Calling all Brooklyn-class (CL-40) fans

[ViperTomcat]

FYI...Helena has been found

https://www.paulallen.com/uss-helena/

[MatthewB]

FYI...Helena has been found

https://www.paulallen.com/uss-helena/

It looks like there is a photo of a 20mm Oerlikon on Helena that has a rounded shield on the front of it.

I looked at the image for a while, to see if maybe it was just bent.

And it does not look like that is the case.

It looks like it is a rounded shield on the Oerlikon.

I wonder if others were like this?

MB

[maxim]

Have seen that too - but not any other photo I can remember. Therefore I thought it would be damage.

[Rick E Davis]

I suspect that the "bent-back" gun shields on the starboard stern 20-mm gun, was caused by some sort of battle/sinking damage or structural deterioration from supports rusting. Having the shields bent back in that manner would have made reloading a real pain for the crewman tasked with that duty. Photos of USS HELENA at MINY in June 1942, shows shields on other 20-mm guns onboard installed in the conventional manner. The gapping hangar well is tempting as well.

Image courtesy of the Paul Allen/PETREL website;

[marinR00]

Other than the bow - where else would they put the hull number? I can't figure out what part of the ship this is.

[maxim]

Helena is described to have lost her bow by the first torpedo hit - perhaps therefore this part is not easy to identify as part of the bow?

[marinR00]

That's what I thought at first (and that the structure above the # was part of the turret)

However - the # seems to be far too close to the deck. Its right under the closed chock. In the pics I found closest to the sinking (1943), the # is that close to the deck, or any closed chocks, bitts or bollards. Just curious.

[marinR00]

Never mind - figured it out. Looks like they put it on the stern as well.

[Ian Roberts]

It's the stern. The shape above it is a splinter shield for a 20mm Oerlikon. The object in the extreme background of the photo is the remnants of the airplane handling crane.

[Ian Roberts]

Gents - any idea if Nashville (CL-43) was painted in the new Navy Grey (5-N #7) in 1945, after the refit to repair kamikaze damage? I assume she was - since it appears the ship was at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, and from what I've read here the west coast yards got the new formulas first.

[Haijun watcher]

The Shapeways vendor COB Constructs and Miniatures is now offering a 3D-printed St. Louis/Helena class cruiser.

As many here know, these were a sub-class of the Brooklyn that had significant differences in turret placement from the rest of the class, etc. With some work, one could modify this printed model to possibly make one of the earlier members of the original class.

[MatthewB]

The Shapeways vendor COB Constructs and Miniatures is now offering a 3D-printed St. Louis/Helena class cruiser.

As many here know, these were a sub-class of the Brooklyn that had significant differences in turret placement from the rest of the class, etc. With some work, one could modify this printed model to possibly make one of the earlier members of the original class.

That St. Louis/Helena has a lot of problems with it.

The secondary turrets are mounted on some sort of shelf, when the hull sides came all the way up to the base of the 5" turrets where they were mounted. The face of the bridge looks weird, as do the stacks.

And it looks like it is printed as all one piece.

Overall it isn�t bad as a semi-scale model. But it would be a bugger to make anything realistic out of it.

MB

[maxim]

And it is only in White Natural Versatile Plastic quality, which requires a lot of work.

There is a much better kit of USS Helena by Niko Models available. Niko Models also have a lot of different variants of the Brooklyn class plus there is the early version of the class by Corsair Armada.

[Haijun watcher]

And it is only in White Natural Versatile Plastic quality, which requires a lot of work.

There is a much better kit of USS Helena by Niko Models available. Niko Models also have a lot of different variants of the Brooklyn class plus there is the early version of the class by Corsair Armada.

Well, a lot of the people who read this thread are already well aware of the various Brooklyn/St. Louis class kits there, such as this Niko 1/700 Boise which seems to be the only available member of this class on Ebay at this moment. However, if you look at the listing in the embedded link from L'Arsenal's Ebay store, the cost of this kit is about 69 Euros or 106 Canadian dollars (about 81 US dollars). Compare to this to Freetime Hobbies' listing for the Niko USS Savannah kit, which is only about 69.95 US dollars. My point is that these resin kits, while detailed and accurate, are more expensive.

While COB Constructs and Miniatures' 3D-printed models are imperfect in many ways, their St. Louis/Helena is only about 33 US dollars.

Also, I seem to recall there were also Midship Models kits of the Brooklyn/St.Louis class, such as the Helena kit, although all are obviously out of production.

[Mike C]

And it is only in White Natural Versatile Plastic quality, which requires a lot of work.

There is a much better kit of USS Helena by Niko Models available. Niko Models also have a lot of different variants of the Brooklyn class plus there is the early version of the class by Corsair Armada.

I regret to say that my Corsair Armada kit is currently out of production for upgrades and revisions. I don't have a date for reissue. It's still in the early stages.

[maxim]

While COB Constructs and Miniatures' 3D-printed models are imperfect in many ways, their St. Louis/Helena is only about 33 US dollars.

I bought two models in that quality - and the amount of work necessary only to get smooth surfaces is enormous. And top of that, the quality of details of the model by COB is low, because it was designed for much smaller scales. For me it makes no sense at all to buy of the models from this designer. If you try to convert a Pit-Road Cleveland class to a Brooklyn class, you would not have less work.

[Winks]

Any idea on what the open bridge interior looked like or how it was equipped? Thanks

[Spot]

Working on the Niko 1/700 USS Savannah right now- nice kit.

[maxim]

Yes, that is a nice kit!

I built her:


http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?op ... s&Itemid=1

I added two extra 20 mm guns next to the rear superstructure, added the additional closed bridge, and replaced the Seagull by Seahawk planes.

I would recommend to replace the resin 6" barrels by brass barrels. Masters makes them - only for Free Time Hobbbies?

[Guest]

Nice work!

I was going to make my own barrels, and I have some Trumpeter 1/700 seagulls in the stash. Otherwise I'll probably build it mostly stock.