Glad you cleared that up. I did check out all the NavSource photos on NORTH CAROLINA and it's hard to tell if the rig is like AL or NJ, but now I'm leaning towards AL's config; as you state, the IOWAs had a setup that differed from the earlier ships.
I'm wondering if the clothesline setup allowed them to rotate the halyards inward towards the conning tower (it is on pulleys also) and possibly replace the halyards as necessary without having to send crewmen up to "man the yards", but simply did it from the conning tower.
Hank
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69
Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48
Good information here. It looks like the signal flag attachment was a two part deal. One clipped on to one end of the halyard, and the other attached either to the other end of the halyard or another flag, as deemed by the message to be conveyed, which would seem to necessitate one end of the halyard being attached to the flag box and the other to a railing of some sort.
With these larger scale model ships, it is easier to replicate the attachment of the rigging, when the knowledge of how it is attached is made clear.
The Shapeways Mk32 (5") and Mk 37's showed up today in the post. The box was quite well packed and large. I think you could have dropped it from 35,000' without damage. So far the items look quite good but hard to evaluate as they are translucent.
Steve's 5" twin mk 32 mounts and Mk 37 directors arrived from Shapeways. Took a plunge into 3D parts. What they promise best at the moment is correct sizing. Shape ways is quite organized as to shipping dates and package tracking. My box arrived a day early (USPS has done well lately) and well packed. As the items are translucent it is hard to judge accurately the surface finish, but it appears pretty good if not perfect. The five inch rifles look quite delicate, but smooth and I am sure accurate in size. They slip into the mount as a press fit and allow elevation. The mount rings are fixed to the piece that forms the mount floor. To rotate some additional structure is necessary. Mine just happen to just slip over some previous mount rings aft. Perhaps I will use magnets to hold them to the ship.
Measuring the director it appears to be slightly longer than wide, with the length about 7" (scale) too long for 1:192. As this item is not supposed to have overhang for the rotating base it should be the same width and length. I am not conversant with the vagaries of the 3D process and fully expect some dimensional minor issues as with resins. The director has no bottom piece though this is not really an issue as it is quite simple to construct one to fit my bases. The width mikes out as 120", ten feet, the drawings I have for the Mk2 11-16 director show a dimension of 9' 3 1/2". pretty close and certainly better dimensionally than my scratch items. However I will need to re do my director bases to a greater diameter to fit. A thin styrene wrap will probably do the trick.
Cheers: Tom
The mk 32 5" twins fit nicely over the drawings I have so I haven't miked it.
A lot of promise here to make available items that never could see the light of day as injected molded pieces.
Really happy to hear that the mounts and director look good and that Shapeways produced, packaged and shipped the items well. I can tweak the design for even better scale on the Mk.37 directors. Very happy that Tom is happy.
For those interested, Hank and I had a very nice dinner together earlier last week and I'm about 50% complete on Mk.56 Directors for him. They'll be available on Shapeways, too.
Last edited by ModelMonkey on Sat Aug 15, 2015 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just saw your post - GREAT! Between that news (Mk. 56 FC Directors) and a day or so emailing with Nick England (http://www.navy-radio.com) re. the fan array radio antennas this weekend is turning out well!!!
I'm also glad for ModelMonkey that his parts are proving to be "worth their salt" so to speak - an addition to any warship modelers parts depts. all over!
Hank
Some links from Nick re. USS NORTH CAROLINA and her upperworks that are usually off limits to civilians I will post in the next couple days over on the CASF - NORTH CAROLINA forum. These photos are really well done.
I also hope to get my camera back on line as I goofed it up a while back and am now trying to get the settings back to close-up/model photography.
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69
Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48
Working on the Mk 37 director bases this rainy evening. My existing ones are a bit too small to easily fix with a wrap so I am turning new ones from laminated basswood which I will sheath with styrene. From .040 styrene I cut and turned the immediate base with a small flange and glued it to the bottom of the director. Not having any appropriate sized alloy tube to turn to final dimensions I glued some basswood together and turned that to size in my "metal Lathe" to now wrap... Lightly sanded the final wrap with 400 grit in the lathe.
Then to discover the deckhouse upon which the fwd one sits is too tall! Arr.!
