Calling all USS Pensacola CA-24 & USS Salt Lake City CA-25 fans

[pbudzik]

David,

Thank you for posting, I'm doing the Pensacola in 1/350. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Paul

[Haijun watcher]

A 1/200 card model of the USS Pensacola seems to be available on Ebay:

Ebay link

[pbudzik]

Thanks, I just ordered it. Fingers crossed.

Paul

[PetrolGator]

Are there any books and/or resources recommended to superdetail a USS Pensacola?

[maxim]

In which fit of Pensacola you are interested in?

There is a Profile Morskie volume about Salt Lake City (1944), but otherwise I cannot remember something really useful for that.

[pbudzik]

If you are interested in Pensacola, I'd pass on the Profile Morskie book. I have it and it's basically a redraw of the Floating Drydock plans (Salt Lake City '44)... right down to the same semi-useless hull sections. Usually Floating Drydock plans are first rate, but somehow this one (hull sections) must have slipped by. If someone miraculously has some good documentation on the Pensacola '42, I would love to see it.

Paul

[PetrolGator]

I have the Midship kit. It appears that the forward hull is in a 30's fit and the aft in '44. At minimum, I want to reproduce the forward 5"/25 gun platforms that the kit is missing. The HP models kit has these.

If anyone has plans that show the general layout of these platforms, I'd appreciate it. I think I can make them out of styrene relative easily.

Paul: Feel you on the '42. No one seems to have anything.

[maxim]

How is the hull of the Midship kit?

The one from HP is completely wrong.

Here is my model of Salt Lake City (c. April 1942 fit):


http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?op ... &catid=112

I had to change a lot and there would be much more to do:


But anyway it is not possible to correct the biggest error. The sheer increases constantly to the bow instead of make a curve raising again the the stern.

[PetrolGator]

Midship's hull appears OK, though the ship in question is actually the Salt Lake City, sans forward 5" positions as noted. Midship also filled in the space between the superstructure which the 3rd turret sits on and hanger. With all the boats that sit at this position, it's less of a big deal than the forward 5" positions that must be scratched from styrene, scribed, and added to the ship.

Honestly, neither kit is terribly good. I think the best result may come from a combination of the two, or heavy modification of the Midship kit. I promised myself I'd build this for my in laws. Otherwise, I'd box the ship until I felt more comfortable with my scratch building abilities.

Aw well. Time to learn?

[Quincy]

Hi Chris.

There is a 1/700 drawing of a 1939 Pensacola in Friedmans Cruiser book. It is an overhead and a starboard side view. Could you use it?

Bob pink

[PetrolGator]

Very possibly.

[PetrolGator]

So.... anyone live in Maryland and is willing to make a trip to the Archives, scan some plans, and get compensated for their efforts?

http://research.archives.gov/description/7155288

[maxim]

I hope that we can convince e.g. Corsair Armada to make a completely new kit of the Pensacola class - best 1942 version and a 1945 version (of Pensacola).

[Mike C]

If I could get accurate hull lines, or at least accurate plan and outboard profile drawings, then I'd definitely take a shot. I'd also be interested to know if any microfilm files are available for order from the archives. I'm hoping to use the Midship brass, if possible. In the mean time, how many here would want a re-release of the Midship kit?

[Quincy]

Mike, if you are planning anything I myself would definitely buy one!


Bob Pink

[maxim]

I would also buy one - to replace the one I had built and which I do not like.

[Cliffy B]

Floating Drydock has a TFW series plan for CA-25 in 1944 that could work. One of the old "Warship" publications has plans for CA-24 circa 1941 in it. I can send you some scans of it you'd like. They ran the plans to the crack of the book so the scans aren't perfect but they're better than nothing. It has the outboard profile and deck drawings from the main deck on up. They are USN General Booklet plans and are reproduced at a very high quality, IE they look perfect.

[pbudzik]

I've got the Floating Drydock plans and I have not been able to make sense out of some of the hull lines. I think someone simplified the originals and couldn't follow the lines correctly, because if you line up the sections you'd have one crazy looking hull. I had to eyeball most of it.





I'd love to see what the "Warship" publications book looks like.
Paul

[Mike C]

Cliffy B - I have the TFW plans and Paul has outlined many of the drawbacks to those on his SLC thread. What I found when I started roughing out the hull was that if I sized the plans for length, the main deck at its widest point was the full width of the beam measurement, which didn't allow for the tumble home and additional width at the waterline. I scrapped the first hull when I discovered that and that I had accidentally put a Pit-Road kink on the starboard side amidship.

As much as I admire and respect Paul's work, I think the upturned bow on the hull in his photos is a bit too pronounced from the third keel block forward. That could simply be the result of the camera angle, but it looks a little "off" to me compared to photos that I've collected.

I'm going to resize the A.D. Baker drawing in the Friedman U.S. Cruisers book and see if the proportions are better. I think I also have a copy of the BGP taken from an old issue of Warship International, but I'd like to get a copy of your BGP, too, if it's not too much trouble.

[pbudzik]

Mike, I have overlayed the Floating Drydock with the A.D. Baker drawings from the Friedman book and they are a very good match for general outline and the profile ... my hull follows their profile EXACTLY. I think you're getting a distorted visual perspective from the photos, which always happens when you try and squeeze everything in using a bit of a wide angle lens...also, it is deceptive without some of the midship structures in place. My only beef with the FD plans are the hull cross-sections. I basically had to work with the deck outline and the profile ... to which my hull conforms. Hopefully you'll get lucky and find the full set of hull sections.

Paul