1:200 USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 68-69 (Trumpeter MISSOURI kit)

[Timmy C]

The deck looks fairly translucent - if you haven't already, make sure you put it on top of the grey deck to get a more accurate assessment of what the actual colour looks like when applied. I suspect the grey will mellow out the yellow a bit, though whether darker or lighter as dry teak is uncertain.

[BB62vet]

Timmy C wrote:

The deck looks fairly translucent - if you haven't already, make sure you put it on top of the grey deck to get a more accurate assessment of what the actual colour looks like when applied. I suspect the grey will mellow out the yellow a bit, though whether darker or lighter as dry teak is uncertain.

Thanks TC, good advice! I'll check that out tonight and see what things look like.

Hank

[Channell]

Exciting, Hank!

I'm a bit frustrated with my decks... the KA deck has a better color and almost no grain but has crappy details and no waterways; in that aspect the Pontos deck is far superior. Sometimes I wish Pontos and KA would get together and have a baby...

I've seen some fairly good toning down of wood decks by "dusting" them with an airbrush and light grey paint. Be really careful with hand brushing them however, as the paint will stain the wood and probably create a mess.

Unfortunately stick-on wood decks are a compromise and unless you cut out all the planks and re-lay them randomly or totally repaint the decks (defeating the purpose of a stick-on deck in the first place) they will probably always lack a certain level of realism.

Are you gonna do some hacking, slashing and putty-slathering on your hull too?

[BB62vet]

Jason,

Thanks for the kind remarks! First, re. the Pontos decks:

I knocked out all the little sq. hatch openings and placed them in a vert. row on the main kit deck (where the helo deck will be) for two purposes - (1) to see if the gray kit deck has any effect (it does NOT), and (2) to stain with different wood stains to get the best match with the following photo I took in 1969:

After going over all my scrapbook photos, this one seemed to have enough deck area to use as a relative sample - and even after all these years, it's still got the orig. color in it.

So, I am going to do a bit of online color research today and then hit Lowe's tonight if they have something that matches. I did have Puritan Pine on hand last night and while it might be useable, it does NOT match up exactly. Once I find the right colored stain, I'll apply it to all the decking and after drying, probably use Satin Wipe On Poly over the entire sheets for a finish. Then I'll start with the 04 Level Signal Bridge decks and work on that part of the superstructure, once again working top down.

As for the hull mods, I am leaning on doing what you did up fwd; I have the scaled sections from the body plan and need to make cardboard templates first. I hope to get some of that done tonight. If you have any other photos of your fwd hull refit, I would love to see them. Also, what size styrene strips you used would help me also - I have quite a few on hand. I've been in a conversation w/RandyM regarding the after hull modification.

Other small additions to the superstructure - Peloris' on either side of the 04 Level and 05 Nav. Bridge and minor repainting here & there.

Hank

[Mgunns]

Hello Hank:

I am looking forward to seeing how your deck turns out and what you do to make it turn out. Where was this photo taken? I notice what looks like the aft end of an Essex Class Carrier with what appears to be the hulk of an H-19 on the deck. Nice photo for referencing the deck.

[Channell]

Jason,

Thanks for the kind remarks! First, re. the Pontos decks:

I knocked out all the little sq. hatch openings and placed them in a vert. row on the main kit deck (where the helo deck will be) for two purposes - (1) to see if the gray kit deck has any effect (it does NOT), and (2) to stain with different wood stains to get the best match with the following photo I took in 1969:

BB62 Fwd Main Deck 1969 (Large).jpg

After going over all my scrapbook photos, this one seemed to have enough deck area to use as a relative sample - and even after all these years, it's still got the orig. color in it.

So, I am going to do a bit of online color research today and then hit Lowe's tonight if they have something that matches. I did have Puritan Pine on hand last night and while it might be useable, it does NOT match up exactly. Once I find the right colored stain, I'll apply it to all the decking and after drying, probably use Satin Wipe On Poly over the entire sheets for a finish. Then I'll start with the 04 Level Signal Bridge decks and work on that part of the superstructure, once again working top down.

As for the hull mods, I am leaning on doing what you did up fwd; I have the scaled sections from the body plan and need to make cardboard templates first. I hope to get some of that done tonight. If you have any other photos of your fwd hull refit, I would love to see them. Also, what size styrene strips you used would help me also - I have quite a few on hand. I've been in a conversation w/RandyM regarding the after hull modification.

Other small additions to the superstructure - Peloris' on either side of the 04 Level and 05 Nav. Bridge and minor repainting here & there.

Hank

Let me know what stain you decide on as I will have the same problem. I'm still debating on whether I should just paint my decks as per MS22 but I'd still rather have wood.

I honestly don't know what size styrene I used on the bow; I just laid out my cutouts to see where more material was needed and started stacking stuff on the bow from my scrap pile (though I was careful to duplicate my strip thickness/lengths on each side to keep things from getting too wonky).

