The Ship Model Forum

As I said I was going to redo the girder work under the 8" firecontrol platorm. I wasn't satisfired with the look when I compared it to the photos in WP 33. So first it was off with what I had done. I then snaded down the splinter shields on the front of flag plot as they seemed just out of whack. THen I started again with a piece of .10 styrene and shaped it to the bottom of the platform. I had a lot of trouble working with such flimsy stuff so after messing up two different ones I made a template out of .40 stock and then used that to make the .10 piece. Then it was the rim pieces, again smaller than I had used before, then the struts, and finally the cross pieces. When it was all done I liked the look better although it's not really a big difference I know and that's the important part.

I've been doing a lot of work on the bridge and funnel structures so I guess I'll get the bridge out of the way first as most of it was detail work, ladders, rails, and such.

I had to go back and look at what I had already posted on the funnel structure so I wouldn't repeat myself but there has been a lot going on here. I changed the bracing under the small platform under the upper gun plat form, and added railings and a ladder. I also added those curious little bulges on the aft splinter mattresses. Have no idea what they are but they're in pictures so I put them in. I used extra flashing from the PE set to form them. I detailed out the supports under the rear platforms and added a ladder from the top one to the upper AA platform. I started to add dividers on the SHielding around the front quad 1'1's but as I investigated the hinged platforms for the boat pockets I came to another discrepancy in scale so will most likely remove all of what is original and build from scratch. I added the braces under the radar room and a ladder from the top to the upper AA platform.

Good thorough work!!


JIM B

OK! It's time for those mysterious little boxes under the searchlights on the upper AA platform. They aren't in any of the drawings I've come across so there was no way to scale them. It was all trial and error. Build one that seemed about right and then adjust from there. It took several tries but I finally settled on one I was content with. I changed from .030 stock to .015 for the frame. The support in the middle I built around was .080 square. The hardest part was those #%$%#@$%$% cross braces! They're so damn tiny! I finally ended up taking some PE railing and stripping off one strand at a time. Then I would dip one end in glue, set it in one corner, let that dry, then use a pin to put glue under the other corner, press it in, and when that was set, then snip it, and on to the next one. Sounds reasonably easy but I said many a cross word during this phase. I had to take my magnifiers up to their highest lens, which meant I almost had my nose in it to do the work. Oh well, at least it's done now. Once they were glued in place I could make and install the final girder that sits in front of them.

Now it's on to the 1.1 quads scattered around the ship. First the hinged platforms.

I took the drawings on pg 70 of WP 33 down to the local copiers and enlarged them until they actually fit the 3/8 = 1 foot scale and then took measurements from them. I got lucky and made the correct enlargement on the first try. How's that for being good?

A word about scale here before I go on. Having accurate drawings I was amazed at how things actually scaled out. 1 foot equates to about .030 inches in 1/350 scale. With that in mind I measured the kit parts and of course they weren't even close except in one respect, the under supports were right at least as far as they went. The thickest portion of the supports, where they come out of the pocket, scaled out to just fractionally over one foot or .030. Trumpeter got that part right partially. They also were the same thickness or approximately one foot square. So much for getting it right. They also had the taper only at the end instead of from the hull out as the drawing shows.

I decided to do it all from scratch rather than salvage anything from the kit. I also made a couple of decisions on scale and how I would depict it. The correct scale for the height listed on the shielding would be .120. The thickness would be less than .010 but I decided on .015 as being the most practical from a strength standpoint, one of a few choices between being correct and being able to actually make it. The thickness of the strut at the outer end is about four inches and the decking I used was .030, about a foot in real life but anything thinner isn't really practical. So figuring in the thinckness of the deck and the height of the shielding it comes out about .14 inches. The closest styrene strip I could get was .156 so I went with it.

The supports came next. The diagram shows tham in two separate pieces, hinged, and then bolted together. At first look I had thoughts of making the inner supports and the under bracing separate but when scale came into play I changed my mind and made it all in one piece. The scale I came up with is .015 by .about .040. I say about as the way I made it was to take .015 strip, cut it to length, take those sections and in turn cut them down to the correct thickness. (A note here, a tool I use extensively in wooden models comes into play quite a bit here also in plastic. I refer to my cutter for making clean square or angled cuts and repeating them) Then when all glued in place and thoroughly set I sanded them to the correct shape. Now I had platforms with the right size and the supports extending out enough in the back to mount them.

The next step was the platforms around the bridge and funnel structures. I had already done the one on the bridge structure but after scaling the hinged platforms I assumed the rest of the shielding would be of a similar height so removed what was there and replaced it with thinnner and higher stock. Then I made the bases for the deck level platforms.

I didn't get a lot of pics as I was doing this so here are all of the different pieces together in one pic.

