1/350 Fletcher?

I've run into a bit of a wall, or at least a poorly behaved part. I'm trying to use the aft gun platform (between the #3 and #4 turrets) from Tom's kit. It doesn't fit between the turrets. It appears to be too, esp after looking at pics after pic of square-bridge Fletchers. I'm not real sure what to do about it. I could move the #4 turret, make my own platform, or find a way to shorten the one from Tom's kit. Any thoughts? Anyone else run into this?

Thanks,
Mark

Hey Mark, I ran into the same problem. I sanded down the platform and now it fits. Barely. But the guns can turn fully and it still looks good. But its seems the Tom's kit is a bit out of proportion.

And now for the moment I know I have been waiting for....

CLOSURE!!!

I started this thread a LONG time ago about my Fletcher, and you know.. its finally done. Its just the basic Fletcher, with GMM PE set and the Tom's Late War conversion kit. Thank you to everyone who helped. Especially Jeff and Dave. The advice on using burned spruce as wire was awesome, as well as Dave's IN DEPTH instructions on how to post pics.

Understand that this is not only my first picture post, but also my first PE model and first ship in about 10 years! I got it done before I had to ship out. There are many, many flaws in it, but I learned so much. I need to get an air brush, I figured out what glue worked best and how to cut and shape PE. I also learned a crap load about research. So here it is... the U.S.S. Heerman as she appeared during the Battle off Samar (Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors).

Crappy pictures, but this is all I got right now. I'll post some better ones later if I can figure out all the buttons on my digital camera. Advice is MORE than welcome. Like I said, as soon as the Army gives me some more time, I am jumping back into the world of PE.

Looks OK to me, much better than my first effort. Well done.

It looks very "Ship Shape" Rob, thanks for the pics.

Can someone give me a close match to the colors of the early war fletcher? I'm planning on using floquil weathered deck blue on the horizontal surfaces. Tamiya Haze grey on the upper vertical surfaces. Could you give me a close match to ocean grey and sea blue? The instructions say tamiya sea blue and dark grey. I would rather have a floquil match to those colors but if not could you tell me if tamiya sea blue and dark grey are a close match?

Looks great, Marin!

I'm thinking of taking my Dremel to the platform and cutting the tub walls off and making the tub smaller. Then use a strip of brass to replace the wall. I don't believe the Stockham had the ribs around that tub anyway so that *should* work. I'm just waiting for some pics to arrive before I commence defacing the part.

BTW, Tom of Tom's Modelworks says he's never heard of problems with that part, but he'll look into it.

As for your camera, a couple of things. There should be a "portrait" mode meant for single subject shots. The symbol for it is usually a girl's head. Try using that along with the "macro mode" which is meant for close-ups (closer than a foot or so, camera dependent). The symbol for that mode is usually a flower.

Try playing with the lighting. Try to avoid using the flash to cut down on glare. Use a lamp with a soft bulb or maybe shoot outdoors on a bright, but hazy day. In addition, make sure the white point setting is set appropriately (see the camera manual). White point will help the colors come out truer, especially grays.

The most important thing about shooting a good shot to to shoot LOTS. Tinker with settings and shoot a bunch. I once shot almost 400 shots for 3 good ones. Digitals are great for that.

I hope I didn't ramble too much...
Mark

Yeah, I was surprised when the rear piece didn't fit. The fix was easy, but was kinda frustrating. I had to smash in one part and sand down the ridges on another to get it so the turrets could turn. I thought that maybe it was just a bad piece, but I guess others have had that problem as well.

mdescalzo, thanks for the tips on taking pics. I got some time, so I am headed out right now to try to get some better pics to put up, where you can really see the detail. Thanks to both Dave's for the compliments. The only reason this kit turned out the way it did, was from all the help I got from everyone. This whole project was huge fun!

P.S.> The name plate is a $10 law enforcment name plate from www.RangerJoes.com. I found they look prety sharp. Thanks again to everyone. Sorry d4reaper, I am not familiar with floquil paints. I used testors, and as near as I can tell, they are a pretyt close match. But I am also unsure of early war paint schemes. I would talk to Jeff_Herne [he has a few posts on this thread] He is an expert at this sort of stuff.

I am close to completing this kit, with PE and I got all the paint from WEM, they do a range of enamel paints formulated for the correct colours of WW2 ships.
In fact I got the whole project from them, the kit. PE and paints. Great service too.(I don`t work for them)
If you need more info just ask

I think I'm going to spray the super structures tamiya haze grey. The camouflage on the super structures floquil ocean grey. The upper hull floquil ocean grey. And the camouflage on the upper hull floquil sea blue. Could you give me a good link to a photo or somewhere where I can find a good reference as how to do the rigging?

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...but I could use some help.

I'm need to cut depth charges from a brass rod. I'm not sure how. My hand isn't steady enough to get a good cut with a Dremel.

I'm thinking of setting up a zero clearance insert on a bandsaw and running it with a backer block.

Anyone have any good ideas?

Thanks,
Mark

Early Fletchers carried a Ms12 Revised Paint scheme, similar to what you see on the box, but each ship's pattern was unique. The colors are 5-N Navy Blue and 5-O Ocean Gray on the hull, and 5-O Ocean Gray and 5-H Haze Gray on the superstructure. Here's approximate FS matches...

Haze Gray 5-H FS 35237
Ocean Gray 5-O FS 35164
Navy Blue 5-N FS 35044
Deck Blue 20-B FS 35042
Dull Black BK FS 37040

Jeff

Mark,

I would simply cut brass rod with a pair of wire cutters, then grind the cut end flat...OR...use plastic rod, that's what I do...

Jeff