Egilman

Thanks OC, That's just the primer brother, ultra thin, I expected it to go down smooth.... The camo that goes over it will take at least two coats given the process I'm using.... Examples below.... The 5-H Haze Grey blows out under the flash and looks almost white, while the first coat of the 5-O Ocean Grey isn't yet thick enough to completely cover the lighter stuff underneath yet.... And the 20B deck needs another thin coat as well... Letting it dry now hence I"m not trying to take a nice picture yet... Just showing the process.... Still gots a ways to go....

Yep, first piece had to go on early because of the priming and initial camo.... I assure you more will be coming brother....

And, the first of many Photoetch parts..... Support bracket for the port side torpedo crane....

That is a very busy ship..... If I do this long enough, I might get as good as you.... If I live long enough that is..... Nice work.....

Small update again... Since this is a brush painted model my build sequence sometimes will take a turn... this is one of those times..... Almost to the PE stage, and I still need to add some plastic, but now, given the almost impossible to follow build sequence of the kit, is time for some primer..... Tamiya surface primer, 2cc and Mr Color leveling thinner 2cc... yep thinned 50% for brushing.... Actually it covers well.... the reason to prime at this point is there is so much detail that goes over other detail we need to paint the under surfaces first, otherwise there is no way to get to them with a brush..... As well as the decks that need their dark color and there is no brush small enough to get around everything without spreading paint over all the vertical surfaces.... So here we go, one brush on primer coat.... That looks very very close to 5-H Haze Grey to be honest... I will paint a nondescript area first if there is a discernible difference between the primer and the True North 5-H once the rest of the details are on it will get another coat, otherwise if they are the same, then it will be finish detailing and touch ups before the 5-O Ocean Grey Camo goes on..... I've already glued together enough parts to have finished a ship model from 40 years ago and I'm not even half done yet with the details.... The tech is just out of this world..... Anyway more laters, making progress... Thanks for the likes, they are appreciated.... EG

And thank you Dennis, My builds are sometimes unconventional as I'm only a plastic hacker, but I am inspired by the true artists here and those that follow what I'm doing, If it wasn't for you guys, I probably wouldn't be building much less researching.... A heartfelt THANK YOU!!!!

Thank YOU, for liking and following my sometime unconventional and weird thinking..... I've always found that when studying and researching history building a replica of what I'm studying always keeps the motivation/ interest high.... (helps towards completion as well) I've always liked history and this way is much better than sitting at a class desk reading a book....

Well, whatever your doing brother, keep strokin' that fur..... {chuckle}

For a first ship model, a very difficult subject as well, with a PE set that goes to extremes, then setting it on a perfectly sculpted base..... Utterly outstanding!!! blue ribbon material my friend..... I could drool at this kind of art all day long...... Very, VERY well done.....

Another update... About half way adding all the myriad tiny plastic details, currently working on the midships deckhouse.... 10 tiny doors need to be mounted, they will be closed, the ship was in condition ZED when the pic was taken and all the doors would be closed & dogged, a good thing given the weather they were enduring... After that I get to do the boiler room air intakes.... The Livermore had a certain style, of course the Gwin has a different style... USS Woolsey (had the same style as the USS Livermore... USS Gwin.... I checked her sisters as well, they had a similar style without the hoods and angled back towards the stern.... so the Gwin was unique in this detail.... No PE for this so I have to scratch or modify the kit's intakes... Still plugging along.......

Yep I'll be watching... My Father said they were deathtraps without the fore and aft sponsons, and they would barely throw a wake.... But, once you got them ashore, they would drive over almost anything.... He much preferred DUKW's.....

Well he has matched his career winning percentage in superbowls, 7 of 10.... I figured today was going to go his way....

The few times I've done an epoxy finish I've used the same technique as I've done many times for a urethane finish on furniture.... Very thin coats scuffed in between...... Yes it is time consuming and get to be a real bore, but the finish comes out mirror smooth and perfectly clear.... The only difference between epoxy and urethane is wipe it down after scuffing to remove the sanding residue.... And don't try to do the whole thing all at once work in sections.... The point of multiple thin coats is to perfectly smooth the finish..... And sand your sections in long strokes, your knocking down the high spots and building up the low spots..... It's up to you on how much you want to do, but more coats equals a deeper, more polished finish......

To most out here in Washington that's a major snowstorm, heck two feet here just about paralyzes the community.....

She does look the business brother, Well Done!

Here's what I can find brother... This info came from here..... And this source will have a bunch more info on the turret interior and it's ammo loadouts... Hope it helps...

