Pearl Harbour 70th Anniversary GB

Thanks, yes the are paint black, I think to reduce glare? 

the real red baron

Checkmate - thanks! How's your ship coming along? Haven't seen much progress lately…

CallSignOWL - thankyou, if it weren't for this forum I'd still be brush painting…

The ship is coming along.  The deck is now attached to the hull, and I'm currentlly pin-washing and dry-brushing.  I was planning on only posting photos as I finish each construction step.  Plus, I wanted to finish my Airfix Group Build project, so I could devote myself to the New Orleans.

And, by the way, I used Ms. OWL's method for painting the radial engine in the Gladiator, for the Airfix build.  It worked well, even in 1/72.  The final results are here:  /forums/t/140302.aspx?PageIndex=60

Thanks, Ms. OWL!

checkmateking02

 

the real red baron:

 

Checkmate - thanks! How's your ship coming along? Haven't seen much progress lately…

CallSignOWL - thankyou, if it weren't for this forum I'd still be brush painting…

 

 

The ship is coming along.  The deck is now attached to the hull, and I'm currentlly pin-washing and dry-brushing.  I was planning on only posting photos as I finish each construction step.  Plus, I wanted to finish my Airfix Group Build project, so I could devote myself to the New Orleans.

And, by the way, I used Ms. OWL's method for painting the radial engine in the Gladiator, for the Airfix build.  It worked well, even in 1/72.  The final results are here:  /forums/t/140302.aspx?PageIndex=60

Thanks, Ms. OWL!

aw shucks, no problem! Nice gladiator, btw. That much rigging would've driven me mad!!

CallSignOWL

 That much rigging would've driven me mad!!

It almost did.

Progress on USS New Orleans, CA-32 (1/700 Trumpeter):

These are from construction step 2:  a structural piece (that I don't know what it is) and the 5"/25 guns.  At this point, instructions called for the flagpole at the prow, the anchors, the boat davits and some other fiddly pieces to be installed.  I left these out till later in construction--too easy to break off.

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Another photo, with a penny, to illustrate the tiny size of the components.

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Close-up of the structure installed.

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I won't install the 5" guns till later, either. Instructions call for them to be attached on the starboard side at this point, but the experts advise to build ships from the center and move outward.

Thanks for looking.

checkmateking02

 

Close-up of the structure installed.

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bondoman

checkmateking02:

 

Close-up of the structure installed.

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Looking great. That structure is the main intake.

Thanks, bondoman.  Would this intake then "take in" air for the boilers/powerplant, since it's located directly behind the funnels?  Or does it bring air into the ship for ventilation?

Next up is the third step in the instruction sheet.  This (I think) is the hanger for the floatplanes.  It consists of four walls, a deck and another smaller structure for AA guns and radar bases.

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I used a Zap-A-Gap superglue to make up the components, so I could sand seams.  I've been using a thick white craft glue to attach the sub-assemblies together.  In my estimation, superglue doesn't hold well on painted parts, and if they separate, you've got a mess of stuck superglue to clean off.  If the parts separate after using craft glue, it cleans up with water and you can start with a clear surface.

Here are four views of this assembly.

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Three little boats nestle on the deck, also attached with white glue.  I'm leaving the radar off till much later in the build.  A mast is also supposed to be fitted on this assembly, but I'm skipping that too at this stage.

Once the sub-components are assembled and painted, construction moves very rapidly.  Tomorrow I hope to post the searchlight tower and maybe the forward superstructure.

Thanks for looking.

Yes, that's the hangar. Did your kit come with any? Must be tiny!

Yup.  Two SOC's, I think they are.  Very tiny.  I wasn't planning on using them, because I didn't think they'd normally be sitting out there on the launching rails.

Photos are of instruction steps 5 and 6. 

First is the searchlight tower.  Don't know if it's strictly correct, but I painted the faces silver, then applied Future to replicate a lens.

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It looks a little chunky in plastic.

Next is step six, some of the forward superstructure.

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I'm not overly confident that the NO boat carried this armament at Pearl  Wikipedia says she received some new radar and 20mm guns at a refit in January, 1942.  I can't find anything on the net specifically about her weapons at Pearl (beyond, of course, her 8" and 5" guns, so I'm just going to go with what came in the box.

Mahalo.

looks great checkmate.

I like the looks of the lenses on the spotlights

Ouch that searchlight tower is not pretty. And it's hard to tell but the kit looks like their 1942 Guadalcanal version- they are 1.1 inch machine guns.

You might consider getting in there with an xacto and cutting out those big X braces, replace with stretched sprue or pieces of bristle etc. It's a signature element of that lovely ship.

