Calling all Fletcher-class (DD-445) fans

[Timmy C]

Can you doublecheck which ship you're looking for?

The only Boyd I can find is DD-544: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/544.htm

While DD-343 was Noa: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/343.htm

[BB61]

Can you doublecheck which ship you're looking for?

The only Boyd I can find is DD-544: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/544.htm

While DD-343 was Noa: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/343.htm

Looks like Wikipedia blew it here. I'm definitely looking for data on the Boyd. Thanks.

[Timmy C]

Ah, 343 was Boyd's pennant number when she was serving in the Turkish navy.

Merging this with the Fletcher thread.

[Rick E Davis]

To answer your question about what camo scheme USS BOYD had in late 1943, the answer is a bit tricky. I have images of USS BOYD (DD-544) in January 1944 early in her overhaul, battle damage repair (she was damaged by shore battery fire on 8 December 1943), and upgrade from the three twin 40-mm mounts configuration to getting two more twin mounts installed before her bridge replacing the three 20-mm guns formerly there, and she was still in Ms 21 with 5-N paint at that time. So from when she was completed in May 1943 until January 1944, she was painted in Ms 21. When she completed her overhaul in March 1944 at MINY, she was repainted with the dazzle scheme Ms 31/10D ... https://www.usndazzle.com/ship.php?id=471 ...

[Chops]

Hi, and sorry to bother you. If this is not the correct place to ask this question, I apologize. My wife�s grandfather served on board a Fletcher class destroyer (the Heerman) and my wife and I would really like to build a 1/200 scale model to present to her father in honor of his memory. I am planning to build her as she appeared during the battle of Layte Gulf/ Taffy 3, and I was hoping for some confirmation on what fire director/ fire control radar she carried at the time? I have a photo supposedly taken during said battle, was told that sometimes wartime sensors intentionally altered photos (attached to this post). I was told people in this forum would likely be able to help me?

[Rick E Davis]

USS HEERMANN (DD-532) would have had the Mk 4 radar on her Mk 37 director. She wasn't updated to Mk 12/22 radar on the Mk 37 director until the overhaul she had after the battle and completed in early January 1945. This a famous photo of HEERMAMM and has been published often. If this photo had been censored, the radars would have been totally masked out. The air search radar was the SC-2 family and the surface search radar was a SG-1 radar.

[Chops]

Thank you so much!

[Thundergrunt]

Ok

I about about to start my first build , I think I've done my research to where I got everything but looking to verify.
My planned build is the Jenkins early mid 43' and has been in first modification. Before the December 43' major refit.
Tamiya 1/350 Fletcher.
Eduard PE
5"/38s taken from The Sullivan's kit.
Keeping double 20mm on P/S midships.
Keeping Original High 40mm tub.
Adding rear tear drop 40mm tub
Adding bridge 20mm
Adding Top 20mm
And in MS21 Camo
Is this correct????

Armament
5"
5"
20mm 20mm
(Low)
20mm
(Front of Bridge)
20mm
(Top of pilothouse)
Torps
Torps
2x. 2x
20mm. 20mm
40mm
(High)
40mm
(Teardrop Fantail)


Is this correct.????

Only question is the MS21 over MS12 or MS18???

[Rick E Davis]

In early 1943, yes Ms 21 would be correct. USS JENKINS was painted in Ms 22 when she operated off North Africa for Operation Torch. Likely she went to the Pacific in Ms 22, but would have repainted shortly afterwards.

[Thundergrunt]

So Rick or Any others.

Great thanks for that info, So Would my post above about layout be correct for the reference picture. For my build.

[Rick E Davis]

I wasn't sure you were using the attached image as the baseline for your build. So I couldn't full address her 20-mm armament.

That image is dated 2 September 1943, as seen alongside USS SARATOGA (CV-3), and she is in well worn Ms 21.

USS JENKINS (DD-447) configuration at that time was;

Five Single 5-in/38 mounts
Two Twin 40-mm mounts; (elevated position between 53 and 54 mounts and fantail)
Eight Single 20-mm guns; two forward of bridge at 01 deck level, one in an elevated centerline platform forward of the bridge, one atop pilothouse, and two on both portside and starboard amidships on main deck.
Two Quint 21-in Torpedo Tubes mounts
Six K-guns with post arbor reload storage for depth charges
Two Depth Charge Drop Tracks

Also, she had the SC-1 radar, SG radar, BL "Stovepipe" IFF antenna, and TBS antenna on foremast.

