She is now in the house, and She’s HUGE!!! Revell kit #05091 U.S. Navy Fletcher Class Destroyer. She is so big I had a hard time taking a picture of the box art (which is great).
There are over 500pcs. in this beautiful kit! The only flash that I have found is on the depth charge racks, and that is minimal.Here’s a closeup shot
There are markings for either the USS Fletcher DD-445 or the USS Chevalier DD-451.
The keel is scheduled to be layed soon with no gov’mt cutbacks aloud. Sorry guy’s all job chit’s have been filled.
i see the flecther class destroyer in the u.k is now priced at £60 a rise of £20
oil canning by steve h on the modelshipwrights site very intresting, my next model i am doing is a 1/96 th scale destroyer, the uk’s latest ship hms.daring, i was on her last week, looking at the hull up close, was thinking to myself how do i get the same effect on a fibre glass hull, you can scape away plastic but not fibre glass, my other thought was to mark the hull out then glue say cotton thread to give me the squares then spray over the whole lot with mr surfacer, or is it better just to leave it alone, the model i will be doing is just over 5 foot long, keith
Why don’t you try your theorie out on a large piece of scrap? You will need big brass ones if you do decide to tackle a 5 foot long hull in this fashion Keith [swg]
James @ Nautilus has said that he has experimented with his wood burning laser to cut sheet styrene to build a square-bridge version. I think it is his cost containment solution since a solid hunk-o-resin to replace the bridgehouse would be almost as expensive as the basic kit
That is a brilliant thread on oilcanning!!! I recall having a prolonged argument in reference to the Dragon USS Buchanan in this forum some time ago, as I hoped one day a model company might be able to simply mold-in some oilcanning effects. However, I was completely shouted down by all and sundry that this was ‘impossible’ and ‘undesirable,’ and ‘we wouldn’t even think of producing such a thing!!’ In any case, the 1/144 Revell destroyer is a much larger scale, so perhaps the effects are better suited to this size. Certainly looks outstanding in this example, no doubt about it!!
James at Nautilus has announced his new walkway anti-skid mat decals for the 1:144 scale Fletcher. These are the rubber “bath mat” tiles applied to the decks to prevent slipping.
The sheet has about 850 scale feet total plus special patterns for the 40mm twin tubs found in the kit and in the Nautilus aftermarket sets, 20mm guns, pilothouse top, fwd deckhouse, and even the amidships 40mm tubs added in 1944 and later.
Oh come on I didn’t shout you down. I simply disagreed with you on the desirability of the oil canning. It is not impossible to add to the model, just time consuming and hard on my computer due to all the extra curved surfaces. In 350 scale the effect would have to be greatly exaggerated to make it show up anyway. The hull mold is pretty complicated and in this case there was only going to be one built so it was either yay or nay on oil canning. There are more modelers building their ships in pristine condition than those who weather them. So in this case the majority was served. I am not opposed to doing an oil canned version, but it would take a new tool and I don’t see that happening right now. But you never know, someday Dragon may want to revive interest in the Benson/Gleaves kits and that would be one way to do it. But for now, it is up to those awesome superdetail nuts to add it to the kit and make their models stand out in the crowd.
HI … To start out , why would anyone want to put the dents in a ship known as oilcanning . ??? The scales are usually to small and would make the models in smaller scales look less than right . When I scratch build a train scale ship the oilcanning , as you call it is there . Why? well I plate these ships just like the yards do and they don,t come out smooth . Now ,I do sand them down prior to painting and the effect is hardly noticable , except when the light hits them just right . That,s the way it should be . NOW , in 1/350 or even 1/144 the effect would be to tedious to include in the build . LINDBERG,S U.S.S, MELVIN has some sink marks that when after sanding the hull ,look like the oilcanning you speak of . The 1/200 S.M.S. KRONPRINZ that I am doing as a takeoff on the paper kit has that effect . WHY ? Well every plate from centerline to the main deck is there , each , individually installed so the line of hull has some oilcanning . This phenomena is also caused by tugs AND very rough seas . You can paint for effect but at smaller (1/350 ) scale ,do you really want to do it ???
HI Well the interest in squared bridge fletchers certainly is there. The truth of it is , I,ve only seen the square bridge in r.c. size ships and the LINDBERG kit , of course the old REVELL fletcher (The small one ) If you use the drawings from scale shipyard or just copy the U.S.S. MELVIN,S (from lindberg ) That bridge is not fully accurate ,but, it,s a start .
If you are going to invest your resources (time, money, styrene, etc.) in a scratchbuilding a square bridge, you would be better served in obtaining a copy of the Floating Drydock’s Fletcher plan eBook than copying the POS Lindberg kit. The eBook has detailed plans for both round and square-bridge variants and is chocked full of photos and scrap-view drawings to detail the items shown on the larger plans.
Bob Steinbrunn, builder of the award-winning USS Kidd model which FSM featured a few years back said that this plan book was his single most important reference in detailing his model.
The eBook is available from the Floating Drydock (floatingdrydock.com) and is in PDF format on a CD. It also costs less than the Lindberg offering.
Oh, and BTW, the square-bridge Fletcher is available in other ship modeling scales, from 1:2400 (GHQ) to 1:192 (Iron Shipwright)
Not rubber… essentially paint with sand in it to make it extra rough. Rubber would be too flammable. I’ve got a document I’m Sloooooowwwwwly working on (it’s a snoozer to code but of some historical interest) detailing the Navy’s transition to metal decks on carriers and how they tested the paint on them.
Here’s a closeup shot 
