1/350 Fletcher?

Modelmaster Dark Sea Blue lightened 30% with white for the Sea Blue sides. Dark Sea Blue with 20% white for the decks. This is just an approximation I just mix till I think it's right.

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/cv/cv-09/350-mt/cv9-index.html

Thanks modelguy

Here are a few pics of my progress to date.










I have installed most of the PE, I think that I may have done too much railing, but it is my first attempt. I applied the railings in full lengths from the etching and shaped/glued as I went along. I did paint it on the etching before I installed it. My main problems were when handling the model and crushing the PE with my fingers.
As for painting, I brush painted the camo, but did not thin the paint enough and I have very visible brush marks. I also had to repaint the deck blue on the sub-assemblies, as I had sprayed them in haze grey and did not want to mask off on such a small scale.
A note on the PE: The manufacturer (GMM) assumes that you are an expert on Fletcher class destroyers and know where everything should go. I worked most of it out myself but do not want to buy information on a subject just to fit the PE.
I will continue this model to completion, I want to complete the railings, install the rest of the parts, apply weathering, touch up the paintwork, and display it if it looks OK.
I will post more pics as I go on, although I have a break form 25th May for a holiday.
Hope this helps someone

Those are awesome pics Dave. So I guess I should do as much as I can with the basic model before the PE, so I don't smash it down. What did you use for glue for the railing? Just regular superglue? I have been using that, but you have about 5 seconds before the stuff hardens and they piece is immobile. I guess I will have to pick up some slower drying stuff.

I am waiting for my Thomas Model's late war conversion kit to come in, then I need to order some extra 20/40mm AA guns to bulk up the AA defenses. But I am biding my time by making a cool stand and making the building the necessary extra structures on the boat with sheet styrene. Hopefully if she is finished before I leave for good I can post some pics.. that and also if I figure out HOW to post pics.

I did use regular superglue for the railings but just a bit at a time. I started at one end, glued that and worked my way along the length, applying the glue with a pin from the deck side.

Hey MarinR00,

What structures are you building? The Tom's set is very complete. Make sure you fill all the holes in the deck for the depth charge racks and k-gun racks. I ued it to do a late war round bridge.

You know, looking at your pic, I might have just scratch built the parts that are included. I built the two additional AA platform about amidships, right behind the second funnel. I think they had a dual 40mm on top of them. I take it the Toms kit comes with them? If so, I might just have to rip those suckers off and go with the better looking one from Tom's. Thanks for the tip on filling in the holes. I did most of them, but I'll make sure I get them all.

The problem is, Tom's is closed until 4 JUN, so I got to sit around on my butt looking at this thing. It is very frustrating.

Hey one more question, does the Tom's kit come with extra 40/20mm guns? I know for the Tamiya kit I have to add 20mms to the fan tail, then from pictures I've seen around 5 40mm mounts (that's a guess, don't have my reference stuff here with me at the sec). It will be a while before I get the Tom's kit so I am holding off buy the aftermarket guns until I see what I got, as per my 20/40mm gun post. What other parts does the kit come with? I just want to avoid building something I don't need.

Thanks a lot, I appreacite your help.

Here ya go:

Hmm, thanks. I saw that one his web page. Looks like I'll have to get a few more 20s and 40s to fill this thing out.

Darn... and I was VERY proud of my first scratch build .... though it was on a very small level. Looks like I'll have to put this puppy on the shelf until sometime after 4 June. Thanks for everyone's help'


Edit: Correction, just got the Tom's conversion kit in the mail today. Looks pretty good, some flash and whatnot, but nothing a little sanding won't fix. I was surprised by the Pewter parts (Or lead?) And of course, the parts I scratched came with it and look better than mine. Looks like I'll have to do some de-construction of that. Thanks again for everyone's help, I really appreciate it.

This is a most interesting and informative thread. I'll take the liberty of offering one little point about the painting of WWII U.S. warships that I've made in a couple of other posts in this forum. I owe this tidbit to my late father, who was a junior officer on board an attack transport in the Pacific.

