Liberty Ship Cyrus McCormick or Post WWII Kearsarge

Stenscience,

I'm no expert model builder but I am starting to get the hang of it. I'm currently working on the Trumpeter 1/350 S.S. John W. Brown and converting it (not too hard - most Liberty Ships just differed in their armament other more or less minor details) to the S.S. Stephen Hopkins for a friend of mine whose dad served aboard her and was one of the 15 survivors of her sinking.

Anyhow I'm using the Gold Medal Models PE and find that it's mostly very, very good. Of course it would be better if I were a bit more skilled in its application but here's the link to my current thread with some pictures that include some of the PE I've used.

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/167898.aspx?page=2

Mike

Oops, I just realized that this thread is 6 years old!

I built the O'Brian kit and it is a fine kit with no serious flaws.  If you are willing to tackle photo-etch, Tom's Modelworks has a fine set for the kit.

Haw! I received an email from Cec, and her father and my father were indeed on the Frank O. Peterson at the same time. I just happened to be in town with my burros for supplies  

My model of the Peterson stalled while I did research on just how the aircraft were carried. Dad originally thought they were just minus the outer wings, but in fact they were completely crated below deck. I could not find out just HOW the P-38s were crated, so I abandoned the idea of a dockside diorama and will be covering the hatches and showing her at sea. 

Fred

Goodness!!

Welcome to the forum, Cec. I'm sure that Onyxman will be delighted to compare notes with you. Just a thing, his rate of return fire, so to speak, tends to be drawn out. When he drives his horse buggy into town, etc. But, I really will be interested to follow this one. I'd encourage you to start a new topic thread "Frank O. Peterson" so we all can keep tabs.

onyxman

I can't recall any evidence of Liberty ships with a 5 in gun forward.  The Trumpeter kit has a smaller, 3 or 4 inch gun forward, 5 inch aft.  Many of the pics show a 3 or 4 inch gun aft with only another  20 mm Oerlikon in the forward tub, which corresponds to the info on U-Boat.net.

There could well have been .30 cal machine guns too.

Just guessing, but it would seem to be unlikely that a Liberty would get new guns fitted after launching, especially as late in the war as 1945.

Fred 

PS  I have a similar project in mind. My father served on the Liberty Frank O. Peterson in 1945, taking P-38s to Biak in the SW Pacific.  I want to do a diorama of the ship unloading.  When I ask him about details of the dock area, he looks at me like I'm nuts. "It was a dock! What else am I supposed to remember from 64 years ago?"

 

I have been searching online for information on the Frank O Peterson liberty ship as I want to write up some narrative regarding my father's Navy service on this ship.  I was pleasantly surprised to see your post as my father was also on this ship delivering P-38s to Biak as part of the Navy Armed Guard!!!  Time frame was June 1945 through August 1945. I have the ships logs and no photos of the time there.  He had also served on the SS United States Victory ship to Solomon Islands.  He passed away in 2000 and when my mother passed, I now have this info to put together. I do have a photo of the Navy Armed Guard group on that ship, but that is about it.

Cec

Same thing I get from my Dad, " Jeez, son, that was 60 years ago!" But I still managed to surprise him with a 1/700 model of the LaCrosse Victory!

Also, I know that at least some Liberty ships had 5-inch guns, but only on the stern (The Fighting Liberty Ships, A.A. Hoehling), and they were manned by Naval Armed Guard crews. Dad said the gun on the stern of the LaCrosse Victory was a WW I relic that was strictly for show!

onyxman wrote:

My father served on the Liberty Frank O. Peterson in 1945, taking P-38s to Biak in the SW Pacific.  I want to do a diorama of the ship unloading.  When I ask him about details of the dock area, he looks at me like I'm nuts. "It was a dock! What else am I supposed to remember from 64 years ago?"

"Hell, I don't know, I was inside it all the time!".

I can't recall any evidence of Liberty ships with a 5 in gun forward.  The Trumpeter kit has a smaller, 3 or 4 inch gun forward, 5 inch aft.  Many of the pics show a 3 or 4 inch gun aft with only another  20 mm Oerlikon in the forward tub, which corresponds to the info on U-Boat.net.

There could well have been .30 cal machine guns too.

Just guessing, but it would seem to be unlikely that a Liberty would get new guns fitted after launching, especially as late in the war as 1945.

Fred 

PS  I have a similar project in mind. My father served on the Liberty Frank O. Peterson in 1945, taking P-38s to Biak in the SW Pacific.  I want to do a diorama of the ship unloading.  When I ask him about details of the dock area, he looks at me like I'm nuts. "It was a dock! What else am I supposed to remember from 64 years ago?"

Thanks for the additional info. Since I already ordered the kit and PE details (I ordered the Eduard PE) that's what I will do, at least this time. I might do this one as a trial run, then order the Gold Medal PE set for the one I give my father. I checked out the GoldMedal site on your rec., and it does look really nice. I am just getting back into the hobby, so I don't know a lot about the best suppliers; any advice is welcome.

