CapnMac82

Sad part was that UNI was aware of the extended range, and the dual speed, capability of the IJN torpedoes. However, there was disbelief in the numbers that had been acquired as they were so phenomenally greater than US weapons (that, partially due to the Depression-era concentration of all torpedo production to the Torpedo Factory). There was some issue in that the Peacetime Navy did not hand out promotions based on a person's knowledge of gouge. There was an over-reliance on radar, but a distrust in relying on then Buck Rogers tech for operational readiness. IJN prided itself on promoting its officer and inculcating them in a decisive stroke (Ippon waza) mindset. The operative theory being that the risk of losing their most skilled officers and crews in suicidal attacks was balanced by the potential gains if successful. In many ways it was a horrible calculus.

Merchant vessels, which have smaller crews can't "afford" to put that sort of manpower on the foredeck. The LPO (or CPO/Warrant) in charge of the Sea and Anchor Detail has a long list of things to mind setting or weighing anchor. They are expected to watch the shots as they come on deck and note if any have excessive wear or need repainting. The deck detail is expected to wash the rust powder that comes up out of the chain locker with the shots is washed overboard. In foreign anchorages, the Detail will need to ensure the buoy is bent on to the deployed anchor. On an Iowa, the Sea nd Anchor detail will likely have an Ensign or a JG (and a Warrant, like as not) supervising the detail. They--the 20-25 or so on deck, and who ever is needed for the capstan machinery belowdecks-- have a number of things to sort out. Like striking off most of the stopper and lashing them out of the way so the shots can ride out without interference. Somebody has to mind all the pins and shackles and the like for the pelican hooks on all the stoppers. There's even more to do if it's to be a two-point mooring, so that there will be a swivel on deck and four split links. And that, before rigging the snatch block to which up enough shots, to flake out on deck to fit in the other anchor (unless the rode is long enought to set the swivel over the side --usually through the bullnose). Capital ships are large, but they are limited places at sea. There's a long history of walking the deck for a bit of exercise, particularly if it's nice out. So, there's a very real possibility that the foredeck will be visited by the Department Heads, the XO, the Captain, the Admiral, his Chief of Staff or the like--all of whom gennerally have experience in operating a ship at sea. (Oh, and the GunnO [head of the Gunnery Deartment] is going to tour all the gun mounts on a middling regular basis.)

That moulded raised area is actually covered wioth non-skid. During WWII, that was a coating that had some asphaltic material in it; ost war it was a rubberized compound that had grit embedded in it while wet. Repair compound ws stockpiled aboard, usually next to the forward paint locker, and the Special Sea and Anchor Detail was meant to not secure until touch-ups were complete (unless in horrible seas). Ditto pain on the exposed chain shots on deck and the wildcat flutes on the capstans. On capital ships, particularly flag ships with Flag Officers aboard, the SSaAD would usually send a hand down the hawsepipe to touch up the paint on the anchor shank and such of the hawse pipe as could be reached. Capital ships were seldom more than three months out of a port or organized anchorage. NOw, the bottom of the breakwater might collect some grunge as one got closer to the Area of Operations, where GQ drills got in the way of ongoing maintenance. Mast legs and tops would be similar--just too much work to get people up there for paint duty (and painting was for Deck Apes, not Sparkies keeping the gear working). Similarly, the steel deck around the ground tackle could collect crud, as it was exposed to the sea, as would the area in under the gun mounts on the Iowas. The forwards edge of the wooden deck wouls go gray and show some weathering, too. Mind, barring anything but a Saturday Inspection in port, or at GQ, the 20mm mounts would be in a blobby canvas cover painted to match the local camo color. And, there ought be tompions in the 5" and 16" barrels--but casual obervers do not grok that at all.

