Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[Fliger747]

Glad it cane out well, PITA seems to be the byword of serious modeling! Brass is easier to form and attach but the steel wire holds the smooth curves better, if you can get it attached! I hadn't considered that the waterway along the deck edge would change color with the camouflage!

Glad to see you turn a major corner.

Regards: Tom

[RandyM]

The waterways aren't in yet - they are created from brass pieces in the Pontos set. I plan on painting 20B prior to installation.

[Fliger747]

Anyone seen the top of Missouri Turret Three in it's modern configuration? I don't have any photos but suspect it is littered with various handling fitting much like Turret Two. next best a photo of the top of Turret Three from one of the other ships. Not sure that it is the same however as the ship may have been optimized for stbd side replenishment.

Thanks: Tom

[Fliger747]

I did find some distant p3 (P Poor Photos) that showed enough of the top of the turret to confirm the collapsible tripod mast is on the stbd side such that the turret is not the same as turret two. Stillwell ABC drawing pp 404-405 agrees with this. Not sure about the other "stuff" on top, there seems to be less.

Cheers: T

[James M]

I don't have any photos of turret 3 and a Google search didn't find any looking at the top.

Have you tried watching that movie Battleship?
There might be a chance shot of it there or it could be a hour of your life you will never get back..

James

[William Smallshaw]

T,

The unrep gear on turret 3 is to starboard. I may have photos of the top of Turret 3, which I will post later. If not I can take some this coming Sunday. Will be working on Helo Control on the USS Iowa. A short step away from the top of turret 3.

Bill

[Fliger747]

Any photos of the top of turret three would be great. The ABC drawing in Stillwell Shows a lot fewer fittings on top.

Thanks: Tom

[James M]

I have some great photos of Iowas turret three.
Will that work for you?

James

[chuck]

Does anyone know of any photos showing what kind of instruments, gauges, gyros, etc the Missouri had behind the glass wind screen of the open auxiliary bridge on level 8? I am looking for 1945 time period. Neither trumpeter nor any of the aftermarket sets seem to provide any details there.

Thanks.

[BB62vet]

Chuck wrote:

Does anyone know of any photos showing what kind of instruments, gauges, gyros, etc the Missouri had behind the glass wind screen of the open auxiliary bridge on level 8? I am looking for 1945 time period. Neither trumpeter nor any of the aftermarket sets seem to provide any details there.

Here is a photo from NEW JERSEY's (present) 08 Level Conning Bridge

BB62 08 Level Nav Bridge.jpg (8.88 KiB) Viewed 781 times

In addition, here is a picture of NEW JERSEY's (present) 05 Level Open Conn

BB62 05 Level Nav Bridge.jpg (8.84 KiB) Viewed 781 times

I have actually completed my 08 Level bridge and will try to post a photo tomorrow a.m. - no guarantees on how it will look.

Hank

[chuck]

Thanks, Hank.

Based on the fact these gauges on 05 level are encased in brass, I will assume they've been there since WWII. Since the gauges on 08 level look identical to the ones on 05, except painted, I will assume they've been there since the beginning too.

[Fliger747]

Great photos Hank! A great illustration of how much each ship has diverged over time and from each other. Missouri wasn't into the bright work, if it doesn't move(much) paint it!

Looking fwd to seeing your latest progress.

Regards. Tom

[chuck]

currently on the Iowa, there is a captain's chair and a binnacle in the open on each bridge wing on level 05, with pedestal binocular stand between them (the ones on port side are actually removed but you can see the mark on the deck where they go). I've also seen them in pictures of the missouri from late 1980s and early 1990s.

But I've never seen them in any drawings or renders of either ship. Would anyone be able to say if they were there since the beginning, or were they later additions made after WWII?

[BB62vet]

Tom,

Thanks - I (making a BIG assumption here) think that the nav. controls on 05/08 levels are original and identical. Originally, all ships kept their brass polished daily - this was a std. routine Navy-wide. It was only in the '80's that the navy planners decided that it is was too hard to keep polished, blah-blah-blah. So, that's why the paneling took over the other-wise nice brass interior bulkheads on the 03/04 admirals/navigation level - we still had this in the late '60s on NEW JERSEY.

Chuck,

I can't say how the arrangment for the captain's/OOD chairs were arranged. I think NEW JERSEY's in the late '60s was pretty much as it was in the mid-'50s - the main changes to all 4 ships came in the '80s. If I can find any photos of the exterior 04 bridge wings on NJ from my cruise books and other references, I'll try to incorporate that into my model. The 67-68 Book of Gen. Plans for BB-62 is somewhat hard to read - the copy I have is not a perfect reproduction as much of the text has fallen out in copying. And, it's only a general arrangement, not the Gospel as to how the actual ship came out of the yard "as built".

Hank

[Fliger747]

Chuck

Missouri currently has chairs and pelorous on both bridge wings. The antiquity of the chairs is open to question, but the ABC drawing of Missouri in 1945 in Stillwell still shows the pelorous. The pelorous was used to provide the navigator with relative bearings to plot the ships position when landmarks were visible, such as bouys, lights etc. as such they would have been a necessary bridge item in WWII.

Cheers. Tom

[Fliger747]

Well thanks to Chuck, I have produced a decent bridge chair for the port bridge wing. Now to see if I can do another. Always another thing to add!

T

[James M]

Anyone seen the top of Missouri Turret Three in it's modern configuration? I don't have any photos but suspect it is littered with various handling fitting much like Turret Two. next best a photo of the top of Turret Three from one of the other ships. Not sure that it is the same however as the ship may have been optimized for stbd side replenishment.

Thanks: Tom

Here is a picture of Iowa's turret three.



James

[chuck]

Well thanks to Chuck, I have produced a decent bridge chair for the port bridge wing. Now to see if I can do another. Always another thing to add!

T

You are welcome.

[Fliger747]

Stbd bridge wing, Missouri. Note pelorous, sighting ring is missing, to take relative bearings for navigation etc. Just finished both bridge chairs. Tiny little buggers!

Thanks to James for the excellent turret three photo! Tom

[BB62vet]

No photos today - hopefully, tomorrow a.m. Still working on getting the 03/04/05 bridge areas/conning tower put together. S-l-o-w-l-y.....

Tom,

Thanks for posting the MO bridge photo - should help to locate the various components on that level.

Hank