schooner

Well here goes … my first build log, hopefully it won’t be sunk by my non-existent photography skills. I’ll be building a model of the USS Basilone (DD-824) as she appeared in the early 1960’s, just after her Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) upgrade. I’ll be using the USS Gearing (DD-710) FRAM 1 kit from Bluejacket Ship Crafters. I plan to add some details to the kit and possibly replace a few components with some scratch building. I selected this ship/kit for several reasons: The “FRAMs” formed the backbone of the US Navy’s destroyer fleet for most of the cold war. While not as glamorous as the guided missile ships, they were still the epitome of a “tin can.” Although they were leaving service just as my time in the Navy was beginning, they had enough in common with my ships that I can bring my experience to bear in adding details - something I can’t do with a sailing ship model At 1/192 (1ft =1/16 inch) the scale of the model is large enough that it lends itself to adding details, something that is hard to do at 1:350 and smaller scales. On the other hand, with a length of 24” the model is still compact enough to fit on a bookshelf. The Basilone had a long career that lasted well into the 70’s and as such is a fitting representative of the class To honor a great Marine hero. The ship was named after Sgt John Basilone who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal in 1942. He then resisted efforts to keep him selling War Bonds for the rest of the war and insisted on returning to combat duty. He went on to win the Navy Cross on Iwo Jima where he was killed in action. References I’ll be using: Sumner-Gearing Class Destroyers; Their design, Weapons, and Equipment by Robert Sumrall, US Naval Institute Press, 1995. This book is just what it’s title says, a technical study of the ships – not an operational history. I consider it “nice to have” rather than “must have” for someone modeling a Gearing destroyer. It has many good pix and is a great help for detailing weapons and antennas. Waterline Warships – An Illustrated Masterclass by Phillip Reed, Seaforth Publications, 2010. This is a great book that I would recommend to anyone who wants to try their hand at either scratch building an entire ship or just adding details. He shows his construction of a 1:192 scale British WWII destroyer. It is amazing what he does with just wood, paper, sheet plastic, brass rod and wire. I hope to try a few of his techniques on my build. 1:96 General Drawing of USS Gearing, 1970, from The Floating Drydock website. With a price of $22 I expected a little more but this is just one sheet of plans, showing the starboard side and an overhead view of each deck. I had the print reduced by 50% so it is at 1:192 scale and I can pull dimensions right off the drawing. It has some, but not a lot, of detail so I will also have to use contemporary photos from online. USN General Drawings for USS Basilone, last update 1971, from the US National Archives in College Park,MD. The plans show several differences from the Gearing and have a higher level of detail than the Gearing plans from the Floating Drydock (not sure why, maybe the Boston Naval Shipyard was more meticulous in the blueprint-making than whatever yard did the Gearing). Online photo resources: www.navsource.org is a great resource. Although the coverage varies between individual ships, there are usually quite a few that cover the life of any given ship. Most photos are of the postcard variety, taken from too great a distance to reveal details, but some ships have onboard photos in their albums. Former crew websites. Although it can be tedious to Google the name of each FRAM it is worth the time in that about half of the ships have active “alumni associations” many of which have photos from former crewmembers. These can be pure gold for clear, close-up photos of ships of the class. Bookmarking them has given me some excellent material. USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr (DD-850), a museum ship moored at Battleship Cove in Fall River Mass. I plan to take a trip up there with a camera, tape measure and notebook to get a good handle on deck details and dimensions. Brief background on Gearings and FRAMs The Gearing class destroyers (a minor modification to the Sumner class) came into service late in WWII. The design was the result of hard lessons learned in the war, with the result that the Gearings were probably the best destroyer design of the period. They were fast and heavily armed and posed a significant threat to ships, submarines and aircraft. By 1960 the technology of naval warfare had changed to the point that the Gearing destroyers need major modifications to remain relevant. The advent of jet aircraft made AAA guns of limited value, guided missiles being much more effective. Anti-ship missiles required improved radar and electronic countermeasures. Improvements in submarine speed and weapons range made it necessary to improve the DD’s detection range and ASW weapons range. Hence the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization program was launched. There where 2 major variants, FRAM 1 and FRAM 2 with the FRAM 2’s main difference being only a partial rebuild of the superstructure whereas the FRAM 1’s , like the Basilone, had everything above the main deck replaced. The ships were rebuilt to focus on ASW with long-range sonar, a rocket-launched torpedo (ASROC), over-the-side MK32 torpedo tubes for quick-reaction to close-in sub detections. Additional radars and electronic sensors and countermeasures were also included, as well as a flight deck to support this little cutie, a drone helicopter - the DASH, to carry torpedoes and, believe it or not - nuclear depth charges. DASHs had a reputation for flying over the horizon, never to be seen again so maybe this sailor is engaged in some type of pre-launch prayer or sacrifice ritual. My next post will show the contents of the kit. Tim

