USS Basilone DD-824 by schooner - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - Scale 1:192 - from USS Gearing kit

[schooner]

HF Whip Antennas

 

One of the last things to fabricate for this build are the HF whip antennas.

They are made out of .010 wire, plastic strip for the base, small beads for the black insulators and plastic rod shaped in a Dremel for the colored insulators and the couplers (tuners):

 

[ccoyle]

Okay, I know this build isn't completely finished, but can I just say 'congratulations' in advance?  I have been super impressed all along by this model.  Your skill, the level of detail, and the fidelity to the original are all exceptional.  The finished model will be a treasure!

[schooner]

Thanks for the encouragement Chris.

It's been a fun build because the kit itself is so good that I didn't need to spend anytime fixing it, I could just get carried away with detailing it, although I still think about things that I wish I could add but just can't figure out how to. Picking a type of ship with plenty of photo references was an unplanned but BIG help.

[schooner]

Final deck details

 

The last major item to add was the lifelines around the main deck. I wanted to add webbing between the deck and the lower 2 lifelines, like you can see in the background of this photo:

I thought it would be a simple job to add some black Florist’s mesh but it was slow and tedious to glue it on, trim it, re-glue those areas that pulled away while trimming, retouch up the paint, reglue the mesh where it pulled away during the paint touch up, etc, etc etc. It ended up taking about 5 or 6 hours to get them all done. Believe it or not they actually sell PE for use with 1/350 scale kits.  Here is one completed section:

 

I glued it to the model using CA glue and a really neat applicator recommended by my hobby shop which had just got them in. They come in several sizes of loops, are made of steel PE and fit in the end of a X-Acto knife handle. They work great for getting CA just where you want it and it cleans up just by holding it over a match flame (I had no idea how flammable CA is (even when dry), I’ll start being very conscious of where my glue bottles are in relation to heat or flame)

The railings went on easily. Diagonal braces were added at various spots.

The boat boom and scramble net in this pix are scratch additions:

The red and green things in this pix are simulated anchor bouys which used to be jury-rigged out of empty 5” powder casing containers with light line looped around them. The jackstaff is also included in the stowed position on deck:

Only about one hour’s work left to add the props, rudders and the prop guards and then this cake is baked.

Edited January 20, 2016 by schooner

[RGL]

Great work

[s4usea]

Hi Tim,

 

I've followed your build since the beginning as my father did his midshipman cruise on the Glennon and I have several pics of her, so the BlueJacket kit has been haunting me...

 

You've made an impressive and inspiring build.  Thanks for sharing and taking the time to go the extra mile with the details. You've really made Basilone come to life!

 

~Scott

[schooner]

Thanks Greg and Scott!

 

Scott, just in case you didn't know - BlueJacket has the same ship in the WWII 6-gun version in case you dad was a mid on the Glennon before her FRAM update. Either way I highly recommend the kit - all the hard work is done for you, the engineering is great and the scale is not an eyestrain but it is not nearly as big as some 3-master build

Tim

[s4usea]

Thanks Tim,

 

It would be a FRAM. One of the things I like about the Knox FRAMs is they're all different

 

~Scott

[schooner]

Done at last!

 

I'll post some pix in the "completed kit models" section soon.

 

In case you are wondering (no pun intended) the all - acrylic case in the last pix was custom made by Abordage.com in remarkably short time. If you decide to use them make sure you specify the thickness of the plexi you want (I used 1/8 inch) they also provide base boards although I made my own.

Edited January 22, 2016 by schooner

[yvesvidal]

What a splendid model. Congratulations.

 

Yves

[s4usea]

Awesome build! Thank you for sharing!

[Nirvana]

Fantastic build!

Now is the question, what is waiting to be done next?

[schooner]

Thanks Per, Scott and Yves.

 

Per - I'll probably spend a little time over on the dark side and build a couple of resin kits I have of USN ships I served on. It shouldn't take too long because I can't scratch details at 1/350 scale so it's simply a matter of "glue'n n' painting"

Edited January 22, 2016 by schooner

[s4usea]

Please post them here. I'm plugging away on the Biddle for my father in 1/350. Waddell is next, not to mention my own Blue Jacket Olympia and I need inspiration to keep at it!

Edited January 22, 2016 by s4usea

[schooner]

OK, assuming my first attempt at using an airbrush is not a complete disaster...

[ccoyle]

Congrats!  Fabulous model and excellent build log, too.

[Captain Slog]

Hi Tim,

 

Fantastic result.  I enjoyed following the progress but notice I haven't put in nearly enough likes!  I will have to rectify that.

 

Cheers

Slog

[markjay]

Really beautiful build.

[michael20]

Man that is one dynamite build. I would love to see that one in person. Are you going to enter it in the IPMS Richmond show the end of February? I will be there with the Hampton Roads ship Model Club. We are sponsoring a couple of the ship model categories at the show. Hope to see you there.  Lots of cool stuff to look at while you are there.

 

    Happy Modeling,

      Marty G.

[mtaylor]

That is a well done model, Tim.   All the PE and added details make it special.  Congratulations.

[schooner]

Thanks for all the kind words guys

[Tim Murphy]

Tim, I was an OS2 with a EW job code on USS Southerland DD743, Desron 5 out of 32nd St. I was on the ship for four years! Your Model is great!

You bring back many good memories of my Ship. Your Model is the best Fram 1 that I have seen. More power to you! Thanks for a great blog

of your ship build. Tim Murphy

[GuntherMT]

Somehow lost track of this build back in December (like many other things, due to lack of time), so I'm glad this popped back up to the top so I could go through the finish.

 

Great build Tim, thanks for sharing it with us!

[tomasg]

Very nice building log and fine work. Just recently i watched "The Pacific" which portrays Basilone as one of the main characters.

[schooner]

 I was a little surprised to see this build log awaken again from deep sleep but thanks for the kind words Brian, tomasg and especially to Tim, the old FRAM sailor.