bioshock73 wrote:I have a question about your Mk.34 directors and MK.13 radar set. What is the length of the Mk. 34 part and length of the Mk. 13 antenna? The base for the Mk. 8 antenna PE by Tom's Modelworks which goes on top of the Mk. 34 director, appears to be too large for Trumpeter's kit parts. Or maybe the kit part might be too small.
Great question! I think your question is about Trumpy's 1/700 scale kit. Here are a couple renderings below to help.
Please be advised that the Model Monkey Mk.13 antenna is intentionally designed 0.4mm wider than scale (about 5.5 scale-inches, 0.2mm added to each side). Scans of original blueprints show that the real Mk.13 airfoil-shaped antenna cover is exactly 9 feet wide (~3.92mm in 1/700 scale). I intentionally designed the Mk.13 very slightly wider for a tighter fit with most photoetch products.
It is a good idea to make it fit to the PE parts - but it is very disappointing to know that the PE parts are too large. It is an old problem of many 1/700 kits that weapons, antenna etc. are way too large - see e.g. the old Pit-Road parts still sold by Dragon.
bioshock73 wrote:I have a question about your Mk.34 directors and MK.13 radar set. What is the length of the Mk. 34 part and length of the Mk. 13 antenna? The base for the Mk. 8 antenna PE by Tom's Modelworks which goes on top of the Mk. 34 director, appears to be too large for Trumpeter's kit parts. Or maybe the kit part might be too small.
Great question! I think your question is about Trumpy's 1/700 scale kit. Here are a couple renderings below to help.
Please be advised that the Model Monkey Mk.13 antenna is intentionally designed 0.4mm wider than scale (about 5.5 scale-inches, 0.2mm added to each side). Scans of original blueprints show that the real Mk.13 airfoil-shaped antenna cover is exactly 9 feet wide (~3.92mm in 1/700 scale). I intentionally designed the Mk.13 very slightly wider for a tighter fit with most photoetch products.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the info! I am going to try to order a set this weekend.
maxim wrote:It is a good idea to make it fit to the PE parts - but it is very disappointing to know that the PE parts are too large. It is an old problem of many 1/700 kits that weapons, antenna etc. are way too large - see e.g. the old Pit-Road parts still sold by Dragon.
In the thread on the USS California build, the OP brought that up.
Alrighty, the design for the North Carolina class 16"/45 Triple Turret is nearing completion. Here is the gunhouse at about 75% complete, alongside an Iowa class 16"/50 cal. gunhouse for comparison. The SoDak gunhouse is nearly identical to the North Carolina gunhouse, being imperceptibly 1/4 scale inch taller, 1/5 scale inch longer to the rear, and ~2.6 scale inches longer to the front (that frontal difference is just 0.19mm in 1/350 scale). In 1/700 scale, the differences are so small, this turret design can work for SoDak models, too, although a precisely scaled SoDak turret will be designed in the future.
As you can see, the North Carolina class turret and the Iowa class turret are very similar but not identical. The Iowa class turret is longer to the rear (by about 3 scale feet - what a difference 5 calibers makes!), and Iowa's armored rangefinder hoods are much longer front-to-back. The four smaller turret-side viewfinder hoods are slightly differently shaped, too, North Carolina's outer side being angled and North Carolina's hoods don't extend as far out from the gunhouse (they'll be soon moved slightly closer than what you see here, their edges will be rounded more and the screw-heads will be more sunken).
The turret aprons for each gunhouse (the disc that covers the barbette) are nearly identical in diameter. But the gussets are shaped differently and their number and position are different, too.
There are some other tweaks yet to be done but generally, the overall shape here matches blueprints and photos very well. Next features to design will be the very conspicuous vent trunks, rooftop periscopes, single turret overhang access hatch, and the cutouts for the 16" guns.
On North Carolina, and I believe the SoDaks, too, the left periscope for Turret #2 is positioned slightly closer to the turret centerline than the left periscope of Turrets 1 and 3. This difference will be captured in the design. Each turret will be marked inside so you'll know which is which. Last details will be a complete suite of rooftop screwheads and bolts, then it's off to Shapeways.
Then I'll design properly shaped funnels. 'Bout dang time, eh?
