1:200 USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 68-69 (Trumpeter MISSOURI kit)

[Fliger747]

Yes I built up the barrels with increasing sizes of thin Alloy tube and added some filler for the tapers then sanded in a drill. No access to a lathe then! The 1/16" ID smallest tube works out perfectly to a 12" piece. I did my Missouri barrels in a similar fashion. On the Museum ships this is painted a glossy black, in service some sort of grease or cosmoline type material was used.

Cheers: Tom

[Mgunns]

Hi Hank:

Turrets look great. As mentioned, the bloomers and the recoil "ring" all look the business. Looking forward to seeing the hull. I know that you have travailed on that for quite some time.

[BB62vet]

Mark,

Thanks for the nice remark!! Yes, the hull is a d-r-a-g!!! But, sooner or later I'll bite the bullet and get it finished. Right now, Turret 3 is up and in progress!

Hank

[Brett M]

Just re read the entire thread (slow day so far!) and it's great to see all the work you've put into this. It's going to be impressive once it's finished!

[BB62vet]

Brett,

Thanks so much - your interest and comments are really appreciated!!! Not one to rush things to completion

Hank

[Fliger747]

Hank:

I hope I didn't push you too hard into the hull mod, but it will be really satisfying when done! Looking really good for all the many mods so far!

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Tom,

No, no - My mind was decided on it long before - just getting it DONE is the task at hand!!!

Hank

[Brett M]

Brett,

Thanks so much - your interest and comments are really appreciated!!! Not one to rush things to completion

Hank

Rush? Who's rushing? lol I think I'm on year 5 of my New Jersey build

[BB62vet]

Well, Turret #3 is now complete -

Now, on to the continued hull work..........

Hank

[Fliger747]

Looks very good Hank! There must be a few more items to procrastinate on before doing the hull work?

Cheers: Tom

[BB62vet]

Thanks, Tom!! Yea, but I've just about run out of excuses, so if I'm seeing clearly next week, I'll get back on the hull work. Just a matter of self-discipline.

Hank

[hondaman117]

Hank,

You've stopped by my Arizona build a few times so I thought I'd read through yours!

Very nice work! You've proved that having first hand knowledge of a vessel along with good research is invaluable when trying to make a models from a certain era. I'm planing on building one of the Iowa sisters in the future but have not decided which one yet, I'm leaning towards Missouri on VJ day. Or any of the sisters during the Korean War since my uncle served in the Army during that era.

I had dreams when I was younger of joining the Navy and commanding a battleship, but sadly their time had past long before I was old enough to join. I have always wanted to see the big guns fire, a sight I'm sure you're familiar with.

Keep up the good work, I'll be keeping watch!

[BB62vet]

Honda,

Thank YOU for the kind remarks. Sadly, the era of battleships is truly passed. While the discussions linger on in various forums and so forth, I find the subject simply too out of date to be relevant any longer. The cost alone to build facilities to manufacture large diameter barrels, much less find the relevant experienced craftsmen is simply an impossibility that anyone with sanity should understand. I would, however, accede to the notion that continuation IN EARNEST for a new cruiser with 6" or 155mm multiple gunned mounts does seem possible if the USN had the will to see it thru without $800,000/ea projectiles to boot. Perhaps our Pres-Elect will have a positive mark on the overpriced and underperforming weapons systems that our military seems to have a penchant to purchase. The piece of s%$t ZUMWALT is a perfect example of useless taxpayer expenditures. For what???

The model's hull currently, is back upside down on the work surface while I ponder the application of hull plating (horizontal) lines using sprayed primer or a thin build up of putty. In addition, my own PE layouts for the life raft racks and ECM Framework/gear should go into production and be on their way soon. The PE ECM framework parts will replace my plastic original ones currently on the conning tower.

With my cataract surgery behind me and a new pair of bifocal computer/reading glasses in hand, both modeling and photographing same seem to be within grasp again. So, 2017 should see some positive progress on this build.

So, keep up YOUR good work and have a very Merry Christmas in the process!!! If you go the IOWA class route, might I suggest either an IOWA or WISCONSIN of the Korean War era? Not any builds that I know of going on for this time period or particular ship.

Hank

[tegunn]

We could always get the Chinese to manufacture the barrels for us...

[Fliger747]

I suspect that the industrial capacity for heavy armor plate is long gone as well. Think we could even get to the moon these days?

[BB62vet]

Flinger747 wrote:

Think we could even get to the moon these days?

Well Tom, I was actually thinking about that a couple weeks ago after watching the last Atlas V lift off from Canaveral - Had we (U.S.) not wasted all the money and time diverting from the original Apollo project and gone ahead with development of the NOVA rocket, this question would be moot. Not to take away from the solid fuel guys and their very successful current booster programs (with, of course, Russian engines, Duh!!! ), I think we could have been much farther along in our space program than is the current status. I personally think Mars is a total waste of money - same as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria (no offense to the thousands of children/civilians being killed in this lost cause) - what's the end goal for the U.S. taxpayer???? NOTHING!!!! What are we getting out of this? NOTHING, except an immense expense to the future citizens. Back to your question - Not without a total change in goals and hardware.

Get the Chinese to make the barrels for us....? yea, right!!! I wouldn't pull the trigger on that gun with YOUR finger!!!!!! TE - have a Merry Christmas!!!!

Hank

[BB62vet]

Time for an update:

I've done quite a bit of hull work getting the hull re-shaped and painted with small details to be added before starting on the main deck addition, etc. Here is a photo from last night:

In addition, I received my 2 PE sheets from Starling Models (UK) that I designed for the life raft racks and more detailed ECM frameworks and misc. items. Here are a few photos of these sheets:

The PE sheets probably don't mean to much to anyone else as these are parts that when folded correctly will give me the racks for the life raft packs, ECM (ULQ-6) framework for the conning tower (to replace the crude plastic prototypes I originally constructed), as well as various other items one never seems to have enough of. Mike McCabe @ Starling Models did a really good job on this for me.

Hank
I am currently working on various hull items - Fwd. boat booms, UHF Radio Platforms & Brackets, and also getting the display board laid out.

[Mgunns]

Hi Hank:

Nice to see you back on this. The hull looks good from where I sit. The PE will really enhance the ECM platform on the tower as well as the lift raft racks. Looking forward to seeing you progress through the build. This should be a motivator for you.

[tegunn]

Hank, great to see you back in the saddle so to say..the beast is looking really good! Keep plugging away.
Randy

[Fliger747]

Hank:

Always hard to tell what the PE will look like assembled from viewing the flats, but it looks to be a really effective custom addition. I couldn't tell from looking at the hull photos if you went with the bow padeyes?

Cheers! Tom