The Sullivans DD-537 by Jack12477 - FINISHED - Trumpeter - 1:350 - PLASTIC

[Tim Murphy]

I'm an Ex Destroyer Sailor. I was on a Fram 1 out of San Diego in the early 70's. I LOVE destroyers.

Good luck with your kit! Check were the Sullivans was built. There is a different bridge for West 

Coast and East Coast bridges. There is a 3-D printed part that could help you.

  I am now retired and I volunteer at the Charlestown Navy Yard. We have the Cassin Young DD793

an I sometimes work on her.

  An questions I may be able to help.

Tim

 

[Jack12477]

51 minutes ago, cog said:

By the way, Jack, I'm hanging in the rafters by my finger nails, waiting on some P&PE movement ...

Better get yourself into a bos'un chair, Carl, it's going to be a while before the PE shows up. Wouldn't want you to lose your finger nails.  

[Jack12477]

1 hour ago, cog said:

Yamazaki Single Malt 18 yrs old ... maybe ...

If you're going that route, Carl, I'd prefer a Redbreast 21 year old single malt pot still!  Or a Redbreast 15 year old ! 

[popeye the sailor]

hmmmm....something to see.....Carl knock'in one back while hang'in around.  gravity is affected by alcohol ........remember that     

[jud]

21 hours ago, Tim Murphy said:

I'm an Ex Destroyer Sailor. I was on a Fram 1 out of San Diego in the early 70's. I LOVE destroyers.

Good luck with your kit! Check were the Sullivans was built. There is a different bridge for West 

Coast and East Coast bridges. There is a 3-D printed part that could help you.

  I am now retired and I volunteer at the Charlestown Navy Yard. We have the Cassin Young DD793

an I sometimes work on her.

  An questions I may be able to help.

Tim

 

The first 58 Fletcher's ordered were referred to as the High Bridge or Round Bridge. The remaining 117 Built were referred to as Low Bridge or square Bridges. The change was made to provide more anti aircraft defense, had nothing to do with the coast they were built at. The Sullivians DD 537, was a Low Bridge as was the USS Ammen DD 527, which I served aboard as a Crew Member before the Fram Modifications became common. Photo is the USS Ammen by me in a Long Beach Drydock after the 19 July 1960 collision with the Collet DD 730 off of Seal Beach, California.

Edited November 8, 2018 by jud

[Tim Murphy]

Your right about the first Fletcher's were round bridges. The sq. bridges based on the Bath Iron work plans were different

than the one's based on the San Pedro plans. The hatches/doors were different, also some portholes

Tim

[Jack12477]

Well after opening up the sealed plastic bags and examining the parts sprues most closing, it appeared I did not have any or enough anyway doors and deck hatches, so I placed an order for another sheet of Tom's MetalWorks PE; those arrived Friday (almost overnight delivery).  Then I spent the weekend looking thru the online catalogs of 3 US based Hobby "stores" for paint in the colors used in WWII. Very tedious task. After hours of looking at every paint brand I could find I finally located a set from LifeColor that exact matched the colors I was seeking, comes in 2 sets of 6 colors each.  Ordered them, but it will take until 11/20 (next week sometime) to ship them to me from Atlanta, Georgia.  Not like the next day delivery of the PE from NJ.

 

In the meantime, I have been painting the lower hull with Vallejo hull red (4-5 coats) and upper hull with some old Poly S (water base) Light and Dark Ghost Grey (several coats). Haven't rolled out the airbrush yet, so far just hand brushing with pretty good results.

[cog]

A pitty you didn't get the lifecolor yet, is very nice to brush ... get your camera out mate ... waiting to see some picsies

[Jack12477]

Patience, grasshopper, patience !

[Jack12477]

Pictures just for Carl !

 

The wood block in the center of the hull is to attach the two 1/16 inch diameter brass tubing that will support the model in the display when completed. The 3 sections of the hull/deck combo are just dry fit together for now.  Some touch up is needed on the black boot. The grayish cast on the red hull bottom is the lighting for some reason, not weathering.

 

 

 

[Jack12477]

Probably going to do her as she appears today in Buffalo, Lou, since I have some photos and can easily get more. 

 

There's a WWII Destroyer Escort (last one still floating) berthed in Albany NY, about 50 miles from me, the USS Slater, which if I can find a suitable kit, I would like to model. She was repainted a couple years back in the razzle dazzle camo. 

 

What is slowing me down right is figuring out how to do the PE mods, so I am going a lot slower than I normally would with the plastic. Wood is easy to re-do, plastic not so good.

[lmagna]

It will probably be a lot of kit modification to configure her to the present day look but like you say you have plenty of research information close by.

