Calling all Buckley-class/Captain-class (DE/APD) fans

[Rick E Davis]

If you know her Squadron/Division mates ... look at those photos for clues. I looked at a few near numbered DE's to HILBERT and noticed few photos. It seemed that the ships were commissioned(?) in Ms 22 (for going to the Atlantic?), but I noted one photo of a unit painted in dazzle (I don't track one scheme from another sorry).

The only reason the Atlantic DE's got updated first was that their "mission" in the Atlantic was over and shipyard space was available on the East Coast to upgrade them before going to the Pacific. The AA upgrades for DE's were "authorized" in late 1944 but not acted on as best I call tell until Spring 1945. Looking at the calendar of what was going on in early 1945, a large number of the USN warships were rather busy off Philippines/Iwo Jima/Okinawa. The West Coast yards were busy with damage repairs. The use of DE's in the Pacific was not a real high priority until 1944 and seemed to be mostly EVARTS class units, at which time there were so many of them available. Even then it looks like the 5-in armed units were the ones given priority to be sent to the Pacific. The only modification to DE armament because of the Anti-Kamikaze programs started in April 1945 was to replace the aft twin 40-mm with a quad on some ships and to replace single 20-mm mounts with twin mounts. In July 1945 a real shortage of quad mounts caused a major concern about how to equip ALL of the ships scheduled for Anti-Kamikaze MODS, so I suspect further quad MODS for DE's were suspended. There were a lot of twin mounts available however. The most interesting upgrades to the DE's to me were the 3-in armed to 5-in armed upgrades to one EDSALL and about a dozen BUCKLEY's. Those ships were absolutely PACKED with guns, but so no service in the war.

I have yet to dig into DE photo files and have no idea how many, if any, Pacific units were upgraded. Post-war the surviving DE's used for NRT or Korean War recommissioned were updated, making post-war photos unreliable indicators of wartime updates.

[john53]

Hello, gave up on my Trumpeter England for a bit to do a quick
build of the old Revell 1/249 Buckley. Pretty much OOB except
for the scratch built sonar dome. Wish they had done a better
job on the 3 inch and K guns. Also rudder is incorrect, but I
like the size much better than Trumpeters.---John

[john53]

Added all the parts I could, or dare to, as not to get in the
way of railings. I am using Uni Thread 8/0 fly tying thread
for the rails and rigging.---John

[john53]

I have about 3/4 of the railings done. I can start adding
some parts. Added boat davits and whale boat, also
torpedo loading crane.---John

[robertmelvin]

I just ran across this thread and I'm very glad I did. I'm working on Revell's Buckley right now and just added England to the stash. I have to admit to a soft spot for these little ships. I wish there were more examples on the market. I'll try to post some photos of Buckley as soon as I find the charger for the camera!

One tip I can pass on. As anybody who has built Buckley can attest, the mounts for the 20mm A.A. guns are, shall we say, rudimentary. I was fiddling around, trying to come up with a better presentation when I hit on an idea that has worked out pretty well. I took a length of sprue and chucked it into my Dremel tool's little hand held extension tip. Turning the Dremel on the lowest RPMs I wet sanded and then used an X-Acto knife with a chisel tip to form a solid, conical looking base for the 20mms. I have to say, they turned out pretty well. I then cut the molded on base off the guns and sanded a flat spot on the top of the turned bases to let me mount the guns in whatever position I wanted. I did most of them in an elevated position, like they would be found when not in action. I'm pleased with the result. Definitely looks better than the straight kit gun. Again, I'll try to post some photos as soon as I find that darned charger!

Anybody got any ideas for improving those Gawd awful 3" guns and the twin 40mm? Other than adding the GMM PE, which I have and am using, my scratch building skills and inspiration, limited at the best of times, have deserted me when it comes to those.

Bob

[robertmelvin]

A little post script to my post above. By any chance does anybody know of a vendor that sells after market guns, etc., in the 1/249 scale of Buckley? I haven't been able to track any such beast down, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find it exists and I just haven't located it yet.

TIA,

Bob

[Buckley]

I purchased a second kit for the rudder and second twin 40mm. I cut the second 40mm in half and glued it to the ends of the first twin 40mm and lowered the mount by cutting the top off. Now I have a quad 1.1 inch Chicago Piano. Only two Buckley's were commissioned with the twin 40's, Buckley and Reuben James the rest had the quad 1.1 inch. It is not perfect but it worked for me.
Thanks

[john53]

I'm not sure about aftermarket but what I was pondering was making
canvas covers for the offending guns. Maybe using tissue and white
glue? I've seen lots of pictures with the guns covered.---John

[Rick E Davis]

Robert,

About the only aftermarket "stuff" in the roughly 1/249 scale are from H-R Fittings. Fittings in various "odd scales" for plastic kits, intended for wood hull kits and scratch-builders, from this vendor have been around for sometime and are kind of a pain to get because vendors have a hard time getting restocks from them. Detail isn't as good as more recent resin equipment. FLOATING DRYDOCK carries H-R along with other vendors.

