Calling all USS North Carolina BB-55 & USS Washington BB-56 fans

[CWatson]

From what I have seen of the 1/700 kit, the light AA arrangement is North Carolina's, not Washington's.

My observation also.


CW

[Atma]

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10162017
I guess this is a reissue, of the old/new kit of USS North Carolina class ?

[Timmy C]

Why wouldn't it be?

[Bob Dedmon]

Picked up the 1/350 Trumpy kit for a commission build. The requestor wants me to do what is necessary, which is the best after market set to get that is available? I thought it might be the Lion Roar set but my local shop can't find it and I couldn't find int on Lucky Model nor Lion Roar site. I'll be back later if I have problems with the build.

[CWatson]

In the first picture, what parts of the director circled in red are painted lighter grey? Is the upper part just a reflection of light as the top of the 5inch turret circled in light blue? Can any point me to a publication or site that would have a clearer and closer view of this area?

In the second picture you can see the blast bags on the rear turret is not black like the forward turrets. Are the rear ones light grey or has the black paint washed off leaving a tan canvas color?

The third picture shows Washington during the Kings visit. Do the blast bags look "washed out" or painted grey?


Thanks,
CWatson

[Atma]

For who ever cares, the upgraded re-release of IJN North Carolina...oops force of habbit, USS North Carolina from Pit-Road in 1/700 is out:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10162017

[aptivaboy]

I'd say the blast bags were painted, either the same color or they came in a similar color from the factory: http://navsource.org/archives/01/056/015638c.jpg At any rate, they were grey at her commissioning.

They were replaced at some point with black bags. This is her at Iceland in '42: http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/015630s.jpg, and they're clearly black.

They seem to have either gone back and forth between grey and black bags, or the Navsource photos may be misdated. I'd imagine that they were black during the bulk of her operations in Europe, based upon the photos, but I could be wrong.

[Rotorhead]

BB-55 or BB-56 Hull Intakes and Discharge Appearance

I am in the process of doing some research prior to building the USS North Carolina BB-55 in 1/350 and am in need of the appearance of the Condenser Intakes and Discharges on the bottom hull.

Any info on the Iowa's would probably be identical to the North Carolina's.

What I'm looking for is the area in red in this photo from the bottom of the hull. This is the side view of the condenser. What does the "Scoop" look like?



Here is the general engine room arrangement.



Here is what the Condenser Intake looks like on a Fletcher Class Destroyer as a possible comparison. This from the Engine Room "Trainer" at the Kidd Museum.




Thanks
Steve H

[JimVarnellABH2USN]

This maybe of intrist to those who like myself enjoy building battleships
I have a reference book that is great

U.S. BATTLESHIPS
AN ILLUSTRATED DESIGN HISTORY
By: Norman Friedman
Ship plans by: Alan Raven and A.D. baker III
1985 (Naval Institute Press)

This book gives a detail description of the ships design, mods., just about anything you can think of, I
know some may already have this book, but some may not. This book can be ordered through Books A Million, or Barnes and Nobel, but check with you local book store, when I got mine I believe I paid $35.00, but that was some time ago.

NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21402
(write for a free illustrated catalog of more then 350 books on naval and maritime subjects) I believe they still do this and maybe the list is larger, I haven't tried them lately.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

I have the Trumpeter 1/350 kit of the North Carolina in the box to build at some point.

What time period does the kit represent?

I read that the kit has accuracy issues. Can someone please post a list of them so I can decide if they are major enough to bother correcting?

Thank you kind folks.

[Bent Wing]

I just purchased a Renwal 1/500 USS North Carolina knowing that it did not come with instructions. Putting it together should not be that difficult using visual images but I thought I try and reach out in this forum to see if anybody happen to have a soft copy.
Thanks
Ray

[GarethChai]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, what are the differences between the Trumpeter 1/700 North Carolina and Washington? I bought two NC kits in the hope of changing one to Washington.

[CWatson]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, what are the differences between the Trumpeter 1/700 North Carolina and Washington? I bought two NC kits in the hope of changing one to Washington.

Both kits are of the North Carolina. The one titled North Carolina is a late war fit for her.

The one titled Washington is a early war fit.

The Washington kit can be made into a early war fit Washington by altering the light AA guns to match pictures of her.



CWatson

[Dick J]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, what are the differences between the Trumpeter 1/700 North Carolina and Washington? I bought two NC kits in the hope of changing one to Washington.

If you have the NC kits, than I presume that what you want is the late-war difference. Primarily, there were 3. First, the 20MM arrangement differed slightly between the two. You will need specific photos to sort it all out. Second, NC had a platform with splinterscreens about half-way up the forward towermast. This was expanded from the original platform that wrapped around the back of the tower. By 1945, Washington had reduced the original platform to almost nothing. And lastly, from early 1942 on, Washington had wind baffles on the front of the platform at the top of the forward towermast, and NC never had the baffles there. The platform itself seems to be slightly differently shaped on the two as well.

[Fliger747]

Not at home at the moment, but I believe it is the Missouri Book, Summerall? that has some photos from the grounding incident, that shows the stufed and slightly damaged condenser intakes. Try searching this incident, I believe the report is published on line with photos.

Tom

[SebastianP]

I'm back to work on my 3D model of the North Carolina, and I've been googling, goggling, and scratching my head at the radar on her mainmast as she sits today. What radar is that, when did she get it, and what other ships had one? Also, what's the radar mounted on top of Spot 1, because it sure isn't the one she carried through most of the war...

[Cliffy B]

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/0155004.jpg

In the first shot it looks an awful lot like a SPS-4.

http://www.hazegray.org/features/bb55/bb55_65.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/015504b.jpg

In these it looks very similar but more like a SPS-10 antennae. Might just be me though as I think those antennae were very similar. I doubt though that they would have bothered replacing it unless it got damaged.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... -27527.jpg

There it looks like a 10 to me.

http://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Radar/SPS-4.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... adar_2.jpg

Last radar I think that she carried in service in the position was the old SM or SP height finder. Maybe the museum got an old 10 so they could put something up there?

That's my best guess.
-Mike

[SebastianP]

Thanks a bunch. It's not an SPS-4, it doesn't have the Zenith reflector (baloon-like solid reflector behind the mesh dish), so it has to be an SPS-10. Now I know what to name the thing for my files...

Here's my North Carolina - she's a little different from the usual fare here



(Yes, I have been watching too much Space Battleship Yamato. But only after I started building these...)

[Andrew D BB39 Sec]

A question from a planebuilder who is delving into the BB world, in case it's super-obvious to everyone else here: in 1/700, is the Trumpeter the better pick over the Aoshima for the NC?

[Timmy C]

Yes, though it has some problems (as with most Trumpeter kits...). All mentioned in the rest of this thread.