 

As for the Slater, she is almost identical to the proceeding class of DEs, the Buckley class. The USS England is a typical Buckley and if you looks close you can see that almost the only difference is the two angled uptakes that lead from the boilers to the stack. They are missing on the Slater because she is diesel electric powered like a fleet sub and didn't need them. I'm sure that further research will show more differences but at first glance they are almost the same design.

https://www.amazon.com/England-Buckley-Class-Destroyer-Trumpeter/dp/B000F6A4T6

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by lmagna

[Jack12477]

The real USS England is at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA, couple hours drive from me. Maybe a road trip.!

 

Right now I'm trying to figure out the kit instructions, which only have pictures, no prose, just a bunch of part numbers and no explanation of what the part is. Some I can figure out but not being a Navy vet (Army vet) my knowldge of ships is somewhat limited. Right now I'm trying to figure out what PE part replaces what plastic part.  But I will muddle thru. 

[Jack12477]

4 minutes ago, lmagna said:

learned what part is red 

That was easy!  They cast it in glossy red plastic, which just had to be repainted. At least the rest is cast in dull grey. 

[Old Collingwood]

Im a bit late  - but can I also take a seat?    I will of course bring some rum,  as there is bound to be plenty of popcorn already.

 

OC.

[Jack12477]

Hi O.C.  welcome aboard.  Yes, we may need lots of rum for this voyage.

[Jack12477]

13 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

The real USS England is at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA

I stand corrected ! USS England is NOT at Battleship Cove. Don't know why I thought that, maybe too much of O.C.'s rum!   Thanks, Lou, for the PM.  

[Jack12477]

8 minutes ago, lmagna said:

That's what politicians and news services do!

Never was any good at "circumlocution" !

[Old Collingwood]

3 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Never was any good at "circumlocution" !

The art of making steam loco's  go round in circles.🤪

 

OC.

[flying_dutchman2]

8 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

 "circumlocution" !

LOL LOL

Marcus 

[popeye the sailor]

I didn't even know it had a name.......we're set to get a taste of it too into Friday     happy to report that me 'n the snow blower are ready 

[cog]

I think I'll stick to the part with Mr Jameson ... although, my evening will be filled with work ... better wait until I'm ready ...

[Old Collingwood]

Over here  we get a warning  then comes 1/2 an inch of snow  and everything comes to a stand still  with every thing stopped and canceled.

"Our great british spirit"

 

OC.

[Jack12477]

After spending an entire weekend browsing thru several online Hobby shop catalogs, I finally located a source for the paint colors I need.  I've decided to build it as the 1945 configuration as shown in the kit rather than try and research all the changes needed to duplicate the ship as she sits today in the Naval Museum in Buffalo NY.  The LifeColor brand had two 6 jar kits with the exact colors called for to do the 1943/1945 paint scheme.  I ordered the CS24 and CS25 kits, took an extra couple of days to arrive due to the unusual early November snow storm (8 inches) we got right after I placed the order.

 

So with the right colors in hand, I hand brushed the hull and deck in the 1943/1945 color scheme.  Even tho the photos were taken outdoors in sunlight I had a difficult time getting the digital camera to get the colors to my satisfaction (experimented with several white balance settings).  Sorry for the poor background in the last two photos, I had to get the model in direct noon-time sunlight to get the color I wanted. The deck is just dry fit, the rest is glued.  Oh and I did touch up the bare spots where the paint peeled off. 

 

[popeye the sailor]

look'in great Jack   

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

I've decided to build it as the 1945 configuration

  

[Old Collingwood]

Looking good jack.

 

OC.

[cog]

On 11/15/2018 at 10:26 PM, Jack12477 said:

Ok guys. I've just been informed that I / We need to cut the none build related chatter out.  Some people have complained about it.  Sorry !

??? I think I'd better not comment, since it won't be build related

 

Your hand job turned out rather smooth, Jack. Colours seem OK. I found on my models, considering the size, I could have mixed in some light grey to make them less "hard", more in sync with the scale

[Canute]

The colors in your outdoor shots look good, Jack.

 

Like Carl says, our colors could stand with some scale fade. I've read on some of the aircraft modeling sites of some fading formulas based on the scale. Here's one website on this subject: https://www.cybermodeler.com/color/scale_effect.shtml

He does mention fading our 1/350 ship colors about 30% with white paint. Keeps the colors from being too stark. I feel our ship paint colors are formulated against 1:1 paint chips, so they are darker than we want. Of course, your eyes may say something else.

[Jack12477]

Some progress photos: looks like a few doors need to be reattached.  Keeping them aligned is a bear. I am using a sewing needle with the eye cut off then inserted into a paint brush handle to place the glue but still tricky because the parts move.  I'm using Medium CA (15 sec set time).  Wondering if the Testors brand tube cement for plastic would work and still hold the brass. Might give me more time to re-position the doors better. The thin CA sets too fast and doesn't allow time to position the piece.

 

I'm scraping the molded on detail off the molded doors but leaving the molded door a little  proud so I can position the frame, rather than scrape it flush to sidewall.  I will paint the open door openings flat black after I've painted the structure gray.