... http://floatingdrydock.com/fittings.htm ...

[robertmelvin]

Rick, looks like their 1/256 scale items would work on Buckley, but I think I'm just going to stick with OOB plus the GMM PE set. I started this one as just a "fun" build and I don't think I want it to get out of hand, as so many of mine tend to do. I'm pretty well satisfied with the way the mounts for the 20 mm's turned out. I've been giving some thought to see what could be done to improve the main armament, but I don't intend to invest in any replacements. One thing I do think I'm going to do is scratch build the bilge keels using the England kit as a model, then scale them up. Just doesn't look right without the bilge keels to me.

Thanks for the input,

Bob

[john53]

Here's pictures of DE with canvas over guns.---John

[robertmelvin]

Thats certainly one way to deal with those main armament mounts. Might just be an idea!

Thanks, John.

Bob

[john53]

I just finished 2 more rails and gun tubs. All that is left now is radar, mast,
and 8 depth charge davits. Then 2 small rails, rigging and need to find a black
stripe decal for the black boot on hull.---John

[Russ2146]

Bob, take my word for it, the love for these ships can be tempered by spending a few days on one in the North Atlantic in Winter. The props biting into thin air as you crest rollers can do that.

[phil gollin]

Bob, take my word for it, the love for these ships can be tempered by spending a few days on one in the North Atlantic in Winter. The props biting into thin air as you crest rollers can do that.

Which highlights one of the main failings of the ships and the kits - the bilge keels.

The kits, obviously, are lacking them and the real life ships didn't have big enough ones. The RN modified theirs (in two ways a "simple" short extension and a more complicated long, triangular one) to try to cure some of their awful motion problems. That, plus lots of changes to weight distribution helped, but they had a terrible reputation for movement in heavy weather or long-swells - the original (unmodified) ones being compared to the Flower class.

.

[robertmelvin]

Bob, take my word for it, the love for these ships can be tempered by spending a few days on one in the North Atlantic in Winter. The props biting into thin air as you crest rollers can do that.

Russ, funny you should make that post. I'm currently reading "Halsey's Typhoon", a great book about Typhoon Cobra and its impact on the Third Fleet. While it addresses to some degree the bigger issues of the whys and wherefores of Halsey's decisions that led to him steaming his fleet right into the teeth of that monster, most of the book is written from the perspective of the officers and crew on the DDs and DEs caught in the belly of the beast. You can almost feel the wind and scud peeling the skin from your face as you fight your way across open decks!

Don't get me wrong, my love for these "little boys" is limited to building them. I've had the experience of being in larger ships in just moderately rough weather. Trust me, I nurse no illusions about being on one of those ships in truly rough weather! Definitely not what you'd want to ride out a tropical cyclone in.

If you haven't read "Halsey's Typhoon" I'd strongly recommend it to anybody with an interest in the history of World War II in the Pacific.

John, your Buckley is looking great, especially since you are doing her strictly OOB, with no PE. Super work. Have you considered painting your boot topping rather than using a decal?

We finally located the missing charger for our camera last night, so I'll try to post some shots of my Buckley in progress tonight or in the morning.

Bob

[john53]

All parts on. Now to do black stripe for boot at waterline then
decals and rigging. I put 2 pieces of rigging on.---John

[robertmelvin]

John, she's looking good. You're going to have a model you can be proud of.

I don't want to hijack anybody's thread, but I thought I'd throw in a few pics of my Buckley in progress. Hull is painted and I've got the deck and some of the superstructure attached. Need to paint the verticle surfaces, then once that has fully dried, masks and paint the decks. I'm using the GMM PE set for her, so I've ground off the ready lockers for the K-Gun depth charges. Also removed the molded on stantions. Comments are most welcome.









This will give you a little better idea of what I've done to try to dress up the 20 mm A.A. guns. I know they aren't perfect, but I think they look better than stock kit.



Finally, various parts of the superstructure, etc, awaiting painting.



Thanks for looking,

Bob

[john53]

Bob---hijack away!!!! I did LOL. Looks like your off
to an excellent start. I am going to add another one
to the stash and after I move and resettle do her up
right! Keep the pictures coming, I need ideas! Are
you doing the sonar dome? I have some good information
if needed.---John

[john53]

Almost done with all the rigging I want. No need to over rig and bend the mast!
Now to find Some black decals for the boot.---John