Scratchbuilding CVE-60 / DE-133 in 1/96 1944

[gtbred]

Glad your doing O.K. Bill! But if I were in your class I get a F+. Just great work.

[ARH]

Nice to see you back Bill. everything is looking good.

[carr]

Best wishes!

Wow! Garbage cans, Lego parts, woodworking pieces, a little bit of everything. That's modelling genius!

[russclark]

great to see you back bill ,hope you get feeling back to normal soon,nice work on the de-133

[Dave Wooley]

Hi Bill glad to see you back on the board , yes flu can be somewhat debilitating yet you are back on track , take it easy my friend
Dave Wooley

[Sleepwalker]

Great work. I'm really looking forward to see hangar deck with elevator lowered. So far I was able to find some photos showing forward elevator and sorrounding forward hangar deck.

[roy allen]

Hi Bill,
Great work as always
I will have to keep an eye open for that Marine Gel coat over here in the UK , it's amazing stuff.
Like the way you tackled the sponsons as they can be really tricky items to get right.

The DE is also great, the dowel masts are looking ace

Roy

[Ticonderoga]

Hi Bill,

Been away for a while, what a treat to come back to. Wonderful work and so well explained.

Thanks

Andrew

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all Well, I'm back. I have not posted anything in awhile as I am feverishly trying to get this project completed by fall of this year. Scratchbuilding two ships at once presents it's own set of challenges, as you can imagine. In any event, things are moving forward. The DE-133 is now ready for final paintwork. The carrier, CVE-60, is coming along as well. Finally had a chance to snap some photos, so lets take a look........................

Overall view of the carrier from portside. I have completed all the guntubs, platforms, and catwalks along the sides of the flightdeck, the Gallery deck, as it is called. Flightdeck is held in place by a number of screws which attach to blocks I installed in the hull. Mating the hull and flightdeck is a careful procedure, as it is a tight fit.

Dead on bow view here. Flightdeck is 3/16" plywood. The curved forward edge is shaped balsa stick.

View from portside looking aft. I had to do a bit of shimming to get the flightdeck nice and level. Plywood tends to warp slightly, so I don't use it much. It is a good choice for a large area such as this, as long as you keep it flat and weighted.

Another bow view here, portside. I have to add all the support structure here beneath the flightdeck soon, as well as the anchors. I'll fabricate the support structure from styrene.

Stern view here.

Stern deck completed here. I used a mix of p/e, cast metal, wood, and scratchbuilt fittings here. Everything otherwise is styrene. I'll add the 5" 38 gun later.

Good shot of the aft end of the flightdeck. Note the aft elevator in it's halfway position. I'll put an aircraft here with a few crew later.

Dead on stern view. Note all the underdeck bracing. Again, all styrene.

Much of this work will never be seen once the models go on exhibit. Too bad, takes alot of time. But nevertheless, it is there. All the platforms and guntubs will get the same bracing treatment, as on the real ship.

Aft flightdeck bracing from beneath. Forward end will be similar, my next hurdle. Note the simple elevator arrangement. Lots of fabrication here.

Here is a view midships on the stb. side showing the guntubs,platforms, catwalks etc. Note the stacks or funnels as they are sometimes called. I made a master for these and then a two part mold and cast them in resin. Still have to add safety netting along both side of this assy. Anywhere there is a catwalk there is safety netting. More on that later on. Note the openings on the guntub floors. These are stairwell openings. A small four sided box will be fabricated and then installed beneath these openings. After which I'll add stairs. There is a door here which I have already installed. These doors lead to various areas in the Gallery deck area. Same procedure applies all along the length of the flightdeck. There are lots of these openings.

Another stb side view.

Bow area, stb. side. Flightdeck mounting screw locations marked in red.

Close up view of the 40mm platforms on portside. There are three more of these arrangemants on this CVE. To the right of these is the MK.51 gundirector location for the 40's, then far right is a 20mm location. Note the ammo boxes inside the 40mm shield.

Close up of one of the four stacks. It was easier to mold these rather than make them one by one. Catwalks are perforated plastic used for needlepoint.

Another detail view. V/L and railing are p/e.

Aft elevator in halfway position.

Flightdeck flipped over here. Note I have added pencil lines showing the locations for the bracing and supports. This is the next step before mounting the whole works to the hull.

