Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Andy,
The BB62 varied somewhat slightly from 1982-1991. This ship I have studied to some extent, and here's what I DO KNOW.
In 1982-84, the ships paint differed from later in its career.
Here....is New Jersey as she appeared between 1982-1984. Note that the turret tops, (5" mounts and the 16" turrets), are NOT painted deck grey like most of the rest of the paintable horizontal surfaces. Also note; the helo pad markings.


Here......is New Jersey as she appeared later than 1984, and you can see that the turret tops are painted deck grey and the helo pad markings are different.


Another smaller point would be the installation of the RPV drone antennae and related platforms. I just have not needed to find these on the BigJ, as I have chosed to build her, (1/700 Tamiya kit), as she appeared in 1983. Also, there may have been some .50 cal weapons added on for the Persian Gulf. Again, not quite sure.
hope to help, Tony Bunch

[Poppop]

Accidently posted this in the "general class" instead of the Iowa thread. Sorry for the dup!

A request for anyone that has the decal sheet for the Tamiya 1/350 Modern USS New Jersey.

Can you measure the width of the red individual stripes on decal 5 or 6?

I had to remove them from my almost finished model and forgot to measure before I did. Now, I have to create new ones. I have laid down the white stripe and I need to know how wide to cut the red portions.

Hope this makes sense!

I hope I'm using the correct terminology: Did the Iowa class ships have the red and green navigation lights on or near the bridge?

If so, what was the location?

Thanks in advance,

Charlie

[Mark Deakin]

Hi all,

Iowa progress pictures, just a few touch ups and shes finished.....

http://www.warshipmodels.com/~users/Mar ... 29Send.jpg

http://www.warshipmodels.com/~users/Mar ... 30Send.jpg

http://www.warshipmodels.com/~users/Mar ... 23Send.jpg

http://www.warshipmodels.com/~users/Mar ... 24Send.jpg




Regards,
Mark D.

[JimRussell]

Mark

This week it is the Iowa's turn. Nice job.

I noticed your float baskets are empty. Since this was a problem that drove me nuts for longer than I care to admit, I will offer one solution. Among things "saved" was a medium brown graduation hat tassle. Disassembling the tassle yielded a number of woven strings appx 3' long. Soak the string in dilute white glue and hang to dry with a weight on one end. Cut the stiff string into convenient 6" to 8" lengths. Tape 10" piece of masking tape sticky side up. Dwaw a set of lines perpendicular to the length of the tape that are a little shorter than the length of the float basket. Set as many as possible pieces of stiff string on the tape. Cut on the lines and you have something that will look decent as a basket filler. To fill the basket, grab one end of the piece with tweezers, dip the free part in dilute white glue and place in basket. The one BIG advantage to this method is that it is NOT tedious, it goes fast. An alternative material (which I have not tried) could be a good cotton string (dyed if necessary with coffee, tea or dilute paint).

Jim

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Mark,
Nothing like a nudge, heh? Another Iowa from another Iowa fan!
Great job Mark!
Jim,
Great suggestion for filling the floater net baskets!
Charlie,
Let me dig out my Tamiya 1/350 BB62...just a moment.....hang on a second.......had to unstack 15 kits from atop........got the decals....put on my opti-visor........get out my dial caliper........030".
Have you seen the GMM 350-1D, "Naval Ship Decals (1/350-1/400 scale)", decal sheet? Could be useful!
Here, take a look......

Guess what?
I drove a 1/96 Iowa today!
Wanna See?

off topic slightly........
I got my Adams DDG hull today....55.5"! Shweeeeet!!
faithfully submitted, Tony Bunch

[Poppop]

Tony:

Thanks for the measurement on the Tamiya decals.

I do have the GMM sheet and that is what I'm using to recreate the strips I sanded off. There is a dashed strip on the GMM sheet, but it is yellow and red, not the white and red that Tamiya provided.

I think I'm nearing the end of the New Jersey journey. Another week or two and I may be done...might even be able to give it to my grandson for Christmas. Now there's this Missouri right behind it (along with a Yorktown that is a bit further along). Never realized the darkside would be this interesting!

Charlie

[Poppop]

Jim:

Your suggestion above leads me to ask a question that has puzzled me. What was the purpose of the Floater Baskets?

I have the GMM baskets sitting in the box with my Missouri, but being a newbie to this art, didn't know what they were for.

Also, how many of your treated "tassle" segments did you put in each basket?

Thanks,

Charlie

[JimRussell]

Floats were used by the WWII USN in the south and central Pacific to provide flotation for survivors of sunken ships when water temperatures were moderate enough for people to survive for quite some time. They were much less effective in the north Atlantic.

