Pkill100

The kit is from Trumpeter.   Overall, I found it to be a disappointing kit with many out of scale and/or poorly molded parts.   Many of the parts did not fit together well.  No photo-etched brass fret was included with the kit.   
 
I improved the kit by customizing it with the following:
 
Black Cat Model's 1943 Square Bridge Fletcher detail set.  This set provides all the weapons, directors, whale boats, rafts and a multitude of small fittings. 3D-printed smokestacks from Shapeways.com. 3D-printed CIC, bridge deck and pilot house from Model-Monkey.com.   The existing kit pieces are really bad. Gold Medal Model's Fletcher Class photo-etched detail set. Infini Model's Fletcher Class mast detail set.   While this made some of the Gold Medal Model parts redundant, the brass mast was a significant upgrade. Main deck nonskid is photo-etched brass from L'Arsenal.  
I built the ship in her 1943 configuration in which she experience the Pacific War.   The ship is painted in Measure 21-the Navy Blue System.  All vertical surfaces are navy blue 5-N without exception and all horizontal surfaces are deck blue 20-B.   The 1943 mixture for navy blue was lighter than the 1945 shade.

The basic kit is from Trumpeter.   I customized it using the following:
 
Eduard photo-etch Black Cat Model's 20mm, 40mm and 3"/50 cal anti-aircraft guns Miscellaneous fittings from Black Cat Models Master Model's 14-inch gun barrels Master Model's whip antennas North Star Model's floater nets Radars from Infini Model's USN World War II radar set Kingfisher floatplanes from L'Arsenal  
I painted the ship as she appeared during Operation Overlord with the Measure 22 schema.   
Measure 22 used Navy blue low on the hull, below the first continuous deck, with Haze gray above that.  Measure 22 used a straight horizontal boundary between the two colors rather than following the sheer of the main deck, making a characteristic gray "wedge" at the bow.  This bold contrast at a horizontal line near the horizon reduced visibility to surface observers and created the illusion of greater range.  Horizontal surfaces were painted Deck blue.   This measure largely replaced Measure 12 where aerial observation was unlikely. The Bureau of Ship Manual Ship Camouflage Manual (Ships-2, Revision 2) states Measure 22 is "useful for combatant ships operating in areas where greatest danger might be expected from gunnery action either from shore batteries or from enemy surface ships. Moderately high visibility to aerial observation at close ranges.”  This measure was used in the Atlantic and European coastal waters from the end of 1942 through the end of World War II and was often referred to as "Atlantic two-tone."  It was worn by shore bombardment ships in the Pacific from late 1944 after the destruction of Japanese naval aviation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.   
 

I had been a dedicated modeler from the age of six and got away from the craft by the time I finished college.   After retiring in 2017, I wanted to try my hand again.   I chose the Italeri Vosper MTB in 1/35 scale because it looked complex enough to keep me interested and I had never worked with photo-etched parts.   Nor had I picked up an airbrush since 1974.   
 
I enjoyed the build and not too surprisingly, I was hooked on modeling again!
 
 
 

For my next project I built the U.S.S. Alaska (CB-1) in 1/350 scale.   While the Alaska and her sister ship, U.S.S. Guam, did not have distinguished histories, they are elegant and interesting ships.  
 
I found the Hobby Boss kit to be of excellent quality with clear instructions.   The photo-etched brass parts are well done.   I believe the kit would deliver an excellent model straight out of the box.  None the less,  I   decided to customize the kit with the following:
 

·      Infini Model’s Brass mast kit 
·      Blue Ridge Model’s 3D printed plastic 20mm Oerlikon gun mounts
·      Black Cat Model’s 3D printed plastic and photo-etched brass quad 40mm guns and Mark 51 Directors
·      Infini Model’s Brass 12-inch gun barrel set with resin blast bags
·      Infini Model’s Brass electric winches
·      Artwox teak color wood deck overlay and photo-etched brass detail kit
·      North Star Model’s resin Floater nets
·      Black Cat Model’s 3D printed plastic paravanes
·      Parts from Gold Medal Model’s USS North Carolina photo-etched brass detail kit (primarily for fire control radars).
 
I painted the ship in her Measure 22 camouflage pattern that she wore during her combat service in the Pacific.   I deviated from the camouflage by not staining the wood deck with Deck Blue.   I'm sure the ship's first Lieutenant had the wood deck holystoned back to its original teak soon after the Japanese surrendered!
 

I purchased Mike Ashley's Comprehensive Series Scale Model Ship Manual Number 3 which covers the Alaska.  While I won’t completely follow his guidance, I do intend to pay close attention to him, especially where he points out defects in the kit and how to reinforce some of the delicate photo-etched pieces.   
 
Another good source of photographs and technical information is Classic Warship Publishing’s  Warship Pictorial 43 Alaska Class Cruisers .  
 
I also have photos of the Alaska Builder’s Model that resides at the Oklahoma Science and Technology Museum.
 
