Calling all USS Indianapolis CA-35 & USS Portland CA-33 fans

[Dick J]

One of the ironies of the Nov 13th battle was that the two flagships were the only two cruisers in the US formation that lacked the SG radar. Portland had accompanied Enterprise back to Pearl after Eastern Solomons. That was when the SG was installed on the foremast and the FD sets (the starboard one of which was noted in the linked action report as not working properly since installation) on the MK-33 directors. Perhaps the lack of reference to her SG contacts was related to the lack of experience with it on the part of the crew. The SG set is still visible in the Cockatoo drydock photo. As a post script, the air search set she carried then was in the SC series rather than SA. Some action reports list it as an SC-1.

[Guest]

This is CA35 Indianapolis in prewar configuration. It is a done by 3d-printing in 1/1250 scale.

[Steve]

Is there a source for this and/or others in this or other scales?

[nanomaquette]

Actually I produce and sell 3d printed models only in 1250 scale.
This is first test print of PORTLAND.
If you interested just send me email: joerg{a}Schroeder-niehage.de
J�rg

[Quincy]

Probably her best configuration! Nice model!





Bob Pink.

[rocketmannw]

Hello all....

Please bear with me for a moment with my question.....has it been determined what color of deck the Indy had at the time of her sinking by IJN I-58 ? I have not found any sort of a definitive answer if there is one. I am creating a display of "Atomic Technology Development" showing the vehicles involved , Gadget, the devices, Enola Gay, Bock's Car, USS Indianapolis CA35 among others. Thanks in advance....

Bob

[rocketmannw]

Yippee and FINALLY !!!! I have received my 1/350 Academy 1945 USS Indianapolis kit after a long wait...now on to construction....

Bob

[MartinJQuinn]

Hello all....

Please bear with me for a moment with my question.....has it been determined what color of deck the Indy had at the time of her sinking by IJN I-58 ? I have not found any sort of a definitive answer if there is one. I am creating a display of "Atomic Technology Development" showing the vehicles involved , Gadget, the devices, Enola Gay, Bock's Car, USS Indianapolis CA35 among others. Thanks in advance....

Bob

You can't go wrong painting her in Navy Blue and Haze Grey, with Deck Blue decks, turrets tops, etc. She "may" have been painted in the newer neutral greys, but unless Tracy White has stumbled upon evidence of that at the National Archives, I'd go with the blues.

[rocketmannw]

Is this publication (Warship Pictorial No. 1 - USS Indianapolis CA-35) helpful in building the Indy or does the Number 11 cover the same material ? I have the Number 11 on the Portland & Indianapolis but have not seen the other Vol 1. Book collectors seem to want ridiculous prices from that I have seen.

Thanks,

Bob 1/350 Academy kit on the workbench

[Captain Morgan]

Is this publication (Warship Pictorial No. 1 - USS Indianapolis CA-35) helpful in building the Indy or does the Number 11 cover the same material ? I have the Number 11 on the Portland & Indianapolis but have not seen the other Vol 1. Book collectors seem to want ridiculous prices from that I have seen.

Thanks,

Bob 1/350 Academy kit on the workbench

The Indy pictorial #1 has line drawings also so IMHO it can be more useful. I you watch on eBay or other sites you ca find some for reasonable prices. But don�t expect them to be real cheap.

[Tracy White]

unless Tracy White has stumbled upon evidence of that at the National Archives, I'd go with the blues.

So far I haven't really found anything with regards to how fast the Pacific switched colors. It's something I've mulled over for my next trip, but there's a couple areas I could look and one is about 30 boxes long..... Thousand bucks a trip, give or take.... each box can take an hour even if you don't find anything to scan or photograph, that's a project to cut up over a couple of visits.

BuShips camouflage for 1945 isn't that large, but the file code for camouflage is a subset of paint, which has its own code as it was considered a preservative coating. The basic paint code, which could cover stocks, etc., is what is 30 boxes long.