A caution with the 5" 38 mounts, the fit is quite tight for the barrel drum and it is rather easy to snap off a barrel, even if not pushing on the barrels themselves. This necessitated my laboriously turning a pair of brass barrels. The brass rod I have is somewhat soft and a small diameter barrel has to be turned in sections or it will bend and self destruct. Not sure if a harder rod is available or if I could possibly temper it? My lathe is a smaller one but one cannot rig support at both ends because of the size of the tool post, for such small items.
Cutting the deckhouse under the fwd Mk 38 director down in height not as hard as I had feared... The MK 37 directors are about 7% oversize for 1:192. I am not sure what the vagaries of 3D printing are as to sizing. I guess that is one of the things to deal with in what is now an odd size compared to the more common kit sizes of 1:200-1:350 etc.
Current progress of the snowstorm of white stuff covering the ship. Lozz'a 20 mm gun tubs, rafts provisionally placed awaiting confirmation of location and number. Deckhouse on 04 level cut down 4 scale feet, Steve Larson 5" mounts and Mk 37 directors placed, new Mk 37 director bases, cable spools and maindeck hatches with coamings, more vents and more to go.
Looking really good! It's amazing how just adding a few small details enhances the entire model.
Hank
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69
Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48
Alaska has so much small detail it will look like a full on snowstorm, though I need to start painting some soon. Been putting that off really. There are details such as the spare barrel tubes I can add to the 20 mm gun tubs, need to make some fire hydrants, more hose racks and racks for fueling hose and on and on. Then rigging, but that is a ways in the future. Willbe interesting to see how Hanks comes out.
I did adjust the designs of the 3D-printed Mk.37 Directors and 5-inch Twins per Tom's comments. Thanks for the feedback and sorry you had some difficulty!
The Mk.56 Director design is nearly done. Interestingly, in Don Gras' Yorktown photos on site today, a Mk.56 prominently appears behind a 5-inch/38 open mount.
Looking forward to seeing more of all of your builds here!
Steve,
Good to hear a positive update!!! FYI - I am still working on getting the camera back in service - I guess the manual might be helpful in doing this!
Still working on superstructure items - I have (after 2 hours of work) put the 4 pairs of signal halyards on the stbd. side in place. I'm waiting on some replacement PE so the port side is yet to be done. I've used EZ Line - fine/Black and it's only drawback is the stretch factor which can either work for or against the modeler. This makes working with it a bit tricky when trying to tie knots or hitches around a rail, for example.
May actually get the hull work (markup) started as I'm trying to not get too many items in the mill at one time. Yea, like that's going to happen.
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69
Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48
Here's a teaser pic of the Mk.56 Director so far. Not yet complete and the radar dish and training motors are yet to come but it's almost done and ready to be offered on Shapeways, probably by Friday.
I asked Dr. Evil how much they should cost and he said, "One million dollars."
Steve: The director looks very good indeed, appears you have been very busy!
Hank: Hope the camera is back in service as we are all waiting to see some updates to your project! Especially as to what you have ben accomplishing with your rigging. Getting is far as rigging IS(Clintonian emphasis) a serious milestone! Especially as it comes to the handling of the pieces as damage is so easy. Your previous experience dating to the days of sail is undoubtedly an asset!
Tonights "accomplishment"... Laid a thin coat of primer over most everything. Gives me a chance to evaluate things and see what is what. Initial observation is the paint really brings out the detail in the 3D items.
However, the mono color looks nothing so much as if she is in the reserve fleet (mothballs) with all the light AA and radars stripped.
WOW!!! That's impressive - I think you've got this well in hand. I can't make any comments at this time except to say, WOW!!! I don't know if I can get a loan for $1M, the Admiral might have something to say about that
Camera is a bit closer, but still fiddling around with it - I'll tackle that when I'm back in the shop Sun. night. The only reason the rigging is being done now is that since this is s Top Down build, it was at the correct time to do this. My last order for more eyelets and tubes from Bob's Buckles is in so I should have enough to finish the upper end of the fan array LF radio antenna.
Tom,
Looking forward to seeing your ALASKA progress, as well.
Hank
HMS III
Mocksville, NC
BB62 vet 68-69
Builder's yard:
USS STODDARD (DD-566) 66-68 1:144, Various Lg Scale FC Directors Finished:
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 1:200
USN Sloop/Ship PEACOCK (1813) 1:48
ROYAL CAROLINE (1748) 1:47
AVS (1768) 1:48
!
