Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[James M]

The top of the boot topping is parallel with the keel.
As the ship gets lighter the ship raises out of the water and the bow raises faster the the stern.

At full load there should be about 6" of the boot topping visible.

James

[RandyM]

On my hull, the top of the boot is at 37-feet above the baseline. The bottom of the boot at the stern is at 34-feet, and drops to 30-feet at the bow.

All of which has been GUARANTEED ACCURATE by James

[James M]

GUARANTEED ACCURATE by official plans, photos and very knowledgeable sources.
I'm not the expert but I know some of them.

James

[RandyM]

Ha! That's good enough for me, but if the rivet-counters come calling, I'm giving them your phone number.

[James M]

I'm good with that.

[Fliger747]

Randy:

Hull has come out very well, on to bigger (smaller) and better parts of the project? Congratulations on a major accomplishment.

I know you and Jason have undoubtedly inspired many to undertake modifications which will yield a much better model. It might also be that Trumpy should give you a commission on all the extra kits they have had to sell after initial experiments.

Cheers: Tom

[Fliger747]

Question?

Missouri still has the brackets aft, below the hull rim for the booms (Port and stbd) for the Jacob's ladders. The booms are currently not fitted, anyone know when these were removed? My depiction is of her very late service before final decommissioning. I am currently fitting the helicopter nets to my 1:192. The ladder booms were located just fwd of the netting and would be a useful hull detail. Not my era, but does the Trumpy kit have these, either fore or aft?

T

[BB62vet]

Tom,

The Trumpy kit does have the after boat booms & assoc. brackets - but rememeber - this kit is 1945, not the '80s version. There should be plans in the back of Stillwell's MO book that might show the boat booms.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Stillwell does show the aft boat boom installed in the ABC drawing but I need to find some photos to corroborate. Wonder if they were removed at deactivation or earlier. I almost have the helicopter deck nets finished, just one at the stern to install. I do have a photo showing the boom brackets and pretty much know what the boom should look like. I added the screw and shaft padeyes to the after hull. Just noticed that I had not added the rail at the top of the aft stack yet! Always something!

Should there be a plate at the forefoot for rigging paravanes?

Cheers. T

[BB62vet]

Tom,

I've put in an inquiry to my LBNSYD contact who should know about both the paravane, etc. as well as the after boat booms on MISSOURI. I don't recall hearing or reading anything about the other 3 IOWAs having their paravane rigs altered (only NEW JERSEY).

Hank

[James M]

The New Jersey had her paravane forefoot "eye" removed in the 80's.
She still had it for her Vietnam tour

Heres a link to some of the history about them and a photo of it
http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/battle ... day-6.html

The Missouri still has hers today
http://blog.hawaii.edu/neojourno/files/ ... C_7783.jpg

New Jersey, hers has been removed:
Video of the hull. 3:00 min mark shows the forefoot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YIfR2vjg7E

Iowa, still has hers today:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/0161054.jpg

Wisconsin, still has hers today:
http://usswisconsin.org/Pictures/1980-9 ... 20Yard.jpg

James

[Fliger747]

James:

Thanks for the info, a good thing to add to my hull! As I understand it this does not have a hole all the way through but makes a "J" up into a pipe. Does this extend all the way to the main deck?

Regards: Tom

[PTBIGS]

I recently joined SMF and I'm impressed by the experience and expertise in this forum. Last year, I heard about Trumpeter's 1/200 USS Missouri and that stirred the modeling neurons into overdrive and pursuit of additional information. It also spurred my wife to order the USS Iowa (the USS Missouri wasn't available through my local hobby shop) plus the Pontos PE set and wood deck as a Christmas present which arrived safely several weeks ago.

Since then I've made two orders to Floating Drydock for various plans sets, Tom's Models for more PE, and forays onto Amazon for reference information. I've pretty much nailed down I'm going to model the USS Iowa in Sept '45 when she was with the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Presently, I'm reorganizing my downstairs library/office area, putting together the design for a roll-away desk (so I have a dedicated work area and storage), refurbishing my 30-year old Badger airbrushes, buying acrylic paints, and CA glues between hobby shops in San Antonio and Austin. Because I doing several things in parallel, I hope to have nearly everything staged so I can start construction by the end of March or mid-April.

Lastly, the search for information brought me to this site with outstanding contributors who willing share information. Hank -- I've studied the pages on your thread and I'm going to have my work cut out; especially when I see your soldering skills, attention to detail, and weathering techniques. I followed the dialogue on the hull shape and I will probably pursue your approach to fixing the shape of the bow. I had some of the reference sources you cited but you identified about 5 more that I wasn't aware of.

Randy -- your CAD design of the aft hull is an incredible feat of engineering... not too mention patience. Just from reading the thread here, I know you already have numerous orders. At your convenience (and your schedule permitting) I would like to place an order (and discuss terms/timeline) for a copy of your redesigned hull. The contrast between the kit and your hull is night like night and day.

Tom -- I've read through all 124 pages of this forum (twice now) and I appreciate the insights provided from your posts to the group on a wide range of subjects associated with the Iowas. I'm pretty sure I will be asking for your advice once I start working on my kit.

To the rest of the forum, once I start in a month or two... I hope I measure up to the rest of you as you've set the bar high in this wonderful hobby. A hobby is what you make of it and you have made this forum an invaluable and primary source for information. I look forward to visiting and sharing often.

V/R
Paul Bigelow

[BB62vet]

James,

Thanks - nothing like two replies in agreement! I also appreciate the links/photos - very interesting.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Indeed great info most of us could not otherwise put together! Used James's great photo post to rough out the forefoot paravane fitting. Some judicious cutting with the scroll saw of basswood, a bit of moto tool to hollow out the concave shape to match the bulbous contour and a little putty. Next to get the files out to refine the form. Looking closely at the ABC drawings in Stillwell "Mo" it is there!

PT: welcome aboard! A very understanding spouse!

Regards: Tom

[Fliger747]

Interesting in James's Missouri Photo that the "63" on either side are not co located fore and aft! I hope the navy did a better job at this! Added the paravane skeg to the bow of my ship, still in primer as I need to make up a new batch of anti fouling red. Going to wait till I add all the hull gegaws I feel satisfied with.

T

[chuck]

The Missouri still has hers today
http://blog.hawaii.edu/neojourno/files/ ... C_7783.jpg

James

I can't begin to describe how wrong that boot top looks.

[Fliger747]

The Iowa's all ride high by the bow when at light load. There never was enough hull volume aft. So the boot top for the museum ships was repainted to match the light waterline of the museum ships. As a matter of fact the boot top had been repainted to match the expected waterlines at deactivation loadings during the various ship preservation episodes. Some folks have actually referenced the museum waterline as reference for ships in say a 1945 configuration. Always a buyer beware scenario when trying to find out how any of these ships looked at any given date!

Cheers: T

[Fliger747]

Just discovered an interesting tidbit about the aft boat booms on Missouri! They were moved forward during the most recent modification so as to be clear of the helicopter deck area!

T

[Guest]

The Iowa's all ride high by the bow when at light load. There never was enough hull volume aft. So the boot top for the museum ships was repainted to match the light waterline of the museum ships. As a matter of fact the boot top had been repainted to match the expected waterlines at deactivation loadings during the various ship preservation episodes. Some folks have actually referenced the museum waterline as reference for ships in say a 1945 configuration. Always a buyer beware scenario when trying to find out how any of these ships looked at any given date!

Cheers: T

BB-64 still has her original boot and rightfully so!!!! The repainting at the light load line just plain looks BAD!

-CliffyB