As far as I remember, it's about sea-keeping and stability. The raised forecastle is good for buoyancy. It adds quartering space without making a deeper hull body. You get the tiniest extra bit of range o nthe forward gun by having it a deck higher, too. Also, the Japanese fully expected their "small boys"--the DDs adn CLs--to engage broadside, rather than head on. So, the A, X, Y layout makes more than some sense. Add in that the 12.7cm guns only had a 18km range and the Long Lance torpedo had either a 22km or a 40km range. Which over-matches the USN 5"38 at 16km rather handily. (Not that shabby versus the 6"47 [18km] of the Brooklyn class CLs--although none of the Kaze class was going to fare well taking 6" hits.) The 12.7 mounts on the Kazes were notoriously slow to load, and even slower in train. The all-weather torpedo launchers gave good protection for all the support equipment the Long Lances required, but were slow to reload. USN practice was to enlarged the body section and have crew berthing on the 200 Deck, and use flush decked designs set up to shed green water over the bow.. During the Washington Treaty times, and forecastle-decked DDS, the 52 mounts on the 03 level would often not have full gun houses, but just a frontal shield and canvas sea covers to save topside weight nad reserve metacentric height. USN doctrine also was to employ "screen" vessels in head-on attacks, so more guns forward made sense, tactically. The short range of USN torpedoes--9km/10,000yds for Mk 12--meant that the van loosed torpedoes only at the end of an attack run, then did a 180º laying smoke back out of the way, by which time the heavies were have meant to have maneuvered to cross the T or such similar tactical advantage would be well in order.

Our present heat wave is probably na excellent time to be working on a ship called "snow wind." Bravo

I'm watching this one, if only to see how one of thoes old "classic" Hasegewa box kits builds up. IJN ships all have a unique look, from lighters all the way to capital ships. IJN did not put a lot of effort into complying with the various Washington Naval Treaties, and designed their ships for operating over Pacific-sized distances. By some comparisons, they are a tad under-gunned. But those Long Lance torpedoes more than made up fro that deficit.

In my 24 years of it, I met more than a few who had never seen a rock whitewashed enough, yey needed close supervision so as the choose to correct Metro train to take them toe the Puzzle Palace. Such is life. In or quest to make scale miniatures of reality, we can sometime get to a point of following prototype the the point that lay person uncomfortably smile and say "That's nice." Some folks just don't grok that signalman platforms were often covered in chestnut-colored linoleum, or that wood decks in WWII were not "holystoned" but given a camouflage color(s). If you expect to see a ship that is all gray, seeing one that is part bluse, and seveal grays, and the barrels and gun houses have different colors, tops and sides can make them pause. We in the modeling community can be guilty of a similar thing. Really, 20mm ought to have blobby canvas covers on them, and not need 57 PE and resin parts. But, making that look "right" is ever so difficult. We drill out gun muzzles, even though everything from 3" and up got a tompion. But, unless on a commission build, we are building for ourselves, so, thus, to our ownselves we should be true.

Since the upper color is to be dark, dark enough that black shadow lines might be hard to see, would it be worth it to use a dollop of white in each plate to look dished?

That is entirely up to you. However, the Deck Department laways had people out painting the ship (any ship). Main deck especially, and any areas around "brass." The Iowas were all configured as flagships, with quarters to house Admirals and their staffs. A Captain with an Admiral aboard has even more headaches than normal. And, embarked Admirals often have less to do than they might. Which leaves them free to make "suggestions" to the Captain. Generally, anything radiating or emitting RF did not get painted as often. Things that required scaffolds or bo's'n's slings to paint (stacks, masts, etc.) would weather some. So, things like the stack caps would get flaky and rough, no matter how much the XO would like to send a troubel-making section of Deck Apes up to go paint the things for their sins. Which produces a unique look, where the hull would get splotchy and worn, and arieals, masts and extremes would get "crusty" (not rusty, per se, but not clean, either--think black streaky). Surfaces ahead of breakwaters would get grimy, too. As would forward surfaces of things like bridge wings and the like (where scaffold or sling would be needed to paint). One of the most realistic weathering items to include are patches of brand new paint, with rectangular edges. But, such things are hard to model and can make little sense for those never at sea. Also, during WWII, capital ships often got pierside yard time twice a year. Or they would wind up on a mooring in reasonably protected water. To where punts could be gotten out to refresh hull paint. And, add in the frequency of changes in Camouflage Measure being used. So. really, paint was seldom more than about 90 days old. That's 2¢ an a grain of salt or two. And from having the been the person the XO might drop in on and make "suggestions" about the best employment of one's division of the Deck Department (or rather a lot of suggestions). Which will teach a person to observe things fro mthe XOs point of view.

Actually, I believe it's not Deck Blue (20-B) but Navy blue (5-N or 5-NB). Measure 22 used Ocean Gray (5-O) above the main deck level, then Haze Gray (5-H) for the vertical surfaces above the main deck. There's all sorts of debates on how to model the difference between the steel decks in 20-B and the wooden decks stained in 20-B. There ae similar issues on just what the non-skid ought to look like, too. For WWII, I kind of like a 50-50 of a panzer gray and NATO black. Your Mileage Will Vary. Measure 22 uses the darker Nay blue than the very bluish Sea Blue of Measure 12. Now, a lot of late war WesPac ships used Measure 21, an overall Blue pattern that is a modeler's nightmare--all verticals in Navy Blue and horizontals in Deck Blue. Not even white countershading to break things up. Oh, if you want to confuse casual obervers, the signalmen flats had russet linoleum.

