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Post by wbill76 on Oct 27, 2015 17:34:05 GMT -5
As I was working on getting the different elements ready that go on the rear half of the main deck that need Deck Blue, it occurred to me that the turrets themselves are the largest remaining component that also falls into that category. I decided to test out what the best way would be to use the Master aluminum barrels and see how the turrets should be handled in the process. The Master barrels have a short mounting pin on their bases and their length is designed to incorporate the little round base and pin arrangement that Trumpeter designed for the kit's guns. I had thought that I would need to use some lengths of sprue to achieve that and ensure the barrels would align properly, but that isn't the case. Instead, careful removal of the plastic barrel and drilling out the base to take the pin is all that's required. The key is to make sure that the barrels, as a pair, work together in terms of total length and spacing. I did need to use a round needle file tip to enlarge the little mount holes for the rod so that the guns would sit deep enough in the openings and not interfere with the fit of the base.  Using the same turret parts that I had used to test the floater net basket arrangement previously, I did a quick mock-up to make sure this arrangement would work as intended. The turret and its base are only dry-fit for this test. I had also drilled out the holes and test fit the 20mm AA platform that goes on top of two of the turrets, in this case the B turret.  Since I was in test mode, I went ahead and did a mock-up of the A turret as well to see how the pair would work together in the bow turret barbettes. The real trick will be painting the barrels and the turret components to fit in with the Measure 22 scheme. To that end, all of the turret components including the barrels themselves aren't attached to anything just yet. I did mark the barrel pairs so that I could be sure to keep them together per turret and I think I'll tackle them 2 at a time to avoid any problems/confusion vs. trying to do all 5 in one go...especially since the C turret has the float plane catapult as an added unique feature!  Always an important milestone when you can see the big guns start to come into play!  |
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Post by Leon on Oct 27, 2015 18:39:27 GMT -5
The aluminum barrels look great Bill! A huge improvement over the kit ones. |
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 27, 2015 22:48:01 GMT -5
The aluminum barrels look great Bill! A huge improvement over the kit ones. I agree Leon, especially in the muzzles. Trumpeter slide-molded the plastic kit parts, but their openings aren't quite up to the scale-accuracy that the aluminum has. |
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Post by TRM on Oct 28, 2015 6:59:05 GMT -5
Well done Bill!! Those Big Guns look awesome! Looking like the yard guys are working double shifts on this one!! |
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Post by dierk on Oct 28, 2015 9:11:29 GMT -5
Really starting to come together now! Metal barrels are always a welcome addition.
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 28, 2015 10:14:55 GMT -5
Thanks Todd! Making steady progress and trying to move around between the remaining stuff to be as efficient as possible with the breaks for painting!  Really starting to come together now! Metal barrels are always a welcome addition. Especially in 1/350 Dierk. As good as molding tech is it still has limits when you get down this small. |
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Post by JimD on Oct 28, 2015 12:27:25 GMT -5
Bringing out the big guns I see. Nice that the Master stuff was an easy installation.
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 28, 2015 12:59:23 GMT -5
Bringing out the big guns I see. Nice that the Master stuff was an easy installation. I was a little worried. When I used their set for the Dreadnought, I had to get creative as the Trumpeter kit parts had included molded-on blast bags that couldn't be used along with the replacement barrels...and there was nothing inside those turrets to support the barrels and a length of sprue had to stand in. That was a fun exercise of getting them aligned and elevated let me tell you!  This time around both Trumpeter and Master seem to have taken that possibility into consideration and came up with a design that was a lot more friendly for possible barrel swap-out. |
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DeafStuG
Full Member
Member since: May 2013
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Posts: 1,283 
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Post by DeafStuG on Oct 28, 2015 19:48:53 GMT -5
Aluminium barrels looks great.
