1/96th USS Alaska (CB-1)

[Aop Aur]

This is amazing!
Look forward to more updates!
Aop

[DrPR]

Brad,

Thanks. I'll try the adhesive backed material for the grout lines. I have also thought of using black plastic trash bags. I figure if any excess black material rises above the wood surface a sanding block can be used to grind away the excess to the level of the wood.

On the Cleveland class and the CLG refits the planks were 4" wide x 2" thick. At 1:96 that comes out to 0.041667" wide an 0.0208" thick. Margin boards were 6" minimum, 9" maximum width, 2" thick where the boards join the planks and 2 1/2" thick where the margin boards abutted metal bulkheads, hatches, vents, etc. I'm not planning on making the thicker edges but just making everything 2" scale thick (0.020").

The grout lines were 3/16" wide, or 0.00195" at 1:96. So if I use 0.040" wide planks and 0.002" wide grout the planking should come out pretty close to scale on the model. If necessary I will buy scale lumber and machine it down to 0.040" on a milling machine.

I have found 0.0416"x0.0416"x11" #8016 Micro-Cut basswood from Midwest Products Co., 400 S Indiana St. PO Box 564, Hobart, Indiana 46342.

Phil

[Brad Newland]

Hey guys,


been working on the stack, and the platforms and masts... been an interesting exercise to say the least..





here they are temporarily pinned onto the stack:








and finally, a pic of the searchlight platform- �


I was a little bummed about the searchlights, I had wanted to build her with the Four searchlights- and indeed you can see all four insta
lled while she was building at NY- I don't see one picture of her underway with all four. (same story for Guam) �so...

might tackle the stack cap tomorrow. �
Thanks for looking in
Brad

[gmctaggart]

Great build. Awesome size. I will follow this.
Gord

[ModelMonkey]

Brilliant!

[Brad Newland]

Well guys...

Ive driving myself crazy over a potato locker. �I wanted to replicate the pattern of holes in the bulkheads- but its a pretty distinctive pattern, and I wanted to get it "right" took four tries. �This is one piece:




heres the completed locker with the beginnings of the last structure that needed to be attached to the stack. �





FInally, Heres a couple views of how the stack looks with everything attached. �Ive spent a couple more days doing detail work on it.. and probably have a couple more the way its going. and.. still haven't touched the stack cap >:(

[Brad Newland]

Hi guys,
well, it took a hell of a lot longer than I ever would have dreamed, but Ive got the makings of a stack cap





I made the cowl part out of Bondo... here it is mated with the cap part. �still need to do some final shaping.



Managed to make the catapult towers too-



and, started on the catapults. �





Not sure where we're heading next �gonna finish my catapults, then maybe some more deck fittings??

[Aop Aur]

Amazing brass works!

Aop

[DrPR]

Brad,

I sympathize with your work on the smoke pipe top. Years ago when I started my 1:96 USS Oklahoma City model I made my own brass photo etch parts for the smoke pipe tops and then soldered them together. Lots of individual parts! It was a lot harder that I thought it would be but it finally came out pretty good - well, it isn't finished yet. I still need to make catwalk gratings, and that has defied my skills at photo etching. When I resume the build I will go to a professional photo etch shop for the very fine etchings.

I really like your brass work! Nice job.

Phil

[Brad Newland]

Well Guys,
spent the last couple days working on the catapults, and the rest of the time working on all the various gun tubs that go on the main deck. �Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I really enjoy building these- they're a joy to build.



here they are on the base. I spent a lot of time putting the internal parts inside the catapult, I really thought that it would show up more... but on the other hand, it would probably be too empty without it..



here's a pic of the gun tubs up forward:



and one of the ones back aft:



and all the goodies Ive added on the midship area:



well- thanks for looking in

[Fliger747]

A very interesting and well constructed model! I expect that the forward 40 mm mount is just sitting in place. I am sure you will accurately check it's location as it looks too far aft? Yes Guam is different, Hawaii even more so and Alaska varied by date.

A great carrier escort/cruiser killer and tactically creating much the problem for an opponent as did the surprisingly similar Kongo's.

I would have to check but I thought the Alaska had the 7 sided Mk 38 director?

