Thanks for the update on the Hull Mod. etc. - quite a change from your original printing time, but that stands to reason based on thickness, etc.
Also made note of the breakwater information - will keep that on hand when I get to that part of the construction.
Thanks,
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
Crikey... I spent much of the evening figuring out how to put together the 20mm kits in the Pontos set. And I probably could not have done it out without the help of Kelly Quirk - many thanks go out to him. I built the parts for the first eight mounts, and this is the first fully-assembled one. I wish the aftermarket vendors would provide spares for learning. I'd gladly pay a bit more for such thoughtfulness.
RandyM wrote:Crikey... I spent much of the evening figuring out how to put together the 20mm kits in the Pontos set. And I probably could not have done it out without the help of Kelly Quirk - many thanks go out to him. I built the parts for the first eight mounts, and this is the first fully-assembled one. I wish the aftermarket vendors would provide spares for learning. I'd gladly pay a bit more for such thoughtfulness.
I've probably missed the scale while scowering the 129 pages.......what scale are you working in? If that's the /1350 stuff, I have a painful future ahead of me for my Missouri (after the modern New Jersey). Looks really good built out!
Finished the focs'l with exception of gun mounts. After installing the 40mm director tubs I decided to spend some time to see if I could improve them - the kit parts scale out to 6-inches thick and the plans I have indicate they should be 3/4". Also, the kit parts for the tub supports are all wrong. Surprisingly (to me) the Pontos kit offers no help, so I fabricated new tubs and supports out of 0.003" brass and styrene.
The first photo shows the tubs posing with a kit part for comparison, with the new supports already installed.
The second photo shows the revised support with the kit part sitting next to it.
The third and fourth photos show the final scene (and I just noticed the kit part sitting in the fourth shot...).
The director tubs came out well, pretty thin shim stock? You cut these with scissors? Nice soldering job as well, a big improvement over the injection molded ones.
K&S sells small packs of brass shim stock in 1, 2, 3, and 5-thousandths thicknesses for something like $5. I cut the strip with a #24/#2 xacto, trimmed the base piece (which was made from .010" stock) with Xuron scissors and sanded to final shape. After frustrating myself as a kid, I'm a firm believer in the "right tool for the job" credo.
I learned to solder courtesy of USCG. It comes in handy for plumbing and modeling. Every now and then I even get to prove to the engineering staff at work that I'm better at it than most of them
These photos are mostly available online.
I'm trying to put them in some order by date and a specific time frame.
I'm missing the specific dates around when she was painted in her Measure 32 scheme but I'm working on it.
I don't go by the photo captions. I usually cross reference them to other events of known/established photos like when the Intrepid was hit by a kamikaze or when she was hit off Mili.
If you need any info/details regarding details around a specific time frame let me know.
Some of the details aren't shown in photos.
Here are some dates/corrections to movements of USS IOWA ... from USS IOWA War Diary and FDR's War Diary at NARA;
On 7 November 1943, USS IOWA (BB-61) departed her anchorage from berth �Z� in Hampton Roads, VA and sailed to Chesapeake Bay and anchored near Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse.
On 11 November 1943, USS IOWA launched her aircraft and proceeded to the mouth of the Potomac River near Cherry Point, VA and anchored at 1317. Her aircraft returned and were hoisted aboard. At 1605 USS IOWA received USN VIP passengers from USS DAUNTLESS, including Admiral King. At 1610 USS DAUNTLESS cast off from USS IOWA.
On 12 November 1943, four Secret Service Agents boarded USS IOWA from a patrol craft at 0817. At 0851 USS POTOMAC came along the starboard side of USS IOWA. At 0916 THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) came aboard. The Presidential Party accompanying the President included Harry L. Hopkins, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, their staff, and four additional Secret Service Agents. At 0945 USS POTOMAC cast off. At 0951 USS IOWA got underway and exited the Potomac River and headed for Hampton Roads, VA. At 1743 USS IOWA anchored at berth �B�, Hampton Roads, VA and proceeded to refuel and prepare for getting underway.
On 13 November 1943, at 0006 USS IOWA got underway from Hampton Roads heading for Oran, Algeria. USS IOWA met up with her escorts off Hampton Roads and formed Task Force (TF) 27.5. The escorts were destroyers USS COGSWELL (DD-651), USS Wm. D. PORTER (DD-579), and USS YOUNG (DD-580) from DesDiv 100.
On 14 November 1943, during the afternoon the ships in TF 27.5 exercised anti-aircraft (AA) and anti-submarine (ASW) procedures. At 1438 USS Wm. D. PORTER the starboard escort screening destroyer accidentally fired a torpedo at USS IOWA. After being notified at 1458 of the torpedo, USS IOWA at 1500 commenced maneuvering to avoid the torpedo.
On 19 November 1943, at 0246 ELLYSON departed the screen because of a jammed rudder. Being able to repair the jammed rudder ELLYSON returned to the screen 0630. At 1024 TF 27.5 sighted TF 86, USS BROOKLYN (CL-40), USS TRIPPE (DD-403), USS EDISON (DD-439), HMS TROBRIDGE, HMS TEAZER, and HMS TRYIAN. At 1050 USS IOWA joined up with TF 86, separating from DesDiv 10. At 1929 USS IOWA entered the sweep channel through the Strait of Gibraltar.
