The Ship Model Forum

Hello everyone. I've been a fan of the site for a long time now and a modeller since I was a kid. My builds are usually WWII aircraft and armor but every once and a while I like to build a ship. I've been wanting to build the USS Kidd since it first arrived in Louisiana when I was as a young kid. As soon as I saw the Revell kit I wanted to build it but due to the fact I've never done any serious scratchbuilding or any serious modification of a kit I was reluctant to try it. Well, I finally got up the nerve to give it a shot for my first attempt.

I'll be converting the kit to the the Kidd's 1945 appearance after being refitted due to the kamikaze attack. So far I've done some hull work and built up the front funnel with the search light platform scratch built for the late war configuration. I'll try keep updates coming when I get significant work done on it. I hope you all enjoy.

Neil

Ohhh... Interesting, very interesting... Keep the pictures coming...

The last couple of days I worked on the forward gun tubs to house the twin bofers. The early tubs were completely removed and the new tubs were built from scratch. So far I'm having a good time converting the although I haven't gotten to far in yet . I am learning as I go but I can see how it can get addictive.

...

ingura wrote:Looks good and I got the impression, that you know your stuff and the how-to's very well.

Thanks for sharing your build.

Peter.

Thanks Peter. It's definitely a learning process. It is nice to have access to sites such as this one where modelers share their tips and techniques. It makes a first time project like this a lot smoother.

Neil

Got some more work done on the build. I reworked the rear twin bofer housing with the lower profile and added the tub for the stern 20mm guns. Once that was done I finished up the quad bofer mounts I had been working on the last few days. I was quite happy with the way they all turned out so far. In between a couple problems I came across I put together the K-gun racks. Next up I'll probably start working on building the new depth charge racks and the housing for the quad bofer's directors. Hope you all enjoy.
Neil

Looks great so far Neil ...like your scratched gun tubs!...what's your source for the quad 40's?...as far as I know there are only twin 40's in 1/144 scale....looking forward to more updates!

Dave

Dave Hill wrote:Looks great so far Neil ...like your scratched gun tubs!...what's your source for the quad 40's?...as far as I know there are only twin 40's in 1/144 scale....looking forward to more updates!

Dave

Hey Dave, thanks for the compliment. I found some quad 40's from HR fittings. They are good but I will probably switch them out once the WEM quads are released since they come with the PE to really detail them good.

Thanks again, Neil

Neil,

You are off to a good start, but I have noticed something you may want to consider changing at this scale. The bulwarks for the quad mounts had a different type of storage for the ammo clips. Initially they had bays with three "bins", which were then increased to four bins. KIDD had four bins per quad mount. The bays were formed by extending the bulwarks outward following the same arc as the bulwark to accept the the bins. I suspect that these "bins" were made as standard and common standalone units and were installed on the ship

I discussed these earlier and included images on these pages on the "Calling all FLETCHER Class Fans".

KIDD (DD-661)
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=8105&start=260

A three bin unit is shown here
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=8105&start=320

The images referenced.

KIDD (DD-661)


HOWORTH (DD-592)

Hey Rick thanks for the advice on the quad tubs. I reworked them according to the photo you supplied. I was able to get three bins in but four did work out right. It will be a little off on accuracy but I do think it looks more like the photo. I'll try and remember to get some photos up when I do my next update.

Thanks again for the help.
Neil

I've gotten a good bit of of work done the last several days. I've built up most of the superstructure and added the railings to each part. I still need to build the last two depth charge racks and will probably work on that tomorrow.







Here are the two main depth charge racks built up and ready for to paint.


The housing for the quad 40 gun directors


Built up the 5" guns and sculpted the gun bloomers with milliput. I'm quite happy with the way they turned out as I don't do much sculpting.

Be warned Neil, styrene will claim your soul
It got me three years ago and refuses to let go

Lovely clean and well thought out build, look forward to seeing more


Roy

Neil,

Good work. But, you need to use the lower Mk 37 director for the Square-bridge. The conversion set should come with it.

KIDD's sister WADLEIGH (DD-689) prior to the Anti-Kamikaze MODs, but the bridge area back to the first stack was pretty much the same.


THE SULLIVANS (DD-537)

Neil that is an excellent job thus far. Keep up the good work.

I would like to make an observation, in addition to Rick's; the waist 40mm mounts had clipping rooms under them. In the one picture of that area it doesn't look like the main deck bulkheads extend far enough toward the centerline. Look real close at that area in the top picture Rick attached.

Good modeling,
Bruce

Great looking build so far! One of the 1/144 fletchers is on myto do list down the road, all that detail at that size looks awesome!

I toured the Kidd many, many times as a kid as I was born in Baton Rouge and still have a ton of family there. Can still remember the smell of her.

Will be following this one.

Rick E Davis wrote:Neil,

Good work. But, you need to use the lower Mk 37 director for the Square-bridge. The conversion set should come with it.

KIDD's sister WADLEIGH (DD-689) prior to the Anti-Kamikaze MODs, but the bridge area back to the first stack was pretty much the same.


THE SULLIVANS (DD-537)

Hey thanks a lot for pointing that out Rick, I'm not sure how I missed that when putting it together.

Neil,

Here are images of the real KIDD in August 1945.

Hey Rick, thanks a lot for those photos. I had not come across these before. I managed to get the gun director redone without any problems at all. Just had to be a little patient working the glue loose but it came off fine. Funny thing is I kept looking at it and something seemed off I just didn't figure it out.

Thanks again,
Neil

The USS Kidd Field Day is coming up in Oct. You can go down and stay on her four four days and three nights. It's a great time and you can photograph to your heart's content. I urge anyone that's Fletcher nut to go. It's a chance to talk to some of the guys that served on her. Check out their website for details.