1/700 USS Monssen DD-436

[hypno7]

Hello everyone,

Back from a pause after my previous build. After seeing a lot of destroyer builds here, I got motivated to do one. I wanted to start another big project (another carrier, cruiser or a battleship) but I think I need something smaller for now.

I got the wonderful kit by Dragon some time ago, with the Flyhawk set. It is a very nice kit and wanted to build it as is. After reading the CASF thread of the Benson/Gleaves class, I decided to make some modifications to represent the ship in the time around the Doolittle raid. Main changes are in the aft deckhouse.

As it stands now, all unwanted detail on the decks are removed.

As always, comments, criticisms and/or guidance very welcome!

[Gordon Bjorklund]

After following along with your Hornet build and seeing what you did with that ship, I'm so looking forward to see what you will do with this build. Waiting for more updates!

[hypno7]

Thank you for your kind words Gordon! This build will be faster, since it will have less scratchbuilding.

Here are some updates, some more PE added...

This part is primed to check for blemishes, since the deck is mostly scratch.

As always, comments, criticisms and/or guidance very welcome!

[hypno7]

Hi everyone,

Some updates now that I have some more free time.� I have been working more on the superstructure and small details.�

The funnels are not yet ready, other details will be added after painting.� I tried to hollow some of the parts included.

Even before starting, I got the feeling that the portholes were too high.� Using pictures and some drawings online as reference,� I moved them lower to match the references.

Comments, criticisms and guidance welcome!

[Devin]

Nice work!

[Angeliccypher]

Looking good so far. I do not know how you work in that scale...

[NCMac]

hypno7,

This is some really nice work. 1/700 destroyers are my favorite subject and most enjoyable builds. You are doing a terrific job on this one. I never caught the problem with the portholes. Look forward to seeing more.

Best Regards,

Mac

[hypno7]

Thank you all for your kind comments!

- Gabriel:� an optivisor and a good set of tweezers do wonders!

- Mac:� Maybe I am wrong (please correct me as I am new to this), but to me they seem too high,� specially when I wanted to "accentuate" the round edge of the upper forward hull (apologies if the terminology is not correct).� The portholes ended being over the round edge. There are one or two that are not perfectly in line... If the bother me too much, the will be filled with epoxy and redrilled.

In the following picture I made out that they should be around the same height of the hawsepipe



Thanks again!

[LE BOSCO]

HI Hypno

A work really finely realized, given the size of subsets
good luck for your project
Nicolas

[MartinJQuinn]

Nice work!

[Quincy]

Looking really good so far!



Bob PInk.

[NCMac]

hypno7

No, I don't think you are wrong at all. I'm impressed that you noticed and very cleanly, corrected it. I've built two of these models and certainly didn't catch it (maybe the magnifiers would have helped!). I have two more to build and, thanks to you, I'll at least get the portholes right.

I'd not seen the Flyhawk set until now; it looks to be a good one. I've been using the White Ensign set which is my "go to" set for all my pre-Fletcher class destroyers. Incidentally, Five Star offers a set of reinforced splinter shielding that is very useful for U.S. ships. Guess a call to Free Time is in order.

Can't wait to see more.

Mac

[hypno7]

Thank you all! It means a lot to me.

-Mac: The flyhawk set is very nice and comprehensive, but the instructions are really bad in my opinion. You have to check the pictures and references to decide where to put (or fold!) the parts, but it seems everything is there.

Small update. I worked on the masts and the director. The plastic masts where replaced with brass tubing and the flyhawk parts were added. The masts parts are glued with epoxy, not soldered... I am not still there yet.

Comparison to the plastic part. The kit part is very nice, but too fragile for my liking.

Comments, criticisms and guidance welcome!

[LE BOSCO]

HI Hypno

the main mast is a successful the others parts also ,but the mast , I like particularly ,especially that it is at 700em...
superb
Cheers
nicolas

[Dan K]

Excellent, clean work.

[hypno7]

Thank you Nicolas and Dan! It does keep me motivated.

So this weekend I painted the hull with the same process as with the Hornet. The superstructure camouflage will be painted with normal brush, as it is too small and my efforts in masking where not so successful (too many fiddly bits already there).

Comments, criticisms and guidance welcome!

[LE BOSCO]

Nice camo hypno i like it
cheers
Nicolas

[Quincy]

Your camouflage pattern is looking very sharp !




Bob Pink.

[hypno7]

Thank you Bob and Nicolas! More pictures to come soon...

[marijn van gils]

This one is coming along very nicely!

Great detail so far (masts and director are really great!), and the camo looks excellent. It is not easy to keep the pattern flowing well without sharp corners when masking and airbrushing camo (one of the reasons I would probably brush-paint a camo like this myself, but I'm lazy!), but you succeeded and the resulting finish looks very smooth.

I'm looking forward to the next steps!
Cheers,

Marijn