On 20 November 1943, at 0807 USS IOWA anchored in Mers El Kebir Harbor, Algeria. At 0842 the Presidential Party departed the USS IOWA. At 1038 USS IOWA commenced shifting berth and tied up to the Mers El Kebir Quay at 1106. USS IOWA cast off at 1730 and departed Mers El Kebir Harbor with TF 86 now including HMS SHEFFIELD and headed back to the Strait of Gibraltar.
On 21 November 1943, at 0544 HMS SHEFFIELD departed TF 86. At 0647 USS IOWA and TF 86 off Spanish Morocco headed for Bahia, Brazil. At 0810 DesDiv 10 destroyers, USS ELLYSON (DD-454), USS EMMONS (DD-457), and USS RODMAN (DD-456) were sighted. At 0820 DesDiv 10 took over ASW screening for USS IOWA and the unit became TF 27.5. At the same time TF 86, USS BROOKLYN (CL-40), USS TRIPPE (DD-403), USS EDISON (DD-439), HMS TROBRIDGE, HMS TEAZER, and HMS TRYIAN, departed for Gibraltar. At 1146 USS RODMAN departed the formation for a special duty mission, returning to formation at 1700.
On 29 November 1943, USS IOWA arrived at Bahia, Brazil and tied up.
On 30 November 1943, at 0825 USS IOWA and her escorts departed Bahia, Brazil for Freetown, Sierra Leone.
(I'm not sure that USS IOWA actually stopped at Freetown, but was redirected to Dakar)
On 9 December 1943, at 1053 USS IOWA anchored in the Bay of Goree, Dakar, Senegal. At 2000 the French Destroyer (actually a Minesweeping Sloop) La GAZELLE came alongside USS IOWA. At 2015 FDR boarded USS IOWA. At 2031 La GAZELLE cast off from USS IOWA. At 2100 USS IOWA departed Bay of Goree, Dakar, Senegal for Hampton Roads, VA.
On 16 December 1943, at 1618 USS IOWA anchored in Mouth of Potomac River off Cherry Point, VA. At 1640 USS BOOTH (DE-170) came alongside to starboard and took aboard the Presidential Party baggage and cast off at 1640. At 1720 FDR boarded USS POTOMAC.
I researched the FDR mission to understand which units escorted her on this mission. In all fourteen USN destroyers, three RN destroyers, one USN and one RN cruisers were involved as escorts for FDR�s trip at various time periods.
After taking a break from modeling for work, I've begun working on the fantail, specifically the 40mm mounts. The trumpeter kit appears to have gotten much of this area wrong, including:
- the splinter shields are the wrong shape and too low. The docs I have indicate a max height above deck of 56", while the kit parts scale out to 15". There is also an entry cutout on the inboard side of each shield which doesn't exist on the kit part.
- the ammo-handling cupola is not represented at all - neither the structure itself nor the hatch inside the mount.
I consider these issues fairly significant for a kit of this size. Correcting them doesn't pose any real problems except:
- as usual, I didn't notice them until AFTER finishing the kit parts, and
- the PE ammo racks are designed to fit a very specific inner diameter of the splinter shield, which will make it more challenging.
So, the first question I have is as follows:
- the base of the 40mm mounts are created by a separate part (item V2). These parts sit significantly lower than the main deck. However photos I have of WW2 period show the bases at the same height as the deck. Does anyone have DEFINITIVE photos or docs showing this area? I can't really start on anything else until I resolve this.
Here's a photo of what I tried to describe above. The starboard side is OOB kit. Port side has the deck of the mount sitting where I believe it should (note I'll have to increase the diameter to fix that gap), and the splinter shield has been cut down in prep for a new one. Having the deck already installed makes it so much more fun...
Check the following three photos of Iowa. Note that the low points in the top edges of the splinter screens are level with the main deck aft. In the third photo, note that the on-mount shields of the fantail quads are the same distance above the rims of the fixed tubs as those on the other visible mounts further forward. You are making no claims that the interior floors of those tubs are level with the tops of the fixed splinter screens, so the fantail mounts should be no different. http://navsource.org/archives/01/061/016105t.jpg http://navsource.org/archives/01/061/016110.jpg http://navsource.org/archives/01/061/016137.jpg
Now, check this photo of New Jersey. Especially note the men in the outboard side of the right hand tub and how far below the maindeck level they are standing. http://navsource.org/archives/01/062/016209e.jpg
The fantail tubs are definitely sunk deeper into the hulls than on the earlier BB's. Their bases are NOT level with the deck.
Dick,
Thank you for these photos. The one of NJ is especially compelling in terms of height of mount deck vs. main deck. It appears from photos that iowa/new Jersey differ from Missouri /Wisconsin in subtle ways (eg., detailed shapes of the splinter shields, but I doubt the height of the mount would differ.
The fantail mounts on all of the Iowas were below the main deck level, I believe they were 24" below, this was standard for the class. The North Carolina and South Dakota class ships all had this mount at main deck level. There are differences between all of the ships as to the shape of the top edge of the gun tub shields.
Navsource stern photo July 9 1943 shows addition of the chutes for dumping casings overboard, these give a good idea of where the floor of the mount is, in this case just above the knuckle. Note for Iowa at this time the outboard rim is level with the main deck, inboard it looks to be about your 15" above the deck.
I think William's 24" height below main deck level is probably correct. Here is a photo of MISSOURI being towed to LBeach for modernization - she is still in her mid-50s configuration, so the after 40mm tubs would have been unchanged.
You can see that the gun mounts themselves would have been at least 2' below the main deck level.
Hope this helps,
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