[ligamin]

Hi guys, sorry for a spam, but what screw diameter had Fletcher class in real please? I didn't find it in "anatomy of the ship"... Maybe it is in different ship monography which I don't have.
Thx!

[ligamin]

ligamin, props are 3 bladed & has a 12'3" diameter.

Great, thanks!!!
Huh, 373cm, what I saw a photos with people under the USS Kidd, I thought they are smaller... the propellers of course.
Anyway, perfect. Thanks!

L.

[Thundergrunt]

Hey All can't really find a good picture, but was curious if the fletchers has anti-slip texturing on there decks or were they slick, all the ships I was embarked on had rough textured decks. But that was 90's.

[Rick E Davis]

There was a variety of nonskid deck material used on USN ships during WWII. Some builders/yards used nonskid pads to create walkways and on other areas that needed it (like around gun mounts), while others applied a painted walkway with sand. You need to find photos of the ship you are modeling as close to the timeframe you are working to model, to see what was applied to that ship. Unfortunately, not every ship has good photos showing the deck throughout WWII. As the war progressed, the pads seem to become the standard. The pads were in different shapes, sizes, and were applied in different ways.

Your model of USS JENKINS was a Federal-built unit. The early built FLETCHER class units when completed had solid nonskid walkways of paint and sand. The problem is did that did those walkways get changed in pattern or type of material at some point prior to mid-1943? Early BIW-built units also used the painted with sand walkways. I would think that the early units with sand in paint nonskid walkways reaching the war zones of the Pacific, likely kept those walkways at least until returning for a major overhaul. It would be easier to use paint and sand than getting a supply of nonskid pads in forward areas.

[Fliger747]

I have a large roll of this pad material, from which I have cut custom shaped pads and applied them to areas on the decks of the floats on my airplane. Any possibility this material came in such rolls to be custom cut and applied by the deck force? Possibly easier to repair by replacement than the sanded walkways?

Hard to say what adhesives were available during WWII but these today are quite long wearing.

[jpk]

I just purchased one of these (Revell 1/144 Fletcher). I want to use Model Monkey 3D printed parts to convert it to a square bridge, late war, AA refit like the Kidd. Has anyone here attempted this conversion?

[BB62vet]

I just purchased one of these (Revell 1/144 Fletcher). I want to use Model Monkey 3D printed parts to convert it to a square bridge, late war, AA refit like the Kidd. Has anyone here attempted this conversion?

Yes, I have a current build of DD-566 my first duty station, as a basis for this project (http://shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewto ... 9&t=303053). You can go there and I've got photos and commentary regarding the MM Square Bridge replacement parts. I've since designed/printed my own in 3D as this particular bridge unit was slightly different that what I needed.

By all means, Model Monkey has good conversion parts for what you want to achieve.

Hope this helps,

[Rick E Davis]

JPK,

Hank's build has a lot of detail on building a "post-WWII" FLETCHER. MANY things would apply to USS KIDD @ late 1945. But, a lot doesn't. Hank and Wiley are doing "Ultimate" model-building, which is beyond a lot of peoples capabilities. You can spend a lot to upgrade the kit or just enough to get the basics right. But, given that the Revell 1/144 scale kit depicts an EARLY Round-Bridge FLETCHER with many errors (wrong Mk 37 director, should be a SQUARE-BACK one and NO one bridge equipment), you will need to replace or modify almost everything of the superstructure above the main and 01 deck levels. ModelMonkey makes those parts, but the cost will not be cheap. Replacements for 40-mm (twin and quad) and 20-mm (twin) guns, will be harder to get. BlackCat makes really nice twin 20-mm mounts (with Mk 14 gunsight) in 144 scale. I can't keep up with which 3-D printer firms have parts available, so I'm unsure who makes the 40-mm mounts in this scale.

Rick

[guest]

Rick E. Davis,
I wonder if you remember me after all this time? My name is Roger, I'm the guy using the worst Fletcher Kit possible to build an RC version of DD555. I'm also building a 1/96 scale Fletcher DD473. I've never finished either build. I had way to many things going at the same time and I got burnt out and I haven't done any model work in a long time. I'm trying to recover my account here. I searched through a mess of pages to figure out my screen name at this site. I've changed from using Yahoo to Proton, so I can't use forgot password to reset it so I don't have to create a new account.

Is there any way to recover my account? I tried to email the admin, but the email bounced back to me as undelivered. Any hepl you could give me would be greatly appreciated
Roger B.