I scratched up mine (at 1/350)

Here's the raw materials.
The basics, box art which looks a lot like Trumpeter, and the hull parts. I am building her as she appeared after her last major refitting at Puget Sound, 1937

The box, and major pieces


Here's the AM stuff:

Thanks, RRB.  It's been a fun build--only the second ship I've completed.

bondoman:  the searchlight is both chunky and clunky; not the most appealing feature of the kit, which is kind of strange, since many of the parts are nicely and delicately molded.  WEM has a photoetch set for NO class cruisers, but I don't have enough experience with PE yet, and I was hesitant to try it at this point.  I'm sure the searchlight tower would be better represented with a "lighter" structure.  Still, once installed, between the funnels, it's not grossly distracting/

Trumpeter does market the NO boat as a 1942 fit, but I was not aware that it might be as late as Guadalcanal.  I had hoped it was earlier in the year, and not much changed since Pearl.  Somewhere I read some conflicting accounts, one saying she underwent a refit in January '42; another said February '42. 

And actually, I have finished the ship pretty much, just haven't kept up posting photos.  Last night, I spent about an hour and a half trying to do some rigging--which I accomplished, but not without frustrations.  I have a few more lines to run.

My plan is to post some of the final construction steps, then photos of the completed vessel, but it migiht be a couple of days before I get to that point. 

I have very much appreciated you insights, comments and knowledge, bondoman.  You've been very helpful.

Aloha!

[quote user="bondoman"]

Here's the raw materials.
The basics, box art which looks a lot like Trumpeter, and the hull parts. I am building her as she appeared after her last major refitting at Puget Sound, 1937

The box, and major pieces


Here's the AM stuff:

These are the last construction photos I'll post:  7 and 8.  After these, the rest of the assembly is just fitting on the modules already built up and adding the little things.

The little things:

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These are the pylons for mounting the aircraft launching catapult.

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In step 7, the aft fixtures are affixed.  Depth charges were apparently not carried during the Pearl Harbor attack.

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In step 8, the second main gun turret is placed.

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That's followed by the superstructure behind it.

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Here is the completed USS New Orleans, CA-32, from various angles with some close ups, no particular order to them

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This was my first experience with a Trumpeter kit, and it was a good one.  The group build has been a fun project.  I don't know if I'd have built the New Orleans if it hadn't been for this--although my wife's parents now live there (in the city, not on the ship!), and building it might win me some brownie points.  When I saw them last, they took us over to Mobile to tour the USS Alabama, so that's on my list of projects for the future.

Thanks, RRB, for hosting this.

Aloha.

That looks great checkmate, I am interested in looking into building things other than WW2 aircraft…

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Why Chex has a wonderful build:

The NO class cruisers fought the hard fight, surface units. 

Every thing is very well done.

Thank you, both RRB and bondoman.  Coming from such accomplished builders makes your comments even more welcome.

RRB--until last year I did nothing but aircraft, too.  When I got into ships, I picked some simple ones--to start with, old Fujimi ships dating back to the '70's.  I went with 1/700 scale because of cost and size. 

Then, I studied up on the "Ships" forum here and at modelwarships, and picked up a lot of good insights.

I even checked bondoman's USS San Francisco over at modelwarships, in researching New Orleans.  That's a neat, appealing ship. http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=6603&start=200

Some things are very different with ship building.  Not as much filling and sanding, although there is some of that.  Mostly, though, it's assembly little modules of parts and gluing them on.

And using white/craft/Elmer's glue to bring the modules together.  If you have an interest in some ships, or get tired of planes, naval modeling is a good addition.  I don't intend to give up planes, just build both now.

On another subject, RRB--how did you get your group build badges to "play" consecutively, one after the other?  It seems that I've run out of room in my signiture, and can't post more than 4 badges.  So I dropped everything for now, except the current one.  I tried to make a movie (Windows movie maker), put it on photobucket, then paste it into the signiture.  It didn't work; just sat there.

the slideshows are GIFs. Google "make a gif"

Thanks, Ms. Owl.  I'll look into it.

Well, wadda ya know--it worked.  Thanks again, Ms. Owl.  It appears that modeling isn't the only thing to learn about on the forum.

Glad to help! :)

I've been slowly working on the SBD, constructions are confusing IMO. I'll take pics after I get some things painted, not a huge difference between grey plastic and aluminum paint...

Thanks checkmate, but I'm really not that good of a modeler. I've still got a lot too learn, (still mostly basic stuff).

Ww2 psycho - Cant wait for pics! 

Hey all!

Great looking builds going on here. I have been working away (mostly work!) but I have been able to sneak in some work on my Kate. At this moment I have the cockpit in and the fuselage, wings, and elevators in place. Even though this is a Hasegawa kit I have found some serious gaps with the fit. Pics to come.

I do have a quick question for those of you in the "know." My Kate paint instruction show Chrome for the interior gear bays and struts. My understanding is that the Japanese used the Atoke [(?) metalic blue] as a protective cover on metal surfaces. Is this the case with the Kate? Any help is appreciated.

Here are the cockpit pics.

Looks great! I like the cockpit.

I thought the wheel wells were the blue/green colour, I'm not sure about the Kate though. I thought it was the blue/green colour too.

RRB: I am not sure either. The "Blue/green" metalic color is a protective coating, so it would make sense to have it on the Kate as it would have been on the salt water in service. I am still looking some references before I paint it.