USS Bennett DD-473 1/96 scale

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
I made a few corrections to my drawing and then I cut out the deck house roof for the 40mm centerline mount and assembled it yesterday.

Next, I made the bulwark from .010 styrene sheet. Late last night, I made the gun director platform out of the same sheet stock. I cut a strip and rolled it around a 5/8 diameter Wood dowel and glued it together. Before I called it a night I glued the top surface to the gun director platform.

This morning I sanded the top flush with the tube I made and cut a section off the bottom so it would fit properly on the forward edge of the deck house. Then I cut a couple disks and glued them to the bottom surface of the gun director platform and sanded them flush with the edge.

It is ready to be glued in place after I drill a few holes and add the step rungs.

Wouldn't it be awesome if the Fletcher's had only quad 40mm's (20 40mm AA guns) instead of the five twins? This is a what if photo!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have the twin Bofors built yet and I couldn't resist putting the quad in the picture!!!!!!

That�s it for today. As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[LE BOSCO]

HI Roger

Always a good jodb of scratch I closely follows
cheers
Nicolas

[snaphappy321]

HI Roger

Always a good jodb of scratch I closely follows
cheers
Nicolas

Thanks for the words of encouragement my friend, I really appreciate it!!!!!!!! You do some mighty fine quality work as well!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Again, and as always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Yesterday, I was very happy to spend a couple hours at Silver Lake in Wilmington, MA. I meet a great bunch of guys from the Marine Modelers Club of New England. I arrived about 20 minutes before their event started. I no sooner walked through the gate to the beach, when I was greeted by Mike Fioretti the event officer for the club. We talked for a little while and I asked him what he was running today. He said to open his truck and take a look. I was surprised, he�s a very trusting gentleman, but I had no intention to open his vehicle and I think he sensed it. Without saving another word Mike went over and opened the hatch and gave me the quick description of his boats he had with him. My interests are more geared to WWII warships and PT boats, but I have to say I was very impressed with his 1/24th scale Tug Boat the Michael E. By looking at the quality of Mikes work, I knew without a drought that he has been interested in RC boats and model making for many years. Anyway enough talking here are a few pictures I took yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, a couple overall photos of the boats present at Silver Lake yesterday.

Next up, Mike�s tug the Michael E. Mike told me he needed 26lbs of ballast for his tug to sit at the waterline. The battery he uses weighs 28lbs, and he tells me she sits perfect in the water although it didn�t get to see it perform due to the strong wind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric's warship was in the water a short time yesterday, but it had rudder problems and was removed shortly after it's launch. I�m not up on modern warships and I�m sorry to say I don�t know the type or class of the ship, but it was a very detailed and looked great!!!!!!!!!!:cool_2:

It was very windy, although you really couldn�t tell from just looking at the water. This tug�s superstructure was blown off by the wind.

Needless to say a lot of talking and not much running took place yesterday at Silver Lake!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[JevJanson]

This build is coming along quite nicely! I wish I had half the scratch-building skills you have.

As a side note, that warship pictured above is HMCS St. John's (FFH-340). It is one of the Canadian Halifax-class frigates.

[snaphappy321]

Thanks for the words of encouragement JevJanson I really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for naming the warship as well.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Even though I�ve ordered the bridge casting from Lee at SSY I planned to build the bridge that came with my deck structure kit from CNC. For the past few days on and off I�ve been working on it.

First I scribed a line at the front and back on the center line of the top and bottom of the pilot house (CNC #R5). I also drew a line on the strip that forms the wall and the sheet that forms the front of the bridge structure. I put a spot of glue on the center of the strip and glued the top onto it making sure that it was flush with the edge. Then I repeated the process for the bottom. I was going to glue the strip to both of the pieces and bend and glue around the corners and sides, but I decided to make a couple partitions out of scrap material and glue the top and bottom together and make it stronger before gluing on the sides. This extra step made for a very ridged and strong structure.

Next I glued on the sheet that makes up the front of the bridge. This piece is the full height of the bridge structure and requires a slit to be cut on each side to allow the deck to be inserted under the pilot house. I followed the same procedure I used on the pilot house, starting at the center line and working my way to each side. I trimmed the edges where they meet glued them and after it was dry I sanded the edges smooth.

Next, I cut a circle the inside diameter of the forward side of the bridge structure. I cut it in half and I glued one piece under where I had to cut the slot for the deck and I glued the other half at the bottom to help maintain the shape and to give it strength. Then I cut the slot so the deck would properly fit.

I,m at the ten photo limit see my next reply for the rest of this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

And now, the rest of the story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I assembled the compartment under the navigating bridge deck. I also added a piece so that it was a box and I glued a couple pieces of scrap inside the aft corners so I could radius them according to the blue print.

I think it looks ok, but the navigating bridge deck has a step before the hatch to enter the pilot house. I could glue in an extra piece to create the step, but I want to have the beams under the deck to make it more realistic. The material is .072 thick which would equal almost 7 inches thick. In order to add the details I want I need to use something thinner and at the same time add the step and supports to make it strong. Then I can make the bulwark.

Your probably thinking why do all this work if I ordered the casting. First, I don�t know how much it weighs. Second, I still have to make the deck as I described. Building this one will help me to figure out how to do it and be good practice, not to mention I�ll have an extra if I should ever need it.

As always check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[LE BOSCO]

hello Roger

always interesting, the way you carry your talent in the plastic card
your work is very clean
best regards
Nicolas

[snaphappy321]

hello Roger

always interesting, the way you carry your talent in the plastic card
your work is very clean
best regards
Nicolas

Thanks Nicolas, I really appreciate it coming from you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope to get on with the details soon, but I still don't have the hull and the remainder of my fittings yet.

