John W Brown by Jack12477 - FINISHED - Trumpeter - 1:350 - PLASTIC - liberty ship

[Jack12477]

For my next PE Plastic kit I've chosen the 1:350 Trumpeter model of the Liberty Ship S.S. John W Brown.  The PE Brass is from Tom’s Modelworks.

 

One of two surviving fully operational Liberty ships preserved in the United States, S.S. JOHN W. BROWN is the product of an emergency shipbuilding program in World War II that resulted in the construction of more than 2,700 Liberty ships. Liberty Ships were a class of cargo ship built during World War II. They were old-fashioned, utilitarian vessels that could be built in a hurry. They got the name Liberty ships because the first one built was named S.S. PATRICK HENRY.  The S.S. John W Brown is based in Baltimore MD Inner Harbor and is open for tours and sails.

 

Description

Class: EC2-S-C1 Type Liberty Ship
Launched: September 7, 1942
At: Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland

Length: 441 feet, 6 inches
Beam: 57 feet
Draft: 27 feet, 9 inches
Displacement: 14,245 tons
Gross: 7,176 tons
Capacity: 8,500 long tons
Armament: Three 3-inch/50 caliber guns; one 5-inch/38 caliber gun; eight 20mm guns.

 

I had a chance encounter with the ship some years ago while taking my Granddaughter, who was 6 years old at the time, on a tour of the Science Museum. While in the museum we saw the S.S. John W Brown pull up to the dock that was just outside the Museum's main entrance. Unfortunately it was late in the day and being a 6 year old she was tired and not too interested in climbing around an old ship. So we just took some dock side photos and planned to return at a later time. 

 

Photos of the actual ship:

 

 

The obligatory box photos:

 

 

 

[schooner]

Hey Jack, nice to see another Lib build underway, I've got a build log here for BlueJackets 1/192 scale Liberty.

If you are interested in some onboard photos of the Brown this site has been a big help for me in detailing:

http://www.geoghegan.us/brown/JWB-walkaround.htm

best of luck

 

[Jack12477]

Thanks, Tim, I'll check it out.

[Jack12477]

Spent some time over the holidays reconfiguring my work area and repurposing my old train table so I have more work surface and better organization.  Photos of the new workarea follow:

 

After completing the workarea rebuild, I was able to get some time to work on the model.  Got the main deck assembled and some PE brass railings attached.  Cut a little too much of the bulkhead away for the railings, have to fill in the patch with some Squadron putty to hide the cracks and seams.

 

 

 

 

[lmagna]

Looking forward to your new build Jack. I'll quietly hide in the corner and watch, (So I can sneak up on you when you least expect it!)

 

Did you ever get back to go onboard? Also are you going to replicate the "Nose art"?

[Old Collingwood]

I'll  take a seat with Lou  so we can be naughty and throw popcorn about, looking to be an intersting build.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

Better watch out OC, I have a bunch of caramel corn left from Christmas, that stuff is sticky when it hits you!

[Canute]

Jack, I'll join in with following your build. And I'm with Lou about the "nose art". Is there a decal for it?

[Stevinne]

Looking forward to following this build. An interesting subject, and from what I hear a good kit.

[Jack12477]

Welcome aboard everyone. 

 

18 hours ago, lmagna said:

(So I can sneak up on you when you least expect it!)

Aha Lou, you best be aware of the Corgi - Sunny - she's pretty good at warning me when someone is trying to sneak up on me !   And she doesn't like popcorn so you can't distract her. She has too refined and discerning palate for mere popcorn. But if you wanted to bribe her with some fresh caught Dungenous Crab meat, she might let you sneak by. 

 

9 hours ago, Canute said:

And I'm with Lou about the "nose art". Is there a decal for it?

Not that I am aware of Ken, Lou. And at this scale I'm not about to try to hand-paint one.  It would be nice to add tho.

Edited January 5, 2019 by Jack12477

[Jack12477]

18 hours ago, lmagna said:

Did you ever get back to go onboard?

Forgot to answer your question, Lou.  No, I never got onboard.   The ship was never at the pier in the Inner Harbour when we went back to Annapolis to visit our daughter & granddaughter.

[mtaylor]

8 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Aha Lou, you best be aware of the Corgi - Sunny - she's pretty good at warning me when someone is trying to sneak up on me !   And she doesn't like popcorn so you can't distract her. She has too refined and discerning palate for mere popcorn. But if you wanted to bribe her with some fresh caught Dungenous Crab meat, she might let you sneak by. 

 

Crab is it?   Rats.   Here I had some medium rare steak in a baggie for bribery.   

[lmagna]

Too bad you never got to go on board Jack. There is nothing like having been on the real ship to spark interest, and clear up details.

 

Possibly you could find something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/i/202045534816?chn=ps

to base the nose art on. Or possibly enlist Denis's help using a picture of the real art. It seems like he has the art of making decals on his printer down pretty well.

 

Another option would be to copy and reduce the picture you already have and print it out in reduced size and just glue the cut out print in the proper place. Like you say is will be pretty small.