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 28, 2015 20:21:10 GMT -5
Thanks Jeremy! Got to take care of the big guns on a ship like this or it just doesn't look right. |
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 29, 2015 19:35:08 GMT -5
Continuing on from last time, I worked on the D and E turrets for the stern. Same drill as before when it came to getting the barrels replaced and paired up. The only minor complication with these two was also dealing with the base of the D turret as it too has yet to be installed permanently in position. The assembly for the 4 'normal' turrets is all dealt with in Steps 30 and 31 and one of the things it asks you to do is add 2 of the Carley float/rafts to the sides of either the A or the E turret without saying which one but it's for the E turret. In a kind of funny inconsistency, the instruction diagram in Step 35 shows it with only one per side but Step 37 shows it with two! Reference photos show that at different times in her service life there was one and then later two, so you can take your pick! I left them off for now and will add them later after I've minimized the amount of handling they need to avoid the possibility of knocking them off and losing them. As I mentioned before, the mid-ships C turret is a special case due to all the other stuff that goes in that area along with the seaplane catapult so it will be dealt with later.  I applied some small amounts of liquid glue to the barrels where they join with the plastic mount rod inside the turret and let that set up with the turrets in place on the hull. Once I was satisfied that the barrels would stay together and keep their spacing, I marked each one so I could reunite it with the correct turret later on and then airbrushed a primer coat of MM enamel Italian Dark Brown onto the aluminum barrels. Why a primer coat you might ask? The barrels were included in the Measure 22 scheme with their top halves Deck Blue and the bottom Haze Gray, so I want to be sure that I can do that without running the risk of having paint lift off and/or chip and expose bare shiny metal when it does. Fingers crossed that my plan works!  While the barrels were drying, I cleaned up and got all the stuff that goes into the aft tripod mast structures ready for a dose of Deck Blue. These are called out in Step 33 and Step 34. The top structure, part D9, is supposed to have a mount hole in it to take the radar antenna support mast but the part is molded solid. The diagram shows the hole present but it simply isn't there, so I lined it up with the matching hole in D8 and drilled it out with a small bit in a pin vise and then carefully enlarged it further with the tip of a #11 blade and a round needle file until the mast would fit properly. Since I was already slinging paint, I also got the structures from Step 24 that install on the main deck included in the program.  You know what this all means...more masking before I can give them all the missing Haze Gray treatment! |
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Post by Leon on Oct 30, 2015 4:30:29 GMT -5
The masked man is about to strike again! All worth in the end Bill.Your doing a great job. |
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 30, 2015 9:10:35 GMT -5
The masked man is about to strike again! All worth in the end Bill.Your doing a great job. Thanks Leon. Don't forget my trusty sidekick, the cutting mat! |
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 31, 2015 21:13:40 GMT -5
Nothing like the trifecta combination of a Saturday, Halloween, and DST changing to create the perfect opportunity to work at the bench! I spent most of the session masking off the Deck Blue so I could apply the Haze Gray to all the stuff I prepped last time. It's worth it though in terms of the end result it produces. The hardest thing of all was masking off the barrels as I knew it would be. I ended up using two 1mm wide strips on either side of each barrel vs. trying to use just one strip as the taper and step in the barrels makes it really hard to get a straight line otherwise. Airbrush did the trick with the Haze Gray to get things to this point.  That meant I could focus on getting the 4 turrets together now that all the different components were painted. The added fractional mm from the paint layers was just enough to provide a good friction fit for the metal barrels so I had to be gentle in coaxing them into position and then gluing them in place inside the turret. Bases were added next and then the 20mm AA platforms for the B and D turrets.  I did a test fit of the turrets in their desired locations and made some small adjustments to the barrel heights so that they had a slight elevation and sat level. They will get the chance to sit in place overnight to be sure everything is nice and solid before I add the floater net baskets and 20mm guns to the B and D turrets.   Happy Halloween everyone! |
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Post by TRM on Oct 31, 2015 22:06:26 GMT -5
Well you indeed pulled off the measure on the barrels Bill! Looks fantastic! |
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Post by wbill76 on Oct 31, 2015 22:43:19 GMT -5
Well you indeed pulled off the measure on the barrels Bill! Looks fantastic! Thanks Todd! I have to admit it was one of those things that once I became aware of it, I knew I couldn't just pass by but was going to be interesting to try to replicate! The only way to get it all lined up was to have the barrels in pairs vs. doing them separately, so lots of fun with the tape and Optivisor for sure. |
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Post by Leon on Nov 1, 2015 4:37:04 GMT -5
Great work on the barrels Bill! |
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 1, 2015 11:50:42 GMT -5
Great work on the barrels Bill! Thanks Leon! The really fun turret is still to come. I have a nagging feeling that Trumpeter may not have allowed enough room for it to sit straight with the catapult in place as all the diagrams show it turned at an angle. That's suspiciously odd! |
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 2, 2015 20:01:31 GMT -5