Smoothing it all out has been a pain, though... evergreen plastic is a different hardness than trumpeter plastic and squadron putty which makes it extra challenging to get a smooth curved surface. It was also necessary to sand down a lot of the kit plastic to get the bow inside curves narrow enough but it seems there's enough material already there to do it without loosing structural integrity.

There's always more than one way to skin a cat as they say, so there's gotta be a better way to do it.

I wonder if Randy is modding his bow too? It's a shame to put so much work into the stern while ignoring the bow; It's definitely worth the extra work after all.

I'm almost done with my bow; I'll try to get some more pics on my log in the next couple of days.

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Looks like an old faded Ecktachrome? I will see if I can restore the original color in lightroom, the white jumper is quite yellowed but may be what I need to use as a color balance reference. Colors of historical items, especially old photos seem to be only hints in the right direction. Amongst the aircraft restoration crowd this has always been an issue of large proportions.

If I come up with anything I will post it. Great work on the hulls gents!

Cheers: Tom

[Fliger747]

Somewhat of an improvement! Maybe.

T

[BB62vet]

In reverse order of posting -

Tom F - Thanks! I'll make a copy of that - don't know how you did it, but it DOES look closer to the original. I guess time even fades photos kept in a book. The photo is a Kodacolor print developed in Sept. '69 just before we left LBeach for decomm @ Bremerton. I don't think I was using Extachrome film at the time; more than likely Kodachrome film. The camera was an Asahi-Pentax 35mm that I picked up in Sasebo, Jn at the Px in early '69.

M. Gunns - The photo (description above) shows one of the ESSEXs forward of us, but I can't recall which one. Long gone by now! I think I took the photo in July/Aug '69. We had not yet been informed of the decommissioning decision made by the WH which sent us to Bremerton instead of WestPac.

Jason C - I'll let you know about the stain decision for the decks. I'm going to try to find some online info before going shopping. But, I would like to get the decks stained/finished by the end of next week. You mentioned sandiing down the curve of the bow area to reduce the thickenss - I wonder if ADDING some styrene strips to the INSIDE of the sides of the hull would strengthen the integrity in the off-chance one were to sand TOO much off. I have some 1/8" thk. white styrene sheets that I've ripped to 1" wide pieces and I could further rip some to 1/4" wide and then glue inside the hull edge to edge to give some additional support. I've noted your comments re. the various putty/plastic/plastice combo you used to build up your bow. Good comment, by the way! Something to keep in mind - I kind of noticed a similar effect using the Green Stuff on the kit parts. But, my first chore is getting the templates made in order to start this phase the hull rebuild. In regards to your comments about Randy's hull - I don't think so, since he already has painted his entire hull.

[Fliger747]

Prints fade also, Kodachrome is actually quite stable if stored properly. I have Kodachrome slides from that era that are still quite good. Light,heat and moisture all enemies. Back in that time I also had a "Pentax", quite a good camera and my first SLR.

Dr Pr had a reference to holystoning on the "Oakieboat" and I believe he mentioned the use of a bleach. Natural teak is a bit darker, but freshly worked and certainly if bleached to kill any organisms etc could be fairly light. A lot of the lightness comes from the microscopic wood fuzz. I noticed that a wet deck which takes away this reflectance is quite dark and almost looks varnished.

T

[Channell]

Jason C - I'll let you know about the stain decision for the decks. I'm going to try to find some online info before going shopping. But, I would like to get the decks stained/finished by the end of next week. You mentioned sandiing down the curve of the bow area to reduce the thickenss - I wonder if ADDING some styrene strips to the INSIDE of the sides of the hull would strengthen the integrity in the off-chance one were to sand TOO much off. I have some 1/8" thk. white styrene sheets that I've ripped to 1" wide pieces and I could further rip some to 1/4" wide and then glue inside the hull edge to edge to give some additional support. I've noted your comments re. the various putty/plastic/plastice combo you used to build up your bow. Good comment, by the way! Something to keep in mind - I kind of noticed a similar effect using the Green Stuff on the kit parts. But, my first chore is getting the templates made in order to start this phase the hull rebuild. In regards to your comments about Randy's hull - I don't think so, since he already has painted his entire hull.

Well, it certainly wouldn't hurt to add strips inside but I don't think it's really necessary, as the hull is really thick as it is and the areas requiring the most sanding is around where the bow is glued onto the hull and the extreme bow knife edge where the plastic is solid so it already has extra support. I pinned my bow on with styrene rods for extra support too; I got mine to spec without breaking through the hull and everything seems straight and sturdy.

A random FYI; the box that the deck pieces come in is great for template material; just thick enough for a rigid cross-section without being a pain to cut out with an xacto knife... and free!