As always, check soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
I�m adding detail to the roof of my bridge. First I made the lookout and the gun director platforms (the easy stuff). Before I move onto making the visor I have to fix the problem of the bridge port holes being spaced too far apart. While doing that I was thinking how to make the visor for the front edge of the bridge.

I�m a machinist by trade not a sheet metal man, so for my first try, I tried what I just about knew wouldn�t work. I laid out the strip I needed (2D) and cut it out. I also made some gussets for support and glued them in place. Next I attempted to glue the visor strip to the gussets starting in the middle. The result was just as I expected it to be. I had a kinked up mess that I had to remove and discard. This was what you call wishful thinking, and if I tried the same thing twice, it would be the definition of insanity something like what our current president is trying to do with our economy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went online to find a formula to draw and lay out a cone. What I found didn�t allow me to input the angle of the cone I wanted and it didn�t work. If there are any sheet metal men reading this you�re having a good laugh and shaking your head about now listening to my feeble attempts at making a simple piece for my build.

Although as part of the process, I drew a cross section of the cone I needed and split it in half to make a right triangle. I know the length of the base and the angle I want (A), so using trigonometry I calculated the height and the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle.

Now I just sat and thought what to do next. I decided to use the length of the hypotenuse as the radius of the circle to make the cone. This time I used paper. I drew and cut out the circle and cut a slit from the edge into the middle. Then I overlapped the ends and pulled it into a cone shape until I had the diameter I wanted and taped it together; just like a child in school making those paper chains to decorate for a party. Then I set my protractor to the desired angle and held it against the cone and it was just what I wanted, and I thought to myself, thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!!

[snaphappy321]

Finally I cut the piece out of .010 sheet styrene made it into a cone and taped the ends together and put it in a cup of water I boiled in the microwave. I cut some more gussets and glued them in place once again. Then I took my visor out of the water, dried it off and glued it on. It looked good, but it was too wide. I trimmed it down a little and I�m very happy with the results. All I had to do now was cut and glue on the straight pieces at the ends of the visor.

This simple task took a lot of time thought and effort, but that�s the best part about this hobby. If someone was able to make this part before we should be able to copy it and make it again. The thought process helps to regenerate our brain cells and keeps us going.

This morning before submitting this post I sanded and smoothed up the edges and it looks much better.

Next I�ll make the bulwark for the Mk-51 gun directors and attach them to the roof.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Last night I added the Mk-51 platform on top of the bridge. Also I scaled the height of the bulwark from the Sigsbee plans I have and cut a strip of .010 styrene long enough for the both of them. I wrapped the strip around a wood dowel and put it in hot water.

Today I cut them to fit and glued them on.

Note: (This is where I made my big mistake. Notice I made them to look like the plans of the Sigsbee. At this point the Fullam looks more like the Sigsbee than the Bennett. )

Then I was looking at a port side close up photo of the Bennett�s bridge to see if the supports under the lookout platform were visible. The supports can�t be seen in the picture, but I noticed that the gun director bulwarks I just made were not high enough. Needless to say I ripped them off and made them to look like the photo. I should have them mounted tomorrow.

Notice the difference between the two photos. This is a crop of the pilot house roof of the Bennett.

This is a similar crop from the Fullam DD-474 a close sister also built at BNY. The bulwarks on the Fullam are semicircular in shape and the Bennett�s are like a can with on entry hatch visible in the photo.

As we all know, when the Fletcher�s were built there was no need for 40mm gun directors on the pilot house roof. They were all modified later on at different shipyards and even though they were supposed to be standardized many differences can be found among them; that�s what makes this hobby so interesting.

Well, I learned a good lesson from this mistake. I�ll first check any photos of the ship I�m modeling before using plans from another ship of the same type.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi everyone,
I haven�t done much since my last post. I finally got my hull and fittings from SSY on 10/3/12 . As one of my previous posts states: (I�m using stuffing tubes instead of open prop shafts) I need to get some brass tubing to fit over the stuffing tubes to make my supports. I also have to get material to make the deck. After I get the required material I�ll begin work on the hull and my build should take off and begin to look like the Bennett being launched back in 1942 .

Note: I quickly placed the 5inch gun for the photos not paying attention to their type.

John Haynes guns look great after assembly and are easy to build as well. I have to add the gun barrel cooling lines and then I�ll paint them.

[snaphappy321]

I�m still waiting for a few fittings from SSY. I need three more torpedo tube tips and the roof for the cast bridge. I waited five months for the hull and fittings I received 10/3/12 hopefully I�ll get the remaining items soon!!!!

Check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[jeroen zuiderduin]

Hi Roger,

Still plowing away I see. It is getting quite the size and will get a decent amount of paint as well. Good luck with the progress.

Take care
Jeroen

[Rick E Davis]

You mean as BENNETT appeared in 1945 don't you?

[snaphappy321]

Hi Jeroen,
It's very nice to hear from you, as always I apprecite your comments and thanks for taking a look at my progress.

Yesterday I was able to get the brass tubing and the material for the deck, so I hope to have some photos of the hull soon.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Rick,
Thanks for checking out my progress and Thank You very much for all the help you have given me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I do mean Bennett as she appeared in 1945, but my last post I was thinking of her launch in 1942 with not much above deck at the time. My thoughts were not in line with the photos of my last post. Sorry for the confusion , I haven't lost it yet, or at least I don't think I have!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Roger

Always an beautiful "big work"
cheers
Nicolas