Scratchbuilding the USS Santee (CVE-29) in 1/96

[Rene]

Hello Bill,


good to see that you are back at work. Your Santee is looking marvellous and brings back a lot of memories to me, when I built my Sangamon. Those details you are showing are simply great and everything (well almost) looks almost identical to my model, looks as if I used the same plans as you do and that I did something right. Just kidding, really fantastic work.

My DE ist still in the Drydock but I will restart the work on this model pretty soon and the next major ship project is already in the planing stage, additional there are some great news coming up here in Austira, but I will post everything about this as soon as it is official.

Keep on modeling
Ren�
www.usns.biz

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all! Having closed in the hull, I decided it was time to tackle MS.17, the camo paint scheme that Santee was painted in until early 1943. Ms. 17 was the forerunner of measures 31, 32 and 33. A course deception anti-submarine type of camoflage,used from mid 1942 to late 1942 on at least three vessels, the carrier Santee, the cruiser Augusta, and the tanker Chicopee. Colors are 5-N Navy Blue, 5-0 Ocean Gray, 5-h Haze Gray and 5-L Light Gray. I used testors acrylics for the job. I have a few photos of this scheme, only one in color but they are not real clear and the lighting really effects the way you can see things. I think I got it pretty close. The pattern is almost the same on both sides of the ship. At any rate, it was difficult to see so I did a best guess scenario I have not applied the hull numbers as of yet. Work also continues on the flightdeck/gallery deck ares. Lets take a look.........

Heres the fwd. 40mm mount and the gun director tub on port side. All styrene here. Santee had rather light anti-aircraft weaponry until 1943 when alot more was added.

A shot of one of the 4 triple 20mm mounts. There were two of these on either side of the ship and one forward on the focsle' deck.

Here we have the funnels on portside. These were fabricated from balsa blocks then shaped and wrapped with .010 styrene. I then added some telephone wire and some perforated brass for details. The small platform on the left will be the aft steering station.

Another shot of the portside stacks. They are the same on stb. side.

These 25 man liferafts are resin castings I made. There's 42 of these!

This next series of photos show the MS. 17 camo scheme. I'll pan around here from both sides so you can get a pretty good idea how things look. I won't caption every photo.

Well, there you go. That's it for now. I'll continue on with more details on the gallery deck, then onto planking the flightdeck and the addition of the Island assembly. Lot's to do yet!! Stay tuned.......More to come!

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello Bill,


good to see that you are back at work. Your Santee is looking marvellous and brings back a lot of memories to me, when I built my Sangamon. Those details you are showing are simply great and everything (well almost) looks almost identical to my model, looks as if I used the same plans as you do and that I did something right. Just kidding, really fantastic work.

My DE ist still in the Drydock but I will restart the work on this model pretty soon and the next major ship project is already in the planing stage, additional there are some great news coming up here in Austira, but I will post everything about this as soon as it is official.

Keep on modeling
Ren�
http://www.usns.biz

Hello Rene'! Thanks for the post.I've been looking alot at your photos of the Sangamon. Great job on her.Santee is a little different than your model because of the timeframe. I am representing her as converted and very early on. Santee put to sea while workmen were still onboard! Guess the Navy was in a hurry to get them operational. Santee was refitted in Decenber of 1943, so she only looked this way for a few months. Refit was after Operation "Torch". After that she looked pretty similer to Sangamon.

[JIM BAUMANN]

Sharp as ever Bill! Top stuff

...being of waterline disposition ...I am eager to see her 'at sea'

I am-a-watching.....

JIM B

[Jose Chaica]

Hello Bill

Magnificient work, indeed...

If you are using FDD plans (Chenango �45), may I ask where did you got the additional plans/photos to convert Santee into an early configuration ? There are too many differences, such as weapons and sensors (amongst others). I�ve been looking for this kind of info, but got none or very little. Any help is appreciated.

Best Regards, from Portugal.

[Guest]

hello Bill,

Your carrier is looking wonderfull , the painting is nicely done , can't wait to see more.

Ludwig

[Bill Waldorf]

Sharp as ever Bill! Top stuff

...being of waterline disposition ...I am eager to see her 'at sea'

I am-a-watching.....

JIM B

Hello Jim...... Ah, yes, waterline. Well, my first real attempt at that. You build in a lot smaller scale than I do. Making water look believable in 1/96 will be a challange at best.I'm gonna give it my best shot. We will see how I do. I'll let you be the judge!

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello Bill

Magnificient work, indeed...

If you are using FDD plans (Chenango �45), may I ask where did you got the additional plans/photos to convert Santee into an early configuration ? There are too many differences, such as weapons and sensors (amongst others). I�ve been looking for this kind of info, but got none or very little. Any help is appreciated.

