lmagna

At this stage it does not look Vac-U-Form at all. That is a medium that like paper I have never been successful in working.

Really coming together Chris. You have created a very clean and crisp build.

Moving right along Chris. It is looking a bit like an aircraft now instead of a coffin.

Yes the interwar years were rampant in treaties and ideologies that were intended to limit cost and size of ships on almost all fronts. It was much the same here in the US where funds to properly arm and man a viable military was almost non existent. I do not know where they are are now, but I remember seeing accounts of US soldiers having to practice with broomsticks because there were not enough rifles to go around. We entered the war primarily armed with WWI equipment and technology. Guns were not fired because it was too costly. Ships spent all too much time in port because there was not enough money for fuel. Research on basic items like torpedoes and triggering systems were developed but hardly tested before being adopted as a main weapon. This was in a country that had a much greater military stance than The Netherlands in the first half of the 20th century. This country was not only suffering from the depression like the rest of the world but also suffered from the public attitude that WWI was the war to end all wars and that there was little or no need for a properly equipped standing military.

Just saw your COVID post. Are you planning on getting tested? Or you just going to wait it out and see what happens? Let us hope for the best either way.

WOW that build went so fast that I couldn't even make it to the rafters! I think that if you take the tracks and stretch them over a form and then hit them as evenly as possible with a hair dryer you may be able to stretch them enough to allow the motor to operate them. Another alternative is to get a little higher voltage motor, (That size is ultra common) or risk running the motor you have at a slightly higher voltage. It is possibly able to handle as much as 5-6 V. You can add the additional batteries in the on board battery compartment you mentioned and run them in series with the batteries in the hand controller. That will also add some weight to the tank and make it operate more realistically when running over objects instead of just having the treads spinning when trying to climb objects.

Hard to respond to your post Bob. Sad to hear about Max, but then you follow up in the same post about your beautiful P-38 So I am saddened about the first part and impressed by the second.

No one in early 1942 had that ability.

He is........... Look at his Centurion Mk.1 conversion. Centurion Mk.1 conversion

WOW that one REALLY stinks. How will you know if your meds will still be viable on the 4th? Oldendorf used the ships he had exactly as they and every other Dreadnaught from 1906 on had been designed to do. Form a line of battle and smash the enemy. In fact this could be said of all line of battle ships throughout time. Using his advanced scouts, (PTs) to locate and harass the Japanese and along with his destroyers herd them into the area where he was waiting, the results almost could have been nothing short of the complete slaughter that it was. It was an almost prefect example of crossing the enemy's "T" a maneuver always desired but seldom accomplished in naval warfare. Outside of the opening contacts involving the PTs and destroyers speed in that narrow confined seaway. Oldendorf then used the superior speed and firepower of his cruisers while operating under the envelope of the battleships to destroy all that was left. The only difference if the fast battleships had been there would have been that they possibly could have operated in unison with the cruisers and brought the battle to a quicker end with their 16" guns. All of the advantage was with Oldendorf. The Japanese had to come to him and all he needed to do was pick his position and wait. Speed was not a requirement. If the battle had happened in a more open area then he could have still carried it off with the ships he had but it could have possibly been harder to maintain contact if the Japanese chose to break away. Remember that even the old battleships had been considerably upgraded in the antiaircraft department after Pearl Harbor and were no slouches when it came to taking on aircraft on their own. It could also be said that Pearl Harbor changed the role of the battleship, at least in the Pacific, that very same high speed had for most of the war delegated the fast battleships to the role of protector. They were designed as battleships but were used primarily as anti aircraft platforms and floating batteries and seldom seemed to be around when a battleship was needed. The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal being an exception. But one also has to remember that it was pretty much against American policy to deploy their fast battleships in the restricted waters of Guadalcanal in the first place. The Washington and South Dakota were just there out of necessity doing what would have normally been assigned to cruisers had any been available.

Your work on the Gwin has been extraordinary. If doing the same model I suspect I would have missed the .50 cal mounts vs the 20s. In many of the pictures It seemed to me that she was equipped with the twenties. Using foam and a torch is a very effective way to make landscape. Years ago in a time far away I "Assisted" my two boys construct what amounted to being a diorama involving a forest area with stream hills and some low area. We used some left over packing foam and the "Landscaping" only took a few minutes with the torch. I have never done a seaway and am looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