The float was made of cork (guess). Size of each float was appx 4" dia x 12" long. They were strung on a line, this assembly was called a float net. The assembly was stowed in a "float net basket". There were two sizes of basket, "shallow" used on DD's and "deep" used on CV's and BB's. A deep basket could stow 15 lines of floats (you can see the impossibility of modeling this in 1/350 - the best one can do is come up with a representation that "looks" reasonable).

The basket was filled to the top.

Jim

[ArizonaBB39]

I know I've asked before, but what do you guys suggest I do to the stern deck of the NJ kit (Tamiya 1/350) so I can convert it to the Iowa? Should I scrap the deck piece and get a sheet of the evergreen plastic with the proper grooves and just replace the whole thing? Does any of that make sense?

I'm going to start my USS Missouri to USS Iowa conversion in 1/350 soon and was wondering if anyone could help me with something, when painted in Ms32 did she start with Navy Blue then upon repainting have the 5N replaced with black, or vice versa? Which colors were used? As I don't think her scheme was 3 colors like the design calls for. I hope someone more knowledgeable about her caouflage and whom ever might have diagrams could help me out.

[JimRussell]

Abram,

Per Sumrall Warship Data #3 USS Iowa, she was two tone 5-L & 5-N. There is a color photo of her dated 6/44 in which she is very blue. The book also has a camo diagram.

No scanner so come to Peoria with camera and all will be clear.

Jim

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Abram,
Remember that the New Jersey is most similar on the main deck to the Iowa. Of the four modernized Iowas, these two are nearly identical. The differences will be with the superstructure rather than the main deck.
This is one time when having a raised detail is beneficial. Draw over the areas that should be non-skid instead of wood planking and mask them, (as if you were going to paint), and then carefully sand away the rasied detail where needed. Eitehr that or leave teh main deck alone...unless you want to replace the entire main deck .
out of time for now, Tony B

[ArizonaBB39]

The NJ kit actually has too much non skid area for the time frame I want to model the Iowa in. The Iowa only had the one strip on the aft fantail in the 80s where as the kit depicted NJ has the strip and non skid that goes up around turret 3 and up along the aft superstructure.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Abram,
You were correct indeed........
Here is Iowa showing clearly the amount of wood decking.....

Here is New Jersey showing less.......

You can get the stern main deck, "third", from the WWII Missouri kit, and fill in a bunch of holes, remove the catapult bosses, and fill in the 20mm "inserts" (including the big 20mm AAA grouping insert piece), and then sand away the planking raised surface detail till you have what you want.
Start going though the BB gallery here and on SN.com to see another modern Iowa conversion.
Get the deck piece from Tamiya and try this. If it becomes too much, then you might consider sanding away the raised detail from the aft main deck section completely and draw in plank detail, (ultra subtly), with a fine draftsman's pencil after painting the deck tan color.
You know what your third option is.
Regarding the superstructure, (forward fire control tower), follow Kelly Quirk's 1991 Missouri build, but then add in the observation platform, (above the bridge on the fire control tower), with all of the vvertical fins on it from Tom's WWII Iowa Conversion set.
Pay attention to the helo pad markings, as they were not the same from 1984-on, plus there was a time when a big USA flag was atop turret 1 and the paint used atop the turrets varied from haze grey to deck grey.
Also, the RPV antennae was not there the entire time.
That should do you.
You said you knew what time frame? Keep this stuff in mind.
good luck, we're all counting on you!
faithfully submitted, Tony Bunch

[thathaway3]

I've made some pretty good progress on the L'Arsenel foredeck for my 1/350 Missouri, and I'm getting ready to do some painting. I'm doing the Ms 22 scheme, and I'm wondering if Steve Larsen has a shot of the entire foredeck area. I know that not all of the fore deck is painted in the "deck blue", but I'm not sure what is supposed to be deck blue and what items on the foredeck are haze grey.

Does one of your shots show the entire painted foredeck, say from the bull nose to the #1 Turret?

Tom

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Tom,
The entire horizontal surface area is supposed to be painted 20B. The vertical surfaces will be haze grey. Looking down onto the wood deck areas and the steel deck area of the forecastle will undoubtedly be at least a little different, but it is supposed to be the same color. I would imagine that the paint will fade at different rates with different base materials, but how different I am not qualified to say.
If you want to be a little creative, just add some white to the deck blue over the steel deck areas, (or the wood deck areas if you'd prefer), to find some interesting contrats, and the anchor chain path can be darkened almost to black.
Also remember the interiors of all of the 20mm and 40 mm splinter shields, tubs, director tubs etc is also deck blue to the tops of the interiors. The same is true for the bridge roof and its surrounding "interior". The roof of the armored conning tower is also to be 20b, but not its vertical surfaces, (in spite of this interior, "rule", I just mentioned).
I am sure that Stev will be along soon to post pics of his beautiful Missouri.
Study pics, ditto...ditto...ditto and you'll get it!
hope to be helpful and informative oh brother Iowa fan!
Tony Bunch
Steve Larsen and I had this very discussion about 26 months ago! Cool!

