The Ship Model Forum

A couple of quick shots from a little work done tonight.

There are some sink marks on the bottom of part A6. Most of them will be hidden within the superstructure, but the ones that will technically be visible I have filled here with some Mr. Surfacer.



The bridge assembly goes together a bit fiddly. There's five different pieces to this and none of them have a definite snap or alignment to any of the others. I started with parts A9, A10 and A18, tacked them together with a little Tenax, and then sat them flush on my piece of assembly glass and moved them about to get them true and square. I then tacked in A19 and A20 the same way, let the whole thing sit for about 5 minutes so it had a little bite in the glue joints, and then flipped it over and hit all the seams from the inside with more Tenax via a paint brush. You can also see the "45-degree port holes" on the angled face of the bridge here. Those will be filled and drilled out correctly, and the correct port holes will also be drilled.



This shows an overhead of the bridge assembly with some nasty gaps present. The structure seems to have a bottom to top taper, so alignment is difficult and the plastic just doesn't match up well in some areas. Fortunately everything requiring repair is on a fairly flat and deatil-less area, so filling and flush sanding won't be a problem once everything is dry. It's working on pieces like this that make me really appreciate resin models!



That's it for tonight.

-Devin

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We like our history sanitized and theme-parked and self-congratulatory, not bloody and angry and unflattering. - Jonathan Yardley

Just as long as you fill them before gluing on the superstructure!!! I actually filled mine after gluing on the main deck and it worked just fine... I Think too that the extra rigidity will help keep the Mr. Disolved putty from cracking and pitting.

I can't remember what thickness I used and I can't find the sheet I cut it from to measure =P
It was two layers... either .010" or 020" but I think it was .010" as I have a sheet of .040 that was too thick.

My bridge was a bit fiddley but not as bad as yours is. I see you had a gap on the flybridge deck as well. On some of these ships there was actually an opening on the port side where the step up is, providing easy access and communications to the sonar room. Later in the war, this sonar room was expanded and an overhand formed when the forward area of this level was pushed forward. I'm waiting for my book on England to arrive to see if she had this opening and what other details I can add... the bridge is so "central" to the ship that to me it screams out for detail. I asked Loren if he'd consider adding the wooden pad on that step for added detail and it's a good possibility on his set.

One other England tweak; the circular tubs (forward, not aft) on the bridge are formed wrong for England. Right for many of the ships, but not for her. I just don't have a good idea yet of exactly what they looked like from the top. The aft tubs were for sky lookouts.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

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Buckley

Just so everyone knows, the above post is a correction to the paint timeline after Jack and I talked over his initial post. We don't think it's that likely that she would be painted in Sea Blue in January of 1945, about two and a half years after the paint was discontinued.

Busy week so I haven't had much time for modeling. What time I've had I've split between England and Lexington. I've got the bridge level fixed (chopped off some solid splinter shields which were two-bar railings on England with canvas covers). Otherwise I'm going to wait until the GMM photo-etch hits.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

I talked with Randy Short a bit tonight about England. He doesn't think Ocean Gray is likely at all; Overall Ocean Gray was only authorized on Yardcraft.
A couple of ships were painted overall Ocean Gray at the yard's they were built at but repainted into Navy Blue before leaving for the fleet. 5N navy Blue chalks up quite extensively and appears lighter than fresh 5N in photos when so chalked. Most likely she was in 5-N and not 5-S or 5-O

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Everytime I go downstairs this kit would call out "Here I am just open the box and look at me. You don't have to start me, just look at me".
Said the spider to the fly, the serpent to Eve and this kit to me. "Surely"

So I've got the deck mounted to the hull and the upper and lower hulls glued together. All gaps are filled and sanded

Now I really am wating for GMM's PE to come out.





Gordon

My "Anatomy of the Ship Destroyer Escort England" book finally arrived this week... made the mistake of choosing the slow boat shipping rate

It's definately got some good information but it's not quite what I was expecting. Only four out of the 30 photos in the book are of England, the others are of assorted other Destroyer Escorts. We know the paint information to be wrong but it's mostly due to us knowing more now than when the book was written I believe. Drawings are top notch.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

So what is your rating outa of the trumpy DE. 1 to 10-10 being the best

basicly i am asking do i want to buy it or not

8/10
There are a couple of places where the fit is a little dodgy and some of the weapons aren't as good as trumpeter is capable of doing, but overall a really nice kit.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Thx Tracy I can't wait for those PE sets to come so I can see u finish the model just like what Timmy said. I am defiantly going to put this model on my TO BUY list good luck with the rest of the model

Reid

Me??? Finish a model?

Actually, the DE's simple enough that it's a real posibility.

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Tracy White -Researcher@Large

"Let the evidence guide the research. Do not have a preconceived agenda which will only distort the result."
-Barbara Tuchman

Tracy of cource u can do it!!!!!!!!!!

o and Tracy what is a 1 rated model

I got restarted on my Buckley Class DE after receiving my Gold Medal Models PE set.

GMM PE note: While looking at my PE set I noticed that only one (not both) of the railings marked as A and B (two each) with the netting on the railing was relief etched. When I turned the fret over I could see that the other two were relief etched also. How did Loren Perry do that?