Cheers! Tom

[Brad Newland]

Tom,

Yep, you guessed right, all that stuff was just set on the deck for now- nothing has been attached permanently. still have quite a bit of work to do inside first Ill have to check on the MK 38 Director. totally possible I got them mixed up. I have a set for BB61,63 and CB-1 here.. so anything is possible, Thank you!! (been anxiously waiting for an update on your Alaska BTW, Very nice work!!)

Well guys, been toiling away on the internal stuff.. made a magnetic rudder set up- I could have done something a little more conventional, the clipping shack does go right above the rudder post, but once these are installed... its a lot easier to deal with that going through that tiny hole..





then its been wiring, and lot of it. �in addition to the wiring for the motors, I put 21 5mm LED lights in for interior lighting. �I hate hate HATE trying to find something with a flashlight







heres a picture of the resistor bank I made to drive the lights (theres two, 1 port, 1 Stbd.



and, should anyone be inclined, here are the parts I used. I bought them from http://www.digikey.com :



you need one resistor for every three lights, put the resistor in the positive line BEFORE the LED. �(word of warning... LED's DO have polarity, make sure you have them lined up)

maybe.. just maybe she'll see the water tomorrow??

[JIM BAUMANN]

very lovely brasswork-- sharp !!

but....

its so huuuuge!!

JIM B

[Brad Newland]

Jim,
Thank you!! that really means something coming from you, and I appreciate it very much. as for huge.. yes- big. but, Ive managed to keep the weight down pretty well. so far I'm topping out at around 27 pounds. can carry it easily with one hand

well Guys,
things have slowed down a wee bit. had meetings all last week, and have them all next week too >:(

but, before I left.. I did manage to get things to the point that I could take her to the lake and see how we where doing. problem was.. theres no water that isn't hard. �I musta drove around for an hour finally found a spot on lake Michigan that had bubblers in to protect the docks... and that gave me just enough room to float her and run a teeny bit.







Heres a couple more views of the interior- finally finished the wiring- added a switch for the receiver.. capacitors on the motors.. added some aluminum angles to hold the battery in place... yep- think I'm about ready to close the deck up now. (keeping my fingers crossed)









well, that's it for now- thanks for looking in!
Brad

[Fliger747]

Fitting you should launch Alaska in Alaskan conditions! The possibilities in the 1:96 scale are very impressive. years ago, someone building an Alaska described it as a festival of small detail! At one time there was a huge 1:48 scale model of Alaska on display aboard Intrepid (on the Hudson).

Rather amazing how close these ships were in application to the Kongo's as carrier escorts. These ships got a bad rap fro turning radius from model tests at the David Taylor Model Basin. In service they had an almost equal tactical diameter as the Iowa's and the Fletcher Class destroyers.

Beautiful Ship!

[Brad Newland]

Well guys,

had to move back to work- and that sure puts a dent in my production. hell, even getting it onboard was a massive chore. �6 flights of stairs through this tinker toy gangway set up- then four more flights once we got her on the ship...



before I left the house, I got the aft 40mm tubs mostly done.. almost but not quite





and since Ive been back- I made the breakwater. thought this would be a little easier than it was.





and finally- this was from yesterday- nice to see things looking like spring.


thanks for looking in
Brad

[Silenoz]

Stunning work...

[Brad Newland]

Hey guys,
Been working on planking the deck lately- haven't had much in the way of updates as this is a VERY time consuming process. figure I'm close to the halfway point now...



thanks for looking in
Brad

[Brad Newland]

Hey guys,
been quite a while since I had something to share... thought the stick by stick pictures would get old after a while. but, after five months... the decking is finally done. just need to sand it, and seal it.







thanks for looking in,
Brad

[Brad Newland]

well,
I ve spent the last week painting.. which, while on a ship is somewhat problematic.



the only flat surface I could find is the mess room tables. �I'm painting 900' and four flights of stairs away from it. so... in order to use my waterline marker... the model had to be carried about a mile and a half total. (thank god its light!!!)





heres that process happening:


and finally:




and these are after the model traveled another half mile and came back to my office:







thanks for looking in!
Brad