Thanks Mike.... Making progress.... Finishing up the base assemblies before detailing.....

I can imagine...... Stunning work brother....

Well Done Graham, VERY well done....

So I finally got the starboard side K-guns reinstalled in their correct positions..... Don't have a pic of it simply cause I forgot.... I've set about getting the splinter shields installed in their various locations..... But I do have to note, those Kraken parts are gorgeous, but very very fragile.... wound up breaking the after deck three times.... Twice separating it from the base and once modifying it to match the ship... thankfully it was easily repaired... The recommendation is to cut the stilts at the part then snap off the stilt from the base... but they tended to pop off upwards against the part and snapped the part...... I did inform Matt at Krakken about my difficulties while asking him to send me the 4 extra splinter shields I needed... Then set about gluing it back together.... The freshly repaired part outside of a tiny glue line that will disappear when dry Gator's glue made short work of it.... The repaired part and a surprise that came in the mail.... Matt sent me another part along with the extra shields... Wonderful guy that Matt and and Kraken an excellent company to deal with.... I KNOW I will be doing more business with him in the future... I want to send him more money, but he won't give me his paypal address..... Next up is installing the shields on the midships deckhouse, for these I need to re-create the deck under the shields.... Those pins you see sitting there is a result of some of the research I've been doing.... They are some kind of storage rack, when empty it looks like a stanchion with three flat plates to hold four items each plate.... Right in the center of the picture above.... But this is the USS Kearny, with the Monssen behind her after she was torpedoed during the neutrality patrols in '41... So I had to check and see if the Gwin had them..... They stand out quite a bit... And after extensive searching I could come up with no pic of the USS Gwin with those devices under the machinegun position.... so I looked for her sisters and any other Gleaves class ships that might have it... (see if it is standard equipment in the class) Next is what I came up with, then I found the smoking gun..... USS Grayson, 1941, that big white thing next to the aft stack is the rack with a canvas curtain surrounding it... USS Monssen, 1941, has it as well.... And before the King Board modifications giving it the machine guns... The only broadside shot of the Gwin I have, and I suspect that white block under the aft stack gun is the rack but it is too far to really say.... USS Meredith, 1942, after the Doolittle raid, clearly has them and they are covered with the curtain..... USS Grayson, 1942, again after the raid and she clearly has them as well.... So, at least for all the sister ships that were with her during the raid have them both before and after the raid, I decided that the USS Gwin must have had them as well..... Then a friend of mine sends me the smoking gun pic.... USS Gwin herself 1943 clearly has them covered in a canvas curtain....with two stanchions to either side as well..... more details to install.... In scale they measure about 1/16th inch across and run from the deck to the tub floor.... Still need to add the stanchions and shave them all for the correct height, but I'm getting there.... Slowly..... The forward splinter shields in place, and I see I need to correct the port side on the pilot house roof, it not sitting flat to the deck.... But that's where I'm sitting right now..... At least it's some progress... EG

Not worried brother, trying to get a lot of research done while RL is trying to take all my time.... Finally managed the maze and got the wife shot up, she's feelin a lot better now that she's gotten it and the second one is scheduled.... So hopefully I'll be able to get back to this.... everyone is is feeding the beast but me.... And fast, don't know if I can catch up..... {chuckle} RL issues will pass.... Thanks brothers ALL of you...

The locals automatically understand that, what's funny is those that are new to the area and seeing their first real snowstorm.... OH yes, and slow, everyone either puts away the 4 wheel drives or lock out the hubs.... you nose into a snowbank it might be a few days before you get dug out..... Light pickups or station wagons with multiple sets of chains, real chains not those silly cables they call tire chains today...... Snow shovels and tow chains in the trunk cause you helped your neighbors when they got stuck, everyone pulled together when the white stuff comes....

Up where I lived, near the Canadian border we would get 4' of snow a night for 3-4 days in a row... The second story door was required..... You didn't need snowshoes but they sure made it easier.....

Several decades ago I moved out here, have never regretted it...... I miss the quaint houses with exit doors on the second floor, but I've learned to live with it....

I stand corrected..... The PBJ when first built exclusively used the Bendix 250CE-3 & 4 top turret, it was a partial framed turret.... https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/AirGunnery/TURRETS5.html (scroll down for the top turret) There are lots of shots of B-25's with non-framed Everson, (which most of them had when built) or restored postwar with the readily available surplus Martin B-26 top turrets, but the Bendix was also manufactured as a wartime field replacement...... Nevertheless, the original PBJ had a framed forward top turret....