1/200 Scale Group Build from 2015-17

[BB62vet]

Well, we're doing ok, I can't say the same for our fellow modelers/vets, etc. in South Carolina - that's an absolute mess from one end to the other. And it isn't over yet. We may get some rain, but nothing compared to those south of us.

I hope your book arrives soon - I know you're dying to see it.

Is your 4 runner back on the road yet? Glad that your weather is back to more seasonable.

Later,

Hank

[steinerman]

Well, we're doing ok, I can't say the same for our fellow modelers/vets, etc. in South Carolina - that's an absolute mess from one end to the other. And it isn't over yet. We may get some rain, but nothing compared to those south of us....

OhMyGosh, I'm hearing about all the flooding down there. Ya gotta feel sorry for those poor people who have had to evacuate their homes. Plus, one wonders how many of them have flood insurance? It's a real bad situation all around.

[Fliger747]

Amazed at how far inland the rains and flooding have extended. A big mess and not over. Big snow here almost all gone, to be replaced after a bit by more, till April.

T

[Mgunns]

Okay: I have progressed to the point of where I was going to rig the stack on my 1/200 Arizona build. I placed the boats and cradles in the spot where they should go to determine the route of the line. I had used the Eduard boat cradles for a more realistic appearance, the problem is they don't quite match up to the holes nor do they fit over the sky lights and the ready box has to be moved a bit.

So I had to snip a portion of the cradle away to fit over the sky light, I had to snip off the mounting lug for the ready locker and move it outboard. I then realized the legs didn't line up with the holes, so I had to cut pieces of rod stock, fill the holes and then paint the rod stock grey to match the cradle so there wasn't a hole there.



Here you can see the cradle located accordingly with the ready box moved slightly outboard. With the holes filled and the rod stock painted grey, it looks alright. I also noticed I have boat pulpit railings in the wrong end of the top boat. DRAT!

[BB62vet]

Mark,

Your 'ZONA is really coming along nicely - quite the detail you've got in those pix! I'd be curious as to an overall assessment of the 1:200 ARIZONA kit - just toying with a possible PENSY conversion as a future build.

Hank

[Mgunns]

Hi Hank:

Thanks for stopping by and your comments. I think overall the kit is pretty good as far as a model goes. Yes there are some accuracy issues, but; with some PE, patience, reference and Jeff Sharpe's build, it builds quite nicely, I haven't encountered any major fit problems like on some of their earlier releases. Model Monkey has a 1/200 conversion for the Arizona to a Pennsylvania amongst other things. You have to scope out his website, he has some really neat stuff in a variety of scales. I wish I was starting my build now vice a year ago. Check it out http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey

[BB62vet]

Thanks, Mark! I'll check out the Shapeways store, etc. (Model Monkey designed the Mk. 56 directors for me and now has those available in his product line). Of course, this would be down the road a ways - but, nice that some conversion parts are available for such a build.

Hank

[steinerman]

Greetings gents,

Can anybody tell me, is Cliffy (Mike) still around here? I need some information and while I'm not sure about the rest of you, I know he would know the answer to my questions.

1: Compared to the anchor chain, how big is the parasail chain? I mean, how many links per yard is this smaller chain?

2: At least on three different photos recently, I've seen Iowa class BB's with portholes that had this "X" pattern in them.

(Photo from BB-63 Plans E-book, Pg 97 The Floating Drydock PN/ BBPB-011707)

I presume this was a cover or shield of some type. My Pontos Detail-up set has a lot of PE showing portholes like this. I plan on drilling most of the portholes out on my Trumpeter MO, but I'd also like to leave a few of them closed and glue this shield or cover to the inside (after grinding away the thickness of course.) My question is - were all the portholes on the ship covered by this same shaped cover, or was it just certain sections?

Thanks heaps,

[Fliger747]

They are called "Paravanes", Parasails a somewhat later civilian invention. Not sure if Cliffy can answer or not as the Iowa's were not equipped with Paravanes after the 1980's modifications. If he can answer it will be from historical sources. They were usually stored in a cradle on the foc'sle.

It may have been in the Iowa thread where the porthole situation was discussed recently. The issue with the PE porthole covers is that they usually hinged from inside and a proper application would be recessed, not applied externally. They were to provide minor blast and splinter protection when closed and assure leigh tightness at night. I believe that might have been a Hank post.

Cheers: T

[Cliffy B]

From what I know the paravanes were all gone by the 1980s and their associated equipment all removed and the chain pipe in the forefoot blanked off. BB-62 actually had her's completely removed and welded over as the seal didn't hold and caused the whole thing to rust horribly. Not sure which method was followed with the other three off hand.

The chain is much smaller than the anchor chain but there's no way to tell from looking at the current ships. Original blueprints and photographs will be the only source. I believe there are some recent photos on NavSource of BB-63 as she was being finished that show the paravane chain rigged on deck and the size difference is readily apparent.

The portholes are recessed as they sit against the frame around the glass. The cover and the glass are all inside the ship for those style portholes. I can get some photos from the inside of them and how they work if you'd like. For a building note, if they're big enough, I'd glue the porthole covers on the inside of the bulkheads if its possible. With the scale though it may not be visible/worthwhile going that extra step unless you're doing something in 1/96 or larger. The glass is only inset an inch or less from the edge of the bulkhead.