The build took from March 15, 2019 to January 21, 2020 and about 295 hours of bench time.    
 

As my second post retirement project, I chose to build USS Truxtun (CGN-35).   Truxtun is near and dear to me--I served on her from October 1979 to August 1982 as a Combat Systems Officer.   
 
I customized the Iron Shipwright's resin kit by using the following add ons:
 
One 5-54 Mark 42 gun mount (3D printed plastic) Mark 10 standard missile launcher with SM-2ER missiles (3D printed plastic) Two AN/SPG-55B missile fire control radars (3D printed plastic) One Mk 68 Gun Director with AN/SGP-53 radar (resin with photo-etched brass) SH-2F Sea Sprite helicopter (resin with photo-etched brass) Life raft canisters (3D printed plastic) SLQ-32V3 electronic warfare system antennas (resin) SRBOC chaff launchers (none were included in the kit)(resin) Two quad Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile launchers (resin) Three of the four ship’s boats:     Whale boat, officer’s launch and captain’s gig (resin with photo-etched brass) Vulcan Phalanx point defense guns (resin) SPS-48 and SPS-10 radars (resin with photo-etched brass) Triple and double bitts (resin) Anchor chain (steel) Ship’s anchors (3D printed plastic) Two five bladed propellers (brass)  
In addition, I scratch built the propeller shafts.
 
I learned a great deal in building this model that will substantially improve the quality of future kits.
 
 
 

My fifth post-retirement model ship project is U.S.S. Andrew A. Cunningham (DD-752), an Allen M. Sumner class destroyer.  One of my friend's Dad served onboard this ship in World War II.     
 
There are no Allen M. Sumner class models in 1/350 scale currently on the market.      I ended up purchasing     a Yankee Model Works USS destroyer minelayer resin kit for the U.S.S. Shea (DM- 30) on eBay. The Shea was converted from an Allen M. Sumner class destroyer (same class as U.S.S. Aaron Ward).      I will convert the kit back into a Sumner class destroyer.
 
The conversion concept is to remove the mine rail foundations and mine winch off of the main deck and add/modify the weaponry to reflect a late flight Sumner class.      I will use as many 3D printed parts as possible to replace the kit’s white metal parts as well as the photo-etched brass 20mm guns.      I am also upgrading much of the brass photo-etched parts to take advantage of more modern products.      I want to minimize the use of white metal parts, poorly formed resin parts and substandard photo-etched brass.     These new parts will update the kit from its late 1990’s design.      Essentially, I’m using the kit for the hull and superstructure.
 
All of the weaponry and most of the small fittings are are 3D printed plastic parts from Black Models.   I used Infini Models photo-etched brass for the radars and the main deck life rails.   The Mark 37 GFCS director is a resin and photo-etched brass add on from L'Arsenal.   Bitts and chocks are 3d printed by Shapeways.com.   The aft 20mm gun tub was designed by a modeling friend and 3D printed by Shapeways.com.    

This project is to build U.S.S. Bainbridge (CGN)-25 in 1/350 scale.       The model is for a good friend and fellow Surface Warfare Officer who reported to the Bainbridge in late 1979.
 
The basic kit is a resin and photo-etched brass model of the Bainbridge in her 1990’s configuration by Iron Shipwrights.      I am going to back date the kit to her 1979 configuration as well as improving the kit with third party fittings.     Having previously built Iron Shipwrights’ U.S.S. Truxtun (CGN-35), I know that this is not a weekend project.      The instructions are minimal at best.
 
The conversion requires the following:
 
Replacing the SPS-49 2D air search radar with SPS-37. Rebuilding the aft mast to match its 1979 configuration. Removal of the aft superstructure deck house with served as a base for the aft mast in the ship’s      final configuration. Replacing SLQ-32V3 with the WLR-1 ESM suite and the ULQ-6B ECM suite. Replacing the canister life rafts with inflatable life rafts in storage baskets. Removing the foundations for the Vulcan Phalanx point defense cannons.  
I will also replace the kit parts with the following third-party components:
 
SPS-48 3D air search radar SPS-10 surface search radar SPG-55B fire control radars AN/WLR-1G antennas AN/ULQ-6B antenna arrays SM-1ER surface-to-air missiles and MK-10 launchers Quad Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers ASROC launcher Mk-32 torpedo tubes Propellers Whale boat Captain’s gig  
The ULQ-6B antenna arrays were designed by me and then converted to CAD and 3D printed by my local hobby shop.
 
In addition, I will build an SH-2 Sea King helicopter for the flight deck.     While the Bainbridge was not rated for SH-2  helps, she served as an emergency flight deck circa 1980 for a SH-2 that reported a chip light (metal fragments in the transmission) and needed to land immediately.
 
The ship will be painted in Measure 13 camouflage, the current standard USN paint scheme, with all vertical surfaces done with haze gray and the horizontal deck surfaces painted deck gray.