Dad, like any other WWII Navy vet, remembered that the ship's crew spent a considerable percentage of their time chipping and renewing paint. (I suspect that activity was motivated as much by determination to keep young minds and hands busy as by any real necessity.) At any given moment a significant part of the ship was undergoing chipping, priming, and repainting. The great exception was the exterior of the hull, which generally was off-limits to the chippers while the ship was under way.

When the old paint had been chipped off the bare metal got a coat of primer, applied with a brush. During the war the standard U.S. Navy metal primer was a sickly, dull, slightly greenish pale yellow - presumably with a high content of zinc chromate. (Dad recalled that "some of our idiots" tried to save time by mixing the primer with the haze grey finish coat, producing a shade of green that was downright repulsive.) At any given moment, any ship that wasn't straight from a refit would be wearing numerous spots (probably no more than a couple of square feet apiece) of that primer, waiting to dry and be covered by the finish coat.

The key to success here is to make the spots small, inconspicuous, and subtle. I've done a couple of models with little yellow primer spots; they always bring grins of recognition to Navy veterans.

jtilley, thanks. That is something I don't think anyone else would have caught. I'll have to look into that for my next project. I'm making this Fletcher into the U.S.S. Heermann (DD 532) during the Battle off Samar (Taffy 3). Its going to be straight up, no weathering.

My next Fletcher is going to be the U.S.S. Johnston, also from the battle. This one is going to be a dio of it going down still fighting. Great story about a truly great ship. That one will be fully weathered and I will definitely use yourpainting technique, jtiley.

Speaking of weathering, here is a great shot of what a ship looked like after a year or two in the Pacific. http://www.domeisland.com/fletcherclass/520isherwood_gk4732.html

It seems you can't overdo rusting!!

I too am beginning a Flether-class DD. I'm hoping to model the DD-683 USS Stockham (my grandfather served on her) and I'm having trouble coming up with many pics. I've been able to to determine she had M32/21d camo at least part of her life and she was square-bridge design. I'd really appreciate any help you guys can come up with.

Thanks,
Mark

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jeff_Herne Before you apply any brass to the model...soak the part in acetone or paint thinner. The creation of PE parts involves spraying photoresist and sensitizer on the sheet, exposing it to a light source, then soaking it in ferric chloride. In the end, the frets are dipped in water to stop the chemical process (etching), but there's still residual chemicals on the brass...this inhibits things like glue from sticking...same holds true for plastic parts, wash them in warm soapy water to get the mold release off...and everything will stick better... I don't have many photos of Fletchers in-progress, but I'll see what I can come up with for you. Also, the Squadron Signal book is okay if you want a general overview of the ships with some photos, but you really need my book if you want details. http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/books-plans/wrpress/fletcher/wr-fletcher.html Jeff Herne

QUOTE: Originally posted by Daveash As my earlier post, I am in the middle of a Fletcher. I have built the hull, all superstructures (not fitted), guns and applied as much PE ladders and rails as I can before I need to put it all together. The anti fouling and boot stripe are done and masked off and today painted the decks. Most of the PE so far has been anything but straight forward. Some of the parts are so small that you need 2 pairs of tweezers, one to pick it up and another pair to bend into shape. You then also need a third hand to apply the glue, a fourth to position the part and even a fifth hand to check the positioning . I did the mast last night and today it looked like giant seagulls had visited. As I scraped away the excess glue, most of the parts fell off. I bit the bullet and started again, cleaning off

Has anyone here tried something called 'Etch Mate', an over priced but interesting tool? I bought one but haven't tried it yet.
Like everyone else, I'm also contemplating my box with 'Fletcher' written on the side , currently recovering from cancer and don't want the kit to outlast me. Also, has anyone purchased parts (5" turrets, 40's and 20's) from La Arsenal? What luck?
Thanks much
AJZ

I have an etch-mate, and I swear by it (sometimes at it). It's useful.

Stockham carried 31/21d (let me know if you need the design sheet) and she also carried the Black Cat emblem on her forward funnel. She was part of DESRON 53, DESDIV 105. I also have the funnel emblem if you need it. As for photos of Stockham, I'll post up what I have, which is probably what's available online.

