The Ship Model Forum

That is one nice build. It sure brings back some memories.

That's a lovely build.

Your build is truly inspirational.

Now I want to pick one up and build it following your advice and this thread closely.

Back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed the world and there was a hobby shop or three in every town, I and most of my friends built this kit more than once. Good stuff and good days.

Thanks Steve! I really like these old kits and they are so much easier to improve now with the recent 3D replacement parts. I wish they were available back when I did this project. Anyway, glad you liked the build!

Cheers,

Bill

Just found this thread. Wonderful build!

Thanks very much! I'm really pleased to see the wonderful results that people are getting with these old kits.

Cheers,

Bill

I feel yours is as much a masterpiece as Phil's. I think the work you do on your builds is fantastic.

If you want to see a real masterpiece, have a look at what Phil Toy has done with this old Revell kit.

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Keith, glad you enjoyed the images. My first build of this kit was in the 1960's when I was around 10 years old - built it over the weekend! I guess my modeling skills have improved a bit since then!

Cheers,

Bill

Very nice job on an old kit and i built several myself. They were good for their day and I have fond memories of them.

Well done,

Keith

Hello Bill,

Thanks for your kind words, I am pleased that you enjoyed the images of my DD932. This old Revell kit is a bit crude, but it captures the basic shapes and lines fairly well and can be made into a decent model with some extra effort and scratch building Good luck with your build, don't hesitate to ask questions - I am pleased to help.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill,

I am blown away by your JPJ! I just acquired the Forrest Sherman and the JPJ on eBay, and I am using your build as inspiration! I plan on using 1/350 GMM Modern USN ships PE as a beginning because the scales are "close enough for government work". I just placed this thread in "My Favorites".

Bill Morrison

Hi Bill,
The stowage lockers and torpedo launcher's look great!!!!!!! It's great to see you're finished projects. I will be watching and waiting for your next work to appear here at the SMF.

Roger DD-473/DD-555

Those revisions turned out very nicely Bill.

Mike

Sweet!!!

Good job.

Hi Roger!

Good to hear from you again! Your work on the Fletchers is impressive, the end result should be stunning! I have never done any R/C kits before, but I'm intrigued by what you and others have done. I have completed very little with my DD689 project so far other than collect parts and materials. Lots of demands on my time this past year and I still have several months of busy work ahead before I can free up some additional time. Thanks again and good luck with your Fletcher projects, I will be watching for updates!

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks everyone for your kind comments, it is always a pleasure to receive this kind of feedback! I have added a few remaining itmes to this build that I had originally missed (thank you Rick Davis for your help with this) - the main deck stowage lockers just behind the forward gun mount, a deck hatch, and the MK 4 torpedo launchers. Based on the old photos of DD932 from 1956, the storage lockers appear to be mounted up off the deck, so I added small sections of stretched sprue to raised them up a tiny bit. The torpedo launchers are made from spare 40mm gun mounts with scratch built "arms" from old brass railing. I probably could have done a better job with these launchers, but they seem OK and are far better than nothing. I will be away next week, but when I get back I will submit photos for the gallery. In the meantime, here are a few images of the recently added items. Thanks again for having a look at the photos, your questions and comments are always welcome.

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Bill,
The John Paul Jones looks awesome as do all your other builds. I Hope everything is going well for you and your family.
I haven't posted much on the forum lately. My back has been bothering me more that usual and my daughter's out of school for the summer. Both of my Fletcher's are at about the same stage of completion (A long way to being completed) and hopefully will make their maiden RC shake down cruise soon. I posted a couple videos of their RC bench test a couple days ago in the WIP section.

Have you started to build the 1/96 scale USS Wadleigh DD-689 yet? I would sure like to see a works in progress of that project. Keep up the great work Bill,

Roger DD-555/DD-473

a kit of my youth! very nice work! thank you very much for sharing sir!!

You're very welcome Bill!

You truley did a beautiful job of making this old kit come to life.

I was in Decatur Ill. last weekend for a family reunion, and while there I stopped in to pay a visit to the antique mall which is located in the old Wasbash train station. Looking through the many items for sale I came across an AHM kit of the USS Decatur. The box was opened so I took a peak in and it looked to be all there, so I made an offer and they accepted. When I returned home and upon further inspection, it was in fact missing a few parts like a propeller and shaft one of the gun turrets, a side bulkhead and one of the rudders. I tried casting them and except for the gun turret, the pieces didn't turn out very well.
I'm going to be searching for these parts or find another kit that I can get the parts from.

Seeing your work of art has been a real inspiration, and I'm looking forward to buliding the model myself. If I come close to what you have accomplished I will be very pleased indeed.

Best regards,
Mike