1/144 Revell Fletcher Class Destroyer Build (Early)

[les]

If you want acrylics, check out Poly-Scale. They have a few Navy colors.

[les]

Anyone have a picture of the after steering? I have one picture that I can make out several pieces of equipment, but not everything.

[ir3]

Thanks for the info on paints. I am ordering my supplies from White Ensign. John has been extremely helpful.

IR3

[Rick E Davis]

Les,

Are you referring to the aft steering station on the earliest Fletchers? If so this is the best photo available. It has been published many times before. If you need a photo of the station after it was moved to the second stack ... let me know I'll look for a good view.

[Rotorhead]

Rick,

I thank you for that also. Now I know just WHAT that is back there.

Regards
Steve

[les]

Rotorhead, thanks for the picture. I've got that one. It's really funny, two CD's with hundreds of pictures, printed references and you still can't find the photo you need. It's always the way.

[Rick E Davis]

Les,

What detail exactly are you looking for at the emergency con station?

Rick

[Rick E Davis]

Les,

Here is a blow-up view of this area on the Fletcher herself on 26 June 1942 from a different angle. There appear to be a few detail differences compared to O'Bannon, but mostly the same. Every other image I have of this area is too far away, too dark or have crew members in the area.

[les]

Thanks Rick,

Now I have to figure out what the black areas are. Air intakes?

[ir3]

I am using the Eduard Depth Charge racks and have a question. I plan on carefully cutting out the plastic depth charges in the kit racks very carefully preserving the depth charges as a group and installing them in the PE racks. It seems straight forward but would appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

IR3

[Secondo]

I am using the Eduard Depth Charge racks and have a question. I plan on carefully cutting out the plastic depth charges in the kit racks very carefully preserving the depth charges as a group and installing them in the PE racks. It seems straight forward but would appreciate any comments.

Thanks,

IR3

In my opinion, it would be much better to find a rod of the right diameter and rebuild all the DCs. Revell's DCs are horribly sticked together, have a junction line straight in the middle and, by adding the DCs one by one, you could also represent the rack half empty.

[ir3]

Excellent advice. Will do on the DC's.

Another question for the group. Could someone please list the color equivalences for the Revell Color chart at the beginning of the instructions. They are given as mixes of Revell colors in certain precentages but do not indicate what color they are creating. I have most of the colors coming from White Ensigh but those colors are in US Navy numbers. I think it would be a great help to everyone building this model to have a understandable color chart and some choices other than Revell.

Thanks once again,

IR3

[Rick E Davis]

Les,

I don't think the holes are vents. I believe (I have not gone looking on the BIW Engineering plans DVD to check) that the "chutes" on the sides are for spent casings from the 1.1-in rounds or 40-mm rounds depending on the ship. For some reason the aft end is enclosed and the fore end open. There could be more going on inside, but I doubt anyone will go in there and look for it.

Secondo and IR3,

I know that Secondo is doing a late war Killen and by then she had the reload racks replacing the arbor post style of storage. I don't know what style of DC storage Revell included with the kit, but the early FLETCHER had the arbor post style of DC storage (see page three of this thread) until updated in the early summer of 1943. Depending on when and which subject you are building/modifying your FLETCHER kit to IR3, you would want to check photos to see which style your subject was using. Also, early on the storage racks were a single row, later a double row rack was used. Some ships retained the single rack all through the war, most did not. When FLETCHER was updated to five twin 40-mm mounts in summer 1943, she got double racks in place of the arbor posts. Of course this is just advice on the accuracy, build as you wish.

[Secondo]

Les,

Secondo and IR3,

I know that Secondo is doing a late war Killen and by then she had the reload racks replacing the arbor post style of storage. I don't know what style of DC storage Revell included with the kit, but the early FLETCHER had the arbor post style of DC storage (see page three of this thread) until updated in the early summer of 1943. Depending on when and which subject you are building/modifying your FLETCHER kit to IR3, you would want to check photos to see which style your subject was using. Also, early on the storage racks were a single row, later a double row rack was used. Some ships retained the single rack all through the war, most did not. When FLETCHER was updated to five twin 40-mm mounts in summer 1943, she got double racks in place of the arbor posts. Of course this is just advice on the accuracy, build as you wish.

I had luck, Killen had the single row racks which are included into the Nautilus PE set that I finally managed to buy The bad new is that I will have to find a way to scratchbuild a handful of Mk 9 Teardrop DCs
Thank you again Rick, your advice is always welcome and useful

[ir3]

Eduard also had the single row racks. I am not building to any specific ship of the class. I just like getting the kits, building them as per the kit and adding whatever PE seems reasonable and easy enough for me to to. I am not a prolific PE installer. Usually I get glue everywhere but on the actual part that I am trying to put on. I always consider my models still in drydock being fitted/retrofitted. If a part is on my model that shouldn't be there, it just has not been removed as of yet and if something should be on that isn't, it will be when the fitting out is complete.

My hat's off to those that do extensive research and get the model as close as possible. This hobby can give considerable enjoyment at all levels.

IR3

[les]

Rick,

What are the chutes on the aft end of the gun tub for? I imagined them to be spent shell case shutes. Could the side shutes be ammo lifts? That might mean the black (open?) spaces are for access in case the lift became fouled.

[ir3]

Hi Fletcher Officianados,

I am struggling with my Fletcher and have decided to bow out. It is way too tedious for me and it is only raising my blood pressure. I ordered the following from Nautilus and just received:

USS Fletcher Photoetch Set
Item# 144-203 $100.00 USD
USS Fletcher Turret & Whaleboat set
Item# 144-020 $30.00 USD
USS Fletcher 40mm Twin Stern Tub
Item# 144-021 $25.00 USD
USS Fletcher Anti-Skid Decal
Item# 144-601 $10.00 USD

I would like to part with the lot. The total cost to me was $165 + shipping. If anyone is interested in the lot please contact me offline.

Enjoy your Fletcher builds,

Iran Ausley

[Rick E Davis]

Les,

I had suspected, but checked the drawing in the "BIW Fletcher class Engineering Drawings" DVD just to be sure. The two small "chutes" on the aft end of the tub are actually the trunks for the ammo hoists to bring up the clips from the clipping room. The two "chutes" on each side are the spent shell receptacles (bins if you please) for either the 1.1-in or 40-mm guns. I had guessed that these could be accessed from inside the clipping room. But the drawings seemed to show that the "hole" that we see is the access opening to the empty shell cases and clips. Here is a "grab" of the bin and holes in the deck of the tub for the shells to pass into the receptacles (top drawing). The middle bottom drawing shows that the receptacle bin is more complex than being a simple "box". The square opening above the odd shaped access hole to the bin, appears to be an access to what would otherwise be a closed space. It appears that there actually were two levels to the spent shell bins. You can see the divides to the separate bins in the top drawing. Interesting engineering.

[Rotorhead]

Ian,

Sorry to see you scuttle the Fletcher. It's as difficult as you want to make it, or as easy as you want to make it.

I understand your pain though. I'm at "work stoppage" right now contemplating the verticle superstructure parts detailing vs what's there. I've scraped the railings and ladders off and may delete ALL rivits and then re-rivit with a pounce wheel (because there are more than what Revell has depicted). At this scale i THINK I can get away with it, especially with a dark camo paintscheme.

I haven't worked up the nerve to scrape all the hatches off yet, but I'm gonna HAVE to and to open a few.

Regards
Steve

[les]

Rick,

Thanks for all the research! I'll try to figure out the drawings (I'm not an engineer) to make the corrections in the kit.