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

[Jack12477]

Finally finished the model.  Didn't install as much PE brass add-ons as I had expected in the beginning; I just gave up trying to sort out what pieces on the PE Sheet went where and for what ships fixture.  I did do the brass railings around the ships main deck, but that posed its own problems. The bottom half of the railing has a cross-hatched mesh attached. Gluing that to the brass rails posed a major challenge. I tried using a piece of picture frame glass, laid the pieces out and applied CA (first the Gap filling 15 sec and then second set used the very thin 3 sec)  to glue the two pieces together. Unfortunately both types of CA filled in a lot of the mesh which got accentuated by the gray primer. Tried drilling some of it out but after a while my eyes got so crossed I had to quit. Have to find a different way of clamping/gluing for next time.

 

Model came out pretty good for a first time attempt at P&PE (plastic and photo-etch). Learned a few things I can use on next build.

 

Attached are the photos: (Even tho I took these outside in daylight with the white balance set for daylight the colors still look wrong - maybe it's the monitor)

 

[mtaylor]

Tiny stuff there Jack.  I think you did great.  

[cog]

Not bad for a first at 1:350. Even the plastic at this scale is fiddly stuff ... but now we expect more ...

[lmagna]

I agree with Mark and Carl nice work and I too appreciate the difficulty on working with this scale after seeing in person the size of the parts needed for my upcoming builds on the Houston/ Indianapolis/ Titanic in the same scale. 

 

Do you have a next in line? Or is it give the eyes a rest time?

 

Nice work

[Jack12477]

22 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Do you have a next in line? Or is it give the eyes a rest time?

I guess I am a glutton for puishment, Lou, the Liberty ship SS John W  Brown is on the bench. Probably start after New Years.

 

Thanks for the compliments, Mark, Carl, Lou.

[RGL]

Well done mate 

[Tom E]

Jack, 

Great looking ship!

I have to give this PE stuff a whirl.

 

In the very beginning, you mentioned a PE tool from The Small Shop.

Did you find yourself using it? Do you feel its a "must have" kind of thing when working with PE?

 

I ask as I have been eyeing one up on there web site.

I was thinking of making an Investment in one first, then dive into buying a model with PE.

 

Thanks, 

Tom E 

[Jack12477]

24 minutes ago, Tom E said:

In the very beginning, you mentioned a PE tool from The Small Shop.

Did you find yourself using it? Do you feel its a "must have" kind of thing when working with PE?

Hi Tom,

 

Yes I did use their Hold & Fold tool a lot, also their Black Acrylic cutting surface. Both worked very well. The Hold & Fold is a must have for bending the brass, I've tried other methods, e.g. pliers, and none worked as accurately as the Hold/Fold.  There is a picture of it on page 1, 4th and 5th photos of this build log.

 

I've found that both MegaHobby in NJ and HobbyLinc in GA both have pretty competitive prices on both the Trumpter & Tamiya kits as well as Toms MetalWorks PE.  And the shipping to my location is pretty fast.

[Jack12477]

Thanks, Greg.  Got a lot of inspiration and how-to from watching your excellent builds.

[RGL]

I’m still very tempted to do one. I have the AOTS book, so lots of references. 

[popeye the sailor]

well done Jack!   awesome job on the railings..........overall great job     good to hear that there another on your horizon........I'll keep an eye out for it   

[flying_dutchman2]

Have been following some of the plastic model builts in the background and I have several questions. 

 

-- Do all plastic kits have brass etching available to them and if not is it only the famous ships? 

-- Does the brass etching come in different scales, just like the ship models do? 

-- Jack mentioned towards the end of his build that he didn't use as much PE as he thought he would. Can he use the left over PE for other ships?

 

I think that does it for now. 

Thanks for answering. 

Marcus 

 

 

[cog]

Interesting questions, Mark

 

- not all, and not only "famous" ships, the destroyer I build presently, and the ones before, are not really famous, although the type may be

- it does e.g 1:200 , 1:350, 1:72, 1:24 (the latter two mainly airplanes)

- he could, but he might miss some parts he used on his previous build. I used  some of previous buids to enhance my builds even with the detailup set for that ship as I found it lacking

[Jack12477]

On 12/29/2018 at 3:19 PM, flying_dutchman2 said:

Have been following some of the plastic model builts in the background and I have several questions. 