The shutters are differently shaped and sized (the rear viewfinder hood's shutter is smaller and it is attached to the hinge slightly differently), just like the real shutters.
Which MK-37 Director would you recommend for a 1953 SCB-27A Keasarge in 1/350 scale? You have two post war configurations, the "Cold War" and the "Square Back". I am leaning towards the "Cold War " set but I figureed you probably had a good diea of which ones go where. Also, do the 1/350 MK-25 radar's have a mounting bracket or will I have to fabricate one. I am guessing that 1/350 scale is to small to print the set you do in 1/144 scale with the whole unit. Those look very nice!
I am also looking for the radar sets that go on 3" 50 Cal guns from the early 50s. Here is a pic fron NAVSOURCE.ORG:
Which MK-37 Director would you recommend for a 1953 SCB-27A Keasarge in 1/350 scale? You have two post war configurations, the "Cold War" and the "Square Back". I am leaning towards the "Cold War " set but I figureed you probably had a good diea of which ones go where. Also, do the 1/350 MK-25 radar's have a mounting bracket or will I have to fabricate one. I am guessing that 1/350 scale is to small to print the set you do in 1/144 scale with the whole unit. Those look very nice!
I am also looking for the radar sets that go on 3" 50 Cal guns from the early 50s. Here is a pic fron NAVSOURCE.ORG:
Hi Mark, Ray D. Bean photos confirm that you are correct, the "Cold War" boxy Mk.37 directors are accurate for Kearsarge in the 1950s. I'm not able to offer the mounting brackets for the SPG-25 radar antennas in 1/350 scale (too fine to print) but they are nearly identical to the earlier radar rig so photo-etch for the earlier radar antennas will work just fine.
Haven't thought about the antennas for the 3" mounts. They look awfully small.
Last edited by ModelMonkey on Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have been scouring over Rays Essex Photos and it appears that the only 3" 50's that get dishes are one on the bow and one on the fantail. I have some radar parts from the Iron Shipwrights SCB-27A MK 56 Directors and they look about right. So no need for those. I am not sure why only those two got them but that is all I have been able to see on any of the SCB-27A/C ships.
Interesting subject, had not considered it, you're the first to ask for it (thanks!). SM radar base would be a good subject, too. Just checked through my references but didn't find any good dimensioned drawings of the SP or SM, just photos and some drawings that are not much more than cartoons, really. Do you have any good, dimensioned 2D references?
Interesting subject, had not considered it, you're the first to ask for it (thanks!). SM radar base would be a good subject, too. Just checked through my references but didn't find any good dimensioned drawings of the SP or SM, just photos and some drawings that are not much more than cartoons, really. Do you have any good, dimensioned 2D references?
Cheers!
Unfortunately, I don't. Looking through pictures on Navsource and David Doyle's USS California book (decent pic on pg. 141), I wondered why no one made any bases for the SP/SM antennas.
The design for a North Carolina class 16"/45 cal. turret is now at 95% complete. The turrets will be offered in sets of three, available in 1/350, 1/570, 1/500 and 1/700 scales. Single turrets will be available in 1/96 and 1/192 scales. Other scales are possible.
Remaining details include screws on the outer rangefinder hood access plates, small details on the blast bag retaining rings, and a 25-man life raft rack just forward of the vent ducts on each side of the turret. Blast bags and life rafts will be up to the modeler.
3D-printed barrels will be available separately should the modeler prefer to use the kit's barrels or brass barrels. A trunnion slotted for barrels will be included. The trunnion can be set at any realistic elevation, from +45 degrees to -1 degree (-2 degrees for Turret #3), just like the real turrets.
I paid particular attention to the shape of the vent ducts and the armored rangefinder hoods. No plastic kit manufacturer gets these right. Not one. In addition to shape issues, most kits' turret vent ducts are too small, too.
The turrets should be on sale later this weekend pending any "life happens" events.
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Last edited by ModelMonkey on Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Getting some work done on Iowa class 1950s-era quadruped masts but thought I'd share this design with you now that it is essentially done, except for separating the decks prior to uploading it for printing.
This is the superstructure of USS West Virginia BB-48 (1941) in 1/350 scale.
