Calling all Fletcher-class (DD-445) fans

[MartinJQuinn]

What color would the inner face of the bofor tubs be? I'm building Hazelwood, in her 24d scheme, so I assumed various undersides would be 5L light grey, bridge wings, etc. but not so sure now.

Generally speaking, the exterior color of a gun tub carried over into the interior.

Can't speak to countershading - I'm not sure when that started to come into effect.

If anyone would know, it would @Tracy White.

[Killerbeans]

Thank you for the response. Nav Source has a few photos of the 24d scheme, more study!

[Rick E Davis]

Martin,

Trouble is, from the damage photos of USS HAZELWOOD, you can see that on the starboard side forward 40-mm mount "tub", that the exterior is painted white while the interior has canvas covers in dark (black?), with unknown paint underneath. No matter what the dazzle (otherwise known as the "come and hit me Kamikazes" ) camo "rules" were, they weren't followed perfectly many times (if ever?).

Killerbeans,

This website has probably the best info on the dazzle paint schemes, specifically here for USS HAZELWOOD ... https://www.usndazzle.com/ship.php?id=460 ... you will note that nothing specifies what the insides of "tubs" or behind any bulwarks were to be painted. The overhead drawing shows that for this scheme, the majority of the decks were painted Deck Blue.

[Killerbeans]

Thanks Rick. After some study, I see Hazelwood is not painted strictly according to guidlines, which was allowed. IE: the entire bow was deck blue, no Ocean Grey.
I'm going to go with Light Grey & Dull Black for the dazzle, and tub/ interior bulkhead/ overhangs all Light Grey. Unless I see evidence to the contrary!
Thanks for the link.

[Killerbeans]

Next question: There are walkways molded into the deck of the 1/144 kit. Decals are provided in a black grey, yet examination of photos yields little evedence of contrast with the 20b Deck Blue. Again for Hazelwood.

[Killerbeans]

And another: is there any way to know how long Hazelwood wore her 24d paint? My best guess is 9-10 months.
How weathered would she be in that time at sea?

[Rick E Davis]

Killerbeans,

First off, at 1/144 scale you apparently are working with the REVEL kit? If so you do realize that that kit is for a ROUND-BRIDGE unit? Plus, they have some big errors (the use of the wrong Mk 37 angle-back director not used on ANY Fletcher instead of the squad-back director is the biggest "how did the miss that?").

Now then for walkways on your kit, the molded on walkways applied by modeling firms frequently aren't accurate. Certainly at least not for ALL units in the class. There were walkways and they in general were more or less in the same locations. But, with different upgrades and refits at different yards, they sometimes were relocated. Some were "solid" material "painted" on and others were a series of rectangular pads applied in rows.

For how long did HAZELWOOD have her Ms32/24D? HAZELWOOD had completed a refit in September 1943, before dazzle was being applied. According to C. Lee Johnson's research, HAZELWOOD was assigned this scheme in in June 1944 (Reassigned to this new Design by the BuShips 6/10/44 memo to ComServPac that listed ships that had been reassigned from the 10/11/43 letter #0937.) Given that there would be a delay after that date to actually get the PAINTS and DESTROYER in the same place, and that the earliest date I have of HAZELWOOD image in dazzle dates from September 1944, there is a lot of error in a guess of when the Ms was applied from likely July to early September 1944.

[bwross11]

Just a thought to add to Rick's, those molded on walkways are way over scale! In practice the stick-on material only stood off the deck a few millimeters. Those molded on things are like inches thick, very inaccurate. If you really want to accurize the Revell kit, sand them off and paint the appropriate walkway pattern.

[Killerbeans]

Thanks for the replies. I'm sourcing 3dp parts for my Square bridge conversion. The deck will need a fair bit of rework. I notice in examining color photos, the non skid in hardly visible, if at all.
I selected Hazelwood because of the 24d scheme, so the info regarding the guntubs, and paint in general, is aporeciated. The timeframe in which she wore the24d is my weathering guide. I expect this to take a bit to complete, so want to "get it as right" as my meager skills allow.

[Killerbeans]

Trying to sort out the aft deck around the triple Oerlikon mount(SF built squarebridge) can anyone help with a drawing or photo? Any help with the DC rack shelf/ extension on the fantail would be a great help as well.

[BB62vet]

These may help with your D.C. rack question:

Hope this helps!

[Killerbeans]

Yessir, those photos will do fine. Thank you.

[jpk]

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

Hi to all. Resurrecting on old post on converting the Revell 1/144 Fletcher to a square bridge Fletcher. In this case, the USS Kidd again. Since the last post on the subject and after purchasing many items from both Model Monkey AND Distefan, I have found another 3D print supplier of ship parts. Swordfish Models supplies many items and in many scales for naval subjects. I have been in touch personally with the vendor and he is very open to creating new items. I find his items are quite a bit more detailed than the other two vendors in 1/144 scale. He does print in other scales as well and not just USN subjects. He has an nice selection of items for the Revell kit for the conversion. Just wanted to promote a vendor that I am very happy with.