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

[igorp]

Hi,
I am building USS Washington from Trumpy kit, I like to depict her just before New York 1942 refit. I am little bit confused regarding her light AA armament. 1.1 are out of discussion, 20 mm are somewhat clear, but 0.50 cal are mystery. I checked all available photographs from usswashington.com or navsource, and ... I didn't find any evidence. I have Garzke and Dulin United states battleships, 1935-1992, and they state that in december 1941 there was twelve 0.50 cal, and June 1942 28? For the God sake, where these were located? Can anyone help me?

[Cliffy B]

If I remember correctly the drawing in Friedman's BB book has an early war depicting with 20mms and .50cals on deck. IF you can't get the book let me know and I can e-mail you a scan of the drawing. Let me know.

[igorp]

I have Norman Friedman book also. There are two drawings from L.A. Raven, and both are NC.

[Cliffy B]

Figures... I would say for lack of any better evidence to use the layout for NC. Floating Drydock doesn't have any plans for either in their '42 fits (overheads at least). I've looked through WP #29 (BB-55 class) and can't really discern their locations either. I can see 20mms and what look like .50cals but telling the difference is very hard. Unless someone can come up with better photos/drawings showing the locations I'd go with Friedman's NC drawing. Its better than nothing at least

[igorp]

Thanks Cliffy.
You are probably right. Or I will stick to photographs, so there will be no 0.50 on my kit.
Anyway, how does the 0.50 cal mount look? Is it something like this? (two and half objects on the right)
Is it possible that these weapons and mounts were removable, so they installed them only in case of drill or air attack?

[Cliffy B]

Yes, what you're seeing on the far right is the fixed mount minus the actual gun and water container. They'd prob stay in place most of the time. The AA guns and MGs in general had canvas coverings to keep them dry that would usually be in place whenever they weren't in use. 20mms were removable as well, leaving the mount/shield in place.

Unidentified submarine - Library of Congress photograph ID LC-USW33-030554-C
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_50 ... ne_pic.jpg

Unidentified ship - possibly an early CV or CVE due to catwalk gun emplacement.
http://users.multipro.com/brentandloria ... cooled.jpg

1/6 Scale Naval Mount:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6th-Scale-50-ca ... 1093902582
Save the photos BEFORE the auction ends or they will be lost forever.

Your kit of BB-56 has .50cals as well as where they go. The .50 cals are parts F-6. http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/sh ... b55-Fc.jpg

You're using the BB-56 and NOT the BB-55 kit correct? 56 is 1942 and 55 is 1945. You could build an as commissioned version from the 56 kit fairly easily as well.

[igorp]

again, thanks a lot for the references!
Am I assuming right, that our 0.50 cal is the water cooled version of the famous browning M2?

I have Trumpy BB-56 and the Five star model photo-etch set, which is designed directly for it (but sadly not correcting the well known faults of the kit). Splinter shields in this photo-etch set looks perfect, and it would be pity not to use them. This is why i choose the early 1942.

[Dick J]

You're using the BB-56 and NOT the BB-55 kit correct? 56 is 1942 and 55 is 1945. You could build an as commissioned version from the 56 kit fairly easily as well.

In fact, it is easier to build a '42 BB-55 from the kit than BB-56. Trumpy used the BB-55 layout for the .50's and 20MM on their early-war kit, not realizing that the two ships had them arranged a bit differently. Some time ago, I drew up my best estimate for the locations of Washington's light AA. I'll have to see if I can find it.

[GMG4RWF]

Base mounted my 2400 scale NC's & just base coated them yesterday - going to get them painted (along with 100+ other ships I did! )

[NCMac]

Gentlemen,

What was the radar associated with U.S.S. Washington main battery gun directors in late 1942?. Photos after her August '42 New York Navy Yard refit don't appear to show Mk8. The antenna look more like the Mk4 on her 5" directors. Or were they Mk3? Or...?

Thanks for any assistance.

