USS Washington, Guadalcanal 1942 [Trumpeter]

[Fliger747]

I don't claim to be the paint expert, but for my 1:192 Alaska I am using the Shorts and Snyder paint chips. That said, having mixed my own colors from Golden High Flow Acrylics, I have not done any value/saturation reduction for scale effect or weathering.

Something that has always puzzled me about Washington was the bow recess for the third anchor, which always looked like some adhoc forward base repair effort.

Too bad she didn't end up at PSNS as a museum ship, the only US Battleship to sink another Battleship in a one on one (sort of). A tribute to her Captain, crew and the genius of Willis (Ching Chong) Lee.

The only further comment is about light sources for photography: Tungsten and florescent light can cause significant color distortion, not only due to the color temperature but some gaps in the spectrum.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers: Tom

[MatthewB]

I don't claim to be the paint expert, but for my 1:192 Alaska I am using the Shorts and Snyder paint chips. That said, having mixed my own colors from Golden High Flow Acrylics, I have not done any value/saturation reduction for scale effect or weathering.

Something that has always puzzled me about Washington was the bow recess for the third anchor, which always looked like some adhoc forward base repair effort.

Too bad she didn't end up at PSNS as a museum ship, the only US Battleship to sink another Battleship in a one on one (sort of). A tribute to her Captain, crew and the genius of Willis (Ching Chong) Lee.

The only further comment is about light sources for photography: Tungsten and florescent light can cause significant color distortion, not only due to the color temperature but some gaps in the spectrum.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers: Tom

I had considered the Tungsten or Fluorescent lighting. Tungsten is high in the Green, Blue, Indigo spectrum, which can cause greying with the missing yellows and reds (and violets).

And the Synder & Short paint chits are very close to what is recorded on the few color films from the era. They no doubt came up with them by attempting to mix the paint as the Navy in WWII would have done (not hard to do if you are a paint company, and can order for vintage or legacy pigments).


Edit: I need to quit comparing my builds to his, even though we are working on an identical period and group of ships, and worry about developing my own style of build.


MB

[blacman]

I am amazed at what you guys can do with PE microsurgery in a small scale. That said on my monitor your 20B Deck Blue looks quite brown. Monitors vary.

As to the 40# STS side plating above the external armor belt, This construction appears to be similar to that used on many ships of the vintage, including the Alaska's and Iowa's. The two horizontal plates were as far as I can tell welded and reinforced with a semi flush vertical reinforcing strake at the end butt joints. Except at close range or by running your fingers over the strakes, it is almost impossible to notice the riveting. The strakes are actually quite narrow, perhaps 16" or so in width. Perhaps someone with access to the North Carolina can give exact dimensions.

See attached photo:

North Carolina.jpg

Yes. The deck seems to be brown. But I took a photo in daylight. Looks far better. I believe it is close to original USN Deck Blue. It's my first US BB. Sorry for potential mistakes .







riveting based on this reference photo (NC):



rivets are obviously overscaled. I couldn't manage to make smaller. It's 0.04mm. Cannot go down. I will sand them slightly before painting to reduce sharpness....

welding in progress:

breakwater ready:










Middle support left pencil and decided to start air journey then landed somewhere. Rescue team stepped off from searching


Bow capstain and hawse pipe system ready:






Pipe ends of fire system painted. I am not sure about the colors of the pipes. Should they have been white with red tip or in camuflage ... ?

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masking for 406mm barrels almost ready. Just small sanding to get flat and two colors painting should be easy







nests of 40mm Bofors had very nice ammunition sockets running inside the protection railing. I tried to model them. First approach - stern ones. Look quite OK:




Yes. It a pity that USS Washington did not survive as museum.

[MatthewB]

Yes... THAT is Deck Blue (fairly identical to what I am using).

Can't wait to see the rest of this.

