First Build - 1/350 USS Laffey

[BillGorm]

Rick - Thanks for posting these photos. They're all nice, especially the first one of USS Spence charging ahead, but the high angle photos of USS Morris and USS Capps really show off the similarity between the deck and hull color (under some conditions anyway).

Bob - I had seen those photos of USS Laffey before, but looking at them again they appear to be in line with what Rick posted. Any idea whether John Barrett's illustration is accurate? I thought USS Laffey only wore the MS-21 scheme.

Here are some progress photos showing the deck painted 20-B Deck Blue. I tried to capture the slight difference in color between the deck and hull, but it's really only apparent around the edge of the deck toward the bow. If I were doing it again I'd lighten the deck color to achieve a bit more contrast with the hull. Also, for all the great comments this kit has received I had to do a lot of shaving to get the deckhouses to fit the deck - and that was before any paint was applied.









My next steps will be to:

1) Paint & attach the prop guards
2) Spray an overall gloss coat
3) Apply the hull decals (if any)
4) Apply the non-skid decals to the deck
5) Spray an overall gloss coat

And two questions as I look ahead to the railings. First, the PE set from GMM has five openings for fairleads whereas the kit instructions show four:



Is this because the PE set isn't specifically for the USS Laffey? Second, I'm wondering when I should attach the fairleads. After the railings are in place? Otherwise, it seems like I'd run the risk of misaligning things.

[Timmy C]

I encountered a bit of a fit problem as well in only one part of the Buchanan kit, which may or may not be the same as what you went through. There is also an error in the instructions that may cause the builder to align the central superstructure parts with the wrong baseline, resulting in fit problems. You can read more about my experience here: http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

[robertmelvin]

Bill, I'd go with the kit instructions for the fairleads. In fact, on mine I'm using the kit fairleads. They are pretty fine in and of themselves and my philosophy with respect to PE is that I only use it if it truly adds something significant to the build. I resist the temptation to use the PE just because I have it. One thing that struck me, and this may help us both down the road, is that the Buchannan PE set has storage racks for the K-Guns, but nothing like that is provided in the Laffey kit. Did Laffey carry storage racks for the depth charges for her K-Guns?

I like what you've done with the hull and deck. It looks great. I think your build plan is good, but I'd make that final coat a dull coat. You don't want your decks, etc., to be too shiny.

If you've read my thread, you'll know that disaster has struck me. I've managed to bugger the 20mm guns. At least enough of them to make the kit guns unusable. I've tried using the SeaMaster's 20mm guns, but I'm just too ham handed to manage them. I've gone to plan C, which is to order some white metal 20mm guns from Yankee Model Works. They may not look great, but I think they'll do once they are cleaned up, painted and the PE is added.

Keep up the good work on your Laffey and be sure to let us know if you run into any issues. Somebody here will have the answer.

Bob

[Rick E Davis]

DON'T EVER go by John Barrett's illustrations for any ship without a lot of research. John Barrett's drawings are really nice looking, but he/they have a "standard" drawing for each "class" in a single configuration ... only changing the hull numbers ... and they don't bother checking if a particular ship had that camo scheme or configuration. In the case of his LAFFEY illustration ... he shows the configuration seen on SOME of the first six BENSON class destroyers ... NONE and I do mean NONE of the final repeat-BENSON (or repeat GLEAVES class) destroyers had this configuration. LAFFEY never was painted in Ms 22 as far as I know and she never had twin 40-mm mounts installed.

I'm going to admit that in 1/700 scale I only use 5N for the whole ship ... maybe playing with the deck "shade" and hull "abuse". With 1/350 scale I feel I need to be pickier.

If you wish to add a little color to your build, touch-up some areas with primer (yellow being common) in a few areas. Here are some links to a few color photos of the GLEAVES class destroyer NICHOLSON (DD-442) in Ms 22 from the LIFE Magazine collection and of the FLETCHER class destroyer COTTEN (DD-669) from NHHC. You will note areas where primer has been applied. When I saw these photos, it was a real eye-opener. I had seen quite a few B&W photos of ship painted in 5N and there were sometimes strange looking areas of lighter paint ... including large areas of the deck. Note the wear on the deck seen in one of NICHOLSON's photos. Crews were touching up paint on ships all the time (the officers had to keep them busy you know )

Images from the LIFE collection;

... http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/16ceb6eabbf38676_large ...

... http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/5bbb8a6f8497e760_large ...

... http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/9ac4d8e927ea849b_large ...

And here are some images of COTTEN (DD-669) in late 1945 from the NHHC website.

... http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... 04391k.jpg ...

... http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... 04393k.jpg ...

[Rick E Davis]

Robert,

LAFFEY didn't last long enough to get the K-Gun storage racks. She was completed with the post storage with the arbor and 300-lb depth charge sitting in them together in a sort of arc around the K-Gun (the layout on the BENSON-GLEAVES units was different from the layout used on early FLETCHERS).

Here are a couple of images of the arrangement from different angles. The "orientation" of the depth charges on the posts can very.

[robertmelvin]

Rick, thanks. I didn't think she had any, but I wasn't 100% sure. I looked at the NavSouce photo of her and didn't see any, but I always like to double check with those, like you, who know.

Bob

[Bill Mall]

Hi Bill,

I was reading your thread, I am working on a Fletcher as my first build, and I noticed your observation that Deck Blue and what I assume is Navy Blue appear very similar if not identical.

I have never used enamels, so I am trying to find acrylic equivalents. One chart I found gave identical call outs to use for "Ocean Gray" and Deck blue, what is your paint brand and call out, please. I am new to this and have no color references other than online.