[Poppop]

I am planning to build my 1/350 Tamiya Missouri as a waterline model.

Now comes the challenge of cutting the full hull. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this with the best chance of getting a level finish and the lowest risk of damage?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Charlie,
I used a Dremel with a cut-off wheel. I would start at one end and cut through moving along all the while. If you stayed in one place too long, the plastic would start to melt up and pile in front of the wheel. It still required continuous stopping and re-starting, but eventually you will make it all the way around. What you end up with is a very flimsy upper hull half, and a big chunk of hull bottom that seems to be painful to throw away.
Note:
I made my cut all the way around at the lower boot top line. The thinking was.....I have plenty to sand going up till the entire hull bottom is a level surface. Next, is adding on the decks; here comes your structural rigidity.
I added in the stern deck piece first. Next, I attached the bow deck piece to the center section, (what Tamiya call the "bridge base"), and then attached this entire piece to the already assembled hull/aft deck third.
Now, you can start to plane away at the bottom to make it flat. Once flat enough, I layed three pieces of of flat, (.030"), sheet styrene butt-ended tyo gether. This was in order to make it as long as the 30.5" hull.
I then glued the three sheets of styrene together. Next, I glued this new, "flat bottom", to the bottom of the Missouri's new flat bottom.



Next, I trimmed away all of the excess sheet styrene till flush with the hull...all the way around of course.
' Sand, sand ...and sand...till it looks smooth. Then you are a happy boy with a new w/l bottom!
Time spent...probably 4 hours total .
faithfully submitted, Tony
ps some condensing was done to protect the innocent from utter boredom!!
pps these pics are two years old.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Tony that should help. In Steve's photos, from what I could see, it looked like there was a mix of things up in the forecastle area in different colors. I thought from one shot that the steel appeared to be haze grey with the 20B starting at the wood.

The problem I'm having is that with all the photos in black and white, sometimes it's difficult to tell just exactly which things are different colors, as depending on the angle of the shot and the lighting, the difference in contrast isn't that great. Plus you can't always find exactly the angle you're interested in.

So the interiors of the AA emplacements are alse 20B? That will actually make it easier to paint. Same with the top of the bridge. It appears from the photos I've looked at that the upper level of the bridge had some sort of covering over the openings which was moveable, either sliding or dropping down. I can't tell if there was some sort of "glass" behind those panels, as there obviously is in the widows on the lower two levels.

What I've done is made all the "covers" below the "openings" which you can see in several shots, but putting a very thin sheet of styreen on the facing. I've filed out all the openings in that upper level and I'm planning on attempting to slip some clear acetate in there to simulate the glass. (I'm already using the GMM PE for the enclosed bridge and will have acetate on that.)

Do you know for sure whether that level (and the one on the tower above and behind) had windshields installed?

Tom

[Poppop]

Tom (I think that was you as "Guest"!):

I have an alternative to clear styrene for you to ponder.

For years I have used Testor's "Clear Parts Cement and Window Maker" to create glass windows on aircraft models.

I used it on my 1/350 New Jersey for the bridge windows and portholes with great results. The "glass" ends up between the window frames (instead of behind them) and looks quite authentic.

It can't be used on large openings, but it was no problem on the New Jersey. If you want to try it, practice first (I used the PE windows before attaching them to the bridge... you can easily wash the Testor's out with water, even after it dries). My approach is to put a small drop on the end of a toothpick, touch it to one side of the window and then "draw" the liquid across the opening until it fills in. It will be milky white when you apply it, so it is easy to see where you are, but it dries crystal clear. For windows and portholes as small as the New Jersey, I used a straight pin, rather than a toothpick to apply the Testor's.

You need to get the feel for how much to apply and how to pull it across the opening. If it's too thick it will not look as realistic as the thin film you can apply.

This may sound a little daunting, but it is really quite easy to use.

[thathaway3]

Thanks, Charlie, yeah I was "Guest". I can't seem to get the hang of logging in before posting!

That's a great suggestion, I'll give it a try. I've never used it before, but it doesn't sound that hard. (Yeah, right! It's NOT until you TRY it !)

Tony, thanks for the shots of your Missouri. I'm about right there now, and I'll be able to use these for some added help in working and lining up stuff on my build. One thing looked "strange" to me until I realized what I had done. Instead of "pins" on the 5" mounts, I have holes. I have inserted some rods into the bottom of the L'Arsenal turrets, and drilled holes into the mounts so the turrets will be able to traverse. I've done the same thing with the 40mm L'Arsenal mounts as well. (Except for the two on turrets #2 and #3 because it didn't occur to me until after I'd cemented them in place!!!)

Tom