I think that much of the commentary and probable revision of the battle in public media stemmed from Captain Gatch himself. In many ways Gatch was from the same self enhancing mold as MacArthur without many of MacAuthur's contacts and influence in high places. I think there can be very little argument that Gatch "embellished" both his personal actions and the effectiveness of the South Dakota in the battle when he reached the US and the "Battleship X" stories were released in the media. Captain Davis of the Washington was openly critical of Gatch's claims, and Admiral Lee while kinder in his wording, refused to back almost all of Gatch's assertations. I don't know how much the crews were involved in all of this but I can see where the crews of each ship would tend to follow the opinions of their seniors. The South Dakota was commissioned in March 1942. Six months later in early September Gatch runs her aground on an uncharted reef requiring her to return to Pearl for repairs. She then takes a direct hit from a 500 pound bomb on #2 turret. Almost two months after running aground, in late October Gatch collides with the USS Mayhan while attempting maneuvers to avoid a submarine contact causing damage to both ships that required them to retire from the operational area for repairs. Two months later in late October she was back in time for the night of 14-15 November that put her out of operation for the next three months and out of the Pacific theater for the next year. Gatch was relieved of command upon South Dakota's return to New York ending his nine months of command. Taken individually all of these incidents could have been dismissed as bad luck or as you say insignificant work up time. Taken together it seems to me to be more of a case of borderline or possibly subpar command. Especially when you consider that with much the same time period for work up after her repairs and under the command of Capt. Smith she returned to the Pacific where she remained for the rest of the war. In that time period she participated in many of the campaigns receiving only one additional 500 pound bomb hit. She was also damaged when handling ammo when a power charge detonated while being hoisted aboard and set off several other charges. It is hard to second guess history in many cases, this possibly being one of them. Virtually all ships launched or commissioned after December 1941 and some even before that were rushed into service in many cases with green crews and untested equipment. That is especially true of virtually every small combatant built until late in the war. Yet for most they managed to make the grade. The USS Johnson was almost exactly one year old when she was lost taking on the Japanese fleet as part of Taffy 3 in the battle off Samar. She had already been involved in a number of actions and had sunk one Japanese submarine. She had made very good account of herself in all of these actions including when defending Taffy 3. She virtually single handedly took out the heavy cruiser Kumano blowing her bow completely off and pretty much destroying her bridge with 200 rounds of 5" gunfire. Add the actions of the Hoel, Heermann, and DE Samuel B. Roberts and you have uncanny results achieved by overpowered ships that were all less than two years old. The Samuel B. Roberts was only six months old. "Big Five into front line battleships, (which they never would be) and the old battleships were not capable of modern front line action" You might have a hard time convincing Adm. Nishimura and the crews of the Fuso, Yamashiro, and Yogami along with the rest of the Japanese ships at the Battle of Surigao Strait, I suspect they may have had a different opinion.

I suppose I would have to tread up on the history and aftermath of the battle far more exhaustively than I have done to date. I feel I have done this in regards to the ABDA era of WWII, but not so much on a number of the other battles that followed. All of the accounts I have read to date all say that the first salvo from #3 caused the electrical failure but the attempts at restoring power are what exasperated it instead. To be honest, I have never heard of the story of the animosity between the two crews or of any question about who may have been left alone. All accounts do state that the SD was illuminated to the Japanese when she chose a course that put the burning American destroyers behind her illuminating her to the Japanese fleet and making her the primary target, especially to the well placed cruisers. Most of her 26+ hits were from 6 and 8" shells. Call it what you may but I always considered this battle to be an example of what these battleships were capable of in both the best scenario and the worst. One ship suffered a fate that could be compared to that of the HMS Hood and Prince Of Wales against the Bismarck and Prince Eugene where almost anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The South Dakota experienced an almost complete loss of firepower, gun handling and communications ability while receiving 26 hits at point blank range mostly from major caliber guns. Yet she was still able to maintain position and speed for the most part and even deliver occasional if ineffective return fire. How much longer this could have continued is a matter of speculation, but compares quite well against the last battle of the Bismarck and how long she was able to return fire. Four salvoes pretty much finished her as a fighting entity. It took much more to sink her but those four salvoes allowed all that followed. The South Dakota was able to leave the battle under her own power and while considerably damaged was never in any danger of sinking. The other American ship in the engagement, a sister ship to the South Dakota was literally on the other side of the coin. She was mechanically sound, had been able to remain mostly hidden from the Japanese and had a working radar with a Captain who was unafraid to rely on it. In a matter of just a few minutes Admiral Lee and the Washington almost totally disabled the Kirishima and inflicted enough damage that the Kirishima capsized and sank a couple of hours later. Admittedly the surviving Japanese ships could have finished her off with torpedoes but it is fairly clear that she was too damaged to save. So while one sister showed just how much damage this class of ship could absorb on a bad day the other ship showed just how much damage it could hand out on a good one.

Knowing what the South Dakota endured mostly because of that individual I suspect his life was not very enjoyable after the Court Martial. That is if the story about the chief engineer hard wiring the circuit is true. While it is pointed out in the South Dakota damage report, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/w/war-damage-reports/uss-south-dakota-bb57-war-damage-report-no57.html There seems to be very little if any human error assessment suggested. The report states that the initial loss was caused by the shock of #3 turret firing causing a number of automatic breakers to fail. Manual attempts at restoring power were expected and needed but it was still over a minute before partial power was restored. If I understand that portion of the report they are placing the majority of the blame on the design rather than on any individual.

Sad to see you off to this kind of start Jack. I like the looks and lines of this aircraft. Hopefully you can recover and salvage the build.

Too bad. I know that personally I would not hesitate to buy several of the items you show in your pictures if they were anywhere close to affordable.

