Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Seeling,
I have a request. Maybe you could query someone and try to find out how the last half of the main deck was covered. On Missouri, (if you study many 80's-90's pictures), she had mostly what appeared to be non-skid covering from the fwd edge of the helo pad up to the aft most 5" twin mount; main deck only. In more recent picture of Missouri, the main deck is all wood; no more, "black stuff".

Was this some type of, "rolled on", non-skid that was later removed?
The answer will allow me to rest greater educated..........
Thanks and have a good time! Breath in the history of this "Bad Axx Warship".
Great time to be a ship modeler!
Faithfully submitted, Tony Bunch

[Chris34]

Seeling, first off, pick me up on your way to the airport, I live in Minnesota as well.

Actually, if you could get some shots of the Fire Director #1 on the foward Fire Control tower. I'm interested in the room/extension they added on to the back of the forward Mk 38 director base during the Missouri's modernization.

Thanks.

[Rory Smith]

Hello All,

I need some help on doors and portholes. I have been using the Floating Drydock's USS Missouri plan book to scale off portholes and doors for my 1/350 USS New Jersey model. It didn't even come to mind at the time when I started that they probably weren't in the same locations. Tony Bunch has been giving me some help on the discrepencies between the two. They don't have to be perfect, but anything looks better than those flat walls we pay high dollar for . Does anyone have any suggestions on some of the differences? Thanks all.

Rory

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Rory,
For starters, compare the Iowa's evolution drawings at the back of the Summrall book, (the one that you have, right?), to start to get a feel for the different ships w/t door locations. Next; start looking at all of the Big J pics specifically in order to find consistant w/t door locations in different areas of the ship to, "get it just right".
This is the only book I had at first, and I probably mixed up a few w/t door locations from one ship to the next. That WAS the best I could do.
When you get the Stillwell book on the New Jersey, this will, "fill the gaps", no modeler's pun intended!
The mw.com'er, "PopPop", took a great number of pics of New Jersey; and this covered most if not all of the New Jersey as she looks today. He gratiously sent a disc to me,a nd I'll have to lok for it; once again...as she loks today. His name is Charlie. BTW, I can not be sure if the w/t door location(s) on New Jersey ever changed throughout her service life. I just don't know. If I may say this......"do the best you can, with what is available".

"Now here's something we hope you'll really like!!!"


.....some great fantail detail shots!!!!!!!!!
BTW the second shot was taken here in San Diego!
Best I can do for now.
Good luck, we're all counting on you!
Tony

[Rory Smith]

Ahhhhh yes. Thanks Tony great pictures. Hey, I noticed on page 63 of the Sumrall book, where the Big "J" is firing the tomahawk or harpoon, that there was anti skid over the little small strip off wood decking on the port side aft. You know those two little strips port and starboard, on the 01 deck piece in the model kit that is the fantail section. I believe the photo said 1983. It is a color photo. Thanks for the info. I expect the Stilwell book today or sometime this weekend. I also noticed in the first and also the second photo you posted that the helo pad cuts around that larger hatch, farthest forward on the visible wood deck, rather than going straight across the middle of it as the model box and drawings indicate.

Rory

[Tony Bunch]

Hi guys,
Rory,
Here is how I did the 1/700 New Jersey. This is as she appeared in 1983. The fantail non-skid area is incorrect per the pics posted......but there may have been a change made.


Match the photos, I'd say. The New Jersey did have some minor changes mad to her, "appearence", after 1985...IIRC, as her helo pad markings were different, as well as the use of more deck grey, (atop turrets unlike from 1982-85).
Look for as many overhead shots too.......and get the pictures years to match up.
You're on yer way mate!
Tony

[ArizonaBB39]

Hello my Iowa Class Bretheren, I don't think I ever posted these pics from my trip to Washington DC/ New York in June 2006. I got to visit the USS New Jersey.

Click the thumbnail to get a larger picture

Here are some pictures of a large model on board (I'd say probably 1/192). I assume this is of the ship as she sits today.





This next set is a model built by Keith Bender, Viet Nam fit(1/350).


This last set (for models of the New Jersey) is the ship with her unique round enclosed bridge. The builder was not named(1/350).



I also have several pictures of the ship herself and more models onboard. I'll post the pictures later if there is interest.

[Rory Smith]

Wow ArizonaBB39,

You mean to tell me you had all these great photos all this time ? Thanks for posting them. These will help some with porthole and w/t door placements and other detail areas.