Best Regards, from Portugal.

Hello Jose, Yes, using FDD plans. I have other minimal photos and drawings. There are no real "plans" for this early configureation.Not that many differences. Less AA and fwd. part of the flightdeck is a little different. That's about it. Color changed in 1943, early, and I suspect radar was different. Most of my reference material was found on the internet. Just dig, you'll find it! Thanks for the post.

[Bill Waldorf]

hello Bill,

Your carrier is looking wonderfull , the painting is nicely done , can't wait to see more.

Ludwig

Hello Ludwig! Been watching your build too. Excellent styrene work and a great subject. Big too! WE like big! You must have some great reference materials. Either that or you were on board! I am impressed......Thanks for the post!

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Bill Stunning paint job as always . Question What timber will be used for the deck surface?
Dave Wooley

[Bill Waldorf]

Hi Bill Stunning paint job as always . Question What timber will be used for the deck surface?
Dave Wooley

Hello Dave, Decking will be scribed plywood. About .040 thick. More to come on that!

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all! Thought you may like to see an example of one of the aircraft aboard Santee. These are shots of one of her F4F Wildcat fighters. Note the pictures of the plane inside the hanger deck. Although you can't see it real good, I felt the effect would be interesting. Check it out........

Looking thru the side of the ship, you can see the aircraft parked on the hanger deck.

Another view looking in.

These next few shots show the F4F overall. I rushed this one a bit. The others will look a bit more refined! Forgive my impatientence....

Just a short preview of things to come. Enjoy!! I continue on..........

[Cadman]

No worries about the wingy things. They are just a side show to the real ship! Looking good.

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello Again! I will soon be attaching the flightdeck to the hull so I thought I would take some shots of the bow and stern areas again. When the flightdeck is attached the hanger deck is real dark so I added some lighting. Lets take a look........

Heres the bow, stb. side. Note I have now painted the decks with 20B, deck blue, and I have added the hull numbers. You can see the details here a bit better without the flighdeck in place.

Overhead view of the bow area.

Stern view from Stb. Note fire extinguishers and hose lines.

A little better look here. Santee had hull numbers fore and aft early on.

Aft elevator now installed.

Heres the small bulbs I installed inside the hanger bay. Not too bright but just enough.

Another view.

In the next three photos you can see the effect of the lighting with the flightdeck in place. I felt the effect was interesting. At least you can see the planes!

Last but not least, a sneak peek at my "ocean"!

More to come....Stay tuned!!

[Dave Wooley]

Bill this is simply stunning workmanship . I to have been working on the elevator which i'll show at a later date.
Dave Wooley

[Ludwig]

hello Bill,

Your Santee is really looking wonderfull , I like the lighting inside her.

Ludwig

[Timmy C]

The ship's up to your usual excellent work

I was most interested in your water when you first mentioned it a while ago, and looking at what you have right now, the ripples and pattern look very convincing!

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again! Well, I am back perhaps with something a bit more interesting. I have finished the island assy. for the carrier. I am posting the "raw" photos before primer and final paint. At first look, this appears to be a fairly simple structure, but in reality it is more involved than one would think. There are 7 different levels on this structure and each one is made individually. Then, "stacked" on top of each other. The tricky part is keeping everything straight and level. This is a pretty good study of combining elements of scratchbuilding and using fittings and other items from other sources. I have spent about 40 hours on this. A small model in and of itself. Here's some photos...

Here's a view from stb. side. Entire structure was scratchbuilt from styrene. Ladders(black) are also styrene.

Another view from stb. looking fwd. The radar "tower" was one of the more involved elements of the structure.

Portside view, looking aft.

Looking up at the structure from stb. again. Note the support bracing beneath the platforms. There will be three struts that support the island that will be added once the flightdeck is permanantly attached.

Same view here, a little closer up. W/T doors in the open position are from Tom's Modelworks, as well as the porthole detail. Box on lower left of the structure is the flagbag.

Forward view from stb. Note I have added a shim temporarily to the base of the structure. This will be removed before final assy.

Railings are from Bluejacket, cast metal fittings from them and J.R.Haynes.

The addition of all the railings, p/e, and cast metal add alot of interest to the structure.

Here's the radars. SC is in the center, SG on top of the mast(scratchbuilt), and cast metal YE forward.

The SC and YE radars.

One more close up!

Well, there you go......On to more paintwork. Stay tuned....more to come!

[roy allen]

Well, I am back perhaps with something a bit more interesting.

Your not kidding Bill, love it

roy

[Ludwig]

Looking good Bill , very nice island , wonderfull radar arrangements ,can't wait to see this beautifull ship finished.

Ludwig