Also, I talked to my father yesterday, and I worked the conversation around to his experience (I want the completed model to be a surprise).He was on the last convoy, I think, before the one where the vessel was torpedoed and sunk. He remembers the bow(?)or main gun as a five incher, and he had a battle station as loader for what he said was a 30. I wonder if there was a refit between the time the picture was taken and the time he was aboard. If any of you have thoughts, I would be happy to hear them. His memory seemed pretty clear, but he was also aboard the Mariposa (liner converted to fast troopship)so he may have put those two together.

Thanks again

I too vote for the Liberty ship. Having done both Liberty and Victory ships, and an aircraft carrier, all in 1/700, for some reason my frustration level with the cargo ships was much, much less than with the aircraft carrier (I think it was more to do with the 30-odd aircraft than the carrier itself). Plus, my Dad served on two Victory ships during WW II, so there was that emotional connection that can make building a particular model that much more special.

If you decided to get photoetch, go with Gold Medal Models - Loren's sets always fit first time, every time.

Thank you, gentlemen, for your kind advice and info. I think I have a lot to go forward with, and I definitely plan to visit either the Brown or the OBrian (or both) in the near future. It is nice to know that there is this forum with so many helpful individuals. The kits are on order, so I look forward to starting the build. Right now I am finishing up some aircraft models so I can clear the decks for the ships.

Thanks again,

Stenscience

Hi stenscience,

    Just thought I'd throw in a little info to you. The Liberty Ship John W. Brown is alive and kicking in the Baltimore Harbor. She is restored and open for tours and sleepovers. She also goes out on re-enactment cruises (they call them Voyages) 4 times a year. All kinds of info and photos on their website www.liberty-ship.co. I'm planning to build her as I had an uncle who served on liberty ships in WWII and an 84 year old P-47 pilot I know hitched a ride on her when he came back to the states. 

    The Baltimore harbor isn't a very long ride to get photos and info. I would guess (I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination) there are a lot of simularities between the McCormick and the John W. Brown.

    Hope this info hepled you. Good luck on your build.

Jim

Good work Bondo!

It looks like she had "one 3 in and nine 20 mm" armament.  So the Trumpeter kit's guns will have to be modified.

Note that Trumpeter's painting instructions are not to be taken too seriously either.  They tend to be for the ships as they look now, rather than their wartime colors. For instance, if you do a full hull model ( you have a choice ) the red bottom paint should only come up to the 10 ft draft mark. The U-boat.net pic shows no visible boot topping.

The Trumpeter Liberty was my first try at using PE too.  It's a good first subject. Not only is it reletively large, but the rails and hull are all the same color.  You can pretty much spray the whole thing gray.

Fred

onyxman wrote:

This German website has about 1500 photos of Liberty ships in the gallery. Unfortunately, the Cyrus McCormick does not seem to be there.

stenscience wrote:

....and it gives me a good excuse to buy more tools.

Any excuse is a good one!

Wonderful! I appreciate the quick replies and advice. I went ahead and ordered the 1/350 Trumpeter kit and the Eduard photoetch detail kit from Internet hobbies, and also the 1/700 Ticonderoga carrier kit. When they arrive, I think I will start out with the carrier kit. If I mess it up, it will not be a big loss; it is not that expensive. This will give me some time to organize the project on the Liberty ship. It looks like it will take a lot of time to get it right. I guess I will need to learn how to use CA adhesives, and it gives me a good excuse to buy more tools.

The advice is much appreciated, and any more the same.

The Kearsarge was also an Aircraft Carrier launched in May 1945, CV-33.  I am thinking this is the one he is talking about.  According to Navsource, it was an Essex Class (Long Hull) AKA Ticonderoga.

Edit: The Oriskany is the exact same class as the Kearsarge and was the next one built after the Kearsarge.  It was CV-34.

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for the responses. So, I think the 1/350 Liberty ship model (the O'Brian) is the one to start with. I do have a picture of the McCormick from the right period, and the links provided really help. At least I know now that others are modifying that kit with varying degrees of success for basically the same reasons I am doing so. I am going to go ahead and order the kit and start to work on it. Any additional tips would be appreciated, and thanks.

With regard to the Kearsarge, I am afraid that I was not specific enough. There were several types of vessel with that name. The one I am trying to model is the Essex-class carrier during the period from commissioning (1946) but before the 1950 conversion to jet service. My father was a Pharmacist's Mate during the Med. cruise in 1948 and later into the Davis Strait. I think, but am not sure, that the Oriskany (?) has been mentioned in other threads but would appreciate some advice. Sorry about not being specific enough...

Trumpeter makes two Liberty ship kits in 1/350.  The John Brown and Jerimiah O'Brian.  They are basically the same kit with a few different frets.  There was a lot of variation in the Libertys as far as armament and placement of lifeboats and rafts. 

There is also a 1/700 Liberty kit. (Pitroad?)

There are a few good threads on this forum on this subject. See also here:

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=16742

This German website has about 1500 photos of Liberty ships in the gallery. Unfortunately, the Cyrus McCormick does not seem to be there.

http://usmaritimecommission.de/

This is my build of the O'Brian kit, from several years ago.  I used the Toms Modelworks aftermarket PE set for this.  Goldmedal and L'Arsenal also make PE sets for the Liberty kits.

Fred