The Ship Model Forum

Hi Guys,
This is what the DDG-14 display is supposed to be all about...
I got my New Jersey back from teh Hobby Shop, (in the showcase), and I started scraping......away the acrylic gel to make room for the DDG.
Originally I wanted a multi ship display with an Iowa Class ship as the centerpiece...well....centerpiece is a state-of-mind...isn't it? If you served on Buchanan, the Buchanan would be the centerpiece wouldn't it?
Toe-may-to...or toe-mah-toe?
Enough rhetoric......
Imagine the DDG finished, and here she'll be...




Thanks, Tony

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Looking excellent Tony! Nothing like a CF Adams DDG, is there?

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What beauties! The extra detailing helps to bring it out even more

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Great Job Tony! Makes me want to build another one.

Michael

Hi Guys,
With one week left to finish my DDG-BB display for OrangeCon, here is DDG14 after 2 weeks with no posts.
I have worked on this project at work and at home.
I see the end, but as usual.....a hurried completion. There are many errors that I have chosen to live with; with this looming deadline. This may seem funny to some of you, but this is....by and large...how I get my projects finished within a reasonable time frame....the exception, (as some of you may know), is my 1/350 Missouri project.....going on and mostly off for over three years now. Sorry, run-on sentence.....

The work station image is simply showing a messy Marvin's work area...I'd rather not have reduced this cluttered image, but for those of you with dial up modems......


The mast assembly with the extra detailing is finished, but for the radars. It's getting difficult to handle the model without bending the already-in-place railings, so I have left off the bridge area railing to the last. As it is, I have already touch up painted around the main deck railings a couple of times, (to hide the CA glue), with some degree of success......and the Testors 5-h is a little different. Hopefully, my dull-coat and weathering efforts will subdue this......

I had to borrow an OOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDD set of p/e 2 row railings from a friend..these have been superceded twice by GMM and are no where near what GMM has available today...another compromise....
At least the main deck railings, (are from a newer BB set), do look okay. The 01 and up are very...what's the word..."coarse".


My next post will probably be after the DDG is attached to the BB-Base.
Tony

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"You guys make this hobby fun!"
"Some of my dearest friends I have made right here on Modelwarships"

That workbench is neat, compared to mine...! She looks just about ready, Tony, right on!


PS: I bought a 1/700 Missouri at the Vancouver IPMS show yesterday...

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Looking great Tony!

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"It is best to remain silent and let others assume you are dumb than to speak up and remove all doubt"

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Hi Guys,
Here she is...was...

Yo Ho!!
Tony

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"You guys make this hobby fun!"
"Some of my dearest friends I have made right here on Modelwarships"

Tony, the ship looks great so far. In fact, I like it so much that I just bought two 1:700 Adams of my own. Now I will modify one into a Lutjens DDG, but the other will just be a regular US version. I have two questions for you:

What was there a particular website that provided the best photos for your research? Was it a specific ship site or was it just Navsource? Basically, which is the easiest Adams class to depict based on the amount of internet resources?
Second? Would you mind telling me what colors you used for the hull and the two-tone deck scheme?

I appreciate your reply.

-Steve Miller

Hi Guys,
Steve,
The navsource.org website is my first, "go to" website. The links at the bottom of each page have links for a specific ship, (once you've gotten to a specific ship's page), that have proven helpful more than once. There seemed to be a similar number of links and navsource pics per Adams Class of ship. I do know of a website dedicated to the USS Barney, (DDG-6). This particular website had many detailed, "on deck", closeup pics that really make accurizing the Dragon kit much easier.

Regarding the Dragon kit:
The hull bottom is only accurate for the last five ships in the class, as the earlier ships did NOT have the bow mounted sonar dome, and the accompanying center mount anchor. Also, these ships were slightly longer in overall length. FYI.
The kit best represents DDG-20 through 24 as they would have appeared in the late 70's and up. This is my best estimation.
In 1/700 scale, you can build any of the Adams class with the Dragon kit; suffice it to say.
You just need to find something about one of these class that you like better than the rest of them. For me, it was.."which served along with an Iowa class BB", and then I started looking for pictures of DDG's and BB's together. In the 1968 era, only the New Jersey was operated, and the New Jersey sailed almost exclusively with the Towers, (DDG-9), so if I wanted to build the BB62 as she appeared in the 60's, I'd build the Towers. These ships were excorts. Do you like to build multi-ship displays?
DDG's were seen with all sorts of larger and same size ships.
BTW, I just got an awesome set of pics of DDG-14, (Buchanan), from 1983-1984. Great close-ups!
BTW, Navsource has some foreign DDG's too.

