Revell 1/240 Campbeltown as DD 301 USS Somers

[Triumph68]

This gonna be a though one as its my first bigger scale project....and making a early version of these four stackers from a late version... will need some modifications

kit looks good on first sight...but as others pointed out...they where flushdecks...meaning...there was no side board ....and some gaps...well don realy know what they are for...
put a 1/400 scale hull next to it for comparisation

[drasticplastic]

Are you sure you got the fit right?? That looks soooo immensely bad if that's a Revell error. At least they built it as a pre-modified version for the St. Nazaire raid, so you can build any other ship in that class. Are you going to make corrections and add any and all AM accessories? Looks like it's got way too much rake to the bow!

[Triumph68]

guy's....its not my first ship....and USS Somers...I already did 2 (viewtopic.php?f=59&t=168184) and all research is still in my head and PC....yes some things are fully wrong and when looking at some pics of her done by others...most left the sideboard and its hardly visible...but its there...and I know it...
on the other hand.... I also have seen some who eliminated the problem...and that is what I'm gonna do.
btw ..the gap is actualy to fit in a wall for the bridge...not gonna make it that way...
She will be modified in order to look exactly the same as my 1/400 scale ones....just with more details, and that is gonna be next challenge...
on a 1/400...a little piece of plastic can be seen as a box...that same box on 1/240 scale...needs to be looking like a box and not like a piece of plastic...
done some scratch building experiences...a LCM, LCVP, 2 different tanks to go in the landingcraft LCT and a Jeep ..on 1/400...the jeep is only 8 mm long and when looking at it...you recognise it immediatly ...it has chairs and even a home made stearing wheel...
my only problem will be ...me...how far do I wanna go in detail

[Triumph68]

deeds talk better than words....so....
first testing if simple removal from wooden deck planks.....they had steel decks ...not wooden...looks good and relatively easy...just time consuming
I cut verticaly the side...put little plastic pieces where needed to compensate horizontal board thickness....now that looks more like it....

[Triumph68]

been looking to other revell builds...I like this one http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... /index.htm
nicely and well done very detailed...gratz

[Triumph68]

now that I brought the deck a little higher.....a new problem arose...the original deck is under the board so not 100% and by raising ....length not same...
a gab....as I am gonna build the closed square center part....it would not have been a big problem as the gab is inside.....only...the chimney is now a little to far to the front...so had to cut just before first chimney and fill the gab......

now chimney is ok to go inside
you might have noticed...I scraped the whole deck already...no more wood

[Triumph68]

FYI or reminder...this is Target
and this is what mine looked like in scale 1/400

[drasticplastic]

A real nice source for reference is the 1/700 Ward by Flyhawk. It is in 1941 fit. It may be a little small, but I believe it is very accurate.

[Triumph68]

A real nice source for reference is the 1/700 Ward by Flyhawk. It is in 1941 fit. It may be a little small, but I believe it is very accurate.

mm...ok its indeed good for size...first thing I see...too many portholes on center castle...there should be only 7 and not 11 as its in the kit and they are to high .. based on real ship pictures
as the 2 portholes on the revell are also in the wrong place .... I filled them and will make 7 at the correct place

I have about 30 pictures of real 4 pipes in my database and a few plans, if I had more time I would have added some more stuff on the scale 1/400 ..as they where given as present I was in time limit.
but they represent rather exact the 4 pipes in the mid twenty's...period I make the USS Somers, for she only was active from 1920 to 1930
all kits on the market represented the stackers from WW II period so I have to make modifactions ...use no AA guns etc
this one is for me...I'll be in no time stress

[drasticplastic]

Is it just me, or do the upper and lower forward porthole rows look too far apart, forcing the waterline to be lower than it should be and reducing the lower hull? I am comparing the two pics of Somers (model and real ship) and the lower row of portholes on the model look too low.

[Triumph68]

Is it just me, or do the upper and lower forward porthole rows look too far apart, forcing the waterline to be lower than it should be and reducing the lower hull? I am comparing the two pics of Somers (model and real ship) and the lower row of portholes on the model look too low.

yes ...about 1-1.5 mm would have done the job, making that the new waterline would have started at the now top of waterline...doesn't look much but hey lets not forget 1mm is 40 cm on the real ship.
at the time I was in a dilemma ...but decided not to make the modifications....good I didn't for the ships would have hade more time delay...and they would not have been done in time....I finnished them at 1 in the morning taking flight at 6...very close call

[Triumph68]

started modifying bridge....made the winglets and a new part of wall to make front castle go untill side..cut all sideboards of flydeck...put Gold medal windows.....they do make it look way better...and its more easy to work PE this size than the 1/400

[Triumph68]

with the new extra longer front wall...adapting all other things is next step....
and with roof on...

[Triumph68]

now some might wonder why I did this modification....put it on the ship now....its shows better...actualy its to me a constuctional mistake in the kit...in reality the bridge goes all te way to the side above and connecting with the side arch..... now mine is and I'll keep it open on maindeck like on my 1/400 scale

[ModelMonkey]

[Triumph68]

a little picture story...of how you can recover and use....left overs
in this case...german doors and portholes almost new...almost empty....reworked it to the added platform for my USS Somers
hope you like it

[Triumph68]

on the ship

[drasticplastic]

Very ingenious!

[Triumph68]

mmm.... in right top corner the plastic kit part...you can understand ...for me even with the added PE...not good enough
So cutting the PE frames of used and empty 1/400 railings... and started to scratch build something ...say more complex...not done yet...but getting close
of course there are 2 identical...and both are at same state now

[Willie]

Hi there Triumph68 and all,

Excellent your solution for the lattice structures, simple and very clean.
I have to say though that the structures under the davits have got the wrong shape: they were not 90� angled, but round. I made my own after crossing some pictures that show basically the same thing, so the info is reliable. I used he elements that Revell offers in their kit, completed with Evergreen and stretched sprue.
This was my solution for the problem :

Obviously, your PE davits are definitive, if compared with my own.
Keep the good job, and very best regards from this side,

Willie.[/size]