While roaming around pics for correct details for the 1.1's I also found another discrepancy with the kit. It deals with the deck levels of the funnel 20mm gun platform and the end of the structure where the 8" guns had been. There is a definite difference in height and they do not connect as the kit depicts them! Damn!!!!!! Also the kit has 9 20 mm guns on the platform when there are only 6! Here we go again. Can't these sorry SOB's get anything right!!!!

My first thought was to lower the gun deck but the more I looked the better it seemd the solution was to raise the rear platform while at the same time cutting the 20 mm platform back so that's the path I took. I cut back the overhang on the existing structure, matched that outline with .020 strips equal to about 8 inches in height, and then added a new deck of .030 affectively raising it about a foot and a half. After cutting the 20 mm platform back I had to again add the rear shielding.

Now for the other 1.1 platforms around the ship that I've only started on. The rear one was converted from a 3" mount so I assume that explains it's weird shape of a box with a round bulge sticking out. Also there are 2 50 cal AA machine guns on a platform tied into this. Again Trumpeter missed the boat and has them both on the same level. The picture on pg 57 of WP 33 clearly shows the weird shape of the 1.1 platform and the higher level of the 50 cal deck. So it was off with all the trim and down to flat decking to build up from. That's as far as I've gotten for now but I already had pics so will post them now and get them out of the camera and a few less I have to resize to post.

Well the work on the combination quad 1.1 and 20mm mounts on the aft of the ship is progressing. The more I looked at the pics in WP33 the more I came to dislike any of the kit parts. It's also clear that the large tub was built above deck level and the 20mm platform seems to be about the height of the liferails. So I cut off the stub I had left on the hull and worked totally from scratch.

I made a new deck (took two tries to get it right) and then started adding splinter shielding, the raised deck for the 20mm, the bracing under that, the railings around that, and then after mounting the starboard side subassembly the supports for that from brass wire rod. I didn't like the kit parts and location so filled the dimples in the hull. I have the two main supports, the one brace centered straight across, and the first two diagonal braces as these are in one piece. The other diagonal will have to be in two pieces and they are tiny! Yikes!

I have the subassembly for the port side almost done, just missing the 20mm supports and railings
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One thing I haven't quite decided is what to do with the transition from deck level in the 1.1 tub to the 20mm platform. There has to be some kind of step, ladder, or something. The smallest ladder with rails I have is way too big so it will probably be PE flat laddrs in some form.

Also I noticed in a different picture from the sinking with a different viewpoint the 1.1 tub top is lower than the 20mm. I had made them both the same. Was thinking of how to raise the 1.1 to clear the shielding but now I guess that won't be necessary after I lower the shielding. I have quite a few pics but not the computer availability to post them just yet but will get them up as soon as possible.

Well I got both sides done and here are the pics. Probably have to do two batches as you can only put six on one post.

I did cut down the tops of the 1.1 tub and found a ladder small enough for the transition from the 1/1 to the 20mm. It was in my PE set for the Lex as part f12. There are four in the PE, two in the regular kit and I can only find one place in the directions for where they go.

lvs, maybe the step 'was' the platform for the 20mm's and you had to go through a part of the splinter sheild that may have been designed as a gate or door. take a look at these two pics. Usually they show all doorways, ladders, hatches ets in these plans but nothing is shown here, unless I missed something. Looks to me for what it's worth, there is no need for steps or stairs. BTW, I am awed by the attention to detail of your build. Your work and that of Chris Smithers are what keeps me inspired and motivated to work on my kit when time permits. Look forward to your thoughts on this.

Jon I think you are correct as for the AA platforms having no step. The 1.1" had STS added...the .50cal's had pipe rails with splinter mats secured to them. The height of the STS was less than the height of the rails/mats. This makes it appear that there are 2 different levels on the platform's (fwd and aft platforms). Great build...I too am watching! Ive got 2 started 1/350 Lex's going....

Jerry

Here are the rest of the pics of the aft gun tubs.

I also added a pic of my work bench with the blowup of pg 57 of WP33 that I used as a guide. I've found if I take the book down to Kinko's and enlarge what I'm working on to 200% it comes out in an 11x17 size and is much easier to work with.

Jon you are showing the front platforms while I was working on the aft ones. As I have looked at the front ones now that the aft are done I see many similarities. BOth had a 3" gun and 50 cal machine guns to start. The elevations on the front are slightly different from the aft ones though. There are several photos in WP33 that show the difference but the best is the one on 57 that I enlarged. It shows all the differences in the two levels as well as the supports for both. I had to crop the pic heavily to get it to fit here.

The schematic shows the original setup for the 3" gun and then the higher platform. I assumed these stayed pretty much the same with the shielding added later. Anyway the pics show how I made ot for my Lex.

lvs, I am sorry about that. When I was looking at your post I just thought it was the forward platforms that you were referencing. I had a reply to Jerry regarding the forward platform but will not post so that I don't create any confusion in your build thread.