I am torn between waiting for you to release this as a PE set for the Washington, or just going with what I have (I have the Five Star Set, which includes parts for the 1942 USS Washington - I wish they would quit doing that, and just release sets for ONE SHIP, at ONE TIME).

But there is little way that I would have the patience for the hull details. That and I need to get back to work on the SoDak deck and superstructure (3D printed parts, with a laser-etched wood deck - well, it will be metal, but it will replicate the wood).

God! So jealous...

MB

[MatthewB]

Oh, and the "Hoses" (not sure if English is your first language) for the fire system would be camouflaged the same color as the bulkheads. At least by the photos of the South Dakota that I see.

MB

[blacman]

not much time for hobby ...
small update:
some work on superstructure




level up will stay from kit:




i attempted to create specific windows blends at navigation deck:




and this is how it looks with lockers and vents:






as for now going up quite nice...:




observation level on main tower:




and 127mm guns control deck.






at this level USS Washington had quite different baffle wind than North Carolina. And as it was done in kit was not very similar to real one. I decided to rebuild it...:

[Dan K]

Fantastic work as always.

[MatthewB]

What is the thickness you use for the PE frets?

The ones I am planning, I plan to use both .008" and .012".

Most parts will be in the thinner material, though.

MB

[marijn van gils]

Fantastic work as always.

+1000!!!

[Kometa]

Extraordinary, great job Greg.

[blacman]

thank you guys...

What is the thickness you use for the PE frets?

The ones I am planning, I plan to use both .008" and .012".

Most parts will be in the thinner material, though.

MB

I am using 0,1mm which is 0,0039"

IMHO ,008" (0.2mm) might be too thick. I tried this during my IJN Chitose project and decided to go down to 0,1mm

[JIM BAUMANN]

The window blinds are sublime...!

This model wil be crackllingly sharp!

Bravo!

JIM B

[SilverGhost]

Wow, very cool build! Incredible!
Good luck!

[raggs]

It's my first US BB. Sorry for potential mistakes

Get outta here dude, you just blew my mind. I showed my kids this build and they
said "You gotta be kidding me" and "Holy Moly"

Congrats.

Paul

[MatthewB]

thank you guys...

What is the thickness you use for the PE frets?

The ones I am planning, I plan to use both .008" and .012".

Most parts will be in the thinner material, though.

MB

I am using 0,1mm which is 0,0039"

IMHO ,008" (0.2mm) might be too thick. I tried this during my IJN Chitose project and decided to go down to 0,1mm

.008" might be too thick???

That is pretty much what Five Star uses, and I find it to be too thin for many things.

MB

[hypno7]

WOW! Very sharp, the deck looks really nice! of course the PE is insane!

[blacman]

Hello Mates!
it's been a while not updating the Washington project but work is still going on

A lot of equipment has been made in 3D prints:




MK 37 and MK 38 systems




Though MK36 looks preet OK - MK37 needs to be made probably from PE - still resolution give not nice looking steps of layers..


Deck nests for Bofors aiming device




and the MK51 for them ...




I decided also replaced the conning tower to recreate all subtleties...




and it was worth to do so...




127mm AA units also ready:





Deck equipment completed:






midship cranes in process:






they will receive complete riggings and redesigned winches units:




26" searchlights ready




baskets for floater nets will be filled)




like that...




captains and bollards almost ready:



small work on surface to get properly angulated tops




and hull is finished






I replaced also hawse-hole ...



and after painting :

hull (still some weathering to be applied)









spardeck





main superstructure




light grey makes all inaccuracies so visible



but it was worth to replace hawseholes...

[MatthewB]

I see a few parts I will eventually be looking at for my own Washington.

The Conning Tower and the Crow's Nest both look very much better than the kit.

MB

[Aop Aur]

The new parts look really good! Did you print those 3D parts yourself? The quality seems to be a lot better than Shapeways' EXTREME detail plastic! And did you design the parts as well? The hull looks really nice! I will be watching for more progress!

Aop

[Joe Simon]

This is amazing! Can't wait to see the final product!