I'am going to build my DE as the USS Witter DE 636

The more I work on this kit, the more I like it. It's small in size but big enough (1/350) so I can see what I'm doing while working on it.

I used .010" evergreen sheet plastic to shim the rear of this structure. Then sanded until I had a good fit to the deck with no gaps.


Bridge structure set on deck. Slight adjustments still needed for better fit.



Questions: Should there be a on door(s)(both sides) on this structure in this location?



Should there be vertical supports on the inside of the gun tubs/shields?

TIA

Gordon

This thread reminds me of a question I have about the British Captain-class frigates (Buckley-class in RN service):
What were the main differences (in armament configuration, fittings, etc.) between the standard USN Buckleys and the RN Captains?

I've already built one Revell 1/240 kit as USS Buckley, but have another unbuilt kit which I am planning to build as a RN Captain-class. (It's boxed as "HMS Bligh", but the kit is identical to the Buckley other than the box art and painting instructions)

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Model Ship Kit Reviews

I got more work done on the ship the last two days. This is a good looking kit, but it has some fit problems. Here are some that I have encountered and how they were over come.
It's been said one picture is worth a thousand words. Soooo









Now she's just about ready for a coat of primer.



Having fun in rain drenched Seattle.

Gordon

I note that USNI Naval History reports on 'the sole remaining DE afloat in the United States" (December 2006, Page 11). Apart from the article being interesting, from the basic dimensions of ship and its appearance, it looks very similar to the Buckley Class, apart from having diesels and half the SHP. Would a Buckley Class model be easily made up as an Edsall Class?

The U.S.S Slater is a private 501c non-profit operation according to the article. There is also a website : http://www.ussslater.org. The ship is located on the Hudson at Albany, New York, in a state of restoration, donated to the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association in 1993. According to the article she is open Wed - Sun 1000-1600, April - November.

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1-350 wishes:
RN Cruisers/Destroyers (WW2)
USN Cruisers/Destroyers (WW2 + post war)

I should have looked out here earlier -- I am doing the Trumpeter Buckley as HMS Ekins, a Captain Class Frigate, in her role as a Coastal Forces Control Frigate (with the 2-pdr on the foredeck). I have both the WEM & GMM PE sets, and WEM paints. This photo is Ekins ...



To answer the question above; There were some 90 modifications to a Buckley DE to meet RN standards. The most obvious were the removal of the torpedo tubes and the quad 1.1, the replacement of 4 of the 8 K-guns with larger on-deck storage racks, and of course electronics. They also removed the ice cream maker and other comfort items not present in Nelson's day ...

References
The Destroyer Escort England, Al Ross, Conway Maritime Press, 1985, ISBN:0851773257.
The Captain Class Frigates in the 2nd World War, Donald Collingwood, Naval Institute Press, 1999, ISBN:1555701955.
Destroyer Escorts In Action>, Al Adcock, Squadron Warships #11, 1997, ISBN:0897473787.
The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts, Bruce Franklin, Naval Institute Press, 1999, ISBN:1557502803.
Allied Escort Ships of World War II, Peter Elliott, Naval Institute Press, 1977, ISBN:0356084019.
American Destroyer Escorts of World War 2, Peter Elliott, Almark Press, 1974, ISBN:0855241616.
Warship Perspective, Camouflage Vol 3, RN 1943-44, Alan Raven, WR Press, 2001.
Naval Camouflage 1914-1945, David Williams, Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN: 1557504962.

I have the hull cleaned up, the deck structures modified and cleaned up, and am now replacing ladders & w/t doors with PE prior to painting. I am at a halt because of other things, but expect to pick up work again shortly and will post some pix ...

From my research, Ekins came in a US version of RN camo, was repainted into a two-tone green Western Approaches scheme, then into a gray Channel scheme. However, the picture above suggests that it is more likely an Admiralty Alternate scheme, perhaps partially applied over previous schemes. Anyway, from my references, it would appear the hull up to the up to the sheer line is G20 Medium Gray-Green, and G45 Light Gray above. Note the funnel and the X & Y gun platforms appear to be in White, perhaps leftover from the Western Approaches scheme. The horizontal surfaces should be B15 Dark Blue-Grey I believe, but have no photos thereof.

Help Meanwhile, to ensure everyone knows I'm not an expert, can someone tell me what a typical RN "boot stripe" size, location, color might be ??? Baring anything specific, give me something in general - I'd like to get it at least close as this is the next step in my hull painting.

Thanks,
John

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John Ratzenberger
It's my model and I'll do what I want.

Hi hugh Williams,

There is practically no difference between an Edsal and Buckley class DE on the outside. The Edsal had an extra inch in beam , but this is not visible in such a small scale , even in scale 1/35 it is about 0,7 mm.

EPinniger,

The Captain class frigates where Buckley and Evarts class , with the Evarts Class being shorter than the Buckley's about 5 meters or 17 feet.
Armament on the Captain Class was the same as on the US Navy boats.

regards,

Ludwig

hallo all,

A correction to my post of yesterday.
The Captain Class DE's had the same armament as the Buckley's exept the Captains had NO triple 21 inch torpedo tubes

regards,

Ludwig

Nor did they have the quad 1.1" and director ... also half the DC throwers were replaced by extra on-deck storage racks ...

John

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John Ratzenberger
It's my model and I'll do what I want.