The Ship Model Forum

Here's tonight's progress after a couple of hours of a Zoom building hangout:



Kit gives you 15 mounts but you only need 11. I figure I'll build them all and choose my favorite / best 11 to use and keep the others as spares. Essentially I just loaded a mount up, glued it, and let it sit for 20-30 minutes to make sure it was completely set before removing it and starting on the next one.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Not a lot of big visual progress this week, but the 3"/50 guns are all done so I did a little playing tonight to decide if I like the guns out or fore and aft. I'm leaning towards fore and aft as that was how the appeared to be most of the time in service.





Holes for the pedestal are threaded now but I need to get off my butt and order some.....

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

It's looking like a very clean build. Can't wait to see you starting to lay down some paint.

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http://www.f-16.net
http://www.c-130.net

Building:
1/48 Lancaster (HK)
1/350 Akagi
1/350 IJN Kongo

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Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

Not a lot of measurable photographic progress until tonight. I had started the barrel jig for the twin 5" mounts but found out I did it wrong. Initially I had put a strip of plastic right next to the pedestal:



I found two problems with this. First, the housing fit over the top, so I couldn't place the housing in place with the barrels on to look over and determine my preferred angle. Second, instead of resting on the the pedestal cradle, they fit tight enough into the housing itself that it was a lot better to glue there than on the pedestal and for various reasons it was still better to have a jig that had all three pieces. So, I chopped off the strip and moved it to the other side with the housing on to consistently position each mount. I got three done tonight and placed them on for a quick test:



Hull is primed (minus shafts and struts) and the main deck is on. I wasn't sure what height of pedestal I wanted to mount it on so I bought a set of half inch and full inch lamp risers and did a test look today:





I find myself preferring the full inch height. I'm not one for towering stands but this just looks better.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Agree on the 1” height. It just looks ‘off’ as a low rider.

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In the shipyard - Trumpeter 1/350 USS Kitty Hawk

Agreed. Nice to see you building, Tracy!

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Martin

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne

Ship Model Gallery

Well, I build fairly regularly, I just typically have model ADD and never stick with something long enough to finish.

I'm enjoying this one still though and am hoping to keep pressing on.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Almost done, Tracy. A few tweaks, add doors and other details, then it will be ready. Some of what you see here will change.

_________________
Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

Oh wow Steve, I wasn't expecting a whole new stack, just replacements for the "solid" window pieces! There is one omission on the kit on the lower level I'll email you about hopefully later tonight.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Holy Cow, Steve! This is great! After all these years waiting for a 1/350 Salem kit, I see now that I'll have to wait just a bit longer to see just what other kind of magic comes out of the Model Monkey's workshop! I really want to do this ship right as my dad served on the Salem.

Will the new stack be a single piece? I'm asking as I was thinking about lighting up the ship.

Keep up the great work!

-Frank

Thanks, fellas!

Great question, Frank. The model will come as a multi-part kit with separate decks. The exact breakdown has not yet been settled on, but as an aid to deck painting, it is intended to have the breaks at the foot of the bulkheads. In other words, the bulkheads will be fixed to the overhead, not the deck. Hopefully, this will help in lighting your model, too.

Much work yet to be done and some of what you see in the renderings above will change.

_________________
Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

Tonight was another modeling night with IPMS Seattle - our very own Jon was a repeat guest and while the numbers were down and I think we're all feeling some summer doldrums, I do have an update to make.

Prop shafts and struts are on and the hull ire ready for a repeat priming prior to paint. The major deck-edge fittings are in place - the hawse "half pipes" and bull nose are separate pieces that went on well (a touch fiddly for thick fingers though - be wary of the carpet monster).



The only area of the main deck joint that really needed any putty was forward of the gun tub. The rest is fairly seamless and better yet, the joint itself is covered by the railings. The only place that the railings are actually deck-edge starts where the hawse half pipe (not sure if that's the correct term but I'm running with it) forward to the very bow. It sort-of makes me want to complain about the excellent chocks in that in real live they are scalloped across the top and the lower railing merely passes through that open space whereas these are more solid - but this feels like an unjust complaint as how often have we had well-rendered deck-edge chocks?

Oh yeah, 5" and 3" guns are primed as well.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Nice work!

Your new bridge parts are almost done, Tracy. Rick Davis has been a big help, too.

Here are two photos of your Very Fire kit's parts followed by renderings of the new 3D design. As you can see, there are some profound and conspicuous differences, most noticeably, the shape of the pilot house and the deckhouse behind it, and of course, open windows. The Very Fire kit appears to be a very good model. Hopefully, the new 3D bridge will be "icing on the cake".

The overall dimensions of the 3D model were based on scans of US Navy Booklet of General Plans (BoGP) drawings of sistership USS Newport News CA-148. The Very Fire kit's decks are a good match to BoGP longitudinally but narrower than shown in Navy plans. The 3D model's decks are a bit wider than the kit's parts, matching BoGP drawings. Note that the 3D model is not a copy of the Very Fire kit's parts, it is an original design, but the 3D parts should fit the kit very well.

