USS Missouri by reklein - Sterling - 1/192 Scale

[reklein]

This will be a build log of the Sterling kit of the USS Missouri on 1/192 scale. I began with the AA gun arsenal as a way to avoid tedium late in the build Then I started framing up the kit.

[lmagna]

Looks like I get front row this time Bill.

[mtaylor]

Since this appears to be a kit and not a scratch build, I moved it.  If it's just the Sterling plans, let me know and I'll move it back.

[reklein]

Mark, you are correct, it is a kit. The Sterling plans are not complete enough to build from.

[reklein]

Work continues with framing,bottom planking and a shot of whats left of the kit and a plans sample. The instruction book is fairly complete but lots of fine print and takes some study. I'd say experience is required with this kit.

[dragonflyxlii]

Good start neighbor (Eastern Washington) . I will follow your build!

 

Regards, Dave

[reklein]

Work continues with side skins and bow planking. Since the hull will be glassed over I'm not following traditional hull planking pattern.

[lmagna]

5 minutes ago, reklein said:

Since the hull will be glassed over

Are you going to go RC Bill? Or are you just using the glass to make it easier to make a strong/smooth hull?

[reklein]

Maybe on the R/C. Yes for the strong smooth hull. The planking supplied in the kit is very soft so I guess it will just be there to hold up the epoxy till it sets. I may have to dig into my stash of balsa to get something tuff enough to hold up to the twisting and bending required. The shape of the stern is vague and I don't  have good drawings of the Mo.   Bill

[lmagna]

If it was the Arizona, Huston, or several of the US DDs and DEs ,I could help you with plans, but I have nothing on the Iowa's.

[popeye the sailor]

these wooden kits are interesting though.........although sheeting hulls takes some getting used to    I have the Hasegawa kit of the Missouri in 1:450 scale.  plastic,  but likely not as much fun,  as your having    I subbed wood sheeting for the plastic stuff Dumas supplies in their PT boat........I found it a lot more malleable.  perhaps pictures online may help you form a more perfect keesta.  {stern looks from the audience} 

[reklein]

Thanks for the offer Lou. I have a couple of books coming with computer 3D drawings that should fix me up. I actually visited the Mo when she was in mothballs at Bremerton back in 1965. I had the run of the ships weather decks with no tour guide or other supervision. Too bad I didn't know much about her except that she was the site of the surrender.

I typed this message a couple days ago then forgot to submit it. Sorry.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by reklein
correction

[reklein]

Stern planking is finished. Now for filling and sanding. Looks terrible at this point. Can't decide weather to stick with plastic wood filler or go to spackle. I think automotive filler would be too hard. There's a big stern block to be glued on too. Think I'll do that last thing of the day so I can continue in a couple days. Gotta make a supply run to Spokane tomorrow. BTW I did all the gluing with thin and thick CA. That way I could build " in the air" so to speak and not have to use many clamps. After gluing I went back inside and filleted along the formers with the thick CA. The whole hull at this point probably doesn't weigh more than a couple pounds.

Edited September 6, 2021 by reklein

[Old Collingwood]

She looks massive  - so much detail can go into these  builds.

 

OC.

[reklein]

OK, I got the Epoxy fiberglass coat on the hull. I had mixed messages on the application technique and didn't get good adherance. So be forewarned that when applying the heavier cloth to paint a coat of resin on the wood first then apply the cloth. You get about a half hour working time and it gets messy when you have to cut slots in the cloth to get it to lie flat. I'm sure if I did this ,say 10 times more I'd get better at it.

[lmagna]

14 hours ago, reklein said:

I'm sure if I did this ,say 10 times more I'd get better at it.

Don't be too sure. I think I did it at least a dozen times with both my own builds and when helping others build their RC boats in my active RC years and each time it ended up being stinky, messy, and needed a lot of sanding to get the finished hull looking right. They held up though. I just took down about six of my old ships with the thought of restoring one of them after 25+ years and getting back into the hobby. Ended up going another route but I was amazed at how well they have fared over the years.