Naval vessel decks are numbered in "hundreds" so the main deck is 100, Second deck (down) is 200, and so on. Superstructure decks (until 1947) were in "tens" from main deck up. So, top of the deckhouse is 01, next level up is 02, and so on. After '47, the upper decks would be 0100, 0200, etc. (and this can be quite a stack of deck numbers on a carrier, like 01300 and more). For relatively new WWII nonskid, NATO Black with a drop or two of pale gray is probably your ticket. If you paint them in batches and they don't quite match, that's actually more prototypical. Personally, I like just enough color variation so that the anchor chain, painted semi-gloss black will show up different in hue than the nonskid it rides over.

Yeah, 24 years, SWO & Information Dominance. DivO (deck), Department Head (OppO), XO and CO in my time. Third generation Navy, too, so, I'm steeped in it. Some of my earliest memories are Haze Gray [:)]

I'm not a huge fan of the PE nonskid at 1/350--it's just way too thick on the kits. The decal versions have the opposite problem, of being too thin (and, really, way too uniform in color). Now, I can understand how some one tasked to make PE of it might do it that way. The WWII non-skid was thick stuff, looks almost like asphalt when applied and eyeballs to 3/8 - 1/2" thick, toe-stubbing tall on deck if you don't have your wits about you. The color ought to be somewhere between a "panzer" gray and NATO Black, with the foredeck and main deck the most faded. The foredeck stuff, particularly under the ground tackle gets to a faded, speckled, color that really resembles the old faded asphalt of a country road. An effect impossible to achieve at 1/350. There are endless debates on other websites on how to get the "proper" USN Deck Blue. Most of those are just pointless flame wars. However, most agree you really want a blue hue to come through, as the tints were based on a Purple-Blue paint scale. Tiny note--the "roundhouse" on the torpedo tubes was only used on the aft mount on Fletchers, to protect the crew from Mount 53 firing. The mount between the stacks had no roundhouse, but had the station for the three Torpedomen and a Talker assigned there. The oilcanning looks good, as does the paint texture below the waterline. When you get to weathering, remember that the main and upper decks were frequently painted and subject to constant upkeep (especially around the Bridge), which then falls off a bit from about the 04 level and on up--hard to get up on masts and stacks while underway and in between drills). That's my 2¢ from having done the juggle of what the Division or Department needs to do, and what the XO requires.

To my sailor's eye, it looks like your sample gun has the gun tackle hook and the breaching rope eye reversed. Now, that may well have been French practice, and is what it is. What does keep catching my eye for the stowed gun is that there's no real way to stopper the gun tackle. Which will be sore wanted the first time the ship rolls. One just does not want a couple tonnes of canon wandering away from its gun port. Especially if tables are slung in between the guns and the deck space is wanted for seating.. It's just a seamanship quibble. Everything else in the examples simply makes me green with envy for the skill and talent represented there.

Among the intricate world of model ship building in plastic & resin, at least), those are questions of Serious Import. On the first, the answer is "it depends. Most of the newest and larger-scaled model some with some PE. How much is a bone of some contention. An example of this would be the Chinese Pre-Dreadnaught kits, or the newest 1/200 Yamato; the PE is there because modern ship kit builders expect it. But, it's not as extensive as the After-Market suppliers offer. On the second question, while there is some generic PE in the more standard scales, 1/350, 1/400, 1/600 and the like, the vast majority--over 80%--is specific to a given ship model. In other words, a set for the Tamyia Fletcher fits that specific kit, and not the similar Trumpeter kit. This can task the builders, but is really just one more challenge to one's skills On the third question, a "full set" of aftermarket PE can be intimidating (and can cost as much, or more, than the kit it goes upon). You open the envelope (the product is delivered flat in sheets) out comes this large sheet of shiny brass or stainless steel (mostly bras in shipbuilding) with all manner of fiddly bits laid out upon it A good half the sheet is in railings alone. And, middling obvious as to how they can be used (instructions with PE can be, to use a word, terse). A simple ladder, though is an odd creature laid flat. The railings are off to the side, both sides, ther may be bits of the stringers at top and bottom as well. To fold one, you typically fold the sides up using your bender, which takes planning to get your bender in where the bends are wanted. Then, at 1/350, you are meant to take very fine pliers or stour tweezers and tip each tread to level to the angle of the ladder. A radar unit can take what seems to be a jillion bends, and they each have to be just right (aircraft handling cranes, or a catapult can seem ridiculously easy by comparison). The Tom's sett, IIRC, includes things like the storage racks for the depth charges next to the K guns on the sides of the ship. Also, for the stern roller racks and reload racks--not for the faint of heart. The way Toms expects you to add the mesh on the railings is a bit rubbish. I understand the "why" behind it, but, unless you happen to have a gas deposition soldering machine handy . . . Consensus opinion is to spray railings before installing, and to work from inside to out as much as possible. It's an art unto itself.

