modelcrazy

Thanks Jim.

So here's this weekends nightmare PE work. The aft superstructure, mast and radar. I feel like a jeweler.
I still have quite a bit more to add. More AA guns, treterary guns, gun director hanger doors etc.

Steve

Wow again Steve!  That is some very intricate work with the PE!  It does look like something a jeweler would do!     

Ken

jimbot58

Hello gang!

No, I didn't drop off the earth, it's just been busy, busy! Car and truck repairs, (still have more to do!), added yard clean-up with spring that has sprung, an out-of-town trip,and so on. Plus, I have been pushing myself trying to work on my weight, with walks at lunch and after work as well! Now I also bought a bike, with several nights spent fiddling with it to get it where I want it! Finally got out on it today with a 12 mile ride in the morning, and finished with a walk of about 5 miles this evening! My feet and legs are threatening to sue me! The good news is that I have dropped almost 40#!!

I do spend time at the bench but often find myself too tired to sit at the computer afterwards.

So finally some updates!

Mostly what I have been doing is working on the cockpit of the Cobra. I didn't have a lot of references to go by, so I just "winged it". I added painted masking tape to the seats, with cut bits of PE frets for buckles:

I deliberately varied the length and position of the belts so they would hopefully add some realism.

The fuselage isn't fully closed yet, but here's how it will look:

Jim

Hi Jim,

I fully understand about being busy with other stuff besides modeling.  Spring has sprung here as well.  In fact, I will be taking a few days off this week just to get caught up on things like my garden.

Great work on the Cobra cockpit!  It looks fantastic!     

And congratulations on the weight loss!  I know how much work that is!

Ken

Steve: My hat is off to you sir, that's some PE work! That radar array just makes me squeamish looking at it.

Jim: Those seatbelts came out great! And congrats to getting back into shape- I really need to exercise a little more myself.  

Thanks Gamera. The Radar is the whole reason I got the PE set in the first place. I had no idea there was soooo much more to it.

Got some more done on the aft superstructure, added the second deck, crane, quad bofors and the 5" guns (not glued yet). Tomorrow night I'll paint it and maybe get some time to install the halyards. Once this is added to the hull deck, I'll add the hanger doors, which will be closed with the scout planes stowed securely inside due to the moderate to heavy seas she will be sailing through.

Steve

modelcrazy

Thanks Gamera. The Radar is the whole reason I got the PE set in the first place. I had no idea there was soooo much more to it.

Got some more done on the aft superstructure, added the second deck, crane, quad bofors and the 5" guns (not glued yet). Tomorrow night I'll paint it and maybe get some time to install the halyards. Once this is added to the hull deck, I'll add the hanger doors, which will be closed with the scout planes stowed securely inside due to the moderate to heavy seas she will be sailing through.

Steve

Wow Steve!  You just keep out doing yourself!  Nice job on the PE!      The detail is just amazing!  I would have gone blind by now.

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

modelcrazy

Thanks Gamera. The Radar is the whole reason I got the PE set in the first place. I had no idea there was soooo much more to it.

Got some more done on the aft superstructure, added the second deck, crane, quad bofors and the 5" guns (not glued yet). Tomorrow night I'll paint it and maybe get some time to install the halyards. Once this is added to the hull deck, I'll add the hanger doors, which will be closed with the scout planes stowed securely inside due to the moderate to heavy seas she will be sailing through.

Steve

Wow Steve!  You just keep out doing yourself!  Nice job on the PE!      The detail is just amazing!  I would have gone blind by now.

Ken

Here's tonight work. I painted the structure and antennas and installed the guns and halyards. Next, I'll work on a minor structure aft of this one and install all the sub assemblies onto the hull.

I was thinking of making some tarps for the guns since she will be in some spray. I saw some pictures of her in the Mare Island drydock in '45 with tarps over the guns. I suppose they were to keep foreign matter and welding slag off, but it got me to thinking. What do you guys think?

Steve

Sorry no idea about the tarps but the crane and the AA guns look fantastic!

Gam

I think some tarps would really add some interest. You'll see what I'm talking about if you look real close.

modelcrazy

Gam

I think some tarps would really add some interest. You'll see what I'm talking about if you look real close.

jimbot58

Cool how the photo was tagged as "Not to be released for publication" Security was no doubt still tight then, and after all "loose lips sink ships!" Jim

Oh no, do you think I put the ship in danger?

modelcrazy

jimbot58

Cool how the photo was tagged as "Not to be released for publication" Security was no doubt still tight then, and after all "loose lips sink ships!" Jim

Oh no, do you think I put the ship in danger?

