Here is my 1/125 Lindberg USS Heermann. Lots of mods using styrene, wire, basswood, CA glue, Squadron acrylic paint. Distafan 3D did the Carley floats. I chose hull number decals from Microscale and the parts bin, selected for an approximate size match. The hull numbers were in either black or white, depending on the color camo they were on. Took about a leisurely year to build.
The camo pattern is Measure 32, Design 42D for destroyers.
Great build, great conversion, Byron! Itâs a nice tribute to the destroyers that fought off the Japanese at the Battle off Samar.
And whatâs really great is that itâs a Lindberg kit! So many modelers today sneer at Lindberg and other classic brands. But starting with a Lindberg kit, say, and some effort, you can make a nice model of the subject.
Whatâs next in your queue?
Best regards,
Brad
A very handsome result on your Lindberg kit. Iâve never seen this particular dazzle pattern modeled before. I built the âBlue Devilâ as the Van Valkenberg and it took me about the same amount of time as your build. I used several Model Monkey aftermarket parts.
Happy modeling
I have acquired another Melvin and plan on making a USS Hoel from October 25, 1944, The Battle Off Samar. See you in about a year! Ha ha. As I was building I was taking note of improvements I could add so the Hoel model may take longer than a year. Even taking a year I felt rushed. Now that I have one finished I think Iâll take my time on Hoel.
I initially bought a Melvin kit in 1978 but did not finish it. I decided, after budgetary conerns, it might be nice to complete the kit in the spirit of the original Lindberg intent, with improvements. I posted a short video of the motors running on YouTube for reference. Good thing I made that video because the gearbox has failed a couple times now. Because of the fragility of the model Iâm not confident of removing and replacing the superstructre multiple times without breaking something so the animatronic feature will not be functional.
That is a beautiful build, I really like the close-up shots, your attention to detail, like in your davit cabling, brings it to the next level.
I really, really want one now! I do have a blue Devil laying aboutâŚ
I did post photos of the project on scalemates.com to document my techniques. They explain a lot of what I did during the build. Thanks for all the comments.
Byron
Nice job, Byron! Good lookinâ tin can, you got there.
(Also, thanks Baron, I knew the name was familiar, but you helped me remember before I got there myself.)
Super Clean! Great build.
Bob
Byron
Great build! And thank you for the inspiration your build provides. I have finally settled on my next build using the Lindberg kit: to approximate the USS Rooks (DD-804). Your post and the post by fuzznoggin from a couple years ago (Link: Lindberg Blue Devil Destroyer) offer very good examples of what can be done with this kit over and above out of the box. There are also a couple of very fine builds of this kit over on modelshipgallery.com:
Thanks again for your example!
Cheers,
Eddie
Canât agree more with the_Baron regarding this Lindberg kit. Yes there are details to criticize about Lindbergâs âBlue Devil Destroyerâ but with some attention to detail, minor modifications, and either after market or scratch built parts a nice approximation of a WWII Fletcher class destroyer can be achieved as this and other builds demonstrate. Cheers.
Very nice. Saved the link to your scalemates article for future reference when I take another dive into Lindberg world!
Wonderful job. I picked up this kit so I could practice learning to airbrush before returning to the more traditional ship scales. Outstanding what you have achieved with this kit. I will be referencing your rigging when I get brave enough to attempt it for the first time.
Thank you for the links, Eddie. More idea/reference material.