WOW that is a treasure trove of 3d printed items. They will go far in bringing your village to life. Does your friend also sell any of his printed items?

The DeRuyter was considered the flagship of ABDA strictly because because she was the ship the commander, Dutch Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman, flew his flag from. While it is true that she was the newest cruiser in the Dutch Navy she was built in 1933 and commissioned in 1936 and much of her equipment really dated back to the WWI designed Java, the only other Dutch cruiser in the "fleet". Other cruisers present in early 1942 were: American USS Houston 8" Heavy cruiser commissioned 1930 USS Marbelhead 6" Light cruiser Commissioned 1924 USS Boise 6" Light Cruiser Commissioned 1938 British HMS Exeter 8" Heavy cruiser commissioned 1931 Dutch HNLMS De Ruyter 6" Light Cruiser commissioned 1936 HNLMS Java 6" Light cruiser commissioned 1925 (But was started in 1916 to WWI design) HNLMS Tromp 6" Destroyer Leader commissioned 1938 (Although lightly armored, thus her classification as a Destroyer Leader instead of Light cruiser the Tromp was widely considered the most powerful ship in the Dutch navy in WWII) Australian HMAS Perth 6" Light Cruiser commissioned in 1936 HMAS Hobart 6" Light Cruiser commissioned in 1936 Both the Perth and Hobart were modified Leander class British cruisers with what was considered a superior machinery layout and a 152mm main gun instead of 150mm used in most other light cruisers. There are far many more considerations to take into consideration when comparing these ships than is contained in this list but it is clear that the De Ruyter while certainly a contemporary of the other ships available in the opening stages of WWII in the Pacific, was certainly not the newest. That distinction would have to be given to the USS Boise or the Tromp. That is if you do not consider the 14" battleship HMS Prince Of Wales commissioned in 1941. While the argument could be made that the De Ruyter was more heavily armed than the Tromp, having 7 130mm guns instead of six on the Tromp, the Java had 10 of the same caliber guns, although like many ships of her design had a much poorer gun arrangement and could not use all of them at the same time if engaging a single target. The USS Marblehead had somewhat the same problem even though it is considered that she had a superior 6" gun than on the Java. So saying that the De Ruyter was "By far" the heaviest armed ship in the Dutch Navy may be exceeding the reality slightly as well. The one thing that is certain to me though, was that these were the ships and men who were available at the time and almost to the ship gave all they had in those opening months of the war. Whether their sacrifice was wasted or effective is for people far more knowledgeable than I even pretend to be. But what would have happened in the Pacific if they had not done what little they could in those opening months? Your building of the De Ruyter honors some of that effort and I only wish more would do the same and that these ships of ABDA were more represented in the modeling community.

They were probably just as excited as if they were reeling in Jaws when the fish grabbed the hook!

Likely story Chris. All of us here live with the same affliction and are too smart to fall for that one. It is like my wife telling be how good of a deal it was because it was on sale and buys five of them!

Looks right at home next to your light houses Jack. Nicely done.

Hello from a fellow PNWer from north of you. Make that three on the Kayak. Impressive work to put it mildly. With skills and patience like that, unlike most of us mere mortals, you should be able to handle the Corel Victory as a first build. Looking forward to following your build if you would be so kind as to post it.

Like EG says, I think you will find that an iron will do the trick. Just use a rolling pin on the metal stuff and then solder it here and there to make certain it stays flat. Speaking of soldering how about soldering wick? https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/chemtronics/50-6-25/306991?utm_adgroup=Desoldering Braid%2C Wick%2C Pumps&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping_Product_Soldering%2C Desoldering%2C Rework Products_NEW&utm_term=&utm_content=Desoldering Braid%2C Wick%2C Pumps&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoab_BRCxARIsANMx4S5RY_kIohU61_RDZmY9RG_NRLZohVNh_tW8JRx70sj1FWuMulvTDdcaAoJyEALw_wcB

Another source could be 550 Paracord. It is available almost everywhere and is normally not all that expensive. https://www.paracordplanet.com/top-colors-550-paracord/?sku=100 XPAR-MRLDGRN-&gclid=CjwKCAiA25v_BRBNEiwAZb4-ZfbuGbKNO0eZBQbN_rhVYmqzoNPaz4gR1SQaRj1aKYUbGtBVDMyJ3RoC2kgQAvD_BwE Cut the ends for the length you want and pull the seven strands out of the outer sleeve and you will have your hollow firehose that is easy to flatten or have round. It comes in many colors including white.

Quite the Haul Denis Now you can do two Missouri class builds, the Missouri and the New Jersey. That should be enough guns to keep you happy for a while. Years ago I helped a friend build the 1/16th Dumas 44' lifeboat and it turned out to be a pretty good performer. Even took it out into real surf once! even though the breakers were only about 6-8" high on the beach we went to. If you do RC it you should find it to be a pretty stable boat. Have you looked at the RNLI colors for this boat? You may like them better than the USCG colors.