Hard to argue with the expense of jewel cases, but they can be a tad thick. Now, for 2¢, cutting the portholes can be a simple as taking a bit of tube the same size as the interior bit, drilling 6 or 8 holes across the tube, then cut the tube through the center of the drilled holes. Which leaves the tube with a set of semi-circular "teeth." Solder this to a mandrel of solid stock, and use as a coring drill for the clear stock. Taking a file to the teeth to give them a bit of a "set" biased to the longitudinal axis might be wanted. Now, all of the clear plastics "want" a very slow cutting speed, and the ad hoc brass cutter will suffice for a half dozen or so. For 10 or more, you probably want a different answer. Like casting in clear resin in an RTV mould. Or turning from lucite rod stock which seems spendy until you realize a meter's worth of 15mm is near a lifetime's worth 2-3mm at a time. Needing an acrylic polishing set with grit down to 2400 usually winds up costing more, really.

Or not. A couple minutes' more research will also show that the carriages were painted verious colors as well. And that cannon often have significantly more rigging than shown. 2¢ doesn't much buy what it used to.

Very nice. From my 3d printing experience (MakerBot3), I would have done a couple of things differently. For one, I would have made the trunion a separate item with a cast hole for it). For another, I would have laid out the 3d model only semi-vertically about 5º skewed from the vertical, with all "appearance" items, crest, touch hole, etc., on the Positive Z face thus made (that to avoid issues with support structures). Lastly, I would have set this up to fall on a suitable brass tube as an armature. The brass tube could be blackened, but would provide rigidity and form to the construction. Come to think of it, I would have put a tapered overlap at the joins, too--but, I've also had problems with MakerBot not "respecting" model geometry dimensions. But, that's just my 2¢ I think the texture turned out just fine.

Yes, photos are from a Mk II. The fuel filler bezels were middling common across USN small craft, as it made it easier to not uh-oh at a fuel dock. At Little Creek, there was always a funnel stashed nearby, usually with its nozzle in a coffee can.

Ok, finally remembered to go look up the reference photos for the fillers. <img> https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/6/9/2/3/0/a5222381-102-PICT0054.jpg,/img> http:// https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/6/9/2/3/0/a5222381-102-PICT0054.jpg <img>https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/6/9/2/3/0/a5222387-61-PICT0060.jpg,/img> https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/6/9/2/3/0/a5222387-61-PICT0060.jpg

I know this feeling all too well, and it's one I fight against--I used to go quietly into the night to be one of the things that made the bandersnatch fruminous, and to give adults reason to fear the dark. So, it can be frustrating when just getting a ladder out seems to be a huge chore (tho- Losartin gets rather a lot of blame there--sigh). You do quite credible work with skill--we see the finish, and can only imagine the bumpy road to that end from our own trevails. But, I continue to find your work an inspiration, a goad to do more, and better, myself. Fair winds and following seas, my friend.

It was good to revisit this project over here. Found several things I had missed over at FSM. Have to flat-out admire building a technical manual for this; that's entirely appropriate for museum use. It's also like taking the diagonals off a ship's plans, tedious, nerve-wracking, bbut absolutely necessary to check one's work. Just one more outstanding thing in an outstanding build.

There are plenty of reference photos out there showing that the fowrard gun tube did not always have "handed" MGs. There's room (barely) to reach the right side of the starboard gun. At 1/6 scale, you probably need to start thinking about doing at-home photoetch for the various data plates. Which may be the only easy way for items like the diesel fillers, which have a prominent "diesel" scast/engraved in their bezels. A forgivable omission at 1/35 for needing 3/64" letters, possibly less so for 0.125" letters at 1/6.