Hi Patrick, There is a neat trick for making paper flags look a little more realistic. After you print them out, but before folding them, cut out a piece of aluminum foil whose dimensions are slightly less than one side of the unfolded flag. Glue the foil to one half of the back of the flag and then fold it and glue it together. The foil will help hold the curves and folds that will make it look like it is "in the wind." The next step is from Chuck's Syren practicum (if it is available online at the Model Shipways site then refer to that because he explains it better than I can), get several dowels of different diameters and starting with the largest dowel on the line that runs between the upper "inboard" corner of the flag to the lower "outboard" corner, start alternating folds in each direction, using smaller dowels as you work your way towards the the other 2 corners. You may have to make several tries, and bear in mind that if the the halyard which the flag is hanging from is vertical, or at an angle, that will affect the axis of the alternating folds as they relate to the edge of the flag, while you should always start the initial fold from the upper inboard corner the lower end of the line may have to be somewhere along the bottom edge, not necessarily the corner, that will give you the proper "drape". Keep trying until it looks natural, the foil is pretty forgiving. You can make the flag look like it is in a stiff wind, hanging limp in calm air, or anywhere in between. Here is one of my flags that I used this method: Hope this helps Tim

Kevin, you might try the Museum Store at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St Michaels MD. They sell a great kit of the Hooper Island Draketail "Martha," which I bought and built. They also had kits for skipjacks and crabbing skiffs. I seem to recall they had sailing canoe kits too, or at least plans. Unfortunately the store's website has been down "for renovation" for at least a year but you can call them at 410-745-4962. There is also a modeling club associated with the museum, they might be able to help. One other idea is that there is a club that races small sailing canoes in St Michaels, a Google search should turn them up, they usually build their own boats so you could get plans there. If you have not been to the CBMM it makes for a nice day trip, some nice models and real boats to look at and great seafood places in town. Tim

Hi Ger, I've built a couple of BJ's solid hull kits (but not the Connie, maybe someday when I have the room). Carving a solid hull to shape is not easy but with your previous woodworking experience and some patience it should not be a problem. You may want to Google for some videos showing how to do it. I generally use a Dremel tool with a flap sander to get close to the right dimensions then shift to rasps and files to get even closer and finally use flexible sanding sticks to get the curves right and bring it to the final dimensions. That's just my way of doing it, others use carving tools for the entire job - whatever you are comfortable with. If it seems like you can't reconcile the hull templates with the main deck dimensions you should always keep the main deck dimensions (outline) true - If your main deck is too long, short, wide or narrow you will have multiple problems for the rest of the build. One important thing to keep in mind (and to keep you from tossing it in the fireplace) is to remember that with a solid hull if you take off too much you can easily fix it by gluing a piece of wood over the mistake a sanding it to shape. With the addition of paint, let alone planking or copper plates, no one will ever know. I'm looking forward to watching your build, good luck Tim

Here's another option for the tiller rope problem. The attached photo is of the Syren model at the US Naval Academy Museum. I seem to recall that Chuck mentioned this model as weighing in his decision to select the Syren to develop his own model. Anyway, in case this photo doesn't post clear enough to see, it shows the tiller as LONGER but not necessarily higher, giving the aft guns sufficient recoil room, although it pushes the end of the tiller very close to the steering wheel. It also uses 3 blocks on each side - one on the end of the tiller, one on the upper bulwark aft of the end of the tiller and one the upper bulwark forward of the end of the tiller. The steering ropes are secured to the end of the tiller, run thru the aft block, thru the tiller block, thru the forward block and then to the wheel creating an X pattern when looking at the finished product port and starboard. Hope this helps Tim P.S. If you click on the photo it expands a lot

As far as your carronades sitting too high in the ports - I remember that problem with the Bluejacket carronades from an earlier Syren build log, it was on pg 9 of Rafine's build log (I made a note in my practicum at the time). I ran across it again yesterday on Google, I think under images for "24lb carronade" but damned if I can't find it now. Anyway, Rafine fixed the problem by modifying the lug on the bottom of the barrel to lower it closer to the sled. Looking at the pix of your completed carronade it looks like you have a lot of room to lower the barrel, probably enough to put the trucks back on and avoid messing with the waterways. Worth a try.

Chuck, I have no doubt that what you cast and sent MS was correct in all respects but I can't compare your photos to what I have in hand. What MS sent out as replacements, while much cleaner than the originals and their length is accurate, their width is almost 50% too small per the drawings and they don't look anything like the photos in you practicum - their width is almost uniform from muzzle to base while the photos in the practicum and the drawings show the typical wide base associated with carronades, regardless of shot weight . Don't assume what you sent them is what we got, ask them to send you a sample and match it to your drawings - if your happy then I'll just assume I've got some vision problem. Thanks Tim

Chuck (and everyone else) - I just got my replacements today and I wish I could say I'm satisfied with them but I'm not. It appears that all MS did was "clean up" the castings without fixing the obvious underscale problems. There is now a hole on the cascabel instead of a stick but they are still exactly the same dimensions as the old ones , i.e. so skinny they look like swivel guns. All the MS folks had to do was lay the new ones on top of the drawings and they would see how inadequate they are. They are only about 60% wide as the drawings call for. These things don't even resemble carrondades. This is a real let down, I'll probably pack the kit up and send it back to MS since guns are the heart of any warship model and its not too much to ask that they get them right. I hope the MS folks follow this thread, pull out the "new" ones and compare them to yours and their own drawings and fix this. Tim