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Jack12477

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Everything posted by Jack12477

  1. Jack12477
    The real USS England is at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA, couple hours drive from me. Maybe a road trip.! Right now I'm trying to figure out the kit instructions, which only have pictures, no prose, just a bunch of part numbers and no explanation of what the part is. Some I can figure out but not being a Navy vet (Army vet) my knowldge of ships is somewhat limited. Right now I'm trying to figure out what PE part replaces what plastic part. But I will muddle thru.
  2. Jack12477
    Probably going to do her as she appears today in Buffalo, Lou, since I have some photos and can easily get more. There's a WWII Destroyer Escort (last one still floating) berthed in Albany NY, about 50 miles from me, the USS Slater, which if I can find a suitable kit, I would like to model. She was repainted a couple years back in the razzle dazzle camo. What is slowing me down right is figuring out how to do the PE mods, so I am going a lot slower than I normally would with the plastic. Wood is easy to re-do, plastic not so good.
  3. Jack12477
    Pictures just for Carl ! The wood block in the center of the hull is to attach the two 1/16 inch diameter brass tubing that will support the model in the display when completed. The 3 sections of the hull/deck combo are just dry fit together for now. Some touch up is needed on the black boot. The grayish cast on the red hull bottom is the lighting for some reason, not weathering.
  4. Jack12477
    Patience, grasshopper, patience !
  5. Jack12477
    Well after opening up the sealed plastic bags and examining the parts sprues most closing, it appeared I did not have any or enough anyway doors and deck hatches, so I placed an order for another sheet of Tom's MetalWorks PE; those arrived Friday (almost overnight delivery). Then I spent the weekend looking thru the online catalogs of 3 US based Hobby "stores" for paint in the colors used in WWII. Very tedious task. After hours of looking at every paint brand I could find I finally located a set from LifeColor that exact matched the colors I was seeking, comes in 2 sets of 6 colors each. Ordered them, but it will take until 11/20 (next week sometime) to ship them to me from Atlanta, Georgia. Not like the next day delivery of the PE from NJ. In the meantime, I have been painting the lower hull with Vallejo hull red (4-5 coats) and upper hull with some old Poly S (water base) Light and Dark Ghost Grey (several coats). Haven't rolled out the airbrush yet, so far just hand brushing with pretty good results.
  6. Jack12477
    Are those birds cocketoos/cocketiels (probably spelling wrong ) ?
  7. Jack12477
    Kop and I cross posted. His lights are rated at 5500K aka 5500 degrees Kelvin, in other words daylight. I forgot to mention "tungsten" light is 3200-3400 Kelvin
  8. Jack12477
    I use a looooong rollup window shade in a setup like Kop is using; for lighting I use a goose neck type lamp with a 100 watt daylight rated LED. For reflectors you can use a large piece of cardboard covered in standard kitchen aluminum foil (don't make it too smooth a little crinkled is good) In my case the window shade is attached to brackets attached to the floor joists in my cellar . Kop is using background paper instead of a window shade, either will work. Use a white or very light grey shade. Yes, those umbrellas are reflector/diffusers. The tissue over the flash cuts the intensity. With Kop's setup you can control intensity by just moving the lights or using a lower watt bulb. Two lights eliminate shadows. The reason for daylight LED is so you don't have to adjust the white balance on your camera/phone which defaults to daylight. Indoor lighting, called tungsten, is rated at 3200 degrees Kelvin, daylight is 5600-5800 degrees Kelvin. If you use ordinary indoor lightbulbs (tungsten) without adjusting the white balance the photos taake on a yellow or amber cast. Just look in the lighting section of Lowes or Home Depot for the LED bulbs, check the rating on the package. They are the standard "incandesent" replacement bulb .
  9. Jack12477
    I think they already do. I read that they used a medical endoscope to examine the interiors of the ship model in the Rogers Collection at Annapolis.
  10. Jack12477
    Kop has the right setup, the Amazon is good for a really serious Amateur photographer. Keep it simple and inexpensive. Only thing I would add is make sure the LED light bulbs are labeled DAYLIGHT and not Cool White, affects the color rendition. BTW I am a amateur photog with experience.
  11. Jack12477
    I found the Veritas miniature planes from Lee Valley a worthwhile investment. I use them frequently to thin planks and smooth off the hull. I have their entire miniature collection bought in ones and twos over time. Also Chuck's SYREN Seizing tool is a good investment. Also WeCheer makes a small corded and battery powered miniature drill which takes all Dremel 1/8 inch shank accessories. It's offered by WoodCraft. Excellent alternative to the larger Dremel tool
  12. Jack12477
    If you're going that route, Carl, I'd prefer a Redbreast 21 year old single malt pot still! Or a Redbreast 15 year old !
  13. Jack12477
    Better get yourself into a bos'un chair, Carl, it's going to be a while before the PE shows up. Wouldn't want you to lose your finger nails.
  14. Jack12477
    Not only is your model impressive but so is the close-up photography. Great work on both !
  15. Jack12477
    Well, the "newbie" to PE just encountered his first screw-up. While looking over the kit and PE parts, I discovered that the PE enhancement kit does not include doors or deck hatches, those are in a separate package. So it's back to MegaHobbies for the remaining parts. (what's that old saw about a ship being a big hole in the ocean into which you pour money ) In the meantime, I can work on prepping the hull and deck for priming and painting while I wait for the order to come in.
  16. Jack12477
    Kevin, Denis, Ken, Greg, Ryland, welcome aboard. Greg (@RGL), you've set a very high standard to follow. Glad to have you along for the build. Chris (@ccoyle), drifting a little off-topic is okay with me as long as we don't get too far adrift.
  17. Jack12477