OK, Lets move on to the DE-133. As I said, she is ready for final paintwork. After which I'll add all the guns, depth charges, lifeboat, figures,etc. Then comes rigging and finally weathering. Rather than caption each photo, I'll just give a tour. I have added lots of details using scratchbuilt parts, p/e, cast metal, cast resin, wood, etc. A chicken soup of stuff if you will, all combined for the final visual effect. For a small ship, the DE has lots of stuff on her. I think I got most of it! Take a look.....

Well, there you have it. Things are moving along slowly. Lots to do yet and little time. Wish me luck.....I'll be back! I continue on.................Bill W

[gtbred]

Man ohhhh Man!

[Richard J OMalley]

Hi Bill
The wait was worth it .Alway good to see your post .Incredible detail .

[ARH]

Hi Bill, A nice bit of building

[Dave Wooley]

Yes, a Master Craftsman at work . Bill it is always inspirational to get an up date on your work, and building two ships together, well I have givin up on that idea! All I can manage is one ship at a time .Great build .
Dave Wooley

[russclark]

Good to see your posts again bill,lovely work,your styrene and photo etch work is superb.It is a shame they have to be painted ,they look so neat the way thay are.

[Bill Waldorf]

Thanks for all the posts, to all of you. Been off the board for awhile as I said so it's good to see interest.

[roy allen]

Superb workmanship Bill
I see why you have been busy
Look forward to seeing more

Roy

[Capit�o Norbert]

Hi Bill, I have seen this thread many times, and my conclusion is just one: wonderfull abilities to do such a piece of art.
Very well executed and a great composition in all general aspects.
Good to see always

[Devin]

Fantastic work, Bill.

I'm visiting family in Indiana and found my self at the Indiana War Memorial yesterday. I saw your Indianapolis and Indiana models in person. Very very nice.

[Bill Waldorf]

Fantastic work, Bill.

I'm visiting family in Indiana and found my self at the Indiana War Memorial yesterday. I saw your Indianapolis and Indiana models in person. Very very nice.

Hello devin, Glad you made it over to the IWM. Thanks for the post

[Bill Waldorf]

Hello again all Things have been busy here as I am feverishly trying to meet a late October deadline on this project. As a result, I have not posted many how to articles. The USS Pillsbury is now completed except for final rigging, weathering and figures. I will do that just before final mounting into the seascape base. I can finally concentrate on one ship instead of two, so it's back to CVE construction. Lets take a look at DE-133......

Overall view from stb. side here. The ship is finished in MS.22. I used acrylic and enamels here.

Stb. bow view here. There are five main colors to the ship, Hull Red, Flat Black, Navy Blue 5-N, Haze Gray 5-H, and Deck Blue 20-B. For the Hull Red I used Floquil RR paint "Tuscan" with a little black added. Boot topping is just Flat Black. The Navy Blue is Tamiya XF-63, German Grey, with a little bit of Testors Dark Sea Blue added,#4686. The haze Grey is WEM colorcoat. Finally the Deck Blue is again Tamiya XF-63 with Sky Grey, XF-19 added to get the correct shade. I matched these with Snyder and Shorts color chips.

Port side bow view here. Hull numbers are Techmod decals. Hull and superstructure were all airbrushed, while all decks were done by hand brushing. Anchors are cast metal.

Stb. side looking from about midships aft. For a small ship, she sure carried lots of "stuff". Took me about a month to add all the details. A mix of p/e, cast resin,cast metal and scratchbuilt parts.

Forward superstructure on the stb. side here. All guns and armament have now been added. Superstructure is all styrene as well as all gun tubs.

Another view stb. side aft. Note the difference in the railings. The one the runs around the length of the hull is made from brass stantions and Trilene fishing line, to represent metal stantions and steel cable on the real ship. The railing on the upper structure is p/e brass the represent pipe rail.

Port side fwd. here. As I said, all decks were hand brushed, a laborious task but the only way to do them.

Port side midships here. Everthing was primed in white before final paint. In painting the hull, each color was added and then masked off to do the next. Careful masking produced nice straight lines.

Port side aft. Again note all the details. I'll go over those a little farther down. The ship was built as waterline, so when mounted in the base you won't see much red, if any.

Port side midships here. Alot more detail will be evident once the ship is weathered a bit.

Port side fwd. here.

Stb. side midships here. Note some of the stantions on the lower railing are bent a little. That's 'cause I keep bumping into them! I'll straighten them out before this goes anywhere. They bend easily, so caution is advised!

Stb. side looking fwd. Lifeboat is cast resin with cast metal rudder and prop. Note the ships bell, cast metal.

Stay tuned for some detail shots.........