WIP: 1/350 Pre-War USS Honolulu (CL-48)

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
First post on this thread. I will be building a 1/350 pre-war, (1939-40), USS Honolulu CL-48. The starting point is the YMW kit of the 1942 Brooklyn.
I'm building this model for someone else, and this will be a full hull build; not my preference.
I thought I learned my lesson with commission builds, but this one seems much more equitable.
I got the model with the hull top and bottom halves already attached; seamwork completed. This is my starting point. All the hull portholes need to be added still. I'm awaiting FDD plan drawings to use. These will undoubtedly come in handy. No hull lines though. Drag! I'll have to use another method to determine the spacing and height above baseline for the numerous portholes in the hull. Additionally, I will use anything styrene or resin to replace the white metal parts. I've already been offered some Trumpeter San Franciso parts. I was also given WEM colorcoats paints to use. The pre-war Grey #5 looks kind of dark for a 1/350 model, so I'll be lightening a bit. I may use Testors Acryl marine colors instead. Also, I love natural finish wood decks; streaking, staining and highlighting individual planks takes time but looks great!
I guess I'll be on the lookout for some brass 6"47 barrels. I'll be using the L'Arsenal 5"25 mounts for sure. I'm just getting started, so I'm sure there will be more a/m acqusitions to be found. I hope you guys don't mind my jumping here, and comments are requested.
Here is the hull as it is today........

Another view......

Here she is, Cl-48 Honolulu pre-war.

More soon. Thanks for letting me share.
Tony

[taskforce48]

Tony,

This looks like it will be an awesome build! The Brooklyn's were some nice looking ships. Keep us posted!

Matt

[Dave Hill]

Yes...I can't wait for more updates!!!

Dave

[Sean Hert]

Such a pretty ship! Woo-Hoo!

As to 6" barrels, I'm sure Burkhardt @ https://shop.modellmarine.de/ would be happy to make you a set. Besides, after following your build, everybody with this kit is gonna want some!

[Elvis965]

As to 6" barrels, I'm sure Burkhardt @ https://shop.modellmarine.de/ would be happy to make you a set.

Usually if Burkhardt doesn't already offer them, he needs drawings.

I have a Gulf Coast Miami in the stash that has the white metal ones that I want to replace with brass, but I haven't come across a set of drawings for the 6"/47s, though.

Looking forward to your build, Tony!

Bob

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I appreciate all of the input and gung-ho-ism!
I've contacted Bruce Buchner, (met him at this years' IPMS Nats), and he says some 1/350 6"47's will be available in January. If something falls through with him, then BMK will be my next choice. BMK made some great 5"54's for me about a year ago. No complaints whatsoever.
Rich Durham is building a w/l 1/350 Trumpeter San Francisco, and has offered any parts to me that he won't be using. I just don't like spending so much time cleaning up metal parts if given the choice. Rich will be giving the props/struts/shafts to me for this project. Keith Bender said the New Orleans class and the Brooklyn's shared the same size props, but that the Brooklyns had two prop struts vs the one strut arrangement on the New Orleans class. I got the FDD plan drawings yesterday, but have not looked them over. I don't even know what scale they are yet. If they're 1/96 scale, I'll be copying them!
There are more than one kind of ships boats on Honolulu, so I'll be looking into the resin a/m boats available. I know that L'Arsenal offers 26' boats, and that L'Arsenal's Liberty Ship Upgrade set has another type of ships boats, so there's two types; just don't know yet if they'll be correct. This will be a, "learn as you go", project for me as I know nothing about the Brooklyn class CL's...........yet!
Tony

[Cadman]

Hey Tony, one of my favorite warships is the Honolulu. I prefer the 42 time frame though. But this will be one to watch for sure. The YMK kit is very accurate in hull shape, so you don't need the FDD hull lines. Steve Wiper did an excellent job on that master. I have the the Helena and it is very nice.

There are some minor superstructure changes that you might have to make to do a prewar Honolulu. But I haven't studied the as built as much as the early war versions.

The YMK 5"25's are a little bland compared to the the L'Arsenal versions. So that will really help make the kit look great. Keep us informed

[NukeMM]

I'm excited to watch your progress on this one, Tony!