Jeff Herne

Mr. Herne,

I thought she wore Measre 32 as opposed to 31 (http://www.shipcamouflage.com/fletcher_class.htm). Either way, I'd love a design sheet for 21d and the emblems.

Thank you very much!
Mark

Boy did I screw up...

I have in my possession a set of documents outlining the USN camo practices from WW2 in detail. These are Xeroxs of actualy USN Bu-Ships orders, etc...

From Sept. 1943 onwards, in the Pacific, EVEN numbered hulls received measure 31 colors, and ODD numbered hulls received measure 32 colors. I had it ass-backwards (I can't remember everything).

So DD-683 did wear MS 32, not Ms 31...so...I screwed up...

Jeff

Sorry, I've been away for a bit. Graduation and other commitments kept me. Quick question, (probably for Jeff). I am coming close to finishing pre-painting construction on my Fletcher, the U.S.S Heerman. I did the necessary research on her paint scheme, etc. But for the railings, I was wondering if they were painted the save color as the camo, or were a different color all together. Thanks a lot guys.

The railings were painted same as the vertical camo. Just continue the pattern up the railings.

No worries, Jeff.

It turns out the Stockham wore Measure 21 (blue) most of the time my grandfather was on her. He said, "They got tired of the fancy pattern and just painted her blue." That makes the painting portion of this project MUCH easier.

He also filled in a few of the other details I wasn't sure of along with providing a very interesting summary of his service. He actually got the see the signing of the treaty in Tokyo Bay. He was at battle stations on the port-side forward 40mm patrolling the harbor just off the USS Missouri at the time.

Anyway, I'd love an image of the black cat emblem if I could. The picture my grandfather has is much too small (and too nicely mounted) to help me out. For some reason I can't seem to find it on the 'net anywhere.

Thanks,
Mark

Here you go...



I've been working non-stop 12-15 hour days, which explains my lack of activity here on the boards. Things are calming down at work, and I'm on vacation next week, so I'll be popping in once in awhile.

Jeff

I have come to the definite conclusion that all further modeling projects will be put on hold until I get myself an air brush. Brush-painting the camo on this Fletcher doesn't look to good. I'm kinda disappointed in the whole project but I'm driving on. This is my first experience with PE. I'll put up pics once it’s all done.

Don`t give up on it. When you get a bad result, take a step back and put that kit away for a while. I am disappointed with the camo on my fletcher, I don`t think an airbrush would help due to the complex masking involved. I think that very thin paint is the easiest way to do camo at such a small scale. I have almost finished my Fletcher, need to rub down the camo thick paint, complete the PE railings and touch up where necessary. Then I will consider weathering etc.
I too got fed up with this kit so I put it to one side and bought a couple of 1/35 armour kits. These go together great, there is room for error and you can hide mistakes with mud or battle damage. I have found that larger scale modelling is much easier and less stressfull than struggling with tiny 1/350 bits. After all, this hobby is supposed to be a way of relaxing and fun. Don`t let the Fletcher get you down, put it away for a month or so, pick up a cheap kit and enjoy it.
If you want to stay with ships, then go for 1/72 scale. There are a few kits out there that are well worth building. At 1/72 the detail is crisper, you can scratch build your own parts (without resorting to micro-surgery) and achieve a good finished model.
Good luck for the future.

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the support. I think I'll take a day or two off, and then finish it up. It was my first PE, so I learned a lot. How much does a decent airbrush go for? Nothing to fancy, just something to get rid of all the brush strokes?

Yeah, and I was so desperate to get this thing looking nice, I needed some black spray paint. So..... I used black Rustolium. Didn't turn out to badly, and now I know that she won't even rust.



Hooray... I've been promoted to Aftermarket. This mean I get a bigger paycheck or something??