Beyond pilot house and deckhouse shapes, some of the other differences between the 3D model and the Very Fire kit's parts:
- The forward portion of the Very Fire kit's uppermost deck and platform astride the director tower is incorrectly shaped, with inaccurately straight sides. The real platform was more chevron- or arrowhead-shaped, wider at the aft end. The correct shape has been captured in the 3D model.
- Photos of the actual ship show that the Very Fire kit's deck supporting beams are simplified, too small, and inaccurately placed. The real beams are larger and of three different configurations. The 3D model's beams are accurately sized and placed and are of three different configurations.
- The 3D model's deck cutouts for inclined ladders are positioned more accurately, further aft than in the Very Fire kit's parts.
- The 3D model's round, deck edge "dimple" is more accurately shaped than the kit's parts.
- The Very Fire kit's canopy above the navigating bridge windows extends too far to the rear. It should not cover the rear-most windows. The correct shape and extents have been captured in the 3D model.
- The 3D model includes pilot house vision ports, accurately tapered toward the interior, and lowered glass coverings with accurate, riveted surrounds and hinge detail. The Very Fire kit has no detailing in this area.
- The instrumentation seen on the panels in front of the 3D model's pilot house is accurate.
- The Very Fire kit's venturi has too many baffles and the venturi is not open. The 3D model accurately captures the correct number of venturi baffles and the baffles are open.

Still looking for some good references showing the interior of the lower (flag) bridge. I'm uncertain as to the details in that area.

Some of what you see in the 3D design will change. Work yet to be done includes adding doors, checking airport (porthole) locations, adding splinter shield interior detailing, detailing the antenna trunk, and adding splinter shield ribs. I'll be sure to add the door on the aft bulkhead you mentioned. The airport missing from the kit next to that door has been captured in the 3D model. The rigols ("eyebrows") above the airports should probably be removed. Photos of Salem today don't show any rigols, which would be unusual for most ships, but perhaps the ship had them in service and for some reason they were removed later.

Let me know if you can think of anything else.

_________________
Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

Once again - thanks! This is a great community to be a small part of!



One possible caution Steve - The support posts for the Mk 56 director might not work with the 3"/50 tubs below if they get pushed out. I'll try and take a look at this later this evening and post some photos.

Otherwise this is a very fine looking upgrade!

Hope to get the Hull washed and primed this weekend and the building jigs for the main battery built. This is going to be a bit different than the other jigs as the kit guns come on blast bags, which I want to keep. Thus, I'll be gluing the barrels in, sawing off the barrels at the end of the blast bags, and then drilling out to mount, etc. When I need a break from that I'll work on painting the deck

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Concur. No worries; the 3D model's Mk.56 platforms' positions match the Very Fire kit's part for a good fit with the Very Fire kit's support posts below. This is an intentional compromise to aid the modeler. Despite the 3D model's decks being slightly wider than the Very Fire kit's parts, there remains sufficient room for the Mk.56 directors on the 3D model's platforms. The width difference is actually pretty small.

Also note that the real platforms are positioned slightly below the deck (see photo below), not flush with the deck as depicted by the Very Fire kit and the 3D model. The purist may wish to cut short the Very Fire kit's posts and lower the platforms for increased accuracy but may be more trouble than it's worth for most modelers. In scale, the height difference is less than 1 mm.

As the splinter shields receive further detailing such as the addition of internal ribs, I'll add the splinter shield's small access cutout to the Mk.56 platforms. The 3D model's splinter shields look rather thick in the renderings but actually are just 0.6 mm thin and will look very good in hand. I'll get to work on the design again tomorrow. Sundays are design days.

Your build is looking sweet. Can't wait to see it finished.

_________________
Have fun, Monkey around.™

-Steve L.

Complete catalog: - https://www.model-monkey.com/
Follow Model Monkey® on Facebook: - https://www.facebook.com/modelmonkeybookandhobby

The links to the photos of USS Salem on Modellmarine does not work anymore, because it was not linked to the intro page to these galleries, but to the galleries themselves. That software module used for the galleries does not exist anymore in the new version of the software used for the website, therefore the link to the gallery is non-functional.

The working links are:
USS Salem Part 1

USS Salem Part 2

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Most excellent! I can’t wait to order one for a Salem kitbash!

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Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Thanks for the heads up - I edited my original post to use the suggested links.

No photo progress - I haven't had a good amount of time to work on models during the last week. In fact I spent "model time" thursday night during the IPMS Seattle Zoom hang out catching up on work while listening and watching everyone else build.

That said, I did finish the prop shafts and struts and primed the hull and main deck / superstructure. I have the sheet styrene to do the barrel jig for the main battery cut out and set aside for this week's meeting. Hopefully progress photos next week?

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Didn't get a lot of modeling time tonight but I was able to start cutting out pieces for the 8" gun jig. This one is going to be a bit different as the guns come with blast bags that are fixed in elevation, but the guns were thin enough that there are subtle bends and warps in them that many people wouldn't notice but that I see "enough" to want to fix. So, the plan in this case is to glue the barrels on, figure the height out and glue in the resting plate to keep them all at the same height, and saw off each barrel at the blast bag and replace with a brass barrel. What you see here is the resting base, some spacers, and a lower base. There will be holes drilled through the two bases and the spacers will allow me to stand off the two and not have a solid chunk to drill through or sacrifice plastic for. Thin strip to the left will be for the aft turret platform to rest against so that all three turrets are keyed precisely. The resting plate that the barrels will rest on will probably come off of the bottom base, which is longer than the spacer pieces and OK to lose some length. I may also create a piece to use to drill the holes for the brass barrels at the same height but I haven't got there yet to see how feasible this is from a work flow standpoint. If I glue it in place to drill the holes, how do I then glue in the barrels that will want to extend down below those pilot holes? I've got a couple of ideas for swapable resting plates I want to try out.



More photos after I get it assembled, of course.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman