Hello again all Well, here I am again. I feel like Horiban, posting this much, god....... Anyway, I've got the ship 95% completed. All I need are 6 more 20mm guns. Then the ship itself is finished, at least as far as I am going to go. I could spend years, but there is not enough photographic reference material available to go much further. The Sangamon Class of Escort Carriers had alot more involved things goin on than other classes of these ships. I underestimated how involved the project would be. In any event, completion is at hand! Here's some photos of the arrestor gear and those comm antennas I mentioned above. These will be the last details I will do on the ship. Next will come the aircraft and the crew.
I'll start with the barrier arms. For those of you who are not familiar with carriers, a barrier arm is a series of wires that pop up to a vertical position during landings. This prevents the aircraft from crashing into things should it miss it the hook on the arrestor wires. There are 3 barriers just aft of the bridge(island). Shown in the lowerd position on the stb. side.
Here's another view. Arrestor gear and barrier arms are styrene. Arrestor cable is .025 waxed rigging line, and the barrier wires are .025 piano wire. Note the yielding bars, the small rectangles you see beneath the arrestor cables. These were kind of like a leaf spring that popped up and raised the arrestor wire slightly above the flightdeck, to facilitate the aircrafft grabbing the wire with its hook. Small strips of .010 styrene used here.
Another view of the arrestor gear. There are a total of 13 arrestor wire assemblies. A bit of weathering needed yet.
Here's a better view of the overall arrangement. Note the cable behind the aft elevator. If you look to the top right, you can see the aft comm. antenna.
Note this arrestor cable. It goes right across the aft elevator opening. All the plans and reference material I have show this. Question was, what did they do with it when the elevator was in use? Detaching it from the gear would have been a time consuming task, I would think. I called one of the pilots that flew off the Santee, Don Pattie,a highly decorated man, and asked him. He told me the deckcrew would simply pull it back out of the way once the tension was released on the cable. When all aircraft were up on flightdeck level, and the elevator was no longer in use, then the cable would be pulled back to it's original position. By the way, Mr.Pattie is 85...
Hmmmm....deck crew pulling the cable.......OK, how's this??
Looking from behind. I plan about 50 figures or so. Don't want it too busy. The real aspect of this project is the ship, not the other stuff. Just icing on the cake if you will......
Here's the fwd comm. antenna. Made from styrene tubing and rod. This is how I see it as compared to the photo I asked questions about above. Wires are very fine stretched sprue. Resistors are a dab of elmers glue and black paint. Note arrestor gear and barrier arm arrangement in the backround.
Well, there you go......By the way, I was just kidding about the Admiral(Horiban). Where has he been?? He is a great modeler.I rather miss argueing with him On to the aircraft and crew!! Stay tuned ......More to come.....
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Hi Bill Very effective use of figures, makes for a more realistic model.{ I have 50 or so figures for Kiev , more like dots than deck crew} Re- the arrester wire across the elevator , some times it's the simple procedures that are not that obvious. As usual a tremendous job .
Dave Wooley
Dave Wooley wrote:Bill I have a question "will you been spraying your completed Santee with a clear matt varnish "
Or do you leave well alone?
Dave Wooley
Hey dave, yes, I use a clear Matte Laquer, Testors Dullcote works the best I have found. I usually do the subassemblies with this as I go along.HTH.
Waldorf Productions / Museum Quality Model Warships
Custom Building Services Available
Dave Wooley wrote:Bill I have a question "will you been spraying your completed Santee with a clear matt varnish "
Or do you leave well alone?
Dave Wooley
Hey dave, yes, I use a clear Matte Laquer, Testors Dullcote works the best I have found. I usually do the subassemblies with this as I go along.HTH.
Hi Bill Thanks for that. In the past I have used Humbrol clear matt varnish spray but I have noticed that it can slightly alter the shade of the finish so I stoped using it. Do you have this problem with Dullcote ?
Dave Wooley
Hi Bill Thanks for that. In the past I have used Humbrol clear matt varnish spray but I have noticed that it can slightly alter the shade of the finish so I stoped using it. Do you have this problem with Dullcote ?
Dave Wooley
No, never. Try heating the can for a few minutes in hot water. Like a bowl with hot water in it. Fill bowl to top of spray can. Don't submerge the spray tip. This work well for dullcoat. I feel the dullcoat actually "brightens" things a bit. I guess thats the right word. Try it.......HTH.
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Custom Building Services Available
As I stated up above, the ship is now pretty much completed. I am awaiting 6 more 20mm guns for the port side. Sure are slow in getting here. Anyway, I tried to get a couple of overall shots of the ship. And I am working ever so tediously on the aircraft. Crew last. So heres some shots of the ship, still in the shop and I plan to move it soon which will be a tricky task at best. Ever paint yourself into a room?? Some shots of the SBD Dauntless dive bombers, too. Take a look......
TBM Avengers are next....torpedo bombers, the the F4F Wildcat fighters..........Stay tuned......More to come....
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Scratchbuilding: if at first you don't succeed, try it again, then repeat!!!
1/192 BB64 USS Wisconsin 75%
1/192 CA73 USS St. Paul 10% Contemplating:
1/96 BB55 USS North Carolina
1/96 BB64 USS Wisconsin
Some of us are good builders, some of us are good at painting and finishing, some of us are good detailers but seriously Bill, you have it all. The excellent colors fit the scale perfectly and the nice detail, wow.
Hello again. Thought you may like to see some shots of the flightdeck as things progress along. I have finished the TBF torpedo bombers, and have added them to the squadron. I have also started to add figures. Modified model RR items. I will build the F4F wildcats next. I have alot more figures to add,in and around the gun tubs, more on the flightdeck and other areas around the ship. Plus a deck tractor and some ordinance trolleys Take a look...............
Here's one of the SBD dive bombers. All the aircraft are resin kits from JR Haynes from the UK. There are 9 -10 pieces in the kits and consist of some cast metal parts such as the props, landing gear and the cowling. It also comes with the national insignia. I added the radio antenna, pitot tube, and some bombs and bomb racks under the wings. I have also drilled out the dive flaps.
A view looking fwd. from portside. The figures add another dimension to the model, I feel.
One of the torpedo bombers, TBF Avengers. Again, I added a few small details to the planes.
An overhead view of the TBF. I made the black squadron codes with some inkjet decal paper, my PC and printer.
Portside looking aft. The only real drawback of the aircraft is the lack of clear canopys and cockpits. Had I had the time I would have tried to remedy this. It can be done, but it would be lot's of work!
Starboard side looking aft. Once I add a few more items, this should really come to life, I hope!
A few more planes to build and some figures and other details and I should be there! I leave for Norfolk with the ship Aug. 4th. Wish me luck........More to come ...Stay tuned...............
Waldorf Productions / Museum Quality Model Warships
Custom Building Services Available
Well, here I am again. I feel like Horiban, posting this much, god....... Anyway, I've got the ship 95% completed. All I need are 6 more 20mm guns. Then the ship itself is finished, at least as far as I am going to go. I could spend years, but there is not enough photographic reference material available to go much further. The Sangamon Class of Escort Carriers had alot more involved things goin on than other classes of these ships. I underestimated how involved the project would be. In any event, completion is at hand! Here's some photos of the arrestor gear and those comm antennas I mentioned above. These will be the last details I will do on the ship. Next will come the aircraft and the crew.
On to the aircraft and crew!! Stay tuned ......More to come..... 
