After a lot of research I decided to start with a simple lobster smack, followed by a more challenging Caldercraft 18th century British Navy kit. Both of these use all-wood, plank-on-frame construction. At the same time my stepdaughter, hearing of my new interest, bought me Tamiya�s combined 1/700 Indianapolis and Japanese I-58 sub. I felt this was a distraction from my plan, but started work on them. Soon I was hooked, and I learned about photo etch, decaling and painting techniques, and other skills, in the process.
Now I�m starting Dragon�s 1/350 scale Frank Knox. I had read many build logs on the Ship Model Forum, to learn what kits might be best for me and to pick up as many tips as I could. I wanted a larger scale after the challenges of working at 1/700 scale, I wanted a ship that would still be small enough to easily display when it was finished, and I wanted a first-rate kit that I would be proud to display. This Dragon destroyer seems a good choice.
This will NOT be a historically accurate model. I bought the kit while I was still doing research, and planned on applying a dazzle camouflage pattern I saw on Tamiya�s DD-797 Cushing. I didn�t learn until later that specific WWII camouflage was applied to specific groups of ships, and dazzle camouflage - intended as protection against submarines - was no longer used when the Frank Knox went to sea, when the main threat to ships was Kamikaze attacks.
After a lot of thought, I decided to go ahead with my plan. Purists will not be happy, but hopefully some members will be curious to watch my project unfold, and maybe some will offer helpful suggestions or answer my questions. Once I made up my mind, my first job was to project the camouflage pattern from the Cushing onto an image of the Frank Knox, and then adjust the pattern so it aligned with the Frank Knox so I would have a guide for cutting frisket for the painting:
A brief explanation: my background is fine art and graphic design, and I can�t seem to resist sacrificing historical accuracy, if it lets me build what I feel is a visually attractive model. For example, my Tamiya Indianapolis has a plain wooden deck, despite the fact that the ship depicted is from late in the war, when wooden decks were painted blue. The aftermarket wooden deck was just too beautiful to paint, when I saw it combined with the blues and greys of the metal construction (colors I carefully selected, ignoring Tamiya�s suggested colors) - see photo of my first build:
Likewise the dazzle patterns dramatize the industrial design of these warships, and because this particular pattern looks almost like arrowheads, or lightning, it accentuates the speed these destroyers were capable of.
So now I�m rationalizing that this dazzle paint job will let my Frank Knox illustrate several years of history - the mid-war period, the late (kamikaze) period, when destroyers became radar pickets, and even the post WWII era, when these destroyers continued in action through the Korean War.
