Calling all Knox-class and Spanish Baleares-class FF fans

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Just a couple of quick shots of the helo hangar after removing the unnecessary roof details and attaching the roll up door without any visible seams.


There will be some cool looking red/white whip/type antennae on three corners, (maybe 4.....can't recall immediately), of the helo hangar roof.

Thanks to Francisco for the enlarged SPS-40 shots!
Mr. Potter is already working to achieve a perfet-a-mudo 1/96 P/E piece.
That will be cool!
Be well Gents, Tony

[Michael Potter]

Tony, why is the hanger piece black?

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Mike,
Tha helo hangar entrance was in need of its internal perimeter, (3 sides actually), to be reduced. I used some .20" x .040" strip sytrene for this. The strip styrene did conform to the interior perimeter fairly well, but I used super glue and it dried clear. After the super glue dried, it looked like there was a small gap between the strip styrene and the resin deck house. I thought I'd used enough glue. Next, I sanded with 240>320>400>600 wet. I needed to see if the seam was gone. I had only some Tamiya Flat Black spray at work, so this is what was used as a primer. I then sanded away most of the paint, as I did not want the deck house to look darker than the surrounding areas after painting the haze grey.
Sorry for the long answer, as I could have just said,
"Primer".
I will try to paint the main deck this weekend.
I will either use WEM Modern Deck Grey or a combination of Testors Acryl colors. Randy Short said to use 1:1 black to white for the deck grey.
He also recommended FS36270, (Neutral Gray) two parts to one part White to achieve haze grey from the 60's to 70's time frame. I will follow his advice. If you guys ever want to suport a good guy, then give Randy Short some business.
Thanks for Randy's advice with the paint.
I'll post some pics this weekend hoepfully.
Tony

[Jimmy Conway]

Thanks Tony, but today Francisco made the diference posting the wonderful pics of the sps 40, rsrsrsrsrsr, I'm so happy, woo hoo, I had no other place in the world to get those images....... Nice act !!! But now it's easier to make some copy from drawings of photoetch co's I have the 3d idea of the rear portion of the antenna..............Thanks God I got it!!! Thanks God we have Francisco!!!!

Hi Guys,
Jim,
I had photo-copied an SPS-40 radar from a 1/700 photo-etch sheet and then enlarged it to 1/96 scale, (for my 1/96 Adams DDG), and it looked far too plain without adding any detail further. Keep in mind this is a two dimensional plan view, just like looking at the original photo-etch fret. The only difference was/is the new size. Mike Potter has offered to copy these for me in 1/96 and make them from photo-etch brass.
I was planning; however, to add screen as a filler to the otherwise very plain enlarged photo-etch framework.
This was/still is my plan.
I was advised to cut out the copied/enlarged radar from paper and test fold for eventual brass fit, as it looked questionable with these too large and elementary locater tabs.
In theory, it should fit the same, but after actual practice some re-working may be beneficial.
This is the plan anyway. Not any further than cutting and test fit of paper enlargements so far.
One option for you in any case.
Tony

[Jimmy Conway]

Dear Tony, the Knox is going very interesting....we can go inspiring each other........I had made some drawings for the sps 40, and saved as a jpeg, and if you would like to receive it, just send a post, telling me.....Cheers to all, Jimmy.

Hi Guys,
To Willie, Francisco, Mike, Jimmy et all,
This thread is starting to really cook! You guys are keeping my interest growing in the Knox class ships.
I want you guys to know that my external enlightenment and inspiration has been because of you people!
Thanks, Tony Bunch

[Jimmy Conway]

Dear Francisco, you're so a kind of holy man...I just could not believe when saw the pics of the radar.......You can't imagine how grateful I became......you can't imagine nothing, but I say Thank you very much for this.....as you can read when I told to Tony that I could find it nowhere else in the world, now we have some rarity here in this page...... and if isn't too much to ask more, can you get back to that site where the radar is and take more photos in other angles? But I say that now I have the 3d idea for the antenna.......Thanks, many thanks........the sizes are ok and not necessary to re-send


quote="Francisco P. de Nanclares"]Hi all, Tony, Jimmy:

Sometimes I aint worth a dime. I was looking for the drawings without realising what I had just "next door", so to speak. I went to the Naval Base here to show to a friend and, talking ships and walking around, it suddenly struck me. I remembered a couple of radar antennae on the front of the electronics shop and that maybe, just maybe, one of them could be..........


Our old SPS40!.

These pics are sized to fit here, but they are bigger. I have some of them I can send to you if you are interested and, allowing me some time, I can take whatever measurements you need.

Hope this helps.
Pachi.[/quote]

[Guest]

Hi all, Jimmy.

My pleasure. No problem at all. I think this is one of the main reasons (if not the main one) what this site is for- helping fellow modelers whenever possible. In fact, I think I am lucky for being part of such a community.

I am out of town at this time, but when I am back, I will take some more pics and some measurements for those interested. If there is any specific angle you may want, just let me know.

Cheers.
Pachi not logged in.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I painted the decks this morning and now the hull will be put away for a week or so. This will enable me to work on something else.
I decided to use the WEM Modern Deck Grey for the decks. I added Floquil Reefer White to age the paint a little; that and for scale effect; simulated distance.
The ONLY complaint I have about this kit is the grainy-ness of the casting itself. All components have a rough texture. I sanded smooth the hull sides and some of the forcastle area. We'll see how it turns out after the walkway stripes are added on, deck striping, helo pad, being glossed, then dull-coated and colored/weathered with, "filters".
Tony

[Jimmy Conway]

Hi Pachi, Hi all, Hi Tony:
My double pleasure when receiving those pics. If you really want to help me, or should I say my EGO, could it be possible for you doing some "walkaround" pics ( some about 100 or 200... ) on that antennae? When you say WHAT SPECIFIC ANGLE, I try to answer ALL ANGLES as possible, close-ups, something to extricate all the little pieces that makes the radar, and some close from the base, some close from the feedhorn........at this point I would like to know if it's possible to get yours and Tony's mail.......Tony, read it!!! Or both, drop me some lines to jimmycway@hotmail.com
Thanks too for providing good information, and I'm proud too to be part of this community. Hope you Pachi have a nice travel, and remeber that no measurements are needed for the sps40....I have some drawings.....nice regards.....Jimmy

Hi all, Jimmy.

My pleasure. No problem at all. I think this is one of the main reasons (if not the main one) what this site is for- helping fellow modelers whenever possible. In fact, I think I am lucky for being part of such a community.

I am out of town at this time, but when I am back, I will take some more pics and some measurements for those interested. If there is any specific angle you may want, just let me know.

Cheers.
Pachi not logged in.

[Francisco P. de Nanclares]

OK.

I will try on Friday, since I am leaving again on Saturday until Tuesday next week. Whatever conceivable angle and distance. Got it.

Cheers.
Pachi.

[Guest]

Unable to find the time on Friday. I am on my way to the opposite corner of Spain right now, so pictures will have to wait till the week June 19 onwards.

Really sorry guys.
Pachi.

[guest]

Dear Pachi, no sorries, have a nice time in Spain......and if you are in Barcelona, send my regards to Ramblas......nice few days I had there............ Jimmy.....

P>S>but please remeber to take a 100s of pics in the radar.....Thank you so much!

Unable to find the time on Friday. I am on my way to the opposite corner of Spain right now, so pictures will have to wait till the week June 19 onwards.

Really sorry guys.
Pachi.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Here is the future FF-1086 USS Brewton as it looks today....
This is the cruise book I mentioned before.....

Here are some other shots of work I've done this past week...
The helo hangar door is permanently attached, the ASROC is primered and assembled, the 5" mount has had one, "bugeye", removed, the Mk68 GFCS is cleaned up and primered. The deck grey with a little white added is just the faded color I was after. I still need to study the pics of the Brewton's deck area to determine how much and where to add on the non-skid. The helo deck will be a slightly different color and of course; all of the decals for the decks will be done afterwards.
I wil be pirating the warning circle decal for the Brewton's ASROC from the ISW 1/350 DE Bronstein kit. I still need a warning circle, (partial), for the 5" mount. I have a few modern, (relatively speaking), 1/350 USN warship models, but so far the Bronstein kit is the only one with any deck warning circles. I still need to open up the ISW CGN-9 to look at the decals...maybe I'll get lucky, as the Long Beach had two 5"38's amidships...we'll see........



The blue sheet of plastic is 18" x 7" of 1/8" acrylic sheet. It is dark blue, but transparent if held up to light. This will be used as part of the models' display base. I will add the Liquitex Acrylic Gel medium after the model is mounted to the blue acrylic sheet. The acrylic gel will be used for the water/waves/wake and will completley cover the acrylic sheet. The model's hull has a slight warpage that the acrylic gel medium will fill up once permanently attached to the base. There will also be used a 3/4" piece of wood that the acrylic sheet will be placed atop with small nails; same length and width.
Tony

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Here is the FF on the wood base as well as the acrylic sheet. I have always used Poplar as it seems not to distort.


Here are the decals from the WEM kit, (no warning circles), and the ISW Bronstein and Long Beach kits...I hit the Motherlode once I opened up the Long Beach decals!!!!!!!

Thanks for letting me share, Tony

[Francisco P. de Nanclares]

Hi all, Tony.

I sure will shoot as many pictures as I can think of. No Barcelona this time. I am in Cartagena, a main naval base, home of the Spanish Navy submarine and MCM force. I can see you have been through some enjoyable time in the Ramblas though....

Cheers.
Pachi.

[nick]

Hi Tony,

Your Brewton is looking wonderful!. I'm curious, however. What is the big tube thing in the superstructure? Is it a smokestack or some new-aged mast like that AEMS the USS Radford

Hope to see more of your model's pics because I'm also building a Knox class too!

Nick

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Nick,
The vertical/cylindrical structure is referred to as a, "MACK". This is a contraction putting two words together from the words Mast and Stack.
There are/were other USN modern ships that have this type of superstructure, but few are quite so obvious.
Tony

[Avery Boyer]

Another excellent example of a "Mack" is the Japanes DDH type vessels. I'll see if I can find a photo.

[nick]

Thanks Tony and Avery!

Hope to see a photo of the Jap. DDH vessel soon, Avery and your model, Tony.

Thanks so much

Nick

[nick]

Hi Everyone!

Now that I finished my USS Belknap and and battling the decision to make a Charles Adams class or a Knox class, I decided the Knox class. for it is just the right size for me to scratchbuild (for a 12 yr. old)

Here are my photos of the Knox class USS Robert E. Peary FF-1073 using paper, styrofoam, tape, card, and clay. There are still some railings, doors, ladders, and radars left from the PE fret I used for the Belknap from GMM.






The model is not yet painted. But I will send more photos soon

Nick