[Devin]

Tony,

Nice to see another pre-war cruiser underway. Let me know how you go about doing the extra port holes, I'm at that point on my pre-war Wichita. Sure are a lot of them to be drilled...

-Devin

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Devin,
So far I have only one idea. I thought to scribe a longitudinal c/l for each level of portholes using the baseline of the hull bottom as a reference point. One problem would be; if the hull baseline is not true. Wouldn't that look odd with perfectly spaced holes accurately drilled in all respects but for one problem; they go uphill or downhill.....Yikes!
I don't want to do this twice.
Additionally, I need to find out the diameter of the portholes in 1/350 scale and if all are the same diameter.
The FDD drawings that I got are in 1/96 scale and do show the portholes form a looking down perspective; although not hull line drawings.....drag!
I'll be starting this soon.
Tony

[NukeMM]

Tony and Devin,

Is there such a thing as graduated or ruled masking tape? Wouldn't that be cool?!! You could make your own, I'd suppose, but if I did it, it wouldn't be very accurate I would fear.

I think that Richard Sliwka's USS Wichita might be a nice reference for placement. I know Richard, personally, and so does Cadman, and I'm sure that he'd be willing to tell you how he did his portholes. Richard doesn't have computer, but he visits the libray, often, to use theirs.

I swapped emails and phone calls with Richard while doing my AVP model. Super nice guy!

[Devin]

Tony,

The portholes I have to add to Wichita are mostly parallel to the waterline, so that's easy enough. I imagine I'll built up sheet styrene to the proper height, strap a pencil to it, and drag it along the axis. I believe i have a few portholes that run parallel with the forward bow shear, haven't figured that out yet.

I cleaned up the existing portholes on Wichita with a #61 drill bit and it was perfectly sized. I'll be using that to drill the rest of them.

As of right now I'm not planning on putting the rain gutters (eyebrows) over the portholes. They're so difficult to see in all of the pre-war photos I have of Wichita that I seriously do not know that they are even there.

-Devin

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I've spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooo loooooooonnngg figuring out the screws. What's there to figure out?
See pic of Helena in DD; look at the screws; in a word different.

Different from the screws in the YMW kit, (cast metal), and different from anything else I have available right away.
Brooklyn class CL's had 12'6" screws.
I have the Trumpeter USS San Francisco kit, (Thanks Rich), as the New Orleans Class shared the same screws. I was hoping to use the screws from The San Francisco kit. Unfortunately, they're a little bit too small; actually closer to the correct size for the Fletcher class DD's. I have some other models with similar sized 3-bladed screws, so I started to see what might work better than the metal screws that came with the YMW kit.
I thought, "I know, I'll use the Tamiya Fletcher props. They're 3-bladed and they look pretty sweet." It turns out that the Fletcher's had 11'6" screws; which is a difference of .034" in 1/350 scale; ergo too small. Tamiya's Fletcher screws are correct for 1/350 scale. Interestingly, the Trumpeter 1/350 USS The Sullivans, (also a Fletcher class DD), has oversize props for 1/350 scale, and might work best for the 1/350 USS Honolulu. In 1/350 scale, the 12'6" screws should measure to .429". Keith Bender offered to duplicate the Trumpeter The Sullivans props for me in resin; after giving them the KTB touch! Thanks Keith!
I have queried the guy whom got me to build this thing, and I've requested to build Honolulu as a w/l build instead; continuing now figuring on a f/h build, but I might get my wish.
See pics of the different screws I have to choose from so far...

Finally found a use for my 52mm +10 close up filter fro the Pentax SLR...
Tony

[PetrOs]

Hey

If you would need some more unused parts from San Francisco 44 kit, I am finishing one soon and would be glad to send. And, that looks like a nice build!

