1/350 USS New (DDE-818)

[Christian Bruer]

Hi all,

for a couple of weeks ago I�ve bought Dragons 1/350 Gearing from my local hobby shop.

The kit is very well done and contains a lot of really fine parts. In my opinion the best 1/350 plastic kit you can get at the moment! Even though I have a lot of other projects in my modeling yard I decide to build the kit asap.

I�d like to build one of the post war Gearings with tripod mast and after looking for an eligible ship I found some fine photos of USS New (DDE-818) in her 1953 fit.
http://ussnewdd818.org/Photo_page1_ship_photos.html

Compared with a trainable Mk. 15 hedgehog on mt. 52 position, tripod mast and a full emplacement of 40mm Bofors the DDE configuration looks really interesting and, most important, there are only a few things to add or to rework.

The fit of the kit is really good. There is only one problem with my kit, because the upper deck has an inaccuracy in the longitudinal axis of about 2-3mm. But that�s no big deal when you fit the deck step by step from aft.

To get a perfect fit between the superstructure and the main deck I put some stringers into the superstructure.

It takes some time to cut of and clean all the fine parts because the parts have more than one injector pin, to ensure the mold will be filled with plastic even in the smallest corner. For example the nearly finished 5� gun mounts and the 40mm Bofors twins.

Take a closer look to the the fine details innside the bridge bulwark.

The upper deck parts nearly finished but without PE parts.

To built the tripod mast I used 1.8 and 1.2 mm brass rod. Because the superstructure and bridge section are not fixed yet, I used tape to hold the parts in position when I align the mast base.

I have ordered the GMM PE set, and I�m still waiting before I proceed working on the plastic parts. The next step is to finish the mast and mybe start working on the Mk. 15 hedgehog.

[DanCinSD]

Beautiful work and great photos, thank you!

[Cadman]

Nice work Christian. I like the idea of adding stringers to help hold the walls.

[Christian Bruer]

Thank you Dan and Tim for your comments!

I�ve had less time last week but I hope to make some progress over this week.
@Tim, I�d like to build models in sections. Adding stringers stiffend the superstructure and allowed me to finish the parts first and connect them later without glue. Also the the long joints along the superstructure are as small as possible.

When fixed, the marked areas are a bit to week.

The joint along the deck is as small as possible.

[Cadman]

Adding stringers stiffend the superstructure and allowed me to finish the parts first and connect them later without glue.

Hmmm this might be a feature that we need to design into the model.

[Devin]

That's a great idea. It adds rigidity so seams are less likely to pop, and it gives more surface area to glue to.

[Christian Bruer]

Start building the Mk. 15 Hedgehog this evening. The base and the mount were made of styrene U-beams. The smaler U-beams at the base were self made of flat styrene. I used a PE plattform from Eduards Fletcher set to male the checkered plate at the front of the base. I will replace the gun mount at mt. 52 position with a new one from Corsair Armadas 5�/38.

The hedgehog looks naked at the moment left all the driving motors, gears and electric boxes.

All dimensions are estimated because I have only some photos available. Taking a first look with the hedgehog placed at mt. 52 it seems ok to me.

[MartinJQuinn]

Very sharp work!

[Christian Bruer]

Thanks Martin!

But after a second look to my scale 1/350 replice it seems to me, there is something wrong with it?!
Comparing the hedgehog with some more photos and placing them onto my DDR conversion, the part was obviously around 20% to large.

I decide to make a new, smaller one. The finest U-beam I`ve had available was 1.6mm high - to large! So I�ve made new ones, each of three plastic strips, 0.3mm thick and 0.5mm, 0.8mm and 1.0mm high. The plattform was similar to my first approach only a bit more tricky. The base was the former part but only reworked.

Mhhh, viewing the Mk. 15 now on its place it looks more correct to me than before. Finally I�ve tested the hedgehog on my DDR conversion, now that looks also good to me.

[JIM BAUMANN]

sharp work Christian -I like the bracing of the superstructure sides...

neat, clean-- and as ever==well photographed!

JIM Baumann

[Christian Bruer]

sharp work Christian -I like the bracing of the superstructure sides...

Thanks Jim! Like Tim replied, it should be designed into the kit or to a - hopefully - further version of these fine Destroyer Class!

Now the carraige with all the power drives and electrical components is finished. It lacks finishing the cradle frame with the four cross ties holding the spigots. Until now the mount consists 55 plastic parts. And I believe around 40 parts are necessary to complete the mount.
Buhaha , I have to build a second one when I process building my DDR conversion � AMS syndrom - so what

[Christian Bruer]

The cradle frame with its four cross ties is finished now. Like the U-beams the T-beams were made of 0.3mm thick flat styrene. It takes some more 40 parts to get thMk. 15 finished.
It was my first complete scratch build part and a good practical knowledge building a complex part only from flat and rod styrene.
The next part need some extra detail and attention is the tripod mast, but that is another tale.

[Christian Bruer]

Hi all,

After working some days to finish the hedgehog I have turned towards the tripod mast. I have added all the stays to the main structure, whereas the lower stays were made of brass rod and the upper stays from styrene rod. The small mast on top of the platform carries and SG-6 radar. By the way, does anybody know how to get one?
Now the tripod mast is nearly finished. It lacks a ladder in front of the mast, a railing around the platform, the SPS-6 radar and some wires and antennas.

The SPS-6 is a slightly modified GMM part.

The new mast fits well to mast mounting on the bridge.

[Sebastien Lausdat]

I foresee a very beautiful model. Your work on the USS New is very interesting.
I look forward to more.
Cheers
Sebastien Lausdat
France

[Finland's Jonne]

Hi!

USS New? It sounds so nice name!

Huh, what a cleanly made!

I really enjoying to following others "colleagues" with ships...

Jonne

[Christian Bruer]

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in my online build and thank you for your nice comments!

Today I have made some progress with the tripod mast. I have added a railing around the platform and a ladder to the platform. After some discussions about the SG radar on the top of the mast with my friend Dirk Mennigke, we assume, that New�s SG radar is an SG-5! I have used the SG radar from WEMs USN WWII Radar Set.

The finished Mk. 37 director with its Mk. 25 radar, also from WEMs USN WWII Radar Set.

If Dragon want's to make another Gearing, I hope it is not an early post war Gearing with a tripod mast

[Christian Bruer]

Gentleman, some more progress today.
This evening I have build the small tripod mast fort the HF/DF antenna. The mast and the HF/DF were made of brass rod and some small styrene rod. For the main part of the mast I used a shortened conical antenna for 1/35 military vehicles from BMK.

After I have finished and photographed the mast the brand new part dropped down to the floor.
The mast lost only two stringers, but the HF/DF was broken into pieces. Ok, no problem, I repaired the mast and build a new HF/DF. This time I have used a PE part I have found in an WEM set and piece of rod for the antenna pole. A photo of the new version will be given later.

[M�LDERS]

Great work, Christian! Darn sharp! One can see the skill behind it. Very good!

[JIM BAUMANN]

I will up Moelders....!

Your work is RAZOR sharp!!

Looks very nice indeed!



JIM B

[russclark]

nice work on the masts,are they glued or solderd,