One question for you concerning the bracing under the 1.1's in the blown up pic and drawing. Does it look like a life raft may have been hung in the area where there is that smaller bracing that runs verticaly? I need to look at my book again but it semmed to me that the bottom of that brace had a curve that would support a raft. Maybe that is where that big 'tomato' thing below, floating on the water was hung? Just curious.

Jon C Ryckert wrote:lvs, I am sorry about that. When I was looking at your post I just thought it was the forward platforms that you were referencing. I had a reply to Jerry regarding the forward platform but will not post so that I don't create any confusion in your build thread.

One question for you concerning the bracing under the 1.1's in the blown up pic and drawing. Does it look like a life raft may have been hung in the area where there is that smaller bracing that runs verticaly? I need to look at my book again but it semmed to me that the bottom of that brace had a curve that would support a raft. Maybe that is where that big 'tomato' thing below, floating on the water was hung? Just curious.

I noticed the thing you are talking about and just figured it came from somewhere. The pic on pg 57 seems to have a water mark? stain? something on the supports under the 1.1 platform. But the pic on pg 61 gives a good view from straight back and shows the supports to be straight. I have no idea of what the box with cross bracing is in the schematic but can't find anything in any pic to match that although it does look suspiciosly like the boxes under the searchlights on the funnel upper aa platform.

Just so you know the forward platforms are my next step so any comments on them is appreciated.

I dithered some but finally came to the conclusion that the platforms I'm working on now had 50 cal mg's and the 20mm did not get installed. So I took off the kit shielding on both the rear 20mm platforms and the front 1.1 mounts.

The rear platfroms ones were too short and also did not go all the way to the edge of the flight deck as in real life.

The front platforms were also too short and the shape of the rounded protusion did not seem right. The flat parts beside the protusion seemed too small. So while I had the shielding off I filed and sanded them to what I thought was a better rendition of what was actually there. I first put the shielding on in one piece to get the curve on the corner to fit and then cut out the section for the rounded protusion and put that in.

Now all I have to do is all those tiny little strips on them and also the lower funnel gallery which I have been ignoring as the tedium of all those little tiny pieces and getting them glued and aligned does not appeal to me but I guess it's time to bite the bullet.

lvsquarerigger wrote:OK, I lied, or at least fibbed a little. I couldn't just let it be so I tried a little different way to make the holes.

I first sized a drill to match the space in the fairleads, figured this was an easy way to scale it, chucked it in my cordless Dremel, and proceed to clean up the existing holes, and also replaced 3 different sections and then redrilled them.

Also cut the shields down as I thought they should be.

lv, looking at your pics of the splinter shields for the 5/25's, I think that the shields were probably welded to the inner side of the chocks and not a oval hole cut in the shield. Look at this picture I scanned and cropped from WP33, page 18, top pic. It appears to me that by looking at the chock and the brace forward of it that the shield is mounted inboard of the chock. Not sure if you have already noticed this or not but if you have please disregard.

On another matter, in this pic, are those smaller life rafts that are stowed in the safety nets forward of the 5/25's? I should post this in the CASF thread but I'm too lazy right now.

Jon C Ryckert wrote:

lvsquarerigger wrote:OK, I lied, or at least fibbed a little. I couldn't just let it be so I tried a little different way to make the holes.

I first sized a drill to match the space in the fairleads, figured this was an easy way to scale it, chucked it in my cordless Dremel, and proceed to clean up the existing holes, and also replaced 3 different sections and then redrilled them.

Also cut the shields down as I thought they should be.

lv, looking at your pics of the splinter shields for the 5/25's, I think that the shields were probably welded to the inner side of the chocks and not a oval hole cut in the shield. Look at this picture I scanned and cropped from WP33, page 18, top pic. It appears to me that by looking at the chock and the brace forward of it that the shield is mounted inboard of the chock. Not sure if you have already noticed this or not but if you have please disregard.

On another matter, in this pic, are those smaller life rafts that are stowed in the safety nets forward of the 5/25's? I should post this in the CASF thread but I'm too lazy right now.

Jon I think you're right but it was pg 38 not 18. You had me wondering as I had just quoted something from the blueprints on pg 18. Anyway I scanned the same photo, cropped as you did, and then could enlarge it and it does look as if the fairlead is outside the splintershield. It isn't that hard to change as it just involves that one small piece and I had done that once already.

Thanks for the sharp eyes.

James

Well I bit the bullet and got all those little pieces done on the various splinter and mattress shielding around the ship. Byt the time I was on the lower funnel gallery it was almost rote. Dip, place, let it sit, snip, mark the next one and start all over. One of the pics shows the long length of stripping I was using. Went through 2 1/2 strips to do it all.

The next big pain is all those itty bitty little braces on the quad 1.1 platforms!