see here for a corrected model:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=32971&start=120#p590147

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:32 am 
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Maxim, PM sent


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:38 pm 
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Another view of HONOLULU during the January 1942 yard period:

Image

There definitely was not yet an SC/SC-1 radar antenna on the foremast at this point - but maybe it was added soon after these photos were taken? Maybe at a forward base (from a tender) or at Pearl Harbor?


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:21 am 
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Thanks for the help so far on Honolulu. I need some help with the masts. Can anyone tell me what thickness (in metric) the masts should be? Master do tapered brass masts , which is handy. Is there any scale plans at all for the masts as well? I could guess but if there's a scale guide, that would make things a lot easier!

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Mike


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:31 pm 
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Hi David

It's on the previous page - 1/700.

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Mike


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 3:46 pm 
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I've got the turned brass masts and yardarms now so could use some plans/dimensions etc for Honolulu's masts, so I can finish my restoration.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:14 pm 
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Hey all - anyone have high-res photos of Savannah (CL-42) after reconstruction following the guided bomb hit off Salerno?

Navsource has a few, but nothing too spectacular.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:55 pm 
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Not sure what aspects you want or need for your illustrations, but here are a couple of broadside and one aerial views dated in October 1944 and April 1945.

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 3:55 pm 
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Those are fabulous Rick, thanks!

I guess my next question is: are there any plans available for the rebuilt Savannah? My very basic research so far has shown Honolulu receiving the blister / dual 5"/38 mount modification in late 1945, but I can't find any booklets of general plans for this config and the few drawings I've found online are inaccurate.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:42 pm 
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I looked for drawings of the BROOKLYN class at NARA at the request for someone else, and for some reason there was very little available for any of the class (at least as paper drawings). Ironically there were paper drawings for HELENA pre-WWII, but none of the others in the class. There could be microfilm copies of drawings, but I didn't look for them (that is a time consuming effort).

Here is an overhead view that is nice for showing the layout of this cruiser.

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:32 am 
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Profile Morskie has plans of Savannah as converted. It is No. 95. They now sell only the plans in different scales (1/700 - 1/72).

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:22 am 
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The National Archives microfilm plans list includes the following:

CL-40 Brooklyn 1936
CL-41 Philadelphia 1936
CL-42 Savannah 1937
CL-43 Nashville 1937
CL-47 Boise 1937
CL-49 St. Louis 1938
CL-50 Helena 1939

The list is brief and doesn't say anything about what plans they have for each ship - just that there is something there. They also list "APER" drawings. I assume these are aperture cards with microfilm inserts.

Phil

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:18 am 
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I'll check the Profile Morskie option - historically I've steered away from using them as I've found numerous errors in a lot of his work. The main area I need plans to help with is the amidships quad Bofors tower abeam the searchlight platform - I can't find any plans that show this area in detail.

One of these days I plan to start ordering and scanning microfilm for this stuff!


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:36 am 
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Generally I have found that the APER cards aren't helpful for ship details in general. They seem to be mostly drawings for specific equipment onboard (like an oil pump, wiring diagrams, etc).

The microfilm at NARA can be copied to a digital format by a pro researcher with the right equipment for a fee. Because of the number of the microfilm rolls for a large ship like a cruiser, it will be costly. At NARA you can look at the microfilm, frame by frame, and make paper copies at something like $0.50 a page, if their old microfilm reader equipment is working that day. The NARA downtown (NARA I) has newer microfilm equipment that is much better for viewing (with a large screen) and getting digital copies directly to a USB device. The NARA College Park (NARA II) was suppose to get similar microfilm equipment, but the last I knew they had not.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 10:13 pm 
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The last I heard you can order the microfilm images on DVDs. However, I don't know what resolution they use. I have been scanning microfilm with a machine at our local library. It allows enlarging the image 2-3x for scanning just a part of a frame.

I have been scanning each 35mm frame in six overlapping magnified images and saving them as Photoshop files. Then at home I use Photoshop to paste all of the scans into a single drawing. This gives me something like 8000 dpi resolution on the film, and you can see tiny details like the pencil points the draftsman used to mark centers of circles or to space lines of text. More importantly, the smallest text is very legible.

An original large drawing like a whole ship outboard profile was something like 3x11 feet on paper. It might be 5 separate overlapping photos on the microfilm, or 30 individual scans. When pasted together the whole image is about 29,000 x 8000 pixels. If then printed on a wide bed plotter 36x130 inches it gives resolution equivalent to scanning the original paper drawing sheet at about 220 dpi.

I have a 4000 dpi film scanner and I have tried to scan the microfilm with it. But the smallest text sometimes is not legible. My guess is that the minimum acceptable resolution for scanning microfilm is 6000 dpi. Anything less and you might not be able to read the small text. I do not know what resolution you get on the DVDs from the National Archives.

****

You are right about the expense. I started ordering reels of microfilm when they were $35 each. There are 19 reels for the original Cleveland class blueprints. I bought another 8 reels of later Cleveland drawings and 13 for the CLG guided missile conversions. That's 40 reels for $1400. Now I think they want $65 per reel.

Of course not all of the drawings are useful for modeling. Many are wiring, plumbing and ventilation diagrams, or pages of door, furniture and label lists, etc. I have actually scanned only about 500 of the original approximately 9600 blueprints.

Another expense is the time involved. I have no idea how many days I have spent sitting in front of the microfilm scanners - when they were not already being used by someone else. Then there have been months of work piecing the scans together into the drawings. It can take two days to piece together a large drawing, correcting for pincushion distortion in the original camera lens that photographed the drawings, and more distortion from the microfilm scanner optics. That's one reason it has taken 12 years to get as far along on my model as I have so far. But I have the satisfaction of knowing that my CAD model is accurate!

Phil

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:13 pm 
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It would be great if they could go from microfilm reader to jump drive. I bought a bunch of rolls about 30 years ago, along with a reader. That allowed me to go through the rolls for useful pages, make a note of the frame numbers, then take the reels to a document service for paper blowbacks. Kinkos has copiers that can resize those architectural-size drawings down to working size on one sheet. Quality varies all along the chain; some microfilm images were shot from VERY faded originals. Some of the obscure details on those microfilm reels are amazing, though.


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:16 am 
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Gents -

Does anyone know the exact 5"/38 twin gun mount mark/mod used the refitted Savannah? The usual suspects have no detailed info about the mark/mod, just "twin gun mounts". From examining photos, they appear to be the usual Mark 28 or Mark 32 twin mounts without the gun captain's sight hoods.

Another question involves the Mark 34 main battery director shields - any idea of the mark/mod of this? The type used on the Brooklyn class seems to be the earlier mark/mod (as opposed to "Shield Mark 7 Mod.0" used aboard the St. Louis and Cleveland classes).

Thanks!


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