After much careful deliberation on what to tackle next in the grand scheme of things, I decided to spend some time on the aft tripod mainmast assembly that is dealt with in Step 33. This is a complicated affair and involves a lot of pieces, including the tripod legs, that have to interact perfectly for it all to come together as intended. With that in mind, I decided to tackle the most difficult part of the whole thing, the one-piece railing that goes around the 2nd level deck. The instructions would have you add this after the deck was added to the little tower section that supports everything but that's not a really good idea. Especially since the deck has to slide over some of the raised detail on the tower to get in position and that requires a little bit of force and manipulation to achieve. The railing has to conform to complex curves and bends and it took me about an hour to coax the one-piece rail into the necessary shape so that the ends met up as designed. Once the railing was shaped, the deck was glued to the tower and then the railing painted and installed to the deck level. I used the same approach for the 1st level deck, adding its railings and other details so it could be handled easier.  With the layers ready to go, I completed the step by first adding the 1st and 2nd levels together so that the tower had a solid base and let the glue grab a bit. Then the 3rd level was added along with the tripod legs to get it all in one piece.  A quick test fit on the hull main deck shows that everything lines up and sits level. As I suspected, it makes things in this area a lot tighter and the back of the D turret's 20mm AA platform just barely touches the railing on the 1st level tripod deck. No margin for error!  There's a lot of stuff that goes into that 3rd level tub on the tripod including four 20mm AA guns and a very complex and delicate radar mast structure, so it's about half done at this stage. |
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Post by Leon on Nov 2, 2015 20:19:43 GMT -5
WOW!!!!! Talk about a tight squeeze,  nice work on the tower and tripod Bill. |
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 2, 2015 20:36:16 GMT -5
Thanks Leon! There's a lot of little stuff that also fits in this general area, going to have to choose wisely as to what gets added and when! |
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Post by TRM on Nov 2, 2015 21:56:45 GMT -5
On the right path for sure! Looks great Bill! She's coming alive....one platform at a time! |
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 2, 2015 22:21:03 GMT -5
On the right path for sure! Looks great Bill! She's coming alive....one platform at a time! Thanks Todd. Working on the onion one step at a time. |
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moramarth
Full Member
Member since: March 2014
Posts: 455
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Post by moramarth on Nov 2, 2015 23:54:22 GMT -5
I think the problem might be with the US Navy, it looks like the catapult was too long and wouldn't fit parallel to the gun barrels, and so had to be set at an angle to the turret's long axis.
Cheers,
M
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 3, 2015 11:12:20 GMT -5
I think the problem might be with the US Navy, it looks like the catapult was too long and wouldn't fit parallel to the gun barrels, and so had to be set at an angle to the turret's long axis. Cheers, M You're right M, looking at blueprints shows it angled on the turret but Trumpeter designed it as a straight piece of PE parallel to the barrels. That means the only way it will fit on the kit is for the turret to be turned itself at an angle. The rear of the catapult also won't clear the 02 deck behind the turret like it is supposed to on the actual ship with the railing and floater net baskets installed. It is possible to leave the catapult off entirely, when Texas participated in the D-day bombardments the catapult was removed so all 5 turrets could be in action for example. I haven't yet made up my mind on whether to fit the catapult or not. |
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Post by dierk on Nov 3, 2015 12:00:00 GMT -5
The more I see of your excellent build, the more certain I am that I like watching ships being built but don't fancy doing it myself Personally I'd leave the catapult off - sounds like the kind of can of worms that is better left unopened. |
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 3, 2015 15:16:36 GMT -5
The more I see of your excellent build, the more certain I am that I like watching ships being built but don't fancy doing it myself Personally I'd leave the catapult off - sounds like the kind of can of worms that is better left unopened. I can certainly sympathize with that position Dierk! I don't think I could do ships all of the time as they definitely require a certain mindset and time commitment that can become a major investment all around. I'm leaning strongly towards leaving the catapult off...I like the look of the turret aligned properly with the others, having it canted off to an angle will be kind of weird from an aesthetic viewpoint IMHO, it really disrupts the lines of the ship, not to mention that it's also wrong from an accuracy standpoint. The turret was normally positioned in-line with the hull and was only canted out like that if they were launching or recovering one of the seaplanes. |
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Post by deafpanzer on Nov 3, 2015 15:27:15 GMT -5
Jeez, now it is starting to look crowded... no room for an error or something like that. Keep up with the great work!
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Post by wbill76 on Nov 3, 2015 15:29:07 GMT -5
Jeez, now it is starting to look crowded... no room for an error or something like that. Keep up with the great work! Also means I'm running out of places to handle it and place stuff, crunch time! |
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Post by wouter on Nov 5, 2015 14:07:52 GMT -5
Ah man, this looks so great...amazing skills, and above all, patience! Those railings...are they photo etch? If so, if you put them in place, while the rest has been painted...how do you prime and paint them? Handbrushing the primer/paint? Been looking at some kits of a 1/350 BB like the Kongo and Amagi and really itches...won't happen though I think, but looking at this build is sufficient for me at the moment ^^. Keep it comin' Billbo Cheers |
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This time around both Trumpeter and Master seem to have taken that possibility into consideration and came up with a design that was a lot more friendly for possible barrel swap-out. 
nice work on the tower and tripod Bill. 
