Return of the Destroyers! Apr. 15-Oct. 15, 2011

[Simon_Hwood]

USS GEARING 1/350th Dragon

A small amount of progress over the weekend, the 5"practice loaders have been assembled, and fitted.





working on the assembly of the after funnel and painting the torpedo tubes. As USN is not my normal bag I don't have a vast library of detail references, what colour should the torpedoes be? the moulding of the mount is well detailed, and underneath shows quite a bit of the torpedoes, doubt they will show on the finished model, but would like to get it right.

Si

[robertmelvin]

Simon, I've seen Gearing modeled with the torpedo launchers painted overall Haze Grey (or whatever the appropriate superstructure color is for the camo scheme you are using, as well as painted with the tops done Deck Blue and undersides done in the lighter color. I'm sure that the accuracy mavens will disagree with me, but I'm not sure there really is a "right" color scheme for them, within certain parameters. But then my approach to camo allows for a certain degree of artistic license to accommodate my air brushing skills and my personal preferences in how my models look.

Bob

[Rick E Davis]

I'm not an expert about torpedo "colors", but I believe that unless you are modeling a torpedo being loaded, only the ends will be exposed. The Mk 14 torpedo had a copper/brass nose ... unless it was a practice torpedo that had a yellow nose for easier retrieval. I'm not sure what color the body of the Mk 14 was, it seems to vary in the images I have seen. I thought that I had seen ones in museums in a "haze grey" type scheme.

Here are a couple of views ... try doing a Google image search for Mk 14 torpedos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/481 ... /lightbox/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... orpedo.JPG

Generally the mounts themselves were painted according to the camo scheme ... tops deck blue ... sides and bottom match to the vertical surfaces for that location. The "demarcation" line between the two varied ... look at some photos to figure out where you want to place it.

[Simon_Hwood]

Many thanks Bob / Rick, very useful stuff.

Having googled, there are a confusing number of colours it seems for the body of the torpedo, but as there was one pic of a loaunch from a Fletcher class with the torp in mid air, the body colour looked very dark, could be black, as some of the pics show black body & brass head, I will go with that. Your comments on the tubes fit with what I had already learned.

Thanks again guys.

Si

[Rick E Davis]

After I posted I got to thinking some more about the "color" of torpedos. I recalled seeing photos of sailors loading torpedos aboard a destroyer and then cleaning and lubricating them before loading. I'll bet the body of torpedos were not painted, that would have made it harder to get them in the tubes and out again, but were given a lubricate coating to retard rust/corrosion. The torpedos on display would need to be painted or they would rust over time. I thought I had an image I scanned from one of the photos at NARA ... it took me awhile to find it, but here it is. It is a B&W image, but I'll wonder if the body isn't a "gunmetal" or "steel" color. Something I didn't notice before, they used a special "rubber(?)" strap to lift them.

Taken aboard NICHOLAS (DD-449) in July 1943. The torpedos on all USN WWII destroyers would have been the same.

[Simon_Hwood]

Good call Rick.

Thanks for the further info. I think I will go with the steel body and brass nose cap, probably won't be that visible on the finished model, but, might just add the tiniest touch of colour.

Thanks for the assist

Si

[Simon_Hwood]

Here's the torpedoes painted in the tubes. Nice contrast. Again thanks for the assist Rick



A close up of the fitted, they do show.



Overall progress, the after funnel has been added, along with the torpedo tubes, and all the watertight doors on the superstructure, the searchlight and the railing arond it's platform.



Si

[Simon_Hwood]

Railings have been added to No.1 deck level, the GMM pre-sized railings are an excellent fit. A couple sections of stock two bar have been added arround the ammo boxes just aft the fwd 20mm mounts. Also the latice mounts for the directors for quad 40mm have been added, I folded up one of each (Kit & GMM) and felt the GMM ones looked ever so slightly better so went with them.



Si

[taskforce48]

Looking good Simon

Matt

[Gary Griffith]

Sorry for the last post. Please disrequard my posting as Gary Griffith1, here is the actual entry. I have desided to enter this build. I will be building DML's new Prewar USS Benson( 1/350th). I plan to do it in measure 2 (the 3 grey tone) scheme which she wore in late 1941.

[Quincy]

Worked on my Van Ghent today. Just gotta get some pics to show. There is always tomorrow.