Rory

[johndon]

Rory,

Not sure if you are aware of this site: http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/john/nj/index.htm which has a photo tour of the New Jersey with some fantastic shots for modellers. I'm using them to do the detail work on my New Jersey.

HTH

John

[ModelMonkey]

Post away, Abe!

[ArizonaBB39]

Here we go, there are 48 Pictures, I'll caption some, but probably not all.

My first walkaround

Starboard
Another Stbd
Forecastle
Big Guns (the two ladies just infront of the break water on the left of the picture are my aunts, they were nice enough to stop at the ship for me.)
Anchor chain handling rooms (I think) This room was directly below where all of those hand wheels between the capstans are.
Same as above
Big Gun Blast Bag
Between barbetts
Port side main deck details (just aft of Barbett 2)
Can't exactly remember where this is, but it has good detailslooks to be under a 5"/38 gun mount
Looking up at the port superstructure and citadel
5"/38 gun mount
Upper platforms on the citadel
Just behind turret number 2 on the superstructure
Looking out from the lower bridge port side
Looking out from the lower bridge starboard side
Looking out from the enclosed bridge
Inside the enclosed bridge looking at the armored conning tower
Periscope and sighting equipment on the armored conning tower
Window slit on armored conning tower
Back of armored conning tower
Back of the base to the forward 5" gun director
Lower side of base
Forward 5" gun director
Top view of a 5"/38 gun mount
Another mount, notice this one has the blast hood
Boat handling equipment
Looking up into the citadel
Port side 5" gun director looking aft
Ladder between decks on the aft end of the citadel
In a walkway in the shipmy brother and I saw this and thought, how strange. This, as far as we could tell, is just a large hole in the ship, most likely an air vent of sorts. (proves ships really do have big holes like in the movies! )
A room undergoing rennovation
Port 40mm gun tub.Notice in the background the tanker and dock crane.
Starboard side 40mm gun tub
Aft superstructure, UNREP crane
Aft superstructure

Returning back to the front of the ship, this is my second trip around the upper decks that day.

Breakwater, good details
Big guns
Forecastle
Starboard side main deck detailsnotice only two W/T doors along this length
Inside a hallwayI found it interesting to notice the several layers if paint on the inner bulkheads, atleast 4-5 layers in all.
Starboard aft superstructure, good details
Another
Another
Starboard side citadel and 5"/38 turrets
Starboard side bridges and citadelyou can make out main deck level bulkhead details
Looking towards the bow
Last, but not least, yours truly infront of the ship(I'm about 6'/4", if that helps in taking in the size of this ship)

Unfortunatly they had large tents with chairs and tables set up on the fan tail flight deck, so I was unable to get any pictures of this. Around the whole aft end of the ship the wood decking was in horrible shape, and even missing in some places. The ship was massive, and I could have spent days on board. It is well worth the visit for anyone in or visiting the New Jersey area. Enjoy! I hope these pictures help someone.

If y'all want I could tell about the ghost my brother and I saw aboard the ship

[David J Ross]

Rory,

Not sure if you are aware of this site: http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/john/nj/index.htm which has a photo tour of the New Jersey with some fantastic shots for modellers. I'm using them to do the detail work on my New Jersey.

HTH

John

That site has been in my "favourites" for some years now. There used to be a page that listed the corrections needed for the Tamiya New Jersey but it was deleted for some reason.

[johndon]

That site has been in my "favourites" for some years now. There used to be a page that listed the corrections needed for the Tamiya New Jersey but it was deleted for some reason.

Fortunately, I saved a copy of it , text below:


