Hi Guys,
Been a little while.
I have decided not to race this project to its end.
The IPMS USA National Convention is without a doubt the biggest contest/vendor faire in the good ol' US of A each year; a heaven and a haven! I wanted to finish this model for all of the right reasons but could'nt do it. More would be lost in haste and little gained.
I have spent the last 3 weeks off and on fixating on a small sub-assembly not any bigger than the last .4" of a #2 pencil. The WEM kit provided Mk68 director is just fine if you want to finish this and move along to the next model. I chose to study this item and change it to match drawings and photos. I overdid the sanding and paint prepping on the WEM piece some time ago, pretty much ruining it. I took one from an ISW kit; that was the starting point.
The ISW director has a nice shape to it, but was a little too big. I sanded away the sides, the bottom, the back and the top; checking against measurements from BuShips drawings.
Some things I noticed about the WEM director:
1) SPG-53 radar is too small
a) The Veteran Models radar is just the right size it turns out. This radar is a part of a pre-production SPG-51 and other directors package.
2) SPG-53 radar is perched atop the house with a quardropod, not a solid stantion.
b) made the 4 legs from .010" steel rod.
***********now I'm discussing both the WEM and ISW directors***************
3) The house was integral with the base, no clear demarcation.
c) after studying photos, I realized this director house has a 1/2 round bottom allowing what in aviation is called a roll capability and is seated in a rotating cradle also allowing yaw. Now I get it! The director can be rotated and pointed toward the target, the house can independently maintain stability while the ship is rolling and pitching. The radar itself can be raised or lowered independently of all other motion too.
.........duh!
d) I made a separate rotating cradle/base to match photos
e) I sanded the bottom of the director to a 1/2 round bottom shape, and added all of the side and top details to match photos of directors I had.
4) There was no bump/blister atop the director house representing the clear observer's dome.
I made this from much larger .250" acrylic dowel reduced down to .065" and shaped accordingly.
All of this and more over a three week period........
Side by side with the WEM director...
Much modified ISW director from the port side......
starboard side/aft view.
Now to paint......
All comments are welcome......
Tony