[BB62vet]

Jason,

Thanks for the comments & advice; I'll see what the inside of the hull looks like. Right now I've got the assemblies in place but they can be moved and the hull freed up for working on it.

Stain-wise, I'm going to look at the Min-wax Weathered Oak #270 and Old Teak (no vendor name/no.) at the stores tonight.

Tom F,

The Pentax was my 2nd SLR; I bought a Ricoh in Yokosuka in '66; not great, but was able to sell it back stateside. I have a '85 Canon AE-1 (film) that is in great shape but now collecting dust. I just ordered a new Nikon D3200 DSLR Monday - my Xmas present to myself for being such a good ex-sailer . The Panasonic P&S+ that I've been using is just not giving me they kind of photos I want. Besides, this will be nice to take on trips, etc.

[Mgunns]

Hello Hank:

If that picture was taken at North Island, It could be the tail end of the Bunker Hill. That was scrapped in about '73 or so. The Bunker Hill was refurbished after the kamikaze attack and pretty much spent the rest of it's life at NAS North Island as a test bed for various manner of Comm Gear.

[Fliger747]

I know Bunker Hill remained in Bremerton till at least some time in the mid-late 60's Rumor was she was never updated due to a bent keel from her war damage.

T

[Mgunns]

I know Bunker Hill remained in Bremerton till at least some time in the mid-late 60's Rumor was she was never updated due to a bent keel from her war damage.

T

I was in USMC Boot camp in San Diego from Jan-March of 68 and on our runs we could see it berthed at North Island. I was in Radio School at MCRD Sand Diego from May to August of 68 and again it was there. As I mentioned to Hank; in about June or July of 68 went aboard the NJ and saw the Bunker hill berthed there at North Island. I never knew which Essex it was until years later, I just knew it was an Essex from my modeling the Lindberg kit many times. When I was in Vietnam, I got to aboard the Valley Forge for a two week stay in their sick bay as a Malaria patient. Got free reign of the ship. It was pretty neat to be aboard it and imagine what life was like on those ships during WWII. But; I digress; don't mean to steal your thread Hank. It is just neat to see this picture and remember walking that same deck.

[BB62vet]

Mark,

The picture was taken in Long Beach in summer 1969. I also remember the BH moored at N.I. in the late '60s. We would pass her going in/out of port. Kind of like a solitary sentinal guarding the harbor entrance.

Back to the the deck staining discussion:

I did a bit of research online and came up with a couple possibilities - MinWax Driftwood #2126 or MinWax Weathered Oak #270 - of course, Lowes doesn't carry the Weathered Oak (at least at the store I visited), so I bought a small can of the Driftwood and here are the results:

As a comparison, I added the Puritan Pine for contrast. The Dirftwood so far seems to be closer to the decking in the photo, but I'm not finished - I still want to find a can of the Weathered Oak and see what that looks like.

While home this weekend I will compare the photo with an actual piece of the deck (3" sq. plug) that was removed during her '81-'82 refit and given to the NJ Vets Assn. for cutting up into small pieces for the members. I have this mounted on a plaque and it is the "real deal".

Jason - you are correct in the bow area thickness on the model - it's quite thick enough not to worry about sanding through. I save all the cardboard backers that come with calendars each year and have more than enough to use for the templates - very similar in thickness to the Pontos box you mentioned. I compared the Robert Sumrall body plan to the body plan in the TFD MISSOURI Plan Book and will go with the Plan Book's rendition - I made reduced copies this a.m. and hopefully will get started on this next week.

Hank

[Mgunns]

Hello Hank:

Like you, I think the drift wood comes closest to the deck of the NJ. I wonder if a thin wash of Tamiya clear yellow wouldn't do the trick.

[Fliger747]

Something I tried and wasn't too bad was to seal the deck with Testor's dullcoat and then sand with a very fine sandpaper. Staining works well with individual planking (bringing out difference between boards) but one that might be problematic with an engraved sheet which has an underlying grain pattern which may tend to destroy some of the effect. As long as this type of deck has been available there must be a body of lore?

Cheers: T

PS, I need to pull a little magenta out of the print...

[BB62vet]

Mark - I think what's needed is more brown/gray and less yellow/gold - the original is a yellow color and that's the problem. I should be a grayish brown.

Tom F - The consistency of the MinWax stains are rather thin, but not completly watery. I think whatever one I use will need to be applied with a cloth instead of a brush and then wiped once the stain has had a few minutes to set.

B-r-r-r! It's cold here in NC - it was 13 deg. F this a.m. near Selma, NC when I left to go into work; 9 deg. F in Winston-Salem - MUCH too cold for my liking.

[Mgunns]

Hi Hank:

You should live here in Minneapolis Snow and about 1 degree. Maybe Tamiya clear smoke. It has a grey finish to it.