B ob Pink.

[moomoon]

Pics please Quincy

Slow progress here... spending lot of time waching pics to search details and rigging arrangement.

searchlight

Bye.

[Quincy]

Okay. I finally got to work on Van Ghent this weekend and today. I added BFM bollards fore and aft. Cut out the bridge windows and added Lionroar replacements. I dry fitted superstructure parts to deck to check out for alignment issues. I then painted entire hull in Humbrol 507C. I waited for this to dry and then painted false bow wave in Humbrol white and Humbrol 88 Green. I still have to paint dark gray camouflage on the hull and paint the decks. I ran out of tape so this means I have to go to Lowes or Home Depot before I can do this. Its always something? Isn't it!


















Bob Pink.

[Simon_Hwood]

USS GEARING, 1/350th

More slow but steady progress, the platform for the 20mm abeam of the asfter funnel has been added.



The basic assembly on the main armament has been done, and test fitted.



And I have started painting the plastic parts for the twin bofors



More soon

Si

[roy allen]

Nice work guys
I've had to stop for a short while as my eyes are playing up

Theres a really nice cross section of navies and periods on this group build

Roy

[California Bound]

1/350 Trumpeter Admiral Panteleyev built as Marshal Shaposhnikov.

Hi Everybody,

Now with Scharnhorst done, I can finally join in. I must say that all the fine details I see you guys putting an such small ships makes me feel kind of guilty at how little I intend to modify on this fairly large ship. So, here's the progress as of earlier this morning.



Dan.

[Fletcher]

Not a lot to look at yet, I have the hull together and the deck stripped off and the first layer of styrene on. I will add the detail plating later. I used the kits prop guards, which I sanded down to reduce the profile on the lower horizontal section by half the width it was molded in. Now it looks much better. I plugged the 7 portholes per side that were not on the Reuben James in 1939 and I have added the Anchor ramps. I need to do a little putty work and sanding on the hull, then it will be ready for paint.

006.JPG (56.63 KiB) Viewed 2786 times

004.JPG (57.78 KiB) Viewed 2786 times

[California Bound]

Fletcher,

Historically speaking, is there anything that would involve your ship and sub designs? Looking at your hull, makes me think of a submarine with the shape of your bow and your prop guards.

Dan.

[California Bound]

1/350 Marshal Shaposhnikov ("Posh" for easier typing)

I finally got to start building last week. I added all the parts that will be red to the lower hull. I didn't feel like getting "dirty" yet though, so I haven't put any putty on the seams around the sonar, or done any sanding yet.

I moved on to the upper hull, and drilled out the port holes. I want to change a little bit around the anchors but put that off for now as well. Over the past year I've taken out the parts many times to get a feel for the kit. At some point, I didn't put them back correctly and now the upper hull has developed a slight warp at the rear right corner and doesn't want to sit flat against the lower hull anymore.

Anyways, moving on...

What I really wanted to start was the radar photo etch of course. So I got this far.


At this point, while trying to place the ladders, I realized that too many things were wrong. I stopped, and did more checking. This is what I came up with:
1) I made a mistake and mixed up reference pics from multiple ships of the class.
2) Some catwalks are missing. Not provided by Trumpeter or GMM.
3) While I like the upper photo etch, I believe its effect is ruined by the use of the solid platforms lower on the mast.

I got lucky and ordered the last copy of the White Ensign set that Freetime Hobbies had in stock. Thanks to their usual great service, it was already here and waiting for me this weekend.

I don't want to use the photo etch mast because it's supposed to be round, so I had to try and remove the plastic platforms. Most of the prior etch was destroyed and the platforms nearly took the mast with them. This is how the new mast looks(it took every available free moment I had). I've built it as a sub assembly to paint easier. Domes and main radar will be painted separately and added later. Not all components will be used, as Posh isn't apparently fully equipped as compared to the model. Main section of middle platform is left empty, and bottom platform electronics are shaped differently. It's not shaped right, but I improvised by altering the original parts.





Next week I want to work on the foremast. It also has some ship specific parts, and it appears that I will have to combine both sets of PE in order to get closer to the correct results.

Dan.

[moomoon]

Hello,
I'm slow but I also worked a bit...

General view

Eybrows to portholes made with electric wire

added details to the bridge

Bye.