USS Bennett DD-473 1/96 scale

[snaphappy321]

Hello Roger

I look forward to seeing your work of the new year
Happy new year
nicolas

Thanks for following my work My Friend. Compared to what you are doing mine looks like Childs play.

I wish you the best this New Year. May your future builds surpass anything you have accomplished to date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[PeeJay]

I was just reviewing this thread and saw your "Christmas Picture" of the USS Bennett. It clearly shows that as of that time, she had the emergency anti-aircraft refit, with the directors for the aft 40MM Bofors moved from the aft stack platform to an "island" between the stacks where the forward torpedo mount used to be; also the move forward of the aft 40 MM guns from abeam the aft stack and their upgrade to quad 40MM mounts.

That configuration -- at least from the forward stack aft -- appears to be identical with the current configuration of the USS Kidd as restored, which is shown in detail in Squadron Signal's "USS Kidd - On Deck." That book also shows the upgrade to the twin 20mm guns you are building (and doing a great job of it, at that!)

Best wishes for the New Year and I look forward to a couple of launchings of your Bennett and Haggard in 2013.

PeeJay

[PeeJay]

I was just reviewing this thread and saw your "Christmas Picture" of the USS Bennett. It clearly shows that as of that time, she had the emergency anti-aircraft refit, with the directors for the aft 40MM Bofors moved from the aft stack platform to an "island" between the stacks where the forward torpedo mount used to be; also the move forward of the aft 40 MM guns from abeam the aft stack and their upgrade to quad 40MM mounts.

That configuration -- at least from the forward stack aft -- appears to be identical with the current configuration of the USS Kidd as restored, which is shown in detail in Squadron Signal's "USS Kidd - On Deck." That book also shows the upgrade to the twin 20mm guns you are building (and doing a great job of it, at that!)

Best wishes for the New Year and I look forward to a couple of launchings of your Bennett and Haggard in 2013.

PeeJay

Here is a close-up photo of the emergency refit quad 40mm configuration, if you do not already have this one.

PeeJay

PeeJay

[snaphappy321]

Great photo of the quads at a nice angle of view!!!!!! Thanks PeeJay!!!!!!
I have the Kidd on Deck book. It has some very nice photos, but not the people restoring her have the wrong 20mm gun tub on the fantail. The Kidd is a beautiful ship and I'm glad it's being restored to its WWII configuration.

Thanks Again!!!!!!!
Roger DD-473/DD-555

[PeeJay]

You are more than welcome!

PeeJay

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Those of you that have followed my build from the beginning know I chose to use stuffing tubes instead of the more expensive original type open prop shaft set up.
Here�s a couple photos of my completed stuffing tube and strut installation that I finished yesterday.
Next, even though I purchased a rudder from Scale Shipyard, I think I�m going to make a post WWII rudder to cut down on the turning radius.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
It's been way too long since I did anything to the Bennett. I have sooooooooo much to do on her. Here are a couple photos of fitting the forward deck. I'm using 3/16" Gator Board. Its very light weight and very strong; it will allow me to put in less cross braces as well allowing greater access to the running gear inside the hull. I still need to add the deck edge supports to the sides of the hull. They will be glued in before the deck is glued in place. Its easier to fit the deck and get the curvature to fit properly without them in place.

The next two photos show that the bottom layer of the Gator Board is slit every 1/2 inch for the deck to conform to the sheer angle of the hull.

Hopefully, I will post a couple more photos later today or tomorrow. As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Roger

glad to see progress on your Bennett :thumbs_up_1:a work always more accurate my friend
I hope soon see new progress .....more quickly
friendships
Nicolas

[snaphappy321]

Thanks Nicolas,
My enthusiasm has been reignited and it feels very good to work on the Bennett again.

You are refining your model making it look the way it should, while I feel like I am still performing general construction as if I were building a house.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Good Morning Everyone,

I decided to permanently attach the forward deck house to the deck. I first screwed balsa wood blocks inside the structure and then the blocks were screwed to the deck. The underside of the deck was reinforced with strips of sintra so the screw heads wouldn�t pull through the deck. The three screws that hold the deck house to the blocks above the deck will be puttied over and be hidden after all of the detailing is completed.

If the deck house needs to be removed at a later date, all I need to do is scrape off the putty and remove the screws. Why do this you might ask?

The main reason is that I don't want to damage the mast if the forward structure is removable and I feel there is no reason to access the forward section of the hull.

The first image is just to entice myself to continue onward!!!!!

