As noted earlier the weathering process began at the outset when I used a variety of shades of acrylics and employed Mike Rinaldi's "reverse dry brushing" technique to create dark blotches. As I always do when weathering, I'm very interested in breaking the visual plane. Although I'm at best a grade B- ship builder, I think builders in this genre are usually too light on weathering. Maybe their kits, which take a long time to make, are too pretty to mess with. I want to make the eye work for its living and avoid a "clean" look to a warship coming back from extended operations. Others may think differently.
I used my Iwata Com.Art for panel washes - I absolutely love the stuff. It's a snap to remove and the grainy texture it leaves is really good for indistinct wear. I also put on some filters with oils and applied some streaking with AK Interactive enamel "streaking grime" for gray ships. I tip my hat to whatever admiral decided to use Measure 22 on Atlantic warships. It is much my favorite scheme, having more visual interest than 22 and more graceful than the ultra-camo favored by the RN and some USN PTO warships. Also saved a lot of time.
Would like to plug the history on this kit. Understandably people equate the Pacific War with the USN in WWII. The DDs in the Atlantic, however, earned their supper in a very different way. They never faced the nightmare suffered by the USN off Guadalcanal and later off Okinawa. That said, the stakes in the ETO were immensely high and the USN played a crucial role there. Obviously there were the U-boats, not a role our DDs really excelled (DEs were far better) unless put into the lethal "hunter killer groups" in cooperation with CVEs and a small fleet. Hobson was attached to one voyage with "U-boat killer in chief" USS Bogue in early 44 and helped sink a sub forced to the surface with gunfire. Earlier Hobson and CV4 Ranger had joined a little known but daring RN (including BBs Anson, and Duke of York) for a raid on German merchant shipping in central Norway. All things considered, the raid was very well done and the Ranger's SBDs, Wildcats and Avengers did some serious damage at the cost of three Wildcats lost to flak. As I understand it, heads were rolling in KM HQ after that operation.
But where Hobson and other US DDs saw history was in artillery support of the great landings in the Med and at Normandy. Despite the awesome power of the USN in the Pacific by 1944 it faced a very frustrating task of trying to blow out Japanese island defenses with simple firepower. It was always better than nothing, but there was a limit to what could be done as long the Japanese kept their heads down. Landing support in the Med and at Normandy was a very different kettle of fish and arguably played a more important role in history's greatest war. Allied warships naturally blew the devil out of the areas around the various beachheads. However, unlike the Japanese that fought with fanatical courage and little else, the Wehrmacht was a very sharp and nimble sword led by good officers that understood firepower, mobility and the counterattack. At Salerno and Anzio it is very likely that the allied landings would have failed had the RN and the USN not had their superb gunfire at the ready. Let's not forget that even a small naval gun, say a 5"-38, would have been a big gun on the ground. In any case furious German counter attacks in Italy were thwarted by naval gunfire far more than by airpower. And it was dangerous duty. The Luftwaffe was losing their war, but in mid43-mid44 still had some excellent units including some trained for anti-shipping attack. It says much about the two theaters that Japanese air power after the November 43 Rabaul raids provided completely ineffective against USN shipping - until the Kamikazes arrived. The Luftwaffe, however, was a very dangerous foe for ships and planes alike.
Naval preparation at Normandy was - in the consideration of some good historians - mostly botched in the initial stages, as were the first air attacks. But German resistance existed on every Normandy beachhead and as the day went on allied warships were doing serious damage: the one German armored counterattack on D-Day was stopped by naval gunfire. And until breakout there were countless targets for allied capital ships. Even the 5" guns had value for the first couple of weeks.
And then there was Omaha. During the afternoon of June 6 Bradley commented "thank God for the US Navy." Because of an inherently difficult objective and errors too numerous to quickly count, US assault forces did, briefly, stare at doom at Omaha. It was at this time that US DDs came up to the shoreline and began an all-out assault over open sights (including 20mm and 40mm flak) against German positions of all kinds behind the beach wall. So many defensive points were obliterated that when the US forces pierced the German lines, by day's end it was the powerful Wehrmacht 352d Division that faced envelopment and destruction.
Hobson was at Utah. They bombarded German positions and, unfortunately, spent much time rescuing the survivors of the USS Cory that had been sunk. Further bombardment followed on June 8. A couple of weeks later Hobson supported the USN in that not always glorious but ultimately effective bombardment of Cherbourg and helping win a battle crucial for the allied offensive in France.
Rest of the war was quiet for Hobson and it missed calamity when sent to the Pacific. But just to prove that sailors are always in harm's way, Hobson collided with the USS Wasp in 1952 and lost half of its crew. A sad ending to a fine career.
Anyway, my kit is a wrap. Pics Below:
Eric
