USS Crockett by mtdoramike - FINISHED - Dumas

[BobG]

Is the grim reaper a big decal?

[CDW]

The hull looks very spiffy Mike. Sharp!

 

[CDW]

On 9/1/2020 at 3:16 PM, BobG said:

...but you can get an unexpected basement in Florida if your house is sitting over a future sinkhole!

My old house I grew up in (in Tampa, Florida) had a large cellar/basement with dirt floors. It was filled with wine racks, but don't recall any wine being stored in the racks. We also had a huge attic in that old two story house where my big brother had his Lionel train layout.

[mtdoramike]

Y

18 hours ago, CDW said:

My old house I grew up in (in Tampa, Florida) had a large cellar/basement with dirt floors. It was filled with wine racks, but don't recall any wine being stored in the racks. We also had a huge attic in that old two story house where my big brother had his Lionel train layout.

Beautiful house, you were fortunate to live in it, we lived in a small 5 room house that you could throw a cat through the exterior walls. The only trains we had were wooden blocks tied together with fishing line. One year my folks were able to give us a slot car racing set for Christmas, we were in hog heaven. But as always, all good things come to an end, we played on that race car set so much that first day, by noon we had burnt it up.      

[mtdoramike]

 

18 hours ago, CDW said:

The hull looks very spiffy Mike. Sharp!

 

Not really, it's 3"x3". Perfect size for the stern of the Crockett.

[popeye the sailor]

hello there Mike...........I see you've made some really great progress    looking forward in seeing her on the water!  the grim reaper is a nice touch   

[mtdoramike]

Thanks Popeye, I sealed the Reaper with epoxy resin to make it water proof, I also sealed the deck and gave it another coat of classic gray paint. I found some scrap 1/8" hobby plywood that I didn't know I had and used it to fashion a new rear hatch cover because the kit supplied cover was to small for the opening after I enlarged it to give better access to the servo and rudder arm. I applied the kit supplied decals to the hull, which are water slide decals, which I don't really care for, but they serve the purpose.   

 

Here are a few observations so far of the Crockett kit: Like I mentioned in the beginning, this kit is not for a beginner or even an intermediate builder. I'm not saying it couldn't be built by either one, but it would be a very tough build. There are tons of small bits and pieces that require building and the instructions are almost worthless and the plans are good, but could be better.

 

Although I like the kit, I would never build another one. I will explain why later.

[mtdoramike]

I'm about half way through with the railings. Those chains are a real pain. I bought some solder off of ebay and did almost the entire railings on the lower deck and while I was working on the front section of railings, I would hear a bing. I checked and found several of the railings had popped loose from the posts. I thought maybe I didn't solder them well enough, so I soldered them again. This morning I went in my work room and found several of the railings loose again. So I found some old solder I had and re-soldered them again. So far, no more Bing.  

[mtdoramike]

It's getting there. A few more things like the masts and a few bits and pieces.

[mtdoramike]

It's getting a bit closer to completion. Still adding all those bits and pieces. You can see where I added the larger hatch covering for the servo rudder access. 

[popeye the sailor]

railings can be a problem.  I use Ca for my railings,  but all my models are static.   if you intend to paint the railings,  you'll be better able to hide the solder and give them a more uniform look.  did you clear coat over the rest of the decals too?   looking very good   

[mtdoramike]

Yes, I also replaced most of the decals after applying them because I didn't like the water slide decals.

[mtdoramike]

I have a buyer lined up for the Crockett. He will be driving down from Georgia to pick it up in a few weeks.

[BobG]

Business is thriving!

[mtdoramike]

I pretty much finished the Crockett. She's sitting awaiting her home port. I will post some finished pictures of it. I also adopted another way ward orphaned 1940 Chris Craft mahogany runabout, which had been partially built and then left to whither on the vine so to speak. I'll try and give it a little love and breath a little life into it. The work quality that had been done isn't the best as usual. I usually don't like building the same model twice, but I felt sorry for it and hated to see it getting kicked from pillar to post without someone taking a bit of gumption and finishing it.  

[Reedster1963]

what grey paint are you using? and how does the bofors gun assembly come together?

Thanks