 

As for Sunny, don't underestimate my ability with dogs. I worked K-9 for a bunch of years before my dog retired and I learned that I get along and understand dogs better than I do people! I can not only get all the Dungeness crab she can handle and maybe throw in a nice steak with a giant bone in for good measure!

 

It drives my wife kind of nuts. We have a new Shih Tzu pup that to be honest is kind of her dog. But he minds me pretty much instantly and most of the time ignores her unless it is walk time or food time! 

Edited January 6, 2019 by lmagna

[cog]

Nice 3rd Liberty ship build log, one being RC. Look forward to see this one evolve

Edited January 6, 2019 by cog

[thibaultron]

I'll be following too.

 

[Jack12477]

Moving right along.  Assembled and installed all 13 deck winches. These were more problem than the PE to assemble - had to put down the tweezers and use my "hamhocks" (hands) to hold them.  The PE in this kit is a lot easier to decipher than the one for the destroyer.  Assembled the hatches and  the towers and added the PE, removed the cast on doors and installed PE doors. Hit with some brush on Tamiya primer just to cover them for now. Nothing else has been primed or painted.

 

Pictures follow:

 

Deck winches

 

 

Hatches

 

 

Deck structure and towers:

 

 

[Canute]

What's with the masts, Jack? They have a "cranked" look. 🤔

[Jack12477]

That's how they came off the sprue, Ken. They seemed to have been bent during packaging, I think. After I get the rest of the brass on I will revisit them. I may use some brass rod I have and reconstruct them.

 

Oh, I see what you mean! Yea, they do look cranked/twisted around. May have to disassemble them 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Jack12477

[lmagna]

Nice work Jack

 

I agree with Ken though, I think your ship has been passing under a few low bridges.

[Canute]

I thought they might be junctions for yardarms or antennas. The detailing you are adding looks very good.

[cog]

Jack,

whilst you still can get to it easily, why don't you cut those top masts of and replacce them with a brass rod as you stated. Drill a hole on the spot where you uct it off and CA the rod in. Will be a lot nicer ... you're doing great mate

 

If Sunny needs some help to boss those rafter dwellers around I'll send

"the Bitch" as reinforcement

[Canute]

Refresh my addled brain Carl. Thats a Malinois?

[Jack12477]

Ken, yes, Malinois

 

I took a second look at that one mast. It's the way the holes for those "steps ??" were cast into the mold that makes them slightly askew.  They're slightly offset from the rest of the holes.

 

Carl, yes, I'm going to cut them off and replace them before I glue the assemblies to the deck.   And thanks for the assist from your dog. Sunny is very good at alerting me when rafter dwellers try to sneak up on me. Heck, she detects the mail carrier, FedEx/UPS driver, politicians, door-to-door proselytizers as soon as they step into the yard even tho she can't see them she can detect their presence. Amazing how she does it tho. She barks as soon as they enter the yard. She even announces our son's arrival before he even exits his car (different bark tone tho).

[Shore thing]

Jack, I too will be following your build. Good luck.

 

My wife and I live in Cambridge Md. and had the pleasure of touring the ship when it docked in town this summer. I am always impressed with the size of these massive vessels. It's huge!! It was a very enjoyable day that was full of historical information that gave us a better understanding of the importance of these ships and the dangers they faced. I highly recommend touring the vessel if the opportunity should present itself in your future.

 

Reed.

[Jack12477]

Added more PE brass to the superstructure.  I think this piece is now pretty much complete. Still having trouble getting the doors to go on straight and not slip. Mostly it's my hand not staying steady and the CA doesn't give much leeway for adjustments.  

 

[Jack12477]

Took some time off from my shipyard to go work on another project I'm involved in, restoring a 1912 35-40 foot Ice Yacht Manhasset. a project our club started 2 years ago but was stymied by lack of a heated large workspace.  One of our members let us use his workshop for a while.  So we've been disassembling the backbone (aka keel) to inspect the interior for any rot.  This involved first removing the basket (aka cockpit) which on this ice yacht is attached to the underside of the backbone.  Removing hundreds of recessed and plugged screws from 100+ year old timber is not an easy task. the wood you see in the photos is vertical grain old growth 40-50 rings per inch tongue and grooved timber. Surprisingly, it is in pretty good shape with a minimum of rot.

 

Some photos of the work follow:

 

[cog]

You're getting more proficient with PE

[Jack12477]

29 minutes ago, cog said:

You're getting more proficient with PE

Yea, now if I can just keep the railings from looking like storm and/or battle damage.   Altho that may add some "realism" to it. 

[lmagna]

Like Carl says you are getting better with your PE Jack. Recessed doors can be a bear to get to with the glue while holding them in place at the same time. Have you considered glueing them in place before assembling the superstructure?

 

I suspect that after a few north Atlantic winter convoys the railings on the real ships didn't look much better. Between knocking ice off with sledge hammers and waves that sometimes crash over the entire vessel, I suspect the looks of the average Liberty ship was far from what we see on the preserved ships today.  

[Jack12477]

I lay the piece flat to apply the door, Lou, they still move.