    Mark, welcome aboard. And, yes, you are correct, the brothers were from Waterloo, Iowa.
  18. Jack12477
    Lou, Thanks for the history lesson. I was vaguely familiar with the overall history of the Battle of the Philippine sea and Leyte Gulf from the old TV series Victory at Sea (yes, I am that ancient of days) but not the the individual battles. And, yes, The Sullivans was decommissioned in 1946 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet. It was re-commissioned in 1951 and returned to active duty. Wikipedia has some of her history There is a second ship named The Sullivans (DDG-68) an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer commissioned in 1997. Al-Qaeda attempted to attack and blow her up in 2000 but they failed. They later successfully attacked the USS Cole in the same year. I believe I saw a model of the 2nd ship (DDG-68) offered, which I may build at a later date.
  19. Jack12477
    You and Lou have me on that one. I confess I am not very up-to-date on WWII Naval battle history and even less knowledgeable about WWI Naval battles.
  20. Jack12477
    Some photos of The Sullivans that I took in September 2011 showing her tied up at the wharf alongside the cruiser Little Rock at the Buffalo (NY) Naval Park. I plan to return and get some more photos and take the tour of the ship.
  21. Jack12477
    Tom Welcome ! I've never done PE before either, so this will be interesting. Re: Ice boat, Thanks. But you could scratch build a ice boat, there's no hull to build or plank, just a keel aka backbone, runner plank, mast, spars.
  22. Jack12477
    Not sure yet, Mark. I have to inventory the kit first and see what is included and read the instructions thru and do some more research.
  23. Jack12477
    Chris, there were 2 kits purchased at the same time including the PE Brass so I didn't break everything down cost wise. The Sullivans kit was 25.73 and the John S Brown Liberty ship (also 1:350 Trumpeter) was $38.72 from HobbyLinc, total for 2 kits with tax and shipping $74. The brass PE for both ships totaled $63 from MegaHobbies, tax and shipping included. The Hold/Fold tool, Black acrylic mat, and extra bending tool totaled $99.87 from The Small Shop (Oregon ??) tax and shipping included. So for two kits, including PE it was about $137 for both kits. The extra tools were a "wanna-have" extra. To answer the second part of your question: I've been modelling plastic for probably 50-60 years off and on, mostly in 1:35 scale Tamiya armor, fully camouflaged/weathered using an airbrush free hand (no masking), and super-detailed using a variety of stuff. Also did a lot of N-scale model railroading models in plastic, wood and a little card-stock. If you remember the Hubley & Gabriel metal car/truck kits, I also did a bunch of them. My Dad was a huge model railroading fan, started with Lionel right after the war (that's WWII ) , then S-scale when it was introduced, skipped over TT-scale, and went to HO scale, built most of his HO rolling stock from Athern (and others) kits; he and I built some of his rolling stock cars together, so it's sort of in my blood. Shep Paine's books and FineScale Modeler magazine provided a lot of modeling references for the Tamiya armor models. (Before I found MSW ) - I have close to 40 some-odd Tamiya 1:35 scale armor models, including a couple of unopened kits. But this is my first excursion into PE Brass detailing. Watching the builds of RGL, COG, Semourbutts, et al, peeked my interest into trying PE myself. Another reason is that I am running out of room for the larger wood ship models and need to do something a little smaller in overall size. I still have 4 wood kits on the shelf waiting for me to open them. Someone starting out could easily built these two ships out of the box without the PE add-ons and still get a lot of experience and satisfaction and not break the "piggy-bank".
  24. Jack12477
    For my next build I have chosen to “go rogue” and join @RGL, @COG, @Canute, @Old Collingwood, and @Popeye the Sailor and build a plastic kit with Photo Etched Brass. The kit is 1:350 scale Trumpter model of the Fletcher Class destroyer The Sullivans DD537. The PE Brass is from Tom’s Modelworks. The Sullivans is a United States Navy ship named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers (George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert) aged 20 to 27 who lost their lives when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. This was the greatest military loss by any one American family during World War II. She was also the first ship commissioned in the Navy that honored more than one person. After service in both World War II and the Korean War, The Sullivans was assigned to the 6th Fleet and was a training ship until she was decommissioned on 7 January 1965. In 1977, she and cruiser USS Little Rock (CG-4) were processed for donation to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York. The ship now serves as a memorial and is open for public tours. I chose The Sullivans partly because I have visited it while visiting my daughter in Buffalo and I can easily obtain detailed photos of her as needed during the build. DD-537's specifications are: Length: 376 feet 6 inches Beam: 39 feet 8 inches Draught: 17 feet 9 inches Crew: 329 Displacement: 2,050 tons Max Speed: 35 knots (40mph) Fuel Capacity: 492 tons of fuel oil Range: 6,500 nautical miles Original Armament: Five 5 inch 38 cal gun mounts Ten 40mm Bofors AA cannon in five dual mounts Seven 20mm Oerlikon AA cannon Two 5 tube 21 inch Torpedo Tubes Two 24 round Hedgehog Anti Submarine Mortar Projectors Six Depth Charge Projectors Two Stern Depth Charge Racks Current Armament: Four 5 inch 38 cal gun mounts Four 40mm Bofors AA cannon in dual mounts Four 20mm Oerlikon AA cannon Two 3 tube Mk32 Torpedo launchers Two 24 round Hedgehog Anti Submarine Mortar Projectors One Stern Depth Charge Rack Power Plant: 4 Babcock & Wilcox oil fired boilers powering 2 General Electric steam turbines driving 2 screws with 60,000 Shaft Horsepower Launching Date: April 4, 1943 at the Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco, CA The obligatory box and contents photos follow:
  25. Jack12477
    Thanks everyone for your kind comments and Likes. It's been fun bringing you a taste of Hudson Valley history and our winter recreational sport.

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