1/144 Jorge Juan (ex USS McGowan)

[JIM BAUMANN]

excellent work!

sharp and precise--and masterfully executed

cheers
JB

[Willie]

Hi there Meister Baumann and all.

Thanks very much for your remark. It was a tricky business, but the final outcome was OK, and it is what matters.

The next step was the lights in the main leg of the mast, this thing:

I have a couple of very clear shots of this thing, so it was not a problem.

But Jorge Juan had two of these lights. The concept was the same, but the lower one was a bit longer, with the support bars going upwards, instead of downwards. This image was very helpful:

I had to simplify it a bit, and I used 0.64 mm. Evergreen rod, as the 0.50 mm. one was too thin to work properly, but making it was very easy, although the upper platform supports took some time before I got the right angles in the welding points. The lights themselves were made melting a small section of 1.2 mm. Evergreen rod too:

I hope you like it. And over to the next post.

Brgds,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi again all modellers:

The next step was the wiring trunk running behind the upper mast, with some other wiring leading to the aerials. This thing :

I could also see that USS McGowan had a AS-177/UPX in this section of the mast in 1959, prior to her transfer to the Spanish Navy...:

And that Jorge Juan still retained it in the mid/late 1960's :

(1083).jpg (22.7 KiB) Viewed 2177 times

Making the wiring was easy. It is not regular, what would not be convenient, and the final effect is quite convincing, I think, with the AS-177/UPX adding an excelent additional note:

I hope you like it, and best regards,

Willie.

[Willie]

And hi once again to all of you.

The next step, the railings around the platforms, was not that easy. This is what had to be done:

The upper railing was very tricky, as it is not regular nor simetric, has quite funny curves, and had to be made in one single piece because welding these thin sections would be for me very complicated. I had to use 0.5 mm. Evergreen rod . It is a bit too thick, but it was a necessary compromise, as the stretched sprue broke almost inmediately, with so much bending and combing. Even with Evergreen to make the curves for the dry fit took some time, but I think that more or less I have it. The final touch needs two more small sections of railing welded on the the topgalland mast supports, which will be added later:

So, as for now this is how the mast is :

I hope you like it, and feel free to critize it if you find something that can be done.

Nice going and very best regards from the north Atlantic,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi all modellers again.

While I was busy with the main mast I realized that the stanchions and handrails around gun nr.2 onboard Jorge Juan, the same as in many (not all) other US Fletchers, were slightly displaced offboard, no doubt to allow the mount to revolve without ruining the stanchions everytime it happened.

Unnecessary to say, very easy to do, using 0.75 mm. Evergreen strip:

And back to the main mast again.

Very best regards,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi again to all.

The next step was the main signal yard, that even with wide variations in the different units, seemed to have a standard
basic structure, with two different diameter tubes, fixed to the main mast with two legs in a smaller caliber tubing, a kind of fork-shaped supports at the end of the main sections, and several supports for what seemed to be anemometers.

Here the port yard :

In this interesting picture of USS The Sullivans, it is possible to see the bare structure of this yard, along with the supports for the navigation lights, anemometers and the AN/UPX-5, a IFF aerial, as fas as I can remember. It is also surprising, to state it very mildly, how stripped of virtually everything this ship was delivered to the museum where it is now.

It was very easy to build:

USS The Sullivans's yard other side had a AN/UPX-5 aerial and another supports for the anemometer, as can be seen in this other picture, and both were retained by Jorge Juan years after her delivery to the Spanish Navy.

Again, it was very easy to build, and it gives much life to the structure:

Both together, complete with wiring and other supports:

As for navigation lights, Jorge Juan had a different arrangement, with two sets port and starboard instead of one in the US Navy, placed on the legs of the main mast :

Very easy to make as well, and the effect on the mast is excellent:

And over to the next post.

Very best regards from this side,

Willie.

[Willie]

Hi once more.

The last step for now was the navigation lights at the end of the main yard. For whatever reason they had a big, round base.
The elements are these ones, with the lights themselves made with a button of molten 1.2 mm. Evergreen plastic.