 

-- Do all plastic kits have brass etching available to them and if not is it only the famous ships? 

-- Does the brass etching come in different scales, just like the ship models do? 

-- Jack mentioned towards the end of his build that he didn't use as much PE as he thought he would. Can he use the left over PE for other ships?

 

I think that does it for now. 

Thanks for answering. 

Marcus 

 

 

Hi Marcus

 

Some of the higher priced plastic kits do include the PE brass; however, all the ones I was interested in do not. You have to buy the PE as a separate item.  The two suppliers I mentioned in post #128 above carry the Toms MetalWorks PE brass.  For example Toms MetalWorks offers a 1:350 PE kit explicitly for "The Sullivans" kit as well as a 1:350  PE kit that is generic to the Tamiya generic Fletcher class plastic kit. The PE comes in a a variety of scales to match specific kits. Toms also makes a generic PE kit that is just 1:350 scale US Navy doors, and another that is just 1:350 scale US Navy hatches.  Any left over PE could be used on another 1:350 scale kit I suppose altho I have not looked to closely into that aspect.

[flying_dutchman2]

I am assuming that before the era of PE, it is paint?

PE also gives you cleaner lines compared to paint?

Does PE come in one color or are there any other colors? 

Can you use paint on PE? 

 

I will go to Toms metalworks site and read up on it. 

 

The above questions are for the pros and cons of PE versus paint. 

Lots of questions and thanks for answering. 

Marcus 

[cog]

nope

nope

it's  mostly brass: Photo Etch

yes

 

those are the short answers

 

PE is not paint, as stated above it is brass, or thin sheet metal which can be photo etched, It gives sharper details because it can be made much finer than plastic, although with modern techniques, details on plastic have improved. PE has the colour of the metal it's made of, but can be painted. Remove grease with e.g. vinigar, and spray with a good adhering primer. It is advocated to use Tamiya rattlecan primer by most model builders which work with the stuff. I do not degrease, but use Tamiya. So far I have good results. Furthermore, there are brass parts like barrels for turrets and AA guns which give a far better look than the plastic from the kit.

 

[Tigerdvr]

Greetings Marcus,

I am taking a break from working on my Confederacy (wood) and getting back into plastic which has changed tremendously since my last projects. You will or have found out that this site is a great source of information and, I find, inspiration.

If I can share a couple of thoughts with you that I found helpful. Be patient. Plastic can suck you into wanting to see the end product. If you go fast you miss the small details that the experienced builders attend to as habit. Detail and everything aligned are some of the marks of the more experienced builders. Take each structure as a separate model.

I am building the 1/350 USS Alaska CB-1 by Hobby Boss. A great kit IMHO. Mike Ashey (www.mikeashey.com) has a very comprehensive book on building and detailing the Alaska. It would be a good, inexpensive investment for building any plastic ship model.

It gets you looking for the little things that can easily be missed and he shares the techniques that work for him.  Check it out.

Set a realistic goal for your projects and, most importantly, enjoy.

Cheers, Harley

Edited January 5, 2019 by tigerdvr
Structure

[RGL]

You’ve inspired me, I was in a hobby shop the other day and bought the old Tamiya kit of the Fletcher 

[Jack12477]

Glad I did, Greg.  That kit is also on my list to acquire.

[CapnMac82]

On 12/29/2018 at 2:19 PM, flying_dutchman2 said:

-- Do all plastic kits have brass etching available to them and if not is it only the famous ships? 

-- Does the brass etching come in different scales, just like the ship models do? 

-- Jack mentioned towards the end of his build that he didn't use as much PE as he thought he would. Can he use the left over PE for other ships?

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.

[flying_dutchman2]

Cog, tigerdvr, and CapnMac82, thank you all for the extensive explanations. This has been an education for me 

Marcus