1. The rudders should be inboard of the skegs, not lined up with them.
2. The prominant doors for towed decoys at the stern are missing.
3. The paravane opening at the bow is not correct. (A nit, maybe?)
4. The stern area of the deck is incorrect. The helipad is elevated above the wooden deck aft of it and the narrow bit if wood in front of the movie projection booth. The metal areas forward of the helipad are ramps up to it. The fore end of the ramps is nearly even with the wood (but is not flush with the deck forward) in between while the aft area is quite a bit above it.
The Tamiya painting instructions simulate this effect by having you paint the ramp a different color from the helipad and rest of the deck. In fact, they are the same color.
5. Unlike other battleships where the anchor chain runs through the wooden area of the deck (e.g the North Carolina), the NJ does not have anchor chain plates. (It doesn need them.) The anchor chain path is flush with the deck, the area is just painted in the shape molded in the Tamiya kit.
6. The chocks should be flush with the sides of the ship, not recessed as on the kit.
7. The hull shape is not correct, especially at the bow. The kit is much too wide there and there should be more of a taper rather than a curve outward.
8. The command antenna at the bow is missing 4 struts.
9. IMHO, the bucklers on the 16" guns have an odd shape.
11. There are some cylindrical projections on the after part of the helipad that do not exist.
12. There is a coupling at the fore end of the outboard propeller shafts missing in the kit.
IMHO, there is a lot of non-descript detail that would better have been left off completely. There are a lot of bland cylinders that look cheezy. The attempt to reproduce the vents on the 20mm clipping room/20mm magazine/deck storage room at the front of the #2 turret is pathetic and would have been better off without this [kind of] detail.
Just some notes on painting....
From a short distance away, the major surfaces (blacks and grays) appear to have a semigloss texture. At close up they appear flat. IMHO a dullcoated gloss/semigloss color gives a more realistic scale represenation than flats.
The underwater color is a more of a dark red than a brownish-red ("Hull-red") color.
The deck areas not covered by wood are bare metal and have the color of steel that has been exposed to the elements. (The color of railroad track)


John

[Guest]

Great info guys, keep it coming. ArizonaBB39, thanks for the pictures. Does anyone know what color the circles are supposed to be where the two gun tubs used to be on the forecastle? Deck Blue or anti-skid maybe?

Rory

[johndon]

Great info guys, keep it coming. ArizonaBB39, thanks for the pictures. Does anyone know what color the circles are supposed to be where the two gun tubs used to be on the forecastle? Deck Blue or anti-skid maybe?

Rory

Scroll down on this page: http://www.colosseumbuilders.com/john/nj/forecastle.htm and you'll find pics of the old gun tub positions.

HTH

John

[johndon]

Great pics Abram

John

[Anonymous]

This is what I have so far guys. I have a lot of changes to make to the kit still and photo etch to add. It is not going to be perfect with the changes mentioned two threads up by John, but should look ok I guess when done. Tony, I know I need to take the hoods off still on the 5" guns . Any suggestions are welcome.
[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n123/horserifle/USSNewJerseymodel005.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n123/horserifle/USSNewJerseymodel002.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n123/horserifle/USSNewJerseymodel008.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n123/horserifle/USSNewJerseymodel004.jpg[/img]

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I'm excited!
I could not find the disc that Charlie sent to me...yet.
Abram,
You got series of fantastic pics!
Thanks for sharing them.
The helo pad is elevated, and in 1/700 scale, I think probably 0.020 would suffice, so .040 would work for 1/350 scale if you don't want it to be too pronounced...
Here is Lee Upshaw's 1/96 BB62 being used a salvage ship for my brothers' capsized Fletcher. Clearly the helo pad is elevated...estimate the thickness to be 3/8".


Dear guest,
Your model looks awesome!
The "dots" were very dark so I chose black in the fwd quad 40 tub locations.

Sometimes, deciding a color for something might mean having to guess; even if you're standing there looking at the real thing. What a treat that would be!
For the 1/700 New Jersey project w/t door locations, I used the drawings at the back of the Stillwell book. This was indeed helpful, as the o/head deck views depict w/t door locations for both sides. Here is your answer Rory; It just came to me.
See what I mean.............



Dear guest,
Wasn't that fun making the bridge windows!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a ball!
Tony

[Rory Smith]

Tony, sorry I forgot to log in earlier. The above model photos are of my New Jersey 1/350th. I see you are adding those "things" to the side of your hull. I don't know if I should tackle that or not. I got the Paul Stilwell book on Friday. Very good reference. So the watertight door locations are in the back, huh? I will take a look now.

[Tony Bunch]

hi Guys,
Rory,
The scuppers are on your NJ hull already. I have never checked their placement though, as I have not yet built the Big J in 1/350th scale. As it is, my 1/350 Missouri has been stalled for so long! The scuppers have to be removed for a WWII version, (as on the Tamiya Missouri), but you need not worry.
If you want to do something(s) cool on your Big J, I'd recommend the L'Arsenal twin bits/chocks. They really look good! Alos, a set of w/t doors will add quite a bit too. Just add them on, and pain the doors only. if you look at my 1/700 NJ, you can see the model has already been painted.
The twin bits effort is something, but adding the w/t doors is easy. I can share the removal process I used for the twin bits....
Nice work so far!
Tony