And already in place:

And just a question : Does anybody know what was the reason of the dish base for these two lights ???

The main mast is then like this at the moment. It will need two more supports for aerials with the corresponding wiring, and after that it will need only some small touches:

I hope you like it, and very best regards from this side,

Willie.

[FFG-7]

I presume the base plates prevents the actual light from lighting up parts of the ship & maybe preventing the messing up the night watch lookouts nightvision.

[Willie]

Hi there all modellers.

After a full year and half a 1/72 Revell VII-C U-boat in the middle, I have retaken this week the work in my Jorge Juan.
I am currently thinking on how to paint the numerals on the hull, without using decals. As for now I have considered several solutions, but nothing definitive yet.

In the meantime I have given a push to the flying bridge. I have used one of the most useful pics that I have of Jorge Juan, almost a close up, that displays several very interesting details. This one:

Jorge Juan had raised handrails with one more line in the lookout position, many times covered with canvas, but not always, as it can be observed.


The first step was very simple:

The supports for the whip aerials had already been made before, and I had only to set them in place:

After this, the rest of the elements were very easy to produce, and complete the upper deck quite nicely:

With everything in position, the effect is good:

I have to think now how to make the ovals of the deck antenna, but as for now the product is aceptable, I think.

Best regards from this side of the North Atlantic,

Willie.

[Willie]

And a further question for you experts.

There is an element in the first picture that I have not been able to identify or to complete. This one:

As with everything onboard a Fletcher-class, the variations seem to be endless:

The position and general shape of this element onboard McGowan/Jorge Juan is clear, but I have not found a clear picture of the inside details. Does anybody know what is this, and do you have a clear picture of the details on the plates underneath the white "boxes" that can help ???

Thanks in advance for your help, and very best regards from this side,

Willie.

[marijn van gils]

I'm affraid I can't help you with this...
But it is great to see you back on Jorge Juan! You really use this scale to its best advantage (= more detail! ).

[Willie]

Hi all modellers again:

Marijn, this 1/144 scale is a dream for rivet counters, for sure, but also a headache at times, for sure as well...

As after some hours of research I have not been able to find anything better, I have decided to complete the panel with a combination of the pictures showed before, as disregarding the position, the devices were probably the same. As the details of this panel will be partially covered from starboard by the fire control tower and completely invisible from port, I think this is nothing to agonize about.

So this is what I produced, using 6.3x0.5 and 4.00x0.5 mm. Evergreen stripe along with several scraps of plastic and stretched sprue:

There are two small bars out board that will have to be added when the decks and the railings are already painted.

Best regards from these very stormy North Atlantic shores,

Willie.

[MartinJQuinn]

Brilliant work. Very sharply executed.

[BB62vet]

Willie,
Hello again, my amigo!! Long time since you've posted! Good work, in spite of the unknown aspects of it!! If you look on pg. 27 of my STODDARD build you'll see a similar control board on the stbd side of the pilot house railing. I don't know either what these boards were used for but I think it has to do with one of the weapon systems back aft. The remote torpedo controls were usually mounted on the aft end of the port side of the bridge deck and pilot house bulkhead. The one photo you show has two round dial type meters but that also is unknown to me.

I may have to get back to work on "Lil Stod", but I'm right now involved in two other projects, so it may be a while longer...

Hank

[Willie]

Delete.

[Willie]

Hi there Martin, Hank and all.

Thanks very much for your replies.

Yes, almost a year now, with much interference from 1/1 scale life, but anyhow I have not been idle either. In the meantime I have almost finished a full hull for the first Revell U-Boot VII/C in 1/72 scale. Only the opening of the slots of deck took me a couple of months full of emotions. I have also finished the artillery for this VII/C and two more IX/C's that I have also bought. I am actually considering opening a new thread with this new construction.

As for Jorge Juan, I have already finished the antenna on the flying bridge. I had to use Evergreen 0.50 mm. rod, a bit too thick, but the stretched sprue broke in every previous attempt I made.

Now that the bridge is completely finished (I presume) I think I will give the last push to the main mast.

Very best regards from this side,

Willie.