Paints?
I used Testors Acryl 5-H for the haze grey, Testors Acryl Engine Grey for the non-skid and WEM Modern Deck Grey for the deck grey.

If you have any more questions...ask away.

Once you pick a specific ship, then start studying the mast arrangement, whip antenna arrangements, 1 or two arm aft missile launchers, unrep equipment, life rafts or capsule type, how the non-skid was applied, (where), and so-on.

Go for it!
faithfully submitted, Tony Bunch

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Tony said:


Also make sure you notice the anchor placement. The final five US units (DDG 20-24) had bow sonar domes, and therefore one anchor was on the very stem, and a smaller was on the starboard side.

The earlier units (DDG 2-19) had smaller keel-mounted sonar domes, and therefore "nice" simple symmetric anclors, port and starboard.


Also, for what it's worth, Tattnall, Goldsborough, and two others, I believe, got a modernization package in the 1980's that added some interesting fire control domes here and there. Check late photos of Tatnall to see. I believe the kit offers these parts to make the Australian versions. This makes some interesting variety on the US ships, too.

Rick

Hi Guys,
This is almost the finished product.
I have yet to do the rigging and flag on Buchanan; taht's all that's left. I may skip this small task for now. I am kind of burned out.
I entered this display in the Dioramas>small composition at OrangeCon. I was directly competing with a half a dozen diorama displays featuring the more usual subjects...downed a/c and armor/figures in action. I like all of the entries in this category, but I just don't think the judges were ready for a 1/700 ship display. Too far out of the norm. This is not to say my display was beter, but most assuredly...different.

Here are the New Jersey and Buchanan sailing together..just as they did 23 years ago..this past August......







....Here's to the sailors from the New Jersey and Buchanan..... ...and thanks for the image left in my head; with no alternative but to duplicate in miniature!
faithfully submitted, Tony Bunch
DDG and Iowa Class Fan

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Wonderful, Tony, just beautiful

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Tony, thanks so much for answering my questions. Both ships look great. I think I'll build the Barney and the Lutjens, just got my two Adams kits last friday. As for the New Jersey, there's a chance I may be staying on her for a night as a boy scout chaperone, so I cant wait for that. I'm going to take a million reference pics!

Tony, one more thing. I'm working on a 1:700 Bainbridge and the areas around the missile launchers are a lighter shade of gray as compared to the deck gray according to my references. Looking at your Buchanan model, it appears that this lighter gray color is roughly similar to what you used on the bridge levels of your ship. Is this color not either Engine Gray or Navy Deck gray, or am I reading the photos wrong??

Hi Guys,
BlandCorp,
Here is DDG-22 with more deck grey and less non-skid, (engine grey), so it's easier to see. Earlier on, DDG's had less non-skid and more deck grey....WEM Modern Deck Grey was used, (lightened a little with white), and that goes for both DDG's.
Here is a good overhead view of DDG-22. I built this model last year.

Here is a bit closer....

Hope this helps, Tony
ps have fun with the DDG's!

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"You guys make this hobby fun!"
"Some of my dearest friends I have made right here on Modelwarships"

Cool, you lightened it. Thats all I wanted to know. Thanks. I think i'll start a thread to anwser the missile launcher question.

Hi Guys,
BlandCorp,
This missile launcher?
DDG-6 Mk11 system...



DDG...ON!
Tony

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"You guys make this hobby fun!"
"Some of my dearest friends I have made right here on Modelwarships"

Well, yes, kinda, i wanted to make the Barney because of the MK11 launcher (and the Lutjens with the MK13), but I meant the MK10 Terrier launcher on the Bainbridge. I noticed the deck color surrounding these launchers is a different color. I'm trying to find a good real-life picture but you can see what i mean here:

http://www.jagcollective.com/bainbridge_%20009.jpg

It could just be a result of the non-skid not being in that area for whatever reason, but i want to know for sure. I'll link a reference picture as soon as I find it.

I could also ask if you knew why the missiles are painted blue in some photos and white in others. Are the blue missiles dummies and the white live rounds??

Hi Guys,
BlandCorp,
Looks like the deck area adjacent the missile pad on Banbridge is the same color as the surrounding vertical areas......Haze grey. Why........... is another question. Probably the builder studied a number of pics and found this to be "extra-interesting".
Be well, Tony
ps The JAG Bainbridge is a remarkable kit!

_________________
"You guys make this hobby fun!"
"Some of my dearest friends I have made right here on Modelwarships"