[Timmy C]

Tony, the curve to those propellers look somewhat similar to the degree that's on the Dragon Buchanan kit - I don't know about the size, but if they are similar, perhaps you can find someone who's building their Buchanan/Laffy waterline and can spare the props.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Hi Tim,
I checked out the props on my Dragon Buchanan already. They ae a bit too small, but I have to admit from the view angle you presented, they look a lot more suitable.
Thanks buddy!
Tony

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
In the past two weeks, I have gathered an immense amount of useful information for a pre-war USS Honolulu. Finding what I needed on Navsource was only the beginning. I have saved all of the Honolulu images I've found and any pre-war Brooklyn Class images too.
The majority of i-net available images of CL-48 were taken during the WWII conflict; not before. Thanks to a fantastic network of gifted and talented individuals whom I knew to, "ping", for related Brooklyn Class information; I want to start a hero list:
Rich Durham for giving a complete 1/350 Trumpeter San Francisco kit to pilfer as I see fit.
Keith Bender for his never-ending patience with my incessant phone queries. Keith found out that the stripes painted atop turrets 1, 2 and 3 were painted Willow Green.
Rich Dann for his SOC info findings and matching up a 1938-39 image of Honolulu's 4 birds in flight; and their related paint scheme.
Tim Dike for the images, scans and patience I've come to expect from him, (dare I?), Chris Preston, (he's currently building a pre-war Brooklyn from the same kit) for his images and scans, Charles Landrum for some more images and scans, Randy Short for his USN Ship color, "Tech Talk", and Tracy White for all of his tireless assistance. Thanks to all of you for putting up with me!
Everyone of these fine gentlemen has unselfishly given some of his time to help me find information regarding ships details. Please allow me to express my gratitude!
Thanks for the scans, the j-pegs and the pdf's guys!!! Now that's what I call a hard hitting team!!
Jim Bird is my contact for this project specifically, and I want to thank him by name too.
The Profile Morskie Book number 2 on the USS Brooklyn and Friedman's Cruisers' book were some of the resources that I got scans from.
Thanks for getting me started guys!
Here is the 1/350 scale drawing taken from the pdf....next to the future CL-48 hull.



This evening, Sydney and I went to "Good Guys" electronics store to pick up an external storage device. Then we came home where I copied the needed files from my computer. We then went to FedEx Kinkos in La Mesa to have the copies made in 1/350 scale. This took three tries on the large printer before arriving at 20.856" loa. Now I have drawings to work from.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Getting things in order.
Thanks to Tim Dike for the Steve Nuttal 6"47 brass barrels. These will live on!
I took some of Chris Preston's advice and started to............remove detail!!!
I cleaned off the gun turret details except for the round side(s)bulges forward. I sanded around the perimeter of each bulge and now they look okay. I will have to add on all of the other details though. I will use the Nuttal brass barrels with the kit provided blast bags after removing the white metal barrels.
I removed the fwd funnel exterior plumbing details, but left the one vertical pipe, (aft end of funnel) as it looked good enough.
This kit is better than the last resin ship I built, ( 1/350 WEM Knox), but still some of the resin details molded in place in various locations just don't come out perfect. I can choose to leave these details or replace them. I usually will replace anything that can be improved; expecially if it's as simple as sanding away and then replacing with strip styrene or dowell or p/e etc. Easy and effective!
I started gathering up my goodies from L'Arsenal. So far, I have the Cruiser catapults, paravanes, the 5"25's and the 26' motor whale boats. This model has a variety of motor whale boats/launches. I may be looking elsewhere for more boats. I do have a Trumpeter San Francisco kit and a 1/350 Tom's Arizona kit to use for parts.
Here are just some of the replacement parts which will be used on this project.


Tony

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I've been a little bit irritated with the turrets, so I decided to go back to the superstructure.
The 05 level deck has to be replaced, as the pre-war Honolulu's was different.
see pic.....copied from 1/350 pre-war Brooklyn drawings...


The funnel bases had to be trimmed, as there was too much material below the, "skirt". Now that there is the proper ht in one place, the overall funnel height above the 01 deck is short. I've discovered that there were some omitted funnel cap detail; this will have to be added completing the funnel(s) and correcting the ht above 1 deck.


The 01 5"25 platforms on pre-war Honolulu were different too, so I just copied the drawings and made some from .020" styrene and yes.........I've finally glued something!


Much more was done to square each and every deckhouse top and bottom. Also, some of the solid splinter shields were removed, as railings were in place instead.
Onward, Tony

[Cadman]

and yes.........I've finally glued something!

Now we are getting somewhere!!!!