[rocketmannw]

Well a new year is with us and progress is being made on the kit. Currently working on dry fitting and cleaning up the hull and deck pieces in preparation for gluing....any particular tips in applying the adhesive ? I have puttied up some minor push marks which left an indent in the hull pieces. Another step completed is the mounts for the display pedestals have been installed. I am also studying photos intensely and reviewing the multitude of parts from not only the kit, but the resin and PE from the Pontos add ons.. fun fun

[taskforce48]

Per conversation over in the Northampton Thread, here a a few pics of the Portland upper gun deck in 1940 and 1941 to show wooden decks.


Thought due to color it was possible linoleum but we see the crew is washing the deck do it's wet.


Late 1941 we clearly see the planking on the upper deck.

Matt

[G-Opt]

Color photo is matting (?), not planking, I suspect.

Nope, let me rescind that.

[DavidK]

Per conversation over in the Northampton Thread, here a a few pics of the Portland upper gun deck in 1940 and 1941 to show wooden decks.


Thought due to color it was possible linoleum but we see the crew is washing the deck do it's wet.


Late 1941 we clearly see the planking on the upper deck.

Matt

I'm wondering about the color photo. Is it colorized? The maroon deck color in the photo looks an awful lot like the color of USN wooden aircraft carrier flight decks before they switched to the weathered deck blue color. If that's a faithful colorization, then I'd say there's wood planking underneath (that's not to say wood planking wasn't ripped up and tossed overboard shortly after Pearl Harbor for the fire hazard it was though). I also have some photos of a large USS Portland model that resembles a builder's model, and those gun decks are all the same as the main deck on that model, and they're all maroon colored.

Dave

[G-Opt]

Colorized? Not sure what that means, but the teak was stained in a mahogany color, I think. Perhaps that's what you're seeing? I own a piece of teak removed from CA-30 in one of her 1930's refits on the West Coast (~1" x 1.5" x 4.5") , and it is definitely stained in a mahogany tone.

The B&W pic is more interesting as it does show planking on the "flight deck"...next to the 5" ready ammo box they're loading up.
Wonder what they were thinking in building her that way? Seems an odd decision.

[Tracy White]

The deck was not stained - Mahogany deck stain was for carriers, which had a lot of wear and tear and oils, etc.

The deck in the color photo is wet, as Matt noted, which changed the appearance.

[SeanF]

See this Idaho photo for the most excellent example of dry teak, wet teak, and red non-skid you could ever ask for and which illustrates Tracy's statement wonderfully:
http://navsource.org/archives/01/042/014200a.jpg

G-Opt's comment does get me thinking though... why did the USN pick a mahogany color for their flight deck stain? (best guess: As a darkening to cover up the grime while still being able to call it a "natural" wood tone in the days where anything cruiser or larger is expected to show off their wood decks as a sign of pride? Awfully garish for that, though. And it does raise the question of how the IJN managed to keep their unstained wood flight decks relatively clean.)

Oh, and do note: carrier decks were not teak (someone, correct me if there was an outlier to this statement. Graf Zeppelin's wood overlay above her armored flight deck maybe?)
Battleships and cruisers (and not all of them) were the ones that got the teak (when a country had access to it and/or was willing to pay for it), and they typically didn't stain it. Paint during wartime, yes, so it could be hollystoned off afterwards. Stain, no - though I'm sure there were some rare exceptions.

- Sean F.

[G-Opt]

Very good to know about the mahogany stain...I didn't know that, although I probably should have.

If not teak, what type of wood did carrier decks utilize? (This little piece I have is certainly teak, and it is stained in a mahogany shade, but the gentleman who acquired it--and a good deal more of the same wood--served on CA-30 in the mid-to-late Thirties when she was in the PacFlt.)

TIA

[DavidK]

There are around ten photos from the Life magazine story of Portland out there readily available, and many of them show wood planking in various places, e.g. the flag box area, in front of "B" turret, etc. I have also seen photos of anti-skid mat strips laid on the deck. I say strips because you can often seen between the strips down to the deck underneath.

Colorized? Not sure what that means, but the teak was stained in a mahogany color, I think. Perhaps that's what you're seeing? I own a piece of teak removed from CA-30 in one of her 1930's refits on the West Coast (~1" x 1.5" x 4.5") , and it is definitely stained in a mahogany tone.

The B&W pic is more interesting as it does show planking on the "flight deck"...next to the 5" ready ammo box they're loading up.
Wonder what they were thinking in building her that way? Seems an odd decision.