This is what the stuffing tube installation looks like from the inside of the hull.

Deck house attaching blocks.

As always, check back later for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Today I'm adding cross braces and working on the deck. Most people make it so each deck structure is removable to access running gear and replace the battery. I am attaching the amidships and aft deck structures to a removable deck section to give me more room to gain access to the hull. This is the same method I used on my USS Haggard DD-555 Lindberg Blue Devil. The removable deck section will be held in place by a couple magnets.

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Here's a little more work on the Bennett. I also took some photos of my removable deck section placed on top of a set of plans. This is so you can get an idea how much room I will have to perform maintenance and replace batteries. Also you can see the relationship between the twin 20mm Oerlikon's, K-guns and depth charge racks will be in relation to the removable deck section.

This is the same technique that I developed for the USS Haggard DD-555 I'm building from the Lindberg Blue Devil. The Lindberg kit if built OOB requires the whole deck to be remover to change batteries and perform any maintenance. I feel that the many details at the edge of the deck could be easily damaged and that's how I came up with the removable deck section that the amidships and aft deck structures are attached to be removable instead of the entire deck. Any way, enough talk here's the photos.

Also, here's a neat little Tamiya gearbox that will be used to rotate the SC-4 radar screen on the main mast. It's part #70189 from Tamiya in case you�re interested.

I posted a short video of the gearbox in action on You Tube today. Let me know what you think. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivDxDiv ... re=mh_lolz

As always, check back for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!
Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,

Today I fitted the Port and Starboard amidships deck strips. First, I cut some strips of 1/8 inch thick balsa wood and laid them on top of my cross beam to shim up the removable deck section. Then I centralized the removable deck section and taped it down. I cut two strips of gator board and I placed them one at a time against the center deck section and traced the outline of the hull on each of them.

I took the pieces down stairs and cut them on my table saw. The outside surfaces of Gator board are actually thin sheets of wood with a Styrofoam core. I take the blade guard off and I use a scrap piece of pine board clamped to the table as a cutting surface. It works great to cut any thing that's fragile so it will not get pulled down by the blade into the space between the blade and the guard. The photos explain it better than my description.

I also added the wood strips to support the stern deck section and made the last deck beam and glued it in place. I hope to cut and fit the stern deck section later today and the deck will be finished.

As always, check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!
Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
Here it is, the deck is finished.

Now I can finish the drive line installation, make the rudder and take her out for a test cruse!!!!!!!

As alwasy, check back soon for more on the Bennett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[LE BOSCO]

Hello Roger

always nice to see your WIP it is clear and precise
cheers
Nicolas

[snaphappy321]

Thank you very much Nicolas, I really appreciate it coming from you my friend!!!!!!!

When are you going to build a 1/96 scale Battleship? I promise, you will have the time of your life detailing a ship of that size. The best part is cruising around a lake with other warship models of the same size. Please check out these two videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcSvDUvP ... e=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuLohUOL ... ture=share

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[snaphappy321]

Hi Everyone,
I thought my first test of the Tamiya mini gear box was 20 rpm. When I switched gears this morning to 9 rpm I noticed the mistake I made; it was running at 42 rpm not 20 rpm. Well, for the 2nd test it's running 9 rpm. It looks sooooooooooo much better. What do you think?

This is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaX1VZm ... e=youtu.be

Roger DD-473/DD-555

[PeeJay333]

Hi Everyone,
I thought my first test of the Tamiya mini gear box was 20 rpm. When I switched gears this morning to 9 rpm I noticed the mistake I made; it was running at 42 rpm not 20 rpm. Well, for the 2nd test it's running 9 rpm. It looks sooooooooooo much better. What do you think?

DSCN0833 9 rpm Tamiya mini gear box low res.jpg

This is the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaX1VZm ... e=youtu.be

Roger DD-473/DD-555

How do you plan to get the rotation up to the antenna? Are you going to build a hollow mast? What kind of driveshaft will you use?

Peejay

[PetrolGator]

This is looking awesome, man. Thanks again for the plans!

[snaphappy321]

Hi PeeJay,
I'm going to use telescoping brass tubing for the mast. The drive shaft will be a piece of 1/16" diameter wire. The SC-4 radar screen mounts onto a cone shaped part. I'm going to make that out of aluminum rod that will be machined into a cone shape and I will drill a 1/16" hole through it for the drive shaft. A couple drops of permanent lock tight will secure the cone to the wire drive shaft.

Roger DD-473/DD-555