Arggghh! I almost chuckled at that!

No, I was just thinking how a simple photo like that could be a national security risk in those days!

jimbot58

Arggghh! I almost chuckled at that!

No, I was just thinking how a simple photo like that could be a national security risk in those days!

Yeah, sorry, that was bad form on my part. After I posed it I thought I should have rephrased that.

The series of photos I found, point out several changes to the ship with added for gun directors, radar, guns, etc.
Releasing photos like that could be devastating for the fleet. 

Lol, just watch out for time-traveling Japanese 

Gamera

Lol, just watch out for time-traveling Japanese 

modelcrazy

jimbot58

Arggghh! I almost chuckled at that!

No, I was just thinking how a simple photo like that could be a national security risk in those days!

Yeah, sorry, that was bad form on my part. After I posed it I thought I should have rephrased that.

The series of photos I found, point out several changes to the ship with added for gun directors, radar, guns, etc.
Releasing photos like that could be devastating for the fleet. 

Hey guys, I've finally got wi-fi at my house so I can let you know I'm on board. I'll be building the Bf-109 G-6 in 1/48 by Eduard. It's the Profi-pack one that's got all the PE stuff and masks, which I'll definitely be using as I'm going with the old style canopy as opposed to the Erla type. I'll have some pics up soon. I know I'm a little behind the power curve but I think it'll be okay.

modelcrazy

Here's tonight work. I painted the structure and antennas and installed the guns and halyards. Next, I'll work on a minor structure aft of this one and install all the sub assemblies onto the hull.

I was thinking of making some tarps for the guns since she will be in some spray. I saw some pictures of her in the Mare Island drydock in '45 with tarps over the guns. I suppose they were to keep foreign matter and welding slag off, but it got me to thinking. What do you guys think?

Steve

Hi Steve,

How many times can I say "WOW"!  Great job, it looks really nice!     

I wish I could answer your question about tarps, but ship building is not my forte.

Ken

mikeymize

Hey guys, I've finally got wi-fi at my house so I can let you know I'm on board. I'll be building the Bf-109 G-6 in 1/48 by Eduard. It's the Profi-pack one that's got all the PE stuff and masks, which I'll definitely be using as I'm going with the old style canopy as opposed to the Erla type. I'll have some pics up soon. I know I'm a little behind the power curve but I think it'll be okay.

Hi Mike,

The front page has been updated.  Nice to know we will be hearing from you again on a more regular basis!

Ken

mikeymize

Hey guys, I've finally got wi-fi at my house so I can let you know I'm on board. I'll be building the Bf-109 G-6 in 1/48 by Eduard. It's the Profi-pack one that's got all the PE stuff and masks, which I'll definitely be using as I'm going with the old style canopy as opposed to the Erla type. I'll have some pics up soon. I know I'm a little behind the power curve but I think it'll be okay.

I wouldn't worry about the "power curve". I don't think any of us other Steve has been able to accomplish much lately. Today is my day off and what am I doing? Running all over town to find parts for my washer, only to find out all that was wrong was a loose wire! ( I put the new part in anyway - I didn't want to drive back across town AND pay a 25% restock fee!) Now that I got it all back together, I can start my laundry before I go out again to have a tire repaired!

What happened to weekends to have fun and relaxing? Grrrrrrrrr!

Steve: Again great stuff there!

Jim

Hey gang!

Well the weather here has been a major PITA with nearly 2 weeks of non-stop rain! The ground is saturated and the result is that we have had a lot of street flooding, and homes affected! The creek near my house overflowed Friday night, forcing the both the streets leading to the south of my house to close forcing me to drive several miles just to visit the Walmart that I can see from my house! (The creek is between me and Wally-world). This was followed last night by several inches of wet snow falling overnight causing downed trees and power outages!

The rains have stopped for now, but they are still waiting for the rivers to crest, and many places down stream are a concern as they wait for the surge to reach them.

After getting my washer fixed and getting my flat tire repaired I was finally able to sit down and make some progress at the bench!

Mostly worked on the Cobra. It's finally starting to take shape!

Sadly, I haven't had time to work on all the other projects on my platr!