Mac

[Cliffy B]

I believe the radars for the Mk-38 main battery directors went Mk-3, 8, and 13. Likewise the radars for the Mk-37s went Mk-4, 12/22, and 25. The older Mk-33 directors had Mk-4 and then 28 I think.

[NCMac]

Thanks Cliffy B,

The illustration I'd seen of the Mk-3 showed a 3' x 12' screen which was clearly not what the photos showed. Further checking revealed a 6' x 6' screen version which seems very possible.

Thanks again for a very prompt response.

Mac

[Haijun watcher]

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

Wow, I skimmed-read through 17 pages in this thread just to get this one helpful reply. This one above is the only post that directly answers the frequently asked question of the basic differences between Trumpeter's North Carolina and Washington kits.

And yes I did read the 1/700 Trumpeter kit reviews of both ships at another section but was hoping to find something more at this thread.

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CWatson,
What if you want to go the other way and convert Trumpeter's North Carolina kit to a late-war Washington one? I am assuming there should be less changes since both kits depict the ships in a late war refit?

To think Trumpeter's Washington kit is about 20+ dollars more than their North Carolina kit at the hobby store I bought this here in Vancouver.

[CWatson]

CWatson,
What if you want to go the other way and convert Trumpeter's North Carolina kit to a late-war Washington one? I am assuming there should be less changes since both kits depict the ships in a late war refit?

To think Trumpeter's Washington kit is about 20+ dollars more than their North Carolina kit at the hobby store I bought this here in Vancouver.

To me it seemed the difference in 40mm and 20mm was even more different between the two in late war fit. You would have to remove almost all the 20mm and 40mm gun bulkheads and rebuild them from strip styrene.

I would gladly pay the extra $20 to avoid the extra work. I have found kits for sale here and online sites are not that great between the two kits.


CW

[igorp]

Hello,
What is the purpose of this device on the platform, marked in red circle? Trumpeter entirely ignore platform itself, and I would like to have some reference for scratch.
Igor

[coveyrider]

igorp, I believe that is a sky lookout position, here is a link http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/pe ... kout01.jpg

[CLAA 120]

I have the 1/700 kit of the USS Washington the sister to the North Carolina, the Washington kit did not come with the rear 40 mm gun tubs for the stern however it appears it is on the Carolina's kit. All the war Pics I have found of the Washington have the stern 40 MM tubs. can I get these tubs to put on here?

[CLAA 120]

The biggest difference is the Conning tower the lower level walk on the North Carolina was added by the XO while she was in the yard. It is known as Stryker's walk he wanted to have his own observation area. The Washington never had this added.

[Timmy C]

I have the 1/700 kit of the USS Washington the sister to the North Carolina, the Washington kit did not come with the rear 40 mm gun tubs for the stern however it appears it is on the Carolina's kit. All the war Pics I have found of the Washington have the stern 40 MM tubs. can I get these tubs to put on here?

As-built, she did not have the 40mm/1.1" tubs. From the photos of her in Atlantic service with the Brits, I don't think she had them then either, but she definitely had them by the time she entered the Pacific.

Trumpeter is notoriously difficult for getting extra parts from, so I think your options are to either build her as in the Atlantic or scratchbuild the tubs. Alternatively, you might ask in the Trading Post if someone has a North Carolina that they messed up on and if they can give you the deck and hull, and you can graft the aft of the North Carolina deck on to the rest of the Washington deck, while using the North Carolina hull for the notches for the tubs.

[GMG4RWF]

...Alternatively, you might ask in the Trading Post if someone has a North Carolina that they messed up on and if they can give you the deck and hull, and you can graft the aft of the North Carolina deck on to the rest of the Washington deck, while using the North Carolina hull for the notches for the tubs.

You might also find some suitable tubs on your own wrecks - such as if you have an old Essex class of the same scale (many US ships in WWII had the tubs - you just may have to place them at different spacing)