[BillGorm]

Bill - I don't use enamels either so that ruled out the White Ensign Models line. I didn't want to spring for Lifecolor either because the 5-N Navy Blue and 20-B Deck Blue are in separate sets, each of which costs $20-$30 at my LHS. So as a dedicated Tamiya user the choice was obvious. Tamiya's Missouri kit includes the following recipes:

5-N Navy Blue => Royal Blue (X-3) + Medium Blue (XF-18) + Flat Base (X-21) in a 1:1:1 ratio
20-B Deck Blue => Dark Grey (XF-24) + Flat White (XF-2) + Flat Blue (XF-8) + Flat Red (XF-7) in a 4:6:3:1 ratio

I like the look of the 5-N Navy Blue on the model - it's dark but not overwhelming. The 20-B Deck Blue isn't bad either, it's just that you can't see the contrast unless the light is right. I'm in the process of adding blue tone oil washes to the deck in an effort to increase the contrast (and cover tide marks from the Micro Set / Micro Sol). Doing it over I'd follow the recipe for 5-N Navy Blue and up the grey and white in the 20-B Deck Blue recipe to lighten it a bit.

Good luck!

[Frankberger]

Hi Bill,
Was just looking at your photos of your build. When you attached the deck, did you sand the seam? If so, you probably sanded away the small ribs that locate the fairleads. It may be tricky adding the chocks after the railings, how about just lining the railings up, marking the location, then add the fairleads followed by railings?

Frank

[BillGorm]

Frank - After your note I went back and looked at my model more closely. Sure enough the locating pips are there ... they're just really faint. Thanks for the heads up.

All - I didn't post any progress photos last week because the non-skid decals took a LOT longer than I had expected. I didn't need to cut them up, but I did need repeated doses of Micro Set / Sol to get them to lie down and eliminate the silvering. Unfortunately that left tide marks, but I'm hoping blue tinted oil washes, a flat coat, and everything else that will go on the ship will conceal them. If not, lesson learned for next time. In the meantime, I've assembled the 5 inch guns and radar director (?) and gotten halfway on the amidships deckhouse.









And one more where the lighting isn't particularly good yet somehow the non-skid sections show up better.

[jeroen zuiderduin]

Bill, this is looking good. I'm taking notes conserning the construction order as in a few weeks time I will start the Livermore. Regarding the 'silvering' of the decals, good chance you can camouflage it. To minimize the silvering, try to cut off as much of the transparent decal as possible. Anyway, keep it up!

Jeroen

[Red Devil Squadron]

Hello Bill,

Did you use Dunagain Decals for the anti-skid decals?

Cheers,

Bill

[robertmelvin]

Bill, she looks very good. You did a great job on the non-skid, especially not to have cut them into sections. Those big runs are hard to handle. Be sure and test fit your deck houses carefully before you pull out the glue. I found that even the thickness of a couple of layers of paint effected the fit and I had to do some scraping on the bottoms of the deck houses to get them to fit into the recesses properly.

Keep up the great work!

Bob

[BB61]

Looks like you really have a systematic approach going here; I like it.

[BillGorm]

Jeroen - You might want to think twice about following my lead since this is my first ship! I've been using Ed McDonald's build log for the USS Lansdowne as my guide. Different kit, of course, but it's close enough that most of the parts references match. As for the decals, silvering wasn't that much of an issue ... I think I just went overboard with the Micro Set / Sol. The one thing I will do differently the next time I build one of Dragon's destroyers is construct and test fit the deckhouses and other major elements of the superstructure to one another and the main deck immediately. Doing it after the deck is attached to the hull and the ship is mounted on the base makes applying even slight pressure dicey.

Red Devil - I used the kit decals. The only AM item I intend to use is the GMM railings.

Bob - Understood re: the fit of the deckhouses. I test fitted them prior to painting the deck, but I still fear I'll have trouble attaching them. If so, lesson learned ... there will be many more of these lovely kits in my future.

BB61 - I'm being very mechanical at the moment because I don't have a feel for the natural build sequence for a ship. I'm hoping my next ship (Trumpeter's Graf Spee) will "flow" more.

[Frankberger]

Bill,
Looks great! Feel your pain about the deck decals, had the same issues with mine!

Frank

[robertmelvin]

Bill, if you do have fit issues due to the paint, and I wouldn't be surprised if you do, I found that if you carefully, and slowly - a little bit at a time - take a hobby knife or scalpel and bevel off the outer edge of the bottoms of the deck houses that should cure the problem. It amazed me when I built her the first time how close the tolerances were between the deck houses and their respective recesses in the deck. Just the thickness of a couple of layers of paint on the deck was enough to cause a problem for me.

Bob

[Bill Mall]

This is looking nice, Bill, thanks for the paint info, I will mix my own deck blue, I found some Vallejo that matches the other colors I need without mixing.

My own Fletcher has raised anti skid walkways, I was thinking about masking and painting them, they appear to be a vary dark gray?

Thanks and keep up the great work. We will be busting Champagne bottles over a bunch of first time builds very soon.

Bill

[BillGorm]

Not much of an update, but I do have a question. Was it standard procedure to bring the 5" gun turrets back to a stem to stern configuration and the barrels back to zero elevation after use? Was there a SOP or did it come down to the commander's preference for a neat ship?

[BillGorm]

Well, I appear to have pooched this build. I wasn't happy with the lack of contrast between the 20-B Deck Blue and 5-N Navy Blue so I fiddled with my paint formulas, over did it, and created a situation where I've got different shades going on. Dumb, really dumb of me to try and change things up mid-stream. This is the first model I've trashed, but I don't have any interest in continuing. If a friend nearby has one of Dragon's destroyers in his stash I'll see if he's willing to make a trade, otherwise I'll be back when I can get my hands on one ... preferably a Livermore or Benson (1945). Many thanks to everyone for the help thus far!