 

Your hull is looking pretty nice, and it is still early yet.

[Roger Pellett]

Bill,

 

Re:  Fiberglass

 

Good Point.  I suspect that many of us, myself included, first try to “glue” the glass cloth down to the wood substrate.  This only succeeds in trapping air between glass  and cloth.  Spread out the cloth first and then wet it out with the resin.

 

Roger

[reklein]

Well here we are Four coats of rustoleum prime and still lumpy,but it doesn't look too bad in the photo so I guess it wil have to do.

[mtdoramike]

Oooo, I often wanted to build this Sterling kit. Are you building for Radio Control use or static display? She is looking magnificent so far.

[reklein]

I decided to build for static display. The hull was really tough to get finished properly and still isn't really up to snuff. Its just one step above scratch building. I almost trashed it out and build a new hull bread and butter style. All the superstructure is built up ply and balsa along with the main gun houses. the 5" mounts are balsa blocks. We'll see how this goes. I have the 40s and oerlikons built so now I have to press on. Next is prop shafts and mounts. then decks and real paint.

 

 

[CDW]

Your hull looks beautiful! Nice job you did with it.

I have done many fiberglass coverings on large models I've built. Something important to consider is using the very lightest cloth possible for your particular application. Heavy cloth is generally not needed, particularly for static scale models and most ship models. Heavy cloth is hard to work with and often leaves air pockets underneath. 

Here is an example of a large balsa cowling I built for a 1:4 scale biplane R/C model. As you can see from the photos, even complex curves can be completely and smoothly covered with one piece of cloth by working it from top to bottom, pulling out the wrinkles as you apply the resin to the cloth/cowl.

 

 

 

[reklein]

Yes my mistake was to use the heavier cloth available. I used to know that 40 years ago when I was building RC. Its just gonna have to do. I bought the Trumpeter HMS Hood for my next big project so No worries. Thanks for the shots. Bill

[mtdoramike]

yeah, my go to cloth is 2oz cloth 

[reklein]

Yesterday I built props struts from laminated styrene. A little wonky but it'll do. Truly scratch built. Next the props and shafts. All from styrene. Stay tuned.

[reklein]

Work continues on the Mo. Hull is now painted with gun fairings and hawse pipes cut in. Now for the superstructure. My intention is to cover the very crude wooden construction with sheet styrene to better simulate steel.

[lmagna]

Great looking work Bill. This is NOT as easy of a build as some people think, especially when you want to make it stop looking like wood covered with paint.

 

You may want to consider just using a fine mesh fiberglass cloth with a hard drying resin. I think that even with the extra sanding it will go easier in the long run than sheeting in plastic.

 

You might remember that the Missouri class of battleships are an oddity in armored ship design in that there is very little external evidence of any armor plating at all, as almost all of it was internal and the outer "skin" was really quite thin. You don't see any of the large sections of "Armor belt" as in virtually all other battleships.

[reklein]

Here's a pic of the topsides. Lots of little nooks and crannies. Lots of football time to go here.

[reklein]

 Lou, I'm just laminating plastic to the topsides. I did a bluejacket Liberty ship that way and it worked out great. It will be the best way to get a steel looking finish. Will also use for decks where appropriate and Northeastern scribed decking for the decks. I have a Toms models works PE set for the railings etc..  Bill

Edited November 6, 2021 by reklein

[reklein]

Laminating plastic to topside bulkheads. I will also put 1/16th scribed decking on. still too wide a plank for 1/16th scale but will "read" OK. I'll save the super detail for the Hood coming up later this winter.

[mikegr]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:10 PM, reklein said:

Work continues with side skins and bow planking. Since the hull will be glassed over I'm not following traditional hull planking pattern.

 

Great build.

 

is this  a resin kit collection on the background?