Jim

Hey Jim, good to see you're making progress in spite of all the annoying things you have to do on your week-end. I did the same kind of stuff on my days off as well; laundry, yard work, etc. I do have some pics of my new build though so at least I'm making some progress. LoL!

BTW, although the pics sideways, that's the scheme I'm doing, mostly cause I like the "eyes" on the beule . Also, the camo looks to be fairly easy!

A little more done this weekend. I painted the Hull (I still need the black boot top stripe) and sat the sub-assemblies on the deck to see how everything fits. I am' very pleased with the results. I'll take everything back off and do some more deck and hull painting, install AA guns, the catapult , rigging and railings, but I just wanted to give an update.

Steve

Steve, for heaven's sake slow down; you're making me feel bad! Seriously, It looks phenomenal you've obviously put in a lot of work and it shows!

Well, tonight I sat and did research to learn more about just what I was building!

First, I had no idea what these panels were that get cemented to the left side of the aircraft:

I thought they were armor plates or something.

Seems they are actually part of the XM35 gun system. The panels cover the added wiring for the operation of the gun, which consists of a 20mm canon mounted under the left stub wing and 900 rounds of ammunition carried in the pod fairings mounted over the skids.

The gun:

Seems that this machine is armed to the teeth! Along with the cannon, it also carried a 7.62 mini-gun in the chin turret with 4000 rounds of ammo, and a 40mm grenade launcher with 300 rounds. Not to mention the rocket pods carried at the end of the stub pylons!

The only thing I can't identify is the pod carried opposite of the 20mm on the inside station, starboard side:

I'm going to pop over to the helicopter forum and post a query there. I don't think it's a weapon.

Jim

Mike: It's good to have you back! Neat looking scheme on that 109.

Jim: Very cool, ok the Supercobra isn't quite an Apache but yeah she's armed to the teeth!

Steve: Yow man! She's coming along great. I've got a couple ships in my stash but so far haven't had the guts to tackle them- you're making it look easy though.

Ok, I did get a little done over the weekend, painted the props for both the Wildcat and Hellcat. So all the yellow on the kits is out of the way, which makes me very happy!!!

Wow, guys, tremendous progress here. I like it.

Steve, that ship is looking great. I think tarps would have been on the guns if she was underway in rough seas to a home port out of a combat zone. I believe the tarps would have remained off if they were patrolling in an area where enemy activity was expected, despite the heavy seas. Hope that helps.

Jim, the Supercobra is probably hauling an ECM pod on the side. That is what that looks like.

Way to go guys! Keep it coming!

Duke Maddog

I think tarps would have been on the guns if she was underway in rough seas to a home port out of a combat zone. I believe the tarps would have remained off if they were patrolling in an area where enemy activity was expected, despite the heavy seas. Hope that helps.

I already came to that conclusion thanks to MikeF6F's post in the WIP thread

"I wouldn't cover your excellent work with tarps even if it makes sense with your planned display.  While knowlegable ship types will know what is covered and why, any casual viewers of you model will miss the fact that there were guns mounted all over the ship.  That of course, is one of the distinguished characteristics of a WW II USN ship anyway.

Besides, the ship was on a special mission and may have been at a constant high state of readiness and may not have had anything covered at all."

I like that, and I think someone else posted "a fast ship going in harm's way"

Thank you for your complement and answering the tarp question. I will cover the small boats and tuck the planes in the hangers though.

Duke Maddog

Wow, guys, tremendous progress here. I like it.

Steve, that ship is looking great. I think tarps would have been on the guns if she was underway in rough seas to a home port out of a combat zone. I believe the tarps would have remained off if they were patrolling in an area where enemy activity was expected, despite the heavy seas. Hope that helps.

Jim, the Supercobra is probably hauling an ECM pod on the side. That is what that looks like.

Way to go guys! Keep it coming!

The unit I'm building is not actually a Super Cobra, just one of the early units used in SEA. The Super's were twin engine. I had the pod Identified as s SUU-11/A gun pod with yet another 7.62 minigun! More fire power!

I trial fitted the skids tonight, and uh oh! This isn't good!

I was fortunate that I hadn't cemented in the nose piece yet! I cut up some little pieces of a fishing weight, dropped them into the nose, and held them in place with a drop of CA! Much better now! Whew!

I'm glad I averted building a tail sitter! That would have sucked!

Jim