I have a 1/350 tamiya fletcher. I'm thinking about getting a tom's modelworks photoetch set and a squadron fletcher book for reference. The only problem is this review of the tom's modelworks set which says that there aren't enough rails and ladders in the set and you need to buy 2 sets to finish the kit. That review is found here.
http://www.squadron.com/old/fletcher/fletcher.htm
Could anyone tell me if this is true because I don't want to buy two sets to finish my model. This is my first time using photoetch. I have a question which is what is "White Glue" I want to avoid cynoacrylate glues because they can glue ur fingers together and I'm hypoallergenic to certain fumes and I hear that cynoacrylate glues have very strong and irritating fumes. If I have to get cynoacrylate glues, then what is "acetone" as it is used for unbonding fingers and for cleaning photoetch parts?

I got the Gold Medal Models (GMM) PE set, and it was fantastic. I also got the Tom's late-war conversion kit, and that also came with rails. The GMM set was fantastic and gives you two different styles of rails, so if you mess up you have a back-up set; however they are a different style. So between the two, you have a few styles and sizes of rails and you should be good to go. The GMM PE comes with radars, and all sorts of other great odds and ends. It also comes with MUCH better directions than the Tom's kit. Also, the GMM PE comes with the PE for the 20 & 40mm AA guns, so you don't need to buy their gun kit. I would definitely go with the GGM kit. And if you don’t use everything, you have extra for your next kit. Now that I’ve done a PE kit, I am going to knock out another Fletcher I think. Then maybe move up to Trumpeter’s Essex.

As for the glue, I used a few types, because this was my first PE kit as well. I found that white glue didn't hold half as well as super glues, and you had to wait forever for it to dry. I found that some glues left a white residue, so I stayed with the ones that dried clear. They also hardened almost immediately, so there was to wait time to move on. But if there are medical reasons I would stick with the safer bet! But the glue I used didn’t have much of a smell.

The Squadron book was great and has A LOT of great pics from all different eras for the Fletchers. There is also great resources on-line, and that is where I found the paint schemes for the U.S.S. Heerman (DD-532). Also, Jeff Herne has a book out that can help as well. There is more information about that earlier in this thread.

Well there are two options for me because I'm on a low budget. Either I get a tom's set for the fletcher and a squadron reference book on it. Or I can get a Gmm set and no reference. I first decided with the tom's because I didn't think you can use the GMM set without a reference book. You said they have much better instructions. Are they good enough that you don't need to buy a reference book along with it?

I would have to say yes. The Tom's kit directions are horrible in my opinion. It’s a photo-copied sheet and you can't understand half of it [I didn’t use it at all]. The GGM sheet comes with pictures on how to do every piece as well as how to make the different era Fletchers. I would definitely go for the GGM kit in a heartbeat over the Tom's kit. [However, if you want to make the conversion, the Tom’s kit can't be beat. Once I figured out what pieces were what, I had a great time with it.]. But if you are making a straight up Fletcher, then go with the GGM. Not only are the directions better but also the quality and quantity of the parts.

As for references, the Squadron book is good, but you know, you can find plenty of Fletcher pics on-line as well. I typed in "Fletcher, destroyer" into Google and got about 19,000 hits. That is where I found the paint scheme for DD-532. Here is one site that I used that was pretty good... http://www.domeisland.com/fletcherclass/ The Squadron book is good if you want detailed stuff, but like me, if this is your first PE kit, I spent the time trying out techniques for PE, and making sure the kit was 100% historically accurate was a second priority. With my next kit I think I will invest a lot more detail into cleaning things up. But like I said, since this was my first PE kit, I wasn’t expecting museum quality material!

But you can pretty much guess where the PE and whatnot goes, even without the references. But I would use the internet and GGM if I was in your position, you'll get a much better quality product.

Thanks alot for the quick reply. Where did you order your GMM PE set? If you order from their website u have to mail them an order and it seems it will take along time to arrive. If you got it from their website, how long did it take to arrive? Is there anywhere else that you can get it besides a local hobby shop and their website?

I sent the money in through the mail, and let me tell you, it got here VERY fast for snail-mail. (Tom's took a little longer, almost a month to get to me). I actually liked the mail option, though it took a little longer, it forced me to plan the kit out more and gave me more time to research the ship and whatnot. But you should have the GGM set within 2 weeks, most likely less time than that even. In my opinion, it is well worth the wait and the money.