USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 67-69 by Hank - FINISHED - Trumpeter - 1:200 - PLASTIC

[Hank]

David & Popeye - Thanks for the nice comments. Long term projects are just that!!

[Elia]

Hank,

 

Super work there! The level of detail and it's fineness continues to impress. Maybe I missed this earlier... You noted you hadn't made the photoetch for some parts yet... Are you creating your own phorietched parts? Those photoetched ladders, rails,and thin, little details really add realism to the model.

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

[dgbot]

I came across a log o a guy who is doing the New Jersey at 1/72 for RC.  And the attention to detail is amazing.  But I lost the Url will try to find it and give it out.  The thing is huge.  He is going to need a long trailer to take it to the pond.

David B

[Hank]

Elia,

 

Yes, I have drawn up all the life raft racks in CAD (MicroStation) and will print out the file using the MicroMark PE kit they currently sell (I bought it about a year ago). They give you enough materials to print out 2 half sheets or 1 81/2 x 11 (I think???). I already have molded the life rafts using their 2 part plastic molding system. I may also mold the Mk. 56 directors but need to create a 3D solid model of that and that may take a while to either do myself of find someone to draw it up for me. I'd rather do it myself, but the software is rather pricey and then there's the learning curve!

 

David B - I think 1/72 is a bit large - 1/8" (1:96) seems to be a much more useable scale.

 

Hank

[mtaylor]

Hank,

 

Having little to no knowledge of battleships, I  have little idea of what you're doing but I like it.  You know and you're bringing her to life with the accurate details.  Sweet work.

Edited May 2, 2015 by mtaylor

[Hank]

Mark,

 

Thanks for the kind remarks! There is a group of IOWA class battleship nuts who are all building either a 1:200 or 1:192 scale model of the various (4) ships in one or another of their configurations. As things progress, it appears more and more that constant detailed research is ongoing since the "one size fits all" does NOT apply in this case. And, as many of the modelers are building this kit (or its sister kit IOWA) in the out of the box configuration (end of WWII) even that is becoming hard to accomplish due to problems with the kit itself. So, it's quite an interesting project going on throughout the country right now. Add to that the guys that are getting into the 1:96 scale R/C models that are on the extreme end of things...I won't go there!!

 

Hank

[dgbot]

Extreme is the word.  I have seen the Iowa Class at 1/96 and it is huge big enough or RC but difficult to move around.

David B

[Hank]

Well, it's been a while since I updated this build. I've made quite a bit of progress - the superstructure is now for all intents and purposes completed. With the exception of the whip antennas, which will be added at the appropriate time, I'm now concentrating on hull work. In addition, I've started slowely construction of a kit bash to produce an early 1940's (pre-war) USS PENNSYLVANIA (BB-38) using the Trumpeter 1:200 scale ARIZONA kit as the basis.

 

To continue with this build:

 

The kit hull is a disaster - both forward lower hull and after lower hull are misshaped from the git-go. So, a year or more ago I tackled the forward end adding styrene strips/putty as necessary to achieve a close resemblance to the proper shape. This is shown in the following photos. I have recently begun grinding work on the after hull to reduce down the incorrect shape to it's proper appearance. I am half way done with this having the basic shaping completed on the port side. I will continue the stbd side in June. For a while it looked like another modeler's 3D Modeling design might be a possibility as a replacement for the after 19" of the kit hull. This was not to be, so I came up with a less high tech, but fairly accurate method for hull shaping on my own. While another modeler did a POB replacement for offending areas of the after hull, I am taking a different approach and FILLING the hull interior with Bondo, allowing it to dry completely, then grinding the exterior down to shape using templates at the various hull stations according to the original ship's drawings.

 

The photos (in no order) - completed superstructure showing 5" gun mounts, lower after area modified, lower bow area modified, and another shot of the port side superstructure. My photos are small shots of specific areas, I don't have an overall superstructure on my flash drive.

 

Credits to other's involved, etc: The Mk. 37 and Mk. 56 FC Directors were products of Model_Monkey, 3D printed by Shapeways and available online in his store. He is a friend, fellow vet (USA) and modeler, and we are in cahoots on several other items for ship modelers - I helped his design of the Mk. 56 director. The 5"/38 dual gun mounts are also his products as the kit mounts are incorrect for this class of BB. The ship's ribbon board was a reduced size rendering for me by Mike Gaughan (Cliffy_B on SMF) of Virginia Beach who has a photo program to take and reduce photos to miniatures, retaining all the proper sizes and colors. He is also a volunteer on USS WISCONSIN in Norfolk, VA.  So, here are a few shots of the model:

 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Looking Fantastic Hank - just shows how slowly slowly does the trick, if you are like me I do a little bit then put it down till I kind of get the urge to do more, my Warspite will probably take about 5 years to build at my pace.

 

 

OC.

[Hank]

O.C.,

 

Thanks for the kind remarks. At this point, with (sort of) 2 models in progress, it's hard to stay fixed on completion of one when there is interest in both. Perseverance, I hope will rule the day.

 

Hank

[Old Collingwood]

O.C.,

 

Thanks for the kind remarks. At this point, with (sort of) 2 models in progress, it's hard to stay fixed on completion of one when there is interest in both. Perseverance, I hope will rule the day.

 

Hank

Have you seen the Film Battleship?  it show cases the Mighty Mo in great detail,   Love that film.

 

OC.

[Hank]

Yea, I've seen it. Entertaining, but hardly realistic. I did like some of the various interior shots of MO. Special Effects were really neat!

