Hi Pete, great to hear from you. I decided to build the late war version thinking it would be easier, since I have yet to figure out how to do an acceptable looking cage mast from scratch. however adding the blisters to the hull was a job in it's self, so I'm not too sure what would have been the easiest thing to do She did take 8 torpedoes at Pearl, and was the most complicated salvage job they did on a ship that returned to service. In regards to the paint on foam board, I've never tried it, but i would think it would be fine. Unfortunately some paints have minds of their own when it comes to what they like. I built the main mast from styrene 1/8" tubing for the frame and cut each individual lattice piece from .030 X .030 strip. The two big tree like antennas are made from .020 rod. I admit there were times I wondered if this was something that was supposed to be enjoyed. It took three evenings after work to get the mast done. It's not exactly right, but it looks "close enough". I'm afraid to even count how many pieces are involved in it.
Excellent finish Bill... btw... are you considering doing her "twin" sister Boston CAG-1 .. now THAT would be a pair hard to beat. :teeth:
GNFA310: Naw I think one is enough. I have certain ships that I want to eventually build, including two more battleships and a slew of cruisers and others.
Bill, that's what I've found! So I generally go with WWII masts on bigger ships--single masts instead of towers. But then I've never built a big warship like yours. Yours are just getting better all the time! I think, with each ship, we both aspire to higher levels of detail and accuracy. I never guessed this would happen when I carved out my first hull in 2002! Magnificent effort! And I'm sure the WV will be even better!
Battleship Bill: You oughta stencil a big "E" on your forehead, plus a Presidential Unit Citation or two. You do amazing work!!!
I take my hat off to people that have the patience to build ships like yours, im OK with model railroads but you have done an awsome job on your ship. Congratulations:thumbs_up:
Hi Pete: I get them from The Floating Drydock: http://www.floatingdrydock.com/ Edward Wiswesser's Model Ship Plans - Windjammer Arts Store: http://wja1992.safeshopper.com/18/cat18.htm?255
Hi Bill, First up,fantastic work,I luv how every so many months you come up with another beauty,well done. Was wondering if I could find these, http://www.floatingdrydock.com/JH440.jpg anywhere suitable for n scale?Have a Lakes ship & would like to fit some decent railing on her,as well any other fine details I could find.
Hi Jason: Thanks for the comment. You might look into some 1/192 scale railing sets. They would be a lot closer to scale. I make all of my railings from .020 rod, so I'm not sure what would be appropriate in photoetch. Pete Nolan has used them extensivly on his great swooden ships, so I'm betting he could give you a spot on answer. Hope this helps.
Hi Jason, I used Gold Metal Model railings. They have a 1:200 set of three-railing etchings for the Japanese battleship Yamoto. They are close enough for me. GMM, I believe, also has 1:192 stanchions like you showed--they are not perforated, however. The 1:200 railing scales out at 3 feet in height in N scale. I'm away today, so I can't visit my workshop and confirm things. Tom's Model Works makes great radars and perhaps a few other things. There are other manufacturers of brass etchings--some of them in the U.K. I'll see if I can find my list later on. A good place to start is Bluejacket ShipCrafters in Maine, USA. Besides their own, they carry other lines, I seem to remember. I'd google "ship models" and follow a few links--you'll stumble across a lot of lists of suppliers. My problem is that it's been a few years since I've bought any supplies. I buy railing in large quantities, since it's sometimes not available for a few months. Hope this helps for now.
