Cold War Era Group Build Apr.15-Oct.15, 2011

[Bob Cicconi]

Well...I'm done! Here are 3 photos of the completed Exeter. I'm sending the whole batch of photos to the main website for posting. Now I have to start the Shinano Maru as soon as it lands for the civilian ship group build.

[Quincy]

She looks very "Cicconi" like Bobby! Another one of your masterpieces!





Bob Pink.

[Bob Cicconi]

Thanks Bob! Are you going to the Nats? Maybe I'll see you out there!

[kidcurrie42]

Bob, you certainly did my old ship proud, i spent over 5 years onboard Exeter

Happy Modeling

John

[navydavesof]

Bob,

Awefully well done!

[Quincy]

Thanks Bob! Are you going to the Nats? Maybe I'll see you out there!

Yes I am. I'm looking forward meeting all of you guys!
Just gotta survive this wacky weather first,





Bob Pink.

[MartinJQuinn]

She looks very "Cicconi" like Bobby! Another one of your masterpieces!

Bob Pink.

I saw her in person on Saturday - a great little build!

[taskforce48]

Great work so far everyone! I see that Bobby C. has taken first for completion, and what a phenomenal looking little build. Hard to believe that it is 1/700.

Keep up the great work!

Matt

[GTDEATH13]

Greetings guys...

I have been busy too... My build is slowly progressing due to rough weather and monsoons that are of season here in the Indian ocean..

The funny thing with my build is that I am building a ship while aboard a ship

This is what I have done thus far:



I am really sorry I am not attending as much as I can but it is quite difficult under the conditions here... Good thing is that pirates are quiet...

Best wishes and more progress pics please....

[taskforce48]

Looking good there GT!

Matt

[navydavesof]

Hey Cold War Era Group Build builders!

I have been as busy as everyone else lately, and I have not done much work on my contribution. However, I was looking at it on my shelf this evening, and I thought it would be an alright time to share what kind of progress I have made.

I have finished the hard parts of the helicopter hanger and completely replacing and rebuilding the VLS arrangement on the ship.

Visible is the hanger and RAM aft and the Mk71 MCLWG forward.

Something I want to elaborate on in the above picture is something I have had to address with several of these DDG-51 class models I have been modifying lately. Where the hull steps down by a deck to the helicopter flight deck there are these swept bulkheads. My understanding is that their purpose is to reduce the radar cross-section. The correction I have had to address several times is extending that swept bulkhead further aft to match, in this case, the helicopter hanger. It was harder trying to figure out how to fix it than implementing the fix. As you can see I extended the hull and bulkhead, carved and sanded it down swept to the right shape, and then a lot of sanding! I like the result I have. I hope when I get paint on it I have smoothed out the transition between the hull and the new piece so it looks right!

Forward is the Mk71 MCLWG and the 64-cell B-sized VLS module.

Again, visible here is the 32-cell VLS "half B-sized module", Harpoons, RAM, and Mk71 forward, the major features of this variant of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Well, that's all recently. Today I achieved a pretty big goal at work so now I can spend a little more time on these kinds of projects now!

Thanks for looking!

[Bill Liebold]

navydavesof,

Wow, that's a lot of work. Don't hope that your bulkhead/hull extention blends in when you paint it! Make sure it does. Tamiya makes a pretty good primer and I know you can get it where you are. Give the model a shot. Any flaws will jump right out. Then you can resand or add a little filler if need be.

Congrat's on the mile stone at work!

Bill

[navydavesof]

navydavesof,

Wow, that's a lot of work. Don't hope that your bulkhead/hull extention blends in when you paint it! Make sure it does. Tamiya makes a pretty good primer and I know you can get it where you are. Give the model a shot. Any flaws will jump right out. Then you can resand or add a little filler if need be.

Congrat's on the mile stone at work!

Bill

Ah! An excellent idea. Some quick primer will do the job! Thanks for that. Also, thanks for the congrats. It's a big relief

[carr]

I have finished the hard parts of the helicopter hanger and completely replacing and rebuilding the VLS arrangement on the ship.

Love the look! Just curious, would the backblast/exhaust of the RAMs cause problems when fired on an aft bearing, in particular being directed into the stack for the upper one or right against the vertical structure for the lower one?

Well, that's all recently. Today I achieved a pretty big goal at work so now I can spend a little more time on these kinds of projects now!

If it's what I think it is, congratulations! That's got to be a load off your mind!

Regards,
Bob

[navydavesof]

If it's what I think it is, congratulations! That's got to be a load off your mind!

Yes, sir, PM to follow!

Concerning the RAM positioning, I initially wondered that, too when I first saw the design. It does seem like the exhaust would be pretty abusive. However, there are ways to mitigate that such as a slightly thicker bulkhead for the exhaust to impact against on the lower launcher. I don't know about the exhaust being fired directly onto the stack caps with the upper launcher, though. I bet it would make a terrible racket, like blowing a whistle into a drum. However, I don't think it would cause a structural problem to the stack caps or a back-pressure issue blowing down the uptakes. The uptakes are too big in circumference and too long to be filled up with the exhaust from RAM missiles being fired just right.

However, what I am very curious about is: How did they plan to load and unload the RAM launchers all the hell the way up there? Usually you use a cart that sits on the deck and elevates the missile to the slot/cell you want, and then you crank the missile in.

I did think, however, what they could do during an ammo on-load is just remove the RAM box with the crane they're using to arm the ship and replace it with a full one, just like fitting Harpoons. hmmmm.... I might have to depict the launchers with little lifting lugs.

[Mark McKinnis]

Nice work so far evetybody!


I had just completed the Hancock in her SCB-27C on Friday. Saturday we had my son's B-Day Party and invited a few of his friends from daycare and the neighbors kids. They had a great time. In fact, one of them thought that it would be great to take the glue off of my bench and dribble it down the flight deck of Hancock!

My wife was surprised that I took it so calmly. I guess it was my fault for leaving it within reach of the kids. We have a pretty small house so the bench is in the dining room and easily accessible. My son has grown up with the models so he knows not to mess with them. Not so much the other kids.

Oooooof! I have removed the island and stripped the deck. Pics to follow upon the second commissioning.

I hope everyone has a nice holiday here in the States.

Mark

[kidcurrie42]

Ouchessssssssssssssssssss So no parties next year or no glue and carriers in the vicinity.

Looking forwards to seeing the 2nd commissioning.

Happy Modeling

John

[navydavesof]

Here's a quick update Cold War builders!

RAST!!!

More RAST!

Full length view:

Until next time, fo' shizzle!!!

[Gordon Bjorklund]

Bob C,

Great job on your Exeter. It truely is a great looking model.

[Gordon Bjorklund]

The Long Beach is on again. I hate to waste money so I'm going to finish this (1/700) build if it blinds me from looking at all of these little pieces. I've got the large parts primed and nearly all of the little pieces are ready to be primed.

The small 5" gun and antenna. The pe ring that keeps the antenna from spreading out to far is to big so I

used one of the rings from a 1/700 SK-2 radar which is smaller in diameter than the kits ring. The antenna looks to be a litlle large to me and was a pain for me to construct.

In order to keep track of which number a parts was, I marked the toothpick with series of stripes. notating the part numbers. Now I know where they go.