[Kevin]

lovely work Hank, is the hull the correct shape now

[Hank]

Kevin,

 

Thanks for the support! The hull is 1/2 way there - I still have the stbd. side to grind down to shape. Once that's done, I can establish the waterlines, bootopping, and start work on horizontal hull plate layout - this will be a bitch since these curvatures are guesstimates. A few of us have talked about a trip to Norfolk to take a survey by boat and record measurements of the actual ship's plate lines. It's still up in the air.

 

Later,

 

Hank 

[Kevin]

Hank if you go, lol can I carry your bags?

look forward to how you go about it

Edited June 2, 2016 by Kevin

[Hank]

Kevin,

 

To be truthful, it hasn't actually been discussed in several months. HOWEVER - it is on my BB Bucket List  and time allotted, could happen one of these days! I've got a summer of med. procedures being scheduled (brain transplant, etc.  - nothing dire, just need to be done) so this COULD be a fall or next spring type event - or ....later. Being in the active work force, I simply can't plan things too far in advance. The Admiral....you all understand  - but, I'll keep you in mind. These sort of things DO happen from time to time, just takes planning (and $$!).

 

Hank

[Kevin]

LOL - I will take that as a yes then - IM READY, we there yet?

Edited June 3, 2016 by Kevin

[Hank]

Here's a question I guess I should post to the general crew - Notifications - what exactly do you do with them? I mean, it's nice to receive them, but ....I'm not getting it, I guess. Do I respond, or what?...and How?

 

Please educate me on these - anyone!

 

Hank

Edited June 4, 2016 by Hank

[Ulises Victoria]

Hello Hank. You don't need to respond to notifications. They are just informative so you know who has liked to your posts, etc...

You can tun them off if you wish. Just click the "Options" button in your Notifications window.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ulises Victoria

[S.Coleman]

Looks great. Clean and tidy build. The hull must be mass produced and used for all of the battleships of that class. Looking good.

[Hank]

Ulises,

 

Thanks - just what I needed to know!

 

Scott,

 

Thanks for the nice comment! Unfortunately, Trumpeter didn't get it right and it seems their other 1:200 hulls are no better. My other build using a Trumpeter ARIZONA kit as a conversion to PENNSYLVANIA also has inherent flaws. However, as I am planning on making a waterline display, this should not be a major factor as those flaws are for the most part below the waterline.

 

Hank

[dgbot]

I am always amazed at people who can tell if the hull of a model is correct. Several years ago at Manitowc a guy brought in a great model of the Prinz Nuegen.  Another modeler was impressed but informed me that the lines were wrong.  I could not see what was wrong.

David B

[Hank]

David,

 

In this case, it's a slam dunk - it's hard to describe without pictures, but the manufacturer really did a job on misshaping the hull. With as much detail as there is in the kit that's pretty much correct, one wonders why they messed this part up so bad. But then, this isn't the only kit in 1:200 they've screwed up. I would think that once you've created a part in any given scale in a 3D CAD file - and while I can't say for certain that this is how Trumpeter designs their kits - scaling up or down is a snap, literally. Yes, additional internal changes may be needed to beef up the integrity of the part, the actual shape should conform to the plans that you originally used. Unless, someone simply didn't care to check his work or the corp. management cut their development funds and they just went with a first round design that had not been verified.

 

With wooden ships/boats it's a bit harder to tell whether or not the lines are fair & true.

 

Hank

[Old Collingwood]

Hi Hank,

 

I know what you mean regarding the hull detail that a lot of kit manufacturers leave out of thier models,    I encountered the same with my HMS Warspte build on here,       the real ship was built up in overlocking armour plates of similar size and distance appart,   this continued under the waterline and along the bottom of the hull, I had to attack this by using strips on paper sheet all the same width and applied with PVA then when painted over and sanded back they gave the right profile and not too over scale thick.

Have a look at my build on here

 

Regards

 

OC

Edited June 8, 2016 by Old Collingwood

[Hank]

OC,

 

I'll do that the next time I'm perusing other modeler's builds.

 

Hank

[popeye the sailor]

very nice work Hank.......the superstructure looks sweet!   looks like your gaining on the hull......very nice!

[Hank]

The model is now complete (04/2019). It's been a few years since I've updated this topic and also had some other major changes in life:

1) We moved to a smaller, ranch style home in Nov. 2018 (Mocksville, NC) and I no longer have a model shop - at least at present - I will in the near future, but that is a work in progress.

2) I retired from Grifols Therapeutics Inc. in April 2019 and am currently working on home projects at both houses - hoping to the get the old one ready to sell and make the new one more livable, etc.

 

We just returned from the May Wooden Boat Show & Model Exhibit in Beaufort, NC at the NCMM and I am posting some completed photos of USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62): This model took 7 years (give or take) and was a major project both research-wise and construction-wise to build. Anyhow, it's done and I'm sticking to that!🤩

 

FYI - To those who may have left comments since my last post in 2016, I apologize for not responding - my build is on The Ship Model Forum and I simply didn't have time to keep up with 2 modeling forums at the same time.

 

[ccoyle]

Great model, Hank, and congratulations on your retirement!

[Hank]

Thanks, Chris! Much appreciated. Retirement - h.mmmmm- haven't figured it out yet! Working on it!!!

 

Hank

[popeye the sailor]

glad to hear that you finished the model Hank!     she looks absolutely stunning!   I will have to look in at the Model ship Forum.....I'm a member there as well.   I recently acquired the Tamiya kit of the New Jersey 1:350.......   the fellow who was building it past away.....it will need some touching up,  but what he did on her looks good.   I know that I will never do the level of expertise that you have,  but your log will be a great source of information