[BB62vet]

CliffyB wrote:

From what I know the paravanes were all gone by the 1980s and their associated equipment all removed and the chain pipe in the forefoot blanked off. BB-62 actually had her's completely removed and welded over as the seal didn't hold and caused the whole thing to rust horribly. Not sure which method was followed with the other three off hand.

That is correct - BB62 had her paravane skeg & eyelet completely removed in her 1987 overhaul. The pipe which runs from the bottom of the ship up to the main deck was cut out and plugged (welded over and ground smooth). Her paravane winch on the main deck was retained as the crew had refurbished it themselves. The other 3 IOWA ships have retained the paravane skeg on the bow but nothing more. The units themselves were not activated in the '80s. We didn't have them on board NJ in the 60's, either. Unless you can find a USN operating manual for paravanes, I have no idea what the chain size would be. Perhaps one of the various photos mentioned recently might give a clue as to the chain size.

Portholes from the inside of a bulkhead - steel port cover, then glass, then porthole. Usually they are 4 dog units. I don't know that there would be any portholes in a bulkhead that were not all uniform - i.e., hole, glass, cover. The oval openings in the armored bulkheads are different and would not be considered portholes, but observation slits; an entirely different situation altogether.

Hope this helps,

[tegunn]

Mark(Mgunns), Your 'Zona is looking really good! I've been away from the bench and chomping at the bit to get back! I've worked on mine a bit and will post some pictures when I get enough progress..
Randy

[Mgunns]

Hi Randy: Thanks for checking it out: I have made some progress, I have the antenna's almost all rigged in this picture. I knocked off the starboard yard arm two times and the port yardarm once. Naturally, they were rigged and halyarded. I managed to get them on but the positioning is off a bit. I have gotten used to it, but;,,,,,,,I know it's not right. Really irritating. If I did this again, I would use Tegun's (Randy's) method of cutting off a chunk of the plastic yard and use that as a support for the PE. In that fashion the modeler will be able to correctly align and give purchase to the yard and it is doubtful the stub of the plastic piece would detract from the appearance.

This is kind of neat, a deck level view

I still have some stuff to add to the deck but I got the boats on and some other doo dads.

I have since added more rigging and will be calling it quits on the rigging. I will post more pictures later when I get some of the other stuff on it. I was going to put on the degaussing cables, but just couldn't come up with a suitable material and I really want to get this done, I don't think they are show stopper, but are certainly an enhancer.

On to the North Star Paravanes, range clocks and the aircraft.
Until that time

[BB62vet]

Mark,

That is really looking nice! Excellent work - I can't tell from your pix any deviation of the yardarms.

Hank

[tegunn]

I believe the ship's boats by 12/41(my version) are assumed to be the same color configuration as the ship, based on the directive. Is this correct anyone?

[tegunn]

I guess I found the answer: Excerpt from SHIP CAMOUFLAGE INSTRUCTIONS, UNITED STATES NAVY SHIPS - 2 FIRST REVISION


Revised
September 1941


"GENERAL DIRECTIONS COMMON TO ALL MEASURES.
The camouflage painting need not be exact or carried into corners. Small gear, wires, rigging and areas permanently in shadow, as under boats, etc., need not be painted with the camouflage colors. There is no objection to exact or careful painting which may be desired for the sake of good appearance at close range.
All pole masts and their yards, and slender upper works above approximately the top of the superstructure masses shall be painted Haze gray 5-H and measures 12, 13 and 14.
All horizontal surfaces shall be colored Deck Blue 20-B in all the systems. The systems only differ in the painting of the vertical surfaces. In cases of doubt, as on sloping surfaces and the top semi circumference of guns, use Deck Blue.
All bright or shiny objects visible from the outside of the vessel no matter how insignificant, shall not be polished and shall be painted, covered, removed, or have rust preventive compound applied as necessary to avoid a shiny surface.
Glass windows shall be covered or removed, especially during the day in sunny weather, and at night when anticipating searchlight discovery. Insofar as conditions permit, similar precautions shall be taken on airport lenses.
Raised characters, such as ships names and draft marks shall be retained and painted the same color as the hull in that vicinity.".........

[MartinJQuinn]

Mark,

Your AZ looks great!

[BB62vet]

I'm seriously thinking of my next build being a 1:200 scale BB-38 version (1941) of USS PENNSYLVANIA. These ZONA builds look so great!!

[Mike Reading]

Hi, I'm based in SE England and I make scratch build ship models at mostly 1:192 scale. Generally the ships are ww2 up to present time.

I am currently making a model of HMS Cambrian as she was late 1944/early 1945. This ship is one of the Ca class emergency destroyers. A sister ship HMS Cavalier survives as a museum vessel at Chatham Historic Dockyard at Chatham in Kent.

I need to discover how to load some photos. When I try it tells me they are too large to upload. Any ideas to overcome this will be helpful, as you guys do not seem to have this problem looking at the excellent shots of your models.
Mike

[steinerman]

Hi Mike, There are two ways to get photos on here. The first is to reduce them in size until the largest dimension is no more then 1200 pixels and the file size is close to 150KB. (I've had then up to 170KB and they still loaded OK). They should go through OK if you follow these rules. The other way is to upload them to your favorite photosite and them provide a link. I've never done it this way, but I think you can make it as large as you want. Check this out for details. It explains what you need to know. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1261