The Ship Model Forum

Great job Steve, you've made a lot of head way and it really shows well. Shoot, you'll be finished pretty soon and I'll still be messy around with the Stevens.

Best and good modeling,

Bruce

Looking good, Steve! I'm guessing the barrels are not attached for good yet?

Thanks Bruce and Timmy! Stevens has a been a great inspiration.
The quality of workmanship and attention to detail is superb.

The work ahead that poses the biggest challenge will be making the
torpedo mounts I think and will take a long time to make. There are a lot
of "fiddly bits" to the real mounts. The kit parts are not usable as they
don't even come close to the detail of real mounts.

Timmy, you are correct, the guns are not yet fixed in position. I haven't
decided at which elevation to mount the guns. On models with a lot of
guns I like to have a variety of elevation. On a USS Missouri model
I have one 5-inch turret with the guns pointing straight up. Variety
makes the model more visually interesting and tends to show that ships
are busy places with lots of independent action. That's why I opted for
open watertight doors and hatches and a detailed bridge interior. That
look draws the viewer more deeply into the model. The typical viewer
enjoys being surprised.

That's one of the reasons I really like Bruce Ross' USS Stevens.
The catapult and Kingfisher set his Fletcher apart from most others.
And his attention to detail draws the viewer in close. Go over to his
thread sometime and just check out the viewport details on the base of
the gun director on top the pilot house. That kind of detailing is not easy
to make nor are those kinds of details easy to make consistently. Look
closely and you will see that each viewport is identical to the one next to
it. That is darn fine work. Same is true for work by Bill Waldorf,
Ron Horabin, Geoff and more.

A very good model can often be described by the adage, "the closer you
look the more you see." I try hard to achieve that.

Now you've done it Steve.....I'm blushing! Seriously, thank you for the kind remarks about my obsession. And, by the way, I thought that you put the object of our pursuits nicely into words. For me, I try to take the approach of what would you see if you were standing on the side of the fitting basin looking at the real ship.
But ultimately it comes down to this is a hobby; it's my escape from the world and I'm not all that worried about getting to the finish. I'm more interested in the journey; learning new skills and techniques and enjoying a few minutes away from the craziness that is my life.

So, let's go build something and enjoy the moment.

Good modeling to all,

Bruce

Bruce, well said!

I wonder just how many modelers know how small your Kingfisher really is. When you said you have yet to install the gun, gun mount ring and radios I gasped.

Roughing out the midships deckhouse begins. Slightly modified kit
funnels and searchlights are being used. Most bulkhead corner
joints will be rounded. Ammunition handling rooms below the Bofors
platforms have yet to be built. Fabrication of the interior structure for
the funnels has also begun. A Mk-51 Bofors director platform will be built
and installed on the aft funnel. The existing molded-on intake vents on
the funnels will be replaced. The main portion of the real deckhouse was
the galley. I am tempted to build a galley and open the watertight doors
but I fear despite the open doors the interior will not be visible and the
effort lost.

Shocking to see just how much is scratchbuilt!! Looking good, Stephen!

Steve,please include the galley.Put a small light in there and it will look amazing.Its these kind of things that really make a model neat.Im thinking about putting small electric motors in my Arado floatplanes on my 1/144th Bismarck.This kind of thing is a fun diversion from cutting plastic.Anyway,your model looks great!!

Thanks for the compliments, gentlemen!

Timmy, I really like the Lindberg kit. Sadly, the only parts that are
reasonably accurate in scale were the funnels, whaleboats and
searchlights.

Tim, the galley is very very tempting. Not sure if I will do it. If I do,
maybe I'll have some SOS cooking on the stoves.

If anyone has some good photos of a Fletcher's galley interior, please
send!

Steve,
She's look good; I love the dazzle paint job. I have sent you an email regarding the galley.

Best,
Bruce

Midships deckhouse interior work has begun. Thanks to all who have
offered their help with researching details.

Helpful comments are always welcome!

Looking GOOD Steve

Splendid work to date Stephen!!!!! Thanks for sharing this project with the rest of us mere mortals

AWESOME absolutely spectacular job. I find 3 things in this forum
1-INSPIRATION (Steve your Fletcher is truly inspirational)
2-good model ship kits to buy (I can tell that the Lindberg kit is defiantly not one of them unless u have the time to build everything from the deck up )
3- nice people (don't know u to well Steve but u do make a very NICE model)

Reid


P.S. an AWESOME job well done

An awesome job on the fletcher.

HUBBA-HUBBA!!!

STEVE MORE PICS PLZ

I am getting Steve's Fletcher build withdrawals

Hi Guys,
Steve,
Any ship anxiety yet?
I built a/c since I was a kid, and I still have quite a few unbuilt!
I Love a/c! There I said it!
I love ships...more...
Take care, Tony

Hi Tony!

Anxiety? You betcha!

Wish me luck on the Fletcher galley interior. It's either going to look pretty good or just plain awful and toy-like. But I will give it a go.

Love your models, keep it up!

